The Serpents' Kiss
by animalwriter
Summary: A lonely professor trying to forget the past. A new professor with her own worries and a desire to understand Severus Snape. As they solve a mystery at Hogwarts, can they learn to care for each other and embrace a new life? SS/OC with other plot points.
1. Arrival

A/Ns:

1. This is a co-story set in the same universe as CommanderValeria's "Don't Leave Me". You do not have to read her story to understand this one but I would recommend doing so as the characters and situations overlap.

2. Okay, so I sort of lied. You might need to read her story to understand this first chapter but I'll try to explain it myself. We are attempting to keep our fanfics as canon as possible, but in order for our stories to go in the direction we wanted them to we had to take a certain liberty… I hope that we have not done too much damage to J.K. Rowling's original ideas by doing this, but we have "revived" the majority of the characters who passed away in the Battle of Hogwarts in "The Deathly Hallows." However, in order to not harm J.K.R's important theme that it is impossible to revive the dead, we've explained it as certain "old magic" prevented those who had some kind of "unfinished business" from fully dying, and so they were not actually "dead", just sort of "sleeping" until they were able to be revived. A more full explanation is found in Chapter One of CommanderValeria's "Don't Leave Me". If you prefer to look at this as an alternate universe story, you can do that too. I hope you will all read, rate, and enjoy our stories despite our "meddling". Thanks so much, and enjoy! J

* * *

CHAPTER ONE

Arrival

* * *

Dinah landed her broom on the damp grass and looked up eagerly at the tall castle that lay in front of her: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was finally achieving her dream job! Teaching at one of the finest establishments in the wizarding world.

She glanced down at the letter that her owl Rowena had delivered to her. She was supposed to arrive at 3:00pm to meet Dumbledore and all of the other professors. Her luggage had probably already arrived in her new quarters. She hurried up to the castle and through the doorway to the great hall. It had been many years since she'd last been here, but she knew the way by heart.

She bounded rather enthusiastically up the stone stairs and into the large room. No one had arrived yet. Perhaps she was early. She hurried up to the front of the room and sat on the last chair of the Gryffindor table in front of the staff table. It might be considered rude to sit down with the staff before she had been officially introduced to the other professors.

A door to her left opened and a tall, rather old wizard with a long white beard walked into the room. She stood up immediately, "Professor Dumbledore."

Dumbledore glanced at her and smiled, "Dinah Samson. It's been quite a long time. My you've grown."

She smiled, "It's so good to be back."

"The other professors will be here shortly. Please don't hesitate to sit down at the staff table."

"Thank you," she said, humbly choosing the seat on the very end of the table.

As Dumbledore went about his business preparing the hall for the arrival of the students later that night, she wondered faintly which professors would still be here that she remembered from her school days. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick were probably still here. Probably Professor Sprout, too. Undoubtedly the caretaker Filch would still be here. But how many would there be that she'd never met before?

She didn't have much time to think on that as the doors on both sides of her opened and a number of professors that she remembered as well as ones she did not, shuffled into the room.

"Ah, good!" Dumbledore said with a smile, turning around to face them all, "I'd like to introduce you all to our new professor of Muggle Studies: Miss Dinah Samson."

Dinah stood up, smiling somewhat nervously. As she had guessed, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout were there. But there was no one else that she recognized.

"I'm sure some of you know Dinah as I do from the days when she was a student here. Others probably have never met her. Minerva, I'm sure you remember Dinah." Dumbledore said with a smile at McGonagall.

"Certainly," McGonagall said, "Welcome back to Hogwarts, Dinah."

"I'm looking forward to becoming a professor here," she said, "I hope I can live up to all of your expectations."

"I'm sure that won't be a problem," Flitwick said in his squeaky voice. Sprout nodded with a confident smile.

"Well, it would do for me to introduce you to the other professors," Dumbledore said, "We have Professors Sibyll Trelawny and Firenze of Divination," he gestured to a strangely dressed, thin woman near him, and a handsome centaur on the other side of the room.

Dinah tried not to grimace. She had always hated divination.

"And of course," Dumbledore continued, "Professor Severus Snape of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

A tall man with shoulder-length greasy black hair and dark eyes strode up to her, glancing at her with a critical eye, "So, you're the professor of _Muggle Studies_, are you?" he said 'Muggle Studies' in a tone of dislike.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I am."

"I see…" he murmured with a slight smirk, then strode away leaving Dinah wondering exactly what his problem was.

"And of course, we have…" Dumbledore continued, introducing her to professor after professor, all of which she had never met before, "Now that that's over with, we'd best all continue preparations for tonight. Minerva will show you to your quarters Dinah."

"Thank you, Sir," she said with a smile, and followed professor McGonagall out of the Great Hall and towards the Muggle Studies classroom.

"I hear you got a degree at a Muggle University after leaving Hogwarts, Dinah?" Professor McGonagall asked as they walked down a long hallway.

"Yes. Three degrees in fact, all in the fields of anthropology and sociology," at McGonagall's confused look, she continued, "They include the study of humans, human development, different cultures, and the interactions between them. Well, not the wizarding culture, but knowing the theories and ideas help me examine the connections between the Muggle and magic worlds."

"That's impressive," the professor seemed surprised, "Albus said your qualifications were very high. Oh, here we are," she stopped in front of a door at the end of the hall.

Dinah opened the door, walked through the classroom, through her office, and into the living quarters on the other side. Her things had already arrived.

Professor McGonagall stared dumbfounded at the huge pile of electronic devices in the middle of the floor, "What are those?"

"Oh, just…let's see, telly, VCR, CD player, video games, computer…"

"I'm impressed. You brought all these for your class? I'm sure it will be valuable to the students to learn about these things."

Dinah grinned sheepishly, "Actually, I brought them for my own enjoyment. I have an enchantment that makes them work for me even in areas of high magic."

"I see…" she looked confused for a moment, and then something seemed to dawn on her, "Oh, I remember! Your wizarding abilities weren't discovered until you were sixteen years old. You lived most of your young life as a Muggle."

She nodded, "I pride myself on living a sort of double life. I spend half my time with the Muggles and half with wizards. Now that I'm teaching I'll only be able to go back to the Muggle world during the summer, which will essentially be the opposite of how it was when I was obtaining my Muggle degrees."

"Well, it certainly is unusual," McGonagall said, "but I'm sure your extensive knowledge of both worlds will make you a very excellent teacher."

"Thank you, Professor."

"Since we're colleagues now, you can refer to the professors by their first names if you like. You're not a student anymore, you know?" she grinned.

"That's true," she nodded, "It'll take some getting used to though…uh, Minerva."

Minerva laughed, as she glanced around the room. Her eyes landed on the four cages piled up in a corner, "You certainly have a lot of pets."

"Oh, yes," Dinah smiled, pointing to the cages, each of which had a creature inside, "This is my owl Rowena, my cat Godric, my toad Salazar, and my rat Helga."

"Named after the four founders? That's creative."  
She smiled, "I suppose so."

"Well, I'd better leave you here to get settled, Dinah," Minerva made to head for the door, before turning around and facing her, "You should be downstairs in the Great Hall by six o'clock to help prepare for the arrival of the students," she left the room.

Dinah went about using her magic to clean up the room and put things away. It didn't take her very long and as soon as she'd finished she headed downstairs to the Great Hall, stopping on her way there to let Rowena into the owlery.

She had nearly made it to the hall, when she ran into Argus Filch, the caretaker, a long-haired, tortoiseshell cat following close behind him.

He sneered down at her, "You look familiar."

"Dinah Samson, Sir. New professor of Muggle Studies," she said.

"Wait a minute! I know you! You were a student about thirty years ago, right?"

She frowned, "More like twenty."

"You were the one who was five years older than everybody else."

"That is correct," she said, desperately hoping that he didn't mention-

"Yeah," Filch drolled, "I remember that time when you were a 'first year' when-"

"I prefer not to talk about that, thank you," she mumbled, brushing past Filch and into the Great Hall. He had mentioned it, after all. What was she expecting anyway? His obnoxious attitude hadn't changed in the least since she was a student.

She shuddered at being reminded of it. She didn't want to think about it,_ ever_. She sighed and pushed it out of her mind.

"Ah, you're back!" Dumbledore said, causing some of the other professors to turn and look at where she'd entered.

"Good, we can get another opinion!" Minerva exclaimed, "Dinah, do you think we should change the night sky to look more pleasant, since it's supposed to storm tonight?"

Dinah glanced up at the bewitched ceiling. Dark clouds were gathering over it, "That might be a good idea, since it is the first day back. The first years will probably want to see something a little less gloomy."

"It's settled then!" the headmaster said, "We shall change the night sky for tonight. Perhaps add a lot of stars."

"It is a bad omen if you attempt to alter the sky," Professor Trelawny mumbled.

"I'm sure it won't hurt anything, Sibyll," Professor Flitwick insisted.

"Indeed," Firenze agreed, "Seeing as this is a false sky in the first place, as long as the true sky is not tampered with, nothing bad should come of it."

Trelawny simply shook her head and continued to glare at the centaur out of the corner of her eye as she slunk off, and Dinah could sense some resentment between them, "Well at any rate, it's so good to be here… um, would you mind telling me which seat will be mine?"

Dumbledore nodded and smiled, "Since you are the newest of our faculty, I'm afraid your seat will be at the very end of the table for now. But don't worry; I'm sure that will change as you spend more time here. You came highly recommended, after all," he winked and Dinah smiled. She could always feel comfortable around the headmaster.

"Thank you," she smiled and walked to her seat, and soon more faculty members began to pour in. Next to her sat the Care of Magical Creatures professor and groundskeeper, Hagrid. The huge man sat down next to her and shook her hand heartily as he welcomed her back to Hogwarts. A professor she had not met before sat next to Hagrid, and next down the line glided the dark silhouette of Professor Severus Snape.

Their eyes met and he flashed a half-smile at her, which was really more of a smirk, then he turned away. Yet again he seemed to have some sort of a problem with her. But it wasn't of any use to her to try to figure it out. After all, she probably wouldn't be seeing much of him anyway, and even if she did, it wasn't as if they needed to be friends. Hopefully they could at least be civil though. Perhaps he just tended to get off on the wrong foot with people. But no matter.

Soon they all stood as the second through seventh year students piled into the room and took seats at their respective house tables. Dinah watched each student as they came in, and caught the eye of a girl with long red hair who walked with confidence to the head of the Gryffindor table. She was head girl this year, given the seat she sat at. And Dinah thought that she looked a bit familiar.

Soon Minerva left to get the first years, and then she was marching back in through the large doors with the tiny students scurrying behind her, looking up and around at the great hall and muttering in awe and excitement.

Dinah smiled at their youthful energy and part of her wished that she had been able to come here for the first time at that age too. Professor Flitwick stood and walked with the sorting hat to set in on a stool at the front of the staff table for the students to be sorted. Dinah covered he mouth to hide a giggle. The hat was almost as big as he was!

The first small boy came up and was instantly assigned to Ravenclaw, which made Dinah smile. She had fond memories of that hat. It had had an extremely difficult time deciding whether to put her in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor, and in fact had never come to a final conclusion. It was, as she understood it, at least at the time, the only instance in which the Sorting Hat had been unable to make a decision. She had, therefore, ended up spending her first semester of each year as a Hufflepuff and her second as a Gryffindor, which had caused more problems than it probably should have. Including the incident that she most wanted to forget…

But the wizarding world was at peace now that the famous Harry Potter had defeated Lord Voldemort. Surely now it was safe to return. A mistake must have been made in the prophecy. Such things were not, after all, unheard of.

Dinah let out the breath she just realized she had been holding and let her body relax. She folded her arms in front of her and willed herself to forget the past. Everything was fine now. She could do what she dreamed.

She watched the remainder of the sorting in peace, and then settled down to dinner.

The hulking form of Hagrid leaned over her plate. He smiled and pointed to one of the foods she had placed on it. A marshmallow-strawberry jelly dish; "That's the best dessert here," he winked, "You'll love it, Professor Samson."

She smiled; "Please call me Dinah." The man's girth was a contradiction to his gentle nature. She had known him as the young groundskeeper when she had been attending school here.

"Dinah," Hagrid grinned at her, "So glad to welcome you here. You know, you missed all the action in the intervenin' years. If you'd have been here last year…" he shook his head, then leaned in and whispered, "Let's just say that you wouldn't have gotten along with the headmaster."

Professor Snape cleared his throat down the line, and when Diana peeked past Hagrid she noticed a grimace on his face as he ate. Suddenly his name became familiar to her. He had been last year's headmaster, when the Death Eaters had been in control of the school.

"What? But I thought that-"

"It would do the Care of Magical Creatures Professor well to keep his opinions to himself," Snape sneered; "And it would do the new Muggle Studies Professor well to contain her curiosities."

It was Hagrid's turn to clear his throat in embarrassment, "Sorry 'bout that, Professor Snape. Really, I meant no offense. We all know it was just an act _now _but at the time it was a difficult year," when Snape didn't respond Hagrid shrugged and leaned over to Dinah again, "Professor Snape protected us all from Voldemort at great risk to himself. Don't get the wrong opinion of him – I only meant that he was quite a strict headmaster. Er, to fool the Death Eaters of course."

"I see," Dinah took another glance over at Professor Snape, but he seemed to be ignoring them now. So she shrugged and dug into her jelly.

When the meal was over with Dumbledore silenced the hall and walked up to the front of the stage to prepare an announcement; "Well, at first I would like to say: It is wonderful to be back with all of you again."

The students erupted into applause, and the red-haired girl at the head of the Gryffindor table stood up to lead the rest of the room in a standing ovation. After a few moments Dumbledore calmed them down again.

"We've had a difficult past year," the headmaster continued, "And a long, difficult battle with Voldemort even throughout the years before then. But we have come back stronger than before, and I believe that this will be a bright new year for us all. That said, I would like to introduce everyone to a few new professors we have starting this year. Unfortunately, our previous professor of Muggle Studies, Professor Charity Burbage, was truly destroyed by the Death Eaters and escaped the revival that many of us were granted. But we believe that we have hired one of the most qualified witches of our time to teach the subject. Please welcome Professor Dinah Samson!"

The crowd of students applauded politely as Dinah stood up from her chair, nervously smiling out at them. When the applause died she sat back down.

"I'm sure you will all make Professor Samson feel welcome," Dumbledore continued, and then his smile widened, "And on an even more positive note, our other professor is not here to replace anyone. We are all lucky to have not lost any more faculty in the battles of the past few years. No, this year we have taken it upon ourselves to add an entirely new class to the Hogwarts repertoire! For those of you that enjoy recreational reading, we have set up a new elective course on wizard literature for your pleasure."

There were some excited murmurs at the student tables and Dinah smiled as well. It sounded like a very interesting course. She had always been an avid reader herself, and read stories by both Muggle and wizard authors. It would be interesting to observe the course here and compare it to the few English literature courses she had taken at Muggle university.

"Therefore, I would like to introduce you all to our other new faculty member, Professor Lucy Ketteridge."

A woman with bright red hair on the other side of the table stood and smiled, and again the red-headed girl at the front of the Gryffindor table seemed particularly enthusiastic. Thinking about it, Dinah realized they looked a lot alike and were perhaps related somehow.

The clapping diminished again and then Dumbledore sent everyone off with well-wishes for the beginning of a new year.

Dinah stood and bid farewell to Hagrid before heading back to her quarters. She flashed a friendly smile at Professor Ketteridge as she walked past. They were both new, and so hopefully could get to know each other and help each other learn the ropes later on. But right now, she had a more important job to do.


	2. Debate

CHAPTER TWO

Debate

* * *

Dinah entered her quarters, fed Godric, Salazar, and Helga, then headed over to the comfortable sofa where her Muggle items were stored. Digging in one of her bags, she pulled out just what she needed:

Her mobile phone.  
She performed her quick bewitching spell to make the electronic device turn on, and then pushed speed-dial one. Soon, a friendly female voice answered 'Hello' on the other end.

"Hi, Mum," Dinah smiled and sat down on the couch, "How are things?"

Her mother chuckled, "How are things with _us_? No, the real question is how are things with _you_? Have you gotten all settled in yet?"

"Pretty much," she agreed, "A few things left to unpack still, but nothing impressive. I am _so _looking forward to my first class on Monday! And everyone is very welcoming so far. Still, I'll miss the bustle of the city and my local friends. It's too bad I can't tell them…"

"I know," her mother sighed, "But it's for the best, of course. We'll keep up the ruse that you're working in New Zealand."

Dinah chuckled, "And that I don't have phone or internet access. Where's Dad?"

"Oh, watching football on the telly," she could hear the roll of her mother's eyes in her tone, "Manchester's winning, so he's in a good mood."

She laughed, "I'm sure. Well, don't disturb him, I'll be sure to call back. I'm getting sleepy already and just wanted to let you both know that I'd settled in safely, and everything is going great so far. If you ever want me to apparate on over for a visit just call me when no one else is around," Dinah stood up as she sensed the conversation coming to an end.

"Will do," her mother said, "Leave your mobile spell on so we can get hold of you."

"Will do," she imitated, and then laughed along with her mother, "Bye, Mum."

"Bye, Dear," her mother hung up.

Dinah smiled and turned the phone back off with her wand, and then nearly jumped out of her skin at what she saw in the doorway.

The professor from before, Professor Snape of all people, was standing in front of her doorway staring at her with the phone in her hand like she'd just apparated over from another planet. How could she have been stupid enough to leave her door hanging open like that?

"Er… can I help you?" she managed to ask.

"_What _is _that_?" Snape tilted his head in the direction of her phone, an air of accusation and disgust in his face and tone.

"My phone…" she shook her head to clear away the lingering shock, "And what about it?"

He smirked, "How does it manage to work here in Hogwarts? And is it a common trait of Muggle Studies professors not to send an _owl _like a normal person would do?"

Dinah frowned, now irritated, "I have my own specially-designed spell to bewitch electronic objects so that they work here. And I _happen _to enjoy the immediate and instantaneous live conversation that telephones have to offer."

"I shouldn't be surprised," Snape rolled his eyes, "Muggle Studies professors are all the same. Yet I've never met one who tried to _live _as a Muggle as well," he nodded at the pile of electronic devices on her couch, "I assume you enjoy using those… _things _as well?"

She sighed, "Yes, I do. And if you're going to insist on arguing with me the least you could do would be to come inside and stop standing in the doorway like that."

He nodded absently and walked inside, not taking his eyes off of her things as he approached, "I'm not arguing. I am simply trying futilely to understand something that I probably never will, given my history. Namely the affection that Muggle-borns have for Muggles and Muggle society. I can see not interfering with them, not hating and killing them – but _understanding _them? When our society is obviously superior? That I still don't see."

Dinah scoffed, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised either. You were working with Voldemort for so long; you must share some Death Eater ideals. Charity Burbage advocated pure-bloods and Muggle-borns working and living together, understanding each other. She valued equality between the wizarding groups and also a joint respect for Muggles and their society from both groups. Because of that she was killed. You probably resented her ideals just as much as the other Death Eaters did."

Snape met her gaze directly, taking her aback, and his gaze had turned dark and haunted, "Don't you _dare _talk to me about Charity Burbage. I watched her die. I had to pretend not to care as she begged me for mercy. I did all of that to _protect _her ideals by allowing the Potter boy time to prepare to take on the Dark Lord and save all of us. Irrespective of my opinions of her ideals, I protected them for the good of my society. So don't talk to _me _about things you could never understand."

Dinah sighed, "I'm sorry." And she _was_ sorry. Sorry for what she had said and the way in which she had said it. It was wrong of her to make judgments on the most recent war and the people involved, especially as she had been so far removed from it at the time, working on her Muggle dissertation. And Professor Snape's eyes looked so haunted, so filled with regret, that she didn't dare argue with him further about his past. But despite that, she still had a duty to make him understand her own position, and _that _was something she couldn't just push aside.

"I'm sorry," she repeated, standing tall and meeting his eyes, "I shouldn't have made those judgments. But I also can't simply accept people's opinions when I believe that they are wrong. I expected some of the students to have a hard time accepting my position on the Muggle world, but not another professor. Tell me, then, why exactly is it that you think wizarding society is so superior?"

"It isn't obvious?" he raised an eyebrow, "Look at our abilities. Flying. Transfiguration. Apparition. To name only a few. Muggle technology may be impressive to some," he nodded at her devices again, "But in the presence of our magic their puny electronic devices don't even work. We have to use our magic to bewitch them to work. Looking at it that way, isn't it clear that magic comes out the clear winner?"

"Is it?" she asked, "Magic and electricity are both based on energies naturally present in our world. Just as some humans are born smarter than others, born with the ability to do things that others can't, some humans are born with the ability to attune themselves to the energies that allow them to perform magic. When large groups of these people gather together, those energies are strong enough to interfere with the smaller amounts of electric energy necessary to run these appliances," she gestured to her things, "But I've never seen them stop working at home when I'm with my parents; or even at small gatherings where only a few wizards are present. It hasn't been done, but I expect that if the entire population of Hogwarts entered, say, the computer control room at an aeronautics base, there would be few problems, because the levels of energy would be well matched again."

"Well," Snape paused for a moment, but clearly wasn't prepared to give up, "Even if that proved to be true, look at our society. We function and survive just as well as the Muggles do, though we don't use their technology. With our ability to control magic, we have no need for their cars and planes or their entertainment or their medicine. They only needed to invent those things because they were unable to use our magic to satisfy their needs. Clearly inferior."

"And yet they were able to adapt to their non-magic states by learning about the other energies in the world, and by creating those things. Just as a blind person compensates for their lack of sight by strengthening their other senses, and are then superior in those other senses than the rest of society. So the Muggles were able to discover things that the wizarding world didn't care to investigate, and learn even more about the world as a whole. A great amount of intelligence is necessary to put together a cell phone or a computer, wouldn't you say?"

"So now you're claiming that Muggles are more _intelligent _than wizards?" Snape glared at her.

"Not at all. Just that human societies naturally compensate for strengths and weakness by adapting and balancing things out again."

Snape shook his head, "Then my argument still stands that human societies that didn't have magic needed to develop technology to compensate for that _weakness_. To continue to use your metaphor, despite the strength of a blind person's other senses they're still considered disabled. Right?"

"Perhaps," she shrugged, "But 'disabled' is a man-made term. Whose job is it to decide which abilities are better or more important than others? That's something that humans decide, and anything that a human decides is naturally subjective. So who's to say that they know the truth?"

"Ah," Snape smiled, "Well, how about this, then? You're a witch. But you're able to understand Muggle concepts. So wizards still have the _capability _of using and understanding Muggle technology, they just choose not to. Muggles are _incapable _of using magic."

Dinah frowned. Professor Severus Snape made good arguments. But she was just as stubborn as he was, and still had a full arsenal of arguments ready to continue to compete with him. After all, she had been thinking about these issues for the past twenty-two years of her life.

"Capable, yes," she agreed, "But so many wizards suffer from your own condition of self-importance, of thinking that they're too good for Muggle society and concepts. I think _that_ is a weakness, to suspend curiousity of the world once you know 'enough' to survive on. On the other hand, that may simply be human nature, but if it naturally comes with becoming a wizard, then I don't know if wizards are truly superior to other humans."

Snape shook his head and she couldn't help but smile. These thought's always made her mind spin as well. But she had always liked the sensation.

"So you admit," Snape finally began, "That any Muggle, upon becoming a wizard, would likely have this weakness. But again, not _all _wizards do. Look at yourself. So we're back where we started."

She shrugged, "Not exactly. For instance, are all people who can cook superior to all people who can't? Are all smart people superior to all stupid people? You have to take other qualities into account, to examine the whole of a person."

"Lovely sentiment," Snape smirked, "But I'm still not sold on the idea. Smart people, stupid people, people who can cook, people who can't, those are all dichotomies that exist in both Muggle _and _wizard humans. Until you can give me something that _all _Muggles can do and _all _wizards can't, I'm forced to conclude that wizards are superior."

Dinah smiled, "Let me turn your argument around a little bit. Can you name even _one _individual witch or wizard that is superior in every way to _every single _Muggle alive? If you can't then _I'm_ forced to conclude that being able to perform magic is just an ordinary ability like anything else, and some people can do it and some can't."

Snape frowned.

She grinned, "Mind-boggling isn't it?"

"You have a point, I suppose," he conceded, "But I'm not ready to admit defeat yet."

Dinah shook her head and smiled, "You make a lot of good arguments Professor Snape. But you have to realize that every single statement you've brought up in our discussion today I have considered from multiple angles over and over again for as many years as I've been a witch."

"And what have you concluded?"

"That there's no clear answer."

"So what does that mean?"

She shrugged, "That each human being should be judged on a combination of all merits, not just one or two. That superiority is in the eyes of the beholder. I don't know. But what I do know is that there's always one question that my mind always ends up focusing on when I think about this topic."

"And what is that?"

"If wizards are so superior to Muggles why are we just as likely to hurt and kill each other as they are?"

Snape sighed, but didn't seem keen to further discuss her question; "Well, I must say that this has been a very enlightening conversation Professor Samson. I'd be interested to sit in on one of your classes and see how you present your ideas to the students."

"You're welcome to do so," she smiled.

"We're not done discussing this, I hope you know."

"I figured," she said with a raised eyebrow, "But I'm sure we could go on and on for hours, and I need to get some sleep, as I'm sure do you."

"I suppose," Professor Snape didn't sound very enthusiastic, although she was noticing that he didn't seem enthusiastic about much of anything.

"Enjoy the rest of your evening, Professor."

He nodded curtly, "Likewise, Professor," took another bewildered glance at her electronics, and then left the room without another word, clicking the door shut behind him.

Dinah watched him leave, a different sort of bewildered look on her face. Although he seemed like a rather ornery, prejudiced type, she couldn't help but admire his intelligence and his bravery at having stood up against the Death Eaters for so long. And she found their discussion rather stimulating. It was nice to be able to debate someone about this for the first time in awhile, rather than only having the debate raging within her own head. And it was good preparation for tomorrow's first classes. Now the only preparation she had left to do was to get a good night's sleep.

And she was fairly certain she hadn't seen the last of Professor Severus Snape.


	3. Resistance

CHAPTER THREE

Resistance

* * *

The following morning she had just gotten everything set up in her classroom when the first round of her students began shuffling in. She was teaching an early first-year class at this time, and couldn't help but smile at the way the small students looked around with bewilderment as they walked in. Some looked nervous, some excited, and many of them whispered to each other in undertones. It was amazing how quickly some of the students made friends, as many of them clearly entered in clumped-up groups, already clinging closely to the people that they knew.

As class time approached and most of the students had arrived, a tall black-cloaked figure entered, causing many of the students near the back of the room to cringe and sink down into their seats. Dinah frowned, but it made sense that to such young children Professor Severus Snape would appear intimidating.

He walked up to the front of the room where she stood, arms folded and a frown set firmly on his face. The least he could do would be to be friendlier. After all, it wasn't as if she was _forcing _him to come here.

"You don't beat around the bush, do you?" she asked, "I didn't expect you to come sit in on a class this soon."

"It so happens that I don't begin teaching until a bit later in the morning, and this was the most convenient time," he replied, "So, if you don't mind…?"

She sighed, "Of course. After the class starts I'll let them know that you're here to observe, and you can sit at the back of the room. But wait until I explain to the students, all right? They seem to be intimidated by you."

"As they should be," Snape said, "I hope you're not the type of professor who feels it necessary to coddle your students."

"Of course not. But there's a difference between being strict and being terrifying."

Snape smirked, "You don't appear terrified."

Dinah rolled her eyes, "I'm thirty-eight years old."

"Really?" his face registered faint surprise for a moment before snapping back to its original set state, but he appeared thoughtful, "And you attended this school?"

"I did."

"If you're the same age as me I would think I would have seen you at _some _point at least during my Hogwarts years."

She shook her head, "I was a…special case."

"How so?"

But she didn't get to answer his question as the bell rang and a few remaining students scrambled in at the last minute, wearing Slytherin robes, and slid into the seats in the back of the room; "I'm afraid we'll have to cut our conversation short, Professor," she said, "It's time to begin."

He frowned, eyeing the Slytherin students in the back row. "I see I have some discipline issues to take care of. I can't have members of my own house showing up late to classes."

"Your own house?"

"I'm the head of Slytherin House."

"Ah," she nodded, for some reason not surprised in the least. But there was no time to dwell on it. She faced the class, "Welcome, students. My name is Professor Dinah Samson and this is going to be your Muggle Studies course for this year. I hope that this will be a rewarding, enjoyable class for both you and myself and am looking forward to introducing all of you to this fascinating subject," she smiled and gestured to Snape, who was still glaring at the Slytherin students in the back; "Today, one of my colleagues, Professor Severus Snape will be sitting in on the course and observing. Please do not let this detract from your focus on my lecture and pay him no attention," she couldn't help but let her smile widen a bit at the way that had come out. It was rather amusing.

Snape, on the other hand, did not look amused, and shot her a quick, cynical look before tromping away to the back of the room, grabbing a chair from the other side and sliding it over so that he was sitting directly behind the Slytherin students. They glanced at him, some looking nervous and some looking happy. The happiest one whispered something to the nervous one next to him and clapped him on the back, but the second student, a small boy with short black hair and a particularly red nose, didn't look very reassured.

"Please focus," she directed her comment at the students in the back, "I realize some of you are surprised to find out that Muggle Studies is now a required course. After the most recent great wizarding war the school feels that it is important now, more than ever, to foster understanding between wizards and Muggles. Pure-bloods, half-bloods, and Muggle-borns. We don't want history to repeat itself."

The cockier Slytherin boy sniggered at her comment, and Snape slapped him over the head with a rolled up piece of parchment.

"Oww," the boy rubbed at his head.

"Focus," Snape growled, "Have some pride as a Slytherin, Mr. Cantrell."

Dinah couldn't contain the curious look on her face. She didn't know how to comment on Snape's disciplining of the students. Probably she should ask him to stop, but it was almost amusing to see him banter with the student that looked up to him so much. It also appeared that Snape knew him.

"Well… that said, I'm going to take attendance," Dinah moved on, "So please raise your hand when I call you. Annabelle Anderson? Colin Aves?" She continued calling names until she got to the Cantrell boy. "Joseph Cantrell?" The boy raised his hand with a smug look on his face, and she continued, "Mr. Cantrell, please do not interrupt my class anymore with talking or laughing at my comments." Cantrell grumbled but lowered his hand and leaned back in his seat. She continued calling names until she reached the next point of interest. "Andrew Speasy?"

She was answered by a cough and a sneeze as the red-nosed boy rose his hand, then sneezed three more times and wiped his nose with a handkerchief before sniffling and putting it away.

"Mr. Speasy, are you feeling all right? If you have a bad cold perhaps you should go see Madam Pomfrey for treatment."

"He _always _has a cold!" a Griffindor boy whose name she hadn't called yet announced loudly, causing the other Griffindor's at his table to laugh.

"Shut up, Wortham!" Speasy snapped at the boy, showing some spunk for the first time. In fact, he looked positively livid.

Wortham laughed, "Embarassed? Not my fault."

The boy next to him, a Porter Lee, chuckled, "We should call him _sneezy _instead of Speasy." Many of the students laughed at that.

"Enough!" Dinah interjected, "This is not a class where we make fun of each other and call people names. And this is also not a class where we talk out of turn and yell at each other. Mr. Wortham, Mr. Porter, Mr. Speasy - please calm down and take your seats so that I can finish taking attendance! The rest of you, be quiet until I call your names!"

The room quieted down and Dinah sighed. Her first day of class was already turning out to be a handful. This was _not _what she had expected, but she had to persevere. She would achieve order in her classroom yet! As she finished calling attendance, finally finishing on the last girl, a Ravenclaw named Mae Yates. When her gaze passed over Snape's again she noticed a funny look on his face. His eyes were locked on the back of Andrew Speasy's head, except for an occasional glance over in the direction of Wortham and Lee. His expression was unreadable but he was definitely thinking about something.

"All right, now that that's taken care of, let's begin," she made sure to smile, as she realized that the incidents that had happened already might have made her seem grouchy. "You'll notice that there are no assigned books for this class. This is because I feel that most of the wizarding literature on Muggles is patchy in its accuracy at best, and that it will be easier to understand the Muggle world if we have some real hands-on experiences with it. Therefore, during the course of the class I'm going to be distributing reading materials from actual Muggle sources, as well as bringing in some Muggle artifacts for discussion. Some of you may be Muggle-born so already have some experience with this information, and I want those of you to think about the topics that we cover more philosophically. That is, in terms of the differences between the Muggle and wizarding world, how you feel inexperienced wizards may respond to and interpret the Muggle lifestyle, and what kinds of things are different and similar between us. It's also important to realize that, now that you are wizards, your attitudes towards Muggle life might change as you grow and spend more time in this world. Think about the ways in which this might occur. Also, I'd like all of you to think about what you want to get out of this class, and for that reason your first assignment will be to write a sixteen-inch essay on what you already know about Muggles and what you would be interested in learning in this course. That way I can tailor our discussions to your individual needs.

"Now, may I see a show of hands? How many of you are Muggle-born?"

About half the class raised their hands, and Dinah smiled. She was hoping the ratio would turn out like this.

"Now, you see class, what we have here is a true ratio. In this class we have about fifty-percent Muggle-borns, and that reflects the actual population of Muggle-borns in wizarding society. A curious fact, isn't it? That half of all magic is not inherited, but springs up randomly in society."

When the class just sort of nodded, but didn't respond, she continued, "I make this point to illustrate how little differences there are between Muggles and wizards, fundamentally. After all, we see that a union of two Muggle parents can result in a child capable of performing magic. Are these children any less qualified as wizards than their counterparts who inherit their magic? All studies say no."

The Muggle born students smiled, the other students looked curious, the Slytherin's in the back row looked uncomfortable, and Snape's face was as stoic as ever. She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to read that man!

"In this class I want us to learn about the differences between wizard and Muggle society, but also the similarities. And I want to let you all come up with your own ideas about the subject. I want this to be a class where we can all discuss our views in a welcoming environment. That said, I'm really interested in hearing your input. Do any of you have any questions, or would you like to say something about the subjects we've discussed so far? I'm opening the floor to you, so please don't be shy."

The Ravenclaw, Mae Yates, hesitantly raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Yates?" Dinah smiled.

"I'm a Muggle-born," she said, "And I just wondered – how is it that magic starts randomly showing up in humans with Muggle parents? I also wondered if the very first wizards were Muggle-born."

"Very good questions," Dinah said, "To answer your second question, yes, it is generally believed that Muggles existed before wizards, and magic use first appeared much the same way that magic appears in Muggle-borns today. As for your first question, we don't know all the answers yet. The question that naturally arises is how much of magic ability has a genetic component? Clearly not all of it; or it's not as straightforward, because Muggle parents can give birth to magical children. However, it is also true that in almost all cases one or two magic parents have magical children. Squibs are even less common in nature than are wizards born from Muggles."

Andrew Speasy hesitantly raised his hand in the back row.

"Yes, Mr. Speasy?" Dinah made sure to smile again.

"Why is it that Muggles and Mudbloods-" he immediately stopped and covered his mouth when he realized what he had said.

Before Dinah even had a chance to react to the foul word, Snape's rolled parchment went into action a second time, this time whacking Speasy on the head.

"Mr. Speasy," Dinah said firmly, "It is clear that speaking that word is an automatic response for you, probably due to your hearing or using it in your environment outside of school. I would _highly _advise you to condition yourself not to use that word again, because use of it a second time will result in detention."

"Yes, Ma'am," Speasy sunk into his chair, shot an uneasy glance back at Snape, who was glaring at him, and then quickly looked down at the floor.

"Now," Dinah addressed Speasy more calmly this time, allowing herself to smile again, "I still want this to be an open classroom where we can discuss all of our thoughts. So if you would like to ask your question again, rephrased of course, I'd encourage it, Mr. Speasy."

"Sure," Speasy nodded, sneezed twice, then spoke, "I just wondered why Muggles and … Muggle-borns need to be talked about in class if there are supposed to be no differences between us like you said."

"I never said that, and I don't ever want to say that," Dinah said, "It _is _true that Muggles are different from wizards, but the question is how we want to _judge _those differences. Now, on the subject of Muggle-borns, there are no differences except that they have a better knowledge of Muggle society than non-Muggle-born wizards. And we discuss them in this class because we want to acknowledge that some of you may have more experience with Muggle society than others, and also I want to emphasize them because our society is still recovering from prejudices against them left over from Voldemort's reign."

A few students gasped at her mention of the name.

"Now, please, let's be reasonable here. He is defeated, and there is absolutely _no harm _that speaking his name could bring to anyone. There is no reason to be afraid of the name anymore. I encourage us all to put our fears aside… okay?" she smiled and the students relaxed a bit.

"This leads me to the last major point I want to discuss today before we get started with some real work. Now, I know that we are used to using words like 'wizard' and 'Muggle', and other words which I won't repeat," she allowed herself one pointed glance at Speasy before continuing, "And I don't have any problem with these words 'per se'. However in this course I encourage all of you to, whenever possible, use the word 'people' instead. This will emphasize that we are still all human and share many things, especially our emotions, love and friendship, our joy at experiencing the world around us, and also many of our faults such as prejudices. I'm not trying to make this into a 'touchy-feely' course; I just want all of you to remember that."

Some of the students wrote this down on parchment, and she noticed Joseph Cantrell at the Slytherin table rolling his eyes. It was all right though. She had expected some resistance to the concepts she presented to them. Hopefully, that all would change in time.

"Are there any more questions before we begin today's lesson?"

John Wortham raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Wortham?"

"Do you think that Muggle and wizard societies should merge and live together?"

Dinah was taken aback. She had expected that question, certainly, but not this early on in the course. She glanced over at Snape. He was looking at her with a raised eyebrow, obviously curious to hear her answer.

She sighed, "No, Mr. Wortham. I don't think that would be wise."

"Then why do you think we're so similar if you don't even think we can live together?"

"Please raise your hand before asking a question, Mr. Cantrell. And the answer to that question is that, while it would be nice if we could all live together peacefully, that has proven to be impossible. The International Statute of Secrecy was set up to protect wizard society from any negative consequences that might occur should the Muggles be aware of us. Mr. Lee?"

"Like burning at the stake?" Porter Lee chuckled.

She frowned, "That's not funny, and I'm fairly certain that in the 20th century something like that wouldn't happen. It just so happens that it's human nature to be jealous of things we can't have. This is not the case with all Muggles. More often than not Muggle parents and relatives of wizards are very open to our society and get along with us just fine." She paused as Snape cleared his throat and looked over in his direction. He looked up and met her eyes, but then held his hand up telling her to go on. He looked calmly defiant.

She shrugged imperceptibly and called on another student who raised her hand, "Miss Bristow?"

Alana Bristow asked, "Professor Samson, are you saying that bad things may happen to us if Muggles found out about our society?"

"Unfortunately, but it's not as simple as that. One bitter Muggle would cause no harm to our world at large. But a large group of them could pose a problem. Mob mentality is another unfortunate facet of human nature. Mr. Mitchell?"

"Can't we just defeat them if that happens?"

"You're interested in another war?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Er, well… I didn't mean that," Sean Mitchell stammered, "I guess that would be bad, wouldn't it?"

Dinah laughed, "Probably, yes. The point is, we don't want any kind of clashes to occur. Unfortunately, as previous events have shown, some wizards are just as likely to attack Muggles as vice versa. Because of the sad facts of human nature, it's best for us to stay apart."

"But we're still equal then?" Alana Bristow asked, confused, when Dinah called on her.

"Just because two societies can't live together due to differences doesn't mean that one is necessarily better than the other," Dinah said, "But I'd like for all of you to decide for yourselves, after taking this class and learning about Muggle society, whether we are equal or not, or if the word 'equal' has any meaning in this discussion in the first place." The children didn't ask anymore questions, just looked confused. "Don't worry, it will become clear in time," Dinah smiled, "So now if there are no more questions… no? Okay then, we should begin our first assignment. I'm going to pass out a short article that was written by Charity Burbage for the Daily Prophet a little over eight years ago. I want each of you to read it, then separate into groups of four and discuss it amongst yourselves. Each group should write down four important points they think should be taken from the article, and we'll discuss it together as a class afterwards."

She handed out the paper and the class separated into groups. She noticed that students were clustered, for the most part, by house, and that the Slytherins Joseph Cantrell and Andrew Speasy remained together, as well as the Gryffindors John Wortham and Porter Lee. Snape took a copy of the paper as well to look at so he could follow along with the discussion. He made a few faces as he read it, but otherwise remained stoic. The article argued for more intense Muggle education to be given to workers in the Ministry of Magic and, Dinah thought, made its case rather well.

The rest of the class went by rather smoothly. As usual, the Slytherins and some of the pure-blood students were more resistant to the ideas presented in the paper, whereas the Muggle-borns were a bit more receptive. But overall, the class discussion went rather well and all of the students asked good questions and made good arguments. It looked like this was going to be a pretty smart group.


	4. Friendship

A/N: This chapter more clearly introduces CommanderValeria's original character, Lucy Ketteridge, who you can read more about in her story "Don't Leave Me", featuring Sirius Black.

* * *

CHAPTER FOUR

Friendship

* * *

Dinah dismissed the class after reminding them about their homework assignment due on Wednesday. As the children gathered their books together and started shuffling out, Snape made his way back up to her desk. "Well?" she asked, a half-grin on her face.

"Not bad," he nodded, "You do a good job stimulating discussion among the students."

"Is that a compliment?" she laughed.

Snape just continued to frown, "Perhaps. On your teaching style. And you do make good points, but I'm still not entirely convinced of them."

"I didn't expect you to be. But I do appreciate your disciplining Speasy when he spoke that word," she tried unsuccessfully to hide a smile as she remembered just _how _he had disciplined the student.

"Speasy…" Snape frowned, ignoring her smile, "I'll have to keep an eye on that boy. Hanging out with Joseph Cantrell might not be a good choice."

"Why is that?"

"The Cantrell family is a distant relation to the Malfoys. They were Death Eaters for awhile."

"I see," she said, "Well, I'll keep an eye on him too. And it doesn't help with those Gryffindor boys agitating Speasy."

Snape's eyes darkened, the first 'almost-sign' of emotion she'd seen in him yet. "Wortham and Lee," he muttered, "Yes, I'll be sure to keep an eye on _them_."

"Excuse me?" his reaction was baffling.

"Never mind," he replied curtly, spinning around so that he wasn't facing her anymore and all she could see was his black cloak. "I'll be interested in debating with you further in the future. Meantime, I have to get to my own classes. Good day, Professor Samson," he stalked off without another look back.

Dinah shrugged when he'd left the room and began gathering her things together. She had an hour break before her next class. She had just finished putting some books and papers into a neat pile when she heard a soft "Hello?" from the other side of the room.

She looked up to see Professor Lucy Ketteridge, the new teacher of wizarding literature, standing near the doorway with a friendly smile on her face. "Oh, hello!" Dinah smiled in greeting, "Professor Ketteridge, right?"

"You can call me Lucy," Lucy replied, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. She looked a bit nervous. "I just wanted to introduce myself and see if you needed anything. My class is just a couple doors down and I thought, both of us being new and all, we could band together, maybe become friends," she paused to take a breath. "I'm sorry. I'm babbling. I'm not real good with meeting new people. Kind of ironic since I'm a professor now and I suppose I'll be meeting new people every year, but I-I don't know, that's different somehow. I'm going to shut up now before I scare you anymore then I probably already have."

"Um… okay," Dinah laughed. And here she had been worried that the other professor might not be interested in getting to know each other. "Don't worry about it. Starting over in a new place is making me kind of jumpy, too. At least you didn't have to teach class with Professor Snape staring at you the whole time."

Lucy laughed, "That's true. I had him when I was a student here though. You get used to the staring after awhile," she paused, thoughtful. "He did glare at me when he left though. He has no reason to glare at me. _I_ didn't do anything to him. He just hates my boyfriend and so he glares at me."

"I'm wondering if he ever does anything _but _glare at people," Dinah mused as Lucy walked further into the classroom toward the desk. Dinah walked off of the stage at the front of the room to meet her, "It seems I've caught his eye due to some differences in opinion we have on Muggle and wizard societies. Not that I'm complaining. I like a healthy debate. But I admit Professor Snape is proving hard for me to figure out," she laughed, "So why does he hate your boyfriend? Maybe knowing will help me to dig deeper into his mysterious psyche."

Lucy shook her head, sitting at one of the desks. "I wish I knew. The only things I do know is that something happened during their school days and that it involved Sirius, James Potter, and Remus Lupin, maybe Peter Pettigrew too, it's hard to tell. But I think it's safe to say Sirius hates Snape just as much as Snape hates Sirius."

"Sirius?" Dinah repeated, the name sounding familiar to her for some reason, especially being associated with James Potter. Then it came to her, "You don't mean Sirius Black, the Prisoner of Azkaban do you?"

Lucy nodded, looking irritated. "Why, yes I do mean Sirius Black. It was in the papers over the summer. About how he had been falsely accused and imprisoned."

"Oh," Dinah hurried to apologize, "I'm sorry, it was just an automatic reaction. I do remember hearing something about that now, yes. It's just… well, you see I've been a bit far removed from wizarding society for the last few years. I was living as a Muggle and finishing up a Muggle degree. That's why I was chosen for this position. I have experience in both worlds and I did my Muggle research on human interactions in different cultures."

"Oh, I'm sorry too," Lucy looked sheepish, "I've just had to listen to a lot of reactions like yours this summer. Someone even called the authorities, convinced Sirius had kidnapped me and was holding me hostage," she shook her head. "Anyway, I do recall Dumbledore saying that you were well qualified for this position. He didn't say why though. Perhaps I'll sit in on one of your classes sometime, if that's all right with you of course. I've always had a bit of a fascination with Muggles. It's something Uncle Arthur and I share. Though my fascination is more focused on Muggle writers, while Uncle Arthur's is for Muggles in general."

"That would be fine," Dinah replied, then laughed, "I didn't expect to be this popular already. You'll be the second person sitting in on one of my classes. You'll probably frighten the students less than Professor Snape, though."

Lucy giggled, "I should hope not. You've probably figured this out already but that man intimidates more than just the students. I'm just grateful he doesn't find my subject so…interesting. How did your class go with him here?"

Dinah couldn't help but laugh, "Oh, fine. He takes a rather abusive nature with his students, though. It was all I could do not to laugh when he swatted some of the Slytherins over the head with a rolled-up piece of parchment."

Lucy laughed and rubbed the back of her head. It looked like a thoughtless gesture, and Dinah hid a smile, realizing that Lucy had probably been the victim of such an attack before. But she didn't mention it to the other Professor, not wanting to embarrass her.

"But yeah, I can see why he seems intimidating," she continued, "I'd probably feel a little more intimidated myself if I didn't have my position to defend. As soon as someone makes comments like the ones he did about Muggles, I go on the defensive. There's no reason to be intimidated by somebody with such warped values. It's easy for me to feel empowered around people like that, when I know that my position is right. Er," she flushed, "Not to sound like a snob or anything."

Lucy waved her off, "Don't worry. You sound far from snobbish. I just hope I can be that firm in my opinions if he decided to poke his head into my class. Which I should probably get back to before the seventh years show up. I'm looking forward to teaching them. It's easier to have mature discussion with them then with the fifth years I just had."

"Yeah, probably," Dinah agreed, "I've only had a first year class so far. But they were pretty bright. I guess the thing with fifth years is that they're all fifteen, sixteen years old and convinced that there are better things to do with their time than school."

"Well, that and every time someone says something like penis, they all giggle. But that's the age I guess. Hormones raging and all that. I honestly don't remember being like that. Of course I was that kid who actually liked school, always had her nose in a book, and was a bit short on friends. Luckily some of my cousins were here at the same time so I wasn't totally a loner and I did make a really good friend that I still talk to. Still none of them are here now, so it seems a bit lonely. Actually I can't say none of them are here. Ginny's in her last year but she'll be busy studying for her N.E.W.T.S and I doubt she'd want to hang out with a professor much anyway."

Dinah raised an eyebrow, trying to follow along with the speed of the other professor's conversation. She smiled, "Well, I can relate. I was a bit of a loner when I was here, too. My magic wasn't discovered until I was sixteen, which is completely unheard of, so I was sort of treated differently from everybody else. And I still had to take all seven years of study, so I was always the oddball old person in my class group."

Lucy looked shocked, but Dinah was used to seeing that reaction from people when she told them. "That must have been difficult. I had assumed we were the same age. It's amazing how much we've changed since our school days isn't it? I mean I never thought I'd be in a relationship at all, let alone one with someone like Sirius. And yet in some ways we're still the same. I'm still that girl who'd rather read than socialize."

Dinah nodded, "It's true. We change but we stay the same. I've always thought that each of us has a basic 'ground personality' that we build upon as we go, sometimes realizing we made a mistake and tearing down some of our work and rebuilding, but the basic ground level always stays," she smiled, "I sound like an old lady, don't I? Maybe if I was in a nice healthy relationship like you are I wouldn't think so much all the time."

Lucy smiled, "I think it's a good philosophy. But I don't know that I'd call my relationship and nice, healthy one. We met about…wow, three years ago now. We flirted back and forth for the summer then I had to leave on an assignment. At the end of that school year, he was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange. I was pretty depressed after that. My aunt was really worried about me. She blamed Sirius for what I was going through. Then after the Battle at Hogwarts…well I'm sure you heard all about that. It was rather remarkable. We lived together the whole summer, up until I came here to start teaching. I think we're still in that obsessed with each other stage."

"Sounds like fun," Dinah grinned, but something had been nagging at her for awhile now in their conversation. She thought she might be able to try and voice it now, "You keep mentioning your relatives… and it seems like you were pretty deeply involved in the last wizarding war. The name Ginny sounds familiar, too," she laughed, "Can you tell me if I'm on the track of something, because it's eluding me."

Lucy laughed, looking surprised again. "Oh, I'm sure you are. Most people I've come across put it together fairly quick, but I suppose you might not be familiar with the family seeing as you've been living in the Muggle world. Anyway, I'm related to the Weasleys. My mother was Mrs. Weasley's sister. And yes we were pretty involved in the wizarding war. Aunt Molly, Uncle Arthur, the two oldest children and I were members of the Order of the Phoenix."

"The Weasleys!" Dinah exclaimed, "_That's _what was familiar. Wasn't one of Harry Potter's best friends Ronald Weasley? And if I'm correct he's in a relationship with his friend's younger sister… wait! The head Gryffindor girl-" she cut herself off with a gasp as it all became clear.

Lucy grinned, "Yup. Right about all of it. Ginny is head girl of Gryffindor this year. Aunt Molly was so proud when she got that. I'm closest with Bill and Charlie, but Charlie's my age and Bill's only a little bit older. Percy's right behind me in age but we never got along too well seeing as up until recently he was really pompous. Fred and George are a riot. They might not seem all that substantial when you first meet them, but they're good people. So are Ron and Ginny, all the Weasleys are really."

"I thought Ginny looked familiar. I'd seen her picture in the paper this summer. It's amazing how much celebrity everyone associated with Harry Potter has been getting. Although, lately you don't hear that much about what Harry himself is doing."

"Well, he's out catching any left over Death Eaters. He's an auror now, both him and Ron."

"Ah, I see," Dinah nodded, for some reason flashing back to Joseph Cantrell in her class. Snape had said his family were Death Eaters. Hopefully, the use of the word 'were' meant that that was no longer the case. She'd hate to see any more tragedies befall Hogwarts students, especially ones so young they still had plenty of time to change their views on the world. But there was nothing she could do about it besides keep teaching and hope they all learned a thing or two about tolerance. "You say your uncle is interested in Muggles?"

Lucy laughed, "Yeah, that's a bit of an understatement. He collects as many Muggle things as he can get his hands on, and keep Aunt Molly from seeing, and tries to learn everything he can about them. He even had an enchanted car for awhile, until Ron lost it that is, even though he didn't know how to drive."

Dinah chuckled, "I'd like to meet him some time. But in the meantime, please feel free to drop in on one of my classes whenever you like. Now that you mention it, I was wondering if I might do the same with one of your classes? I've taken a few classes on Muggle literature in the past and I like to read when I have the time. I'm curious to see how you approach it."

"Oh, I'm sure he'd love to meet you too. You having experience with Muggles after all. You can stop by my class anytime. As I said I have seventh years next so the stuff they're doing is going to be closer to the level we're used to reading and I'm hoping to be able to at least talk with them more about theory then my other classes. If you'd rather come to any of the younger years that's fine too. I just might have to see if I can borrow some books off of you at some point. I've read a few Muggle books, but not many. It can be hard for me to get my hands on their literature."

"Sure," Dinah laughed, "Although I don't know how much of what I have could be called 'literature'. But I have a few of the classics – and some stuff that's just kind of fun. You can drop by sometime and look at my collection."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about the term literature. That's actually something I plan on talking about in class. But my taste in books has a wide range. I happen to be currently reading _Wizard Prince, Muggle Bride_ and I just finished _The Salem Letters_.You'd be welcome to raid my collection too. I don't have half of my books here but there's still plenty to choose from. That was one good thing about living in that big, old house of Sirius's, lots of room for my books with just the two of us there."

Dinah giggled, "_Wizard Prince, Muggle Bride _sounds like one of those cheesy Muggle romance novels."

Lucy chuckled, "Well, it is a cheesy romance novel, just of the wizard variety. Sirius thinks they're ridiculous. I tell him they're research materials," she blushed.

Dinah laughed, "Well, I won't ask what he thinks of their quality as research materials. Me, I'm partial to mystery myself. I like romance more as a part of a larger story than as the main focus of a story. But hey, what you like is what you like."

"I enjoy a mystery every now and again too. Romances are just easy reads that I can pick up and put down when ever without worrying about losing the plot. I absolutely love historical fiction but that tends to make me hop from book to book looking up events and people."

She nodded, "I can see that. Well, I hate to cut our conversation short but the break is going to be over soon so we'd better get ready for our next classes. I'm sure I'll see you around soon. We'll have to figure out our schedules so we can find times to visit each other's classes."

Lucy stood, preparing to leave, "I should be going I suppose. It was nice getting to know each other a bit. You'll have to tell me more about your school days later. If we don't get a chance to talk at one of the meal times you can feel free to stop by my room. Being here by myself tends to leave my evenings wide open."

"Sure, I'll do that," Dinah smiled, "It was nice chatting with you. Enjoy the rest of your classes."

"Oh, I will. As long as Professor Snape doesn't see fit to sit in on one," Lucy said, heading towards the door. "I'll see you later Professor Samson."

Dinah chuckled, "We'll see if he chooses to sit in on one of mine again. Oh, by the way, feel free to call me Dinah as well."

"I'll cross my fingers that he doesn't. See you later, Dinah."

"Thanks, you too, Lucy," Dinah waved as Lucy left the room.

Dinah smiled as she walked back to the stage and went behind her desk to start switching the first year class materials for the fourth year class materials she would be using in the next twenty minutes or so. It seemed she had made a new friend already! Lucy was very nice and easy to get along with, and she figured they'd be seeing a lot of each other in the weeks to come.

And then there was Snape.

A wry smile spread across Dinah's face as she pondered it. Well, he couldn't exactly be called a friend. But she was very curious to see what, if anything, would happen between them next.

He was like her own personal little mystery that she had to figure out.


	5. Enigma

CHAPTER FIVE

Enigma

* * *

Dinah headed to the Great Hall for lunch after completing a satisfying class with the fourth years. It was interesting to see how the different age groups behaved differently in class, just as Lucy had suggested. And Dinah was truly looking forward to her seventh year class later that afternoon.

She took her usual seat at one end of the faculty table, and surveyed the food in front of her. It looked like today's lunch was pizza, along with chips or onion rings for a side. She took a slice of pepperoni and ham pizza and split the rest of her plate with half chips and half onion rings.

In a few moments she felt a dark silhouette hulking over her, and looked up just as Professor Snape walked past. He met her eyes and gave a curt nod, then sat at his chair two spaces down and started to pour himself a glass of water. The other two chairs remained empty, and Dinah assumed Hagrid had most of his meals out at his cabin. The other chair belonged to the Arithmancy teacher, Professor Septima Vector, and she took her seat just as Snape had begun eating.

Dinah turned her attention back to her food but looked up when Lucy walked in and took her seat at the other side of the table. Lucy smiled and waved. Dinah waved back, took a glance at Snape out of the corner of her eye, and made a goofy face while gesturing to him sideways with her thumb. They both laughed, but then Snape's head shot over to Dinah and she quickly went back to her food. Clearly he had noticed her gesture.

How embarrassing.

She had been stuffing her face with onion rings for about five minutes and probably looked rather ridiculous with her head buried in her plate, when Snape cleared his throat next to her and she managed to look up at him again, smiling awkwardly. Apparently Professor Vector had left her plate sometime in the previous moments and Dinah hadn't even noticed, so now there was no one in between her and the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. "Yes?"

"I hate to interrupt you when you seem to be enjoying your meal so much," he said dryly, "But I've been trying to figure this out and I can't. Why is it that I have never heard of you before if we were in the same year in school?"

"We weren't."

"We weren't?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow. He probably thought she was a complete idiot.

Dinah sighed, "Professor Snape, I did attend Hogwarts for all seven of my school years. But I'm a Muggle-born and my powers weren't discovered until I was sixteen years old. I was a first year when you were a sixth year. I spent very little time with other students while I was in Hogwarts – my unique circumstances put me in a very awkward position and I was somewhat antisocial because of it."

She hadn't yet seen Professor Snape at a loss for words but he seemed to be now, as he just stared at her for a long time, as usual with a completely unreadable expression.

In the absence of any response, Dinah continued talking, "I know it's unusual but it's perfectly legitimate. You wouldn't have seen me at the first year's sorting because I was sorted in private. After that I spent most of my time studying, and occasionally helped my "fellow" first-years. I learned quite a bit faster than most of them, obviously. But skipping grades just isn't done in wizard society the way it's done in Muggle society. If I'm correct you began teaching potions at the beginning of my sixth year, after Professor Slughorn left, but as I had achieved an Outstanding in that O.W.L. and was one of Professor Slughorn's "pets", so to speak, after that point I stopped taking any classes I didn't have to and did a lot of independent study. I don't think we ever formally ran into each other at any point while I was in school at Hogwarts."

Snape frowned, "I'll never understand some of the things Professor Dumbledore does."

"What do you mean?"

"Letting in Muggle-borns whose powers hadn't been discovered until the age of sixteen. That's completely unheard of, and to think that it happened and he kept it such a secret."

"He did that for _me_. Can you imagine the attention it would have gotten if the information got out into the wizarding world?"

"That's my point," Snape was looking more irritated by the minute, "That kind of information _should _be available to the general public. We need to understand _why _your powers weren't discovered until later. As far as I'm concerned, that doesn't speak well for your magic ability."

"I only just told you how successful I was in school. And after listening in on my class this morning you _still _insist that being Muggle-born makes a person an inferior witch or wizard?"

"You mentioned in your class that Muggle parents are still capable of producing a wizard child and that there are still mysteries surrounding the development of magical ability in humans. And for – apparently – the only time in the history of the world a child with the potential to be a wizard shows no sign of magical ability until the age of sixteen? Clearly something like that should be thoroughly investigated. But, as usual Dumbledore puts protection of individual students before the benefit of our society as a whole. Even _you _must want to know why you're so different from the rest of us."

"For your information, Professor Snape, I am not _different _from anyone. My magic ability is completely normal regardless of when it was discovered. But you'd like to see me interviewed and investigated and poked and prodded and made into some sort of sociological wizard science experiment? Maybe _you're _the one who should think about individual people before you continue to force upon our society your superior, prejudiced, discriminatory death-eater values!" Barely realizing what she was doing Dinah shoved back her chair, stood up, and stormed from the room just as Professor Vector was returning to her plate from wherever she had stepped off to. The other witch looked surprised as Dinah brushed past but she was too angry to care or to try to explain things to anyone. Still seeing red, she stomped down the hall into her room and slammed the door behind her.

Dinah slumped onto the couch in a huff, kicking off her shoes. Godric leaped up at her feet and started to crawl up to her chest. She absently stroked his fur, realizing only now that she had severely overreacted.

She sighed as the big brown cat curled up on her chest, purring. It had been her own stupid sensitivity that had set her off. There was so much tension in those days of her youth, just talking about it made her uncomfortable. And the suggestion that she was somehow abnormal, or that her case should be investigated, terrified her even now. Deep down she knew Snape was probably right. Or at least he had a point. But she didn't want to be investigated. Because investigating would naturally lead to discovery of the prophecy. And _that _was what needed to be hidden the most. That was why Dumbledore had protected her in those times, and why she was so afraid of being different.

But perhaps it was finally time to get over those things and move on. After all, now that Voldemort was defeated she was safe. Still, hopefully Snape wouldn't try to convince Dumbledore of the need for her to be investigated.

She sighed. She hadn't paid any attention to how he reacted to her outburst; she had been too busy storming off. But he probably thought she was completely mental. And the words she had spoken to him, about death-eater values, had been too harsh. He was different from them, she knew. Still a snob when it came to wizard superiority over Muggles, but he would never hurt anyone. And he had punished Speasy for speaking the word "Mudblood"… apparently even Snape hated that word.

She sighed again and sat up, forcing Godric to jump off of her chest to the floor. She hadn't finished her lunch, but her next class would be starting soon. And, much as she hated to admit it, she owed Severus Snape an apology. After all, she had to continue to work with the man, and didn't want to make an enemy of him. Plus, she really overreacted before, and needed to make that clear. She didn't want to seem cruel or childish… or crazy.

She would have to go and stop in his office after classes were over for the day, preferably before dinner so she didn't have to sit by him while things were still awkward between them.

That decided; she got ready and hurried to her next class.

* * *

Unfortunately Dinah's second Seventh Year class refused to be let out early due to a certain student who constantly asked questions and made comments. Not that Dinah was complaining, she thought with a smile. Having Hermione Granger for a student was actually more of a treat than anything else, and her views seemed to be mostly ones Dinah agreed with. Regardless, she was a bit disturbed to find that Severus Snape was not at dinner at all today.

She found herself picking at the roast chicken that she would normally be savoring as she wondered if she had perhaps hurt the other professor's feelings. Not that he had shown much in the way of feelings so far, but his expression and been quite haunted when she had talked to him of Charity Burbage's unfortunate fate. And she had _again _referenced his Death Eater past at lunch today.

Dinah sighed and pushed her chair back, frustrated with herself. She had never been fully able to master the concept of thinking before she spoke, even this late in life. But she couldn't sit here picking at her food and worrying about the consequences of her earlier actions. If he wasn't going to be here, she'd just have to go to his office and apologize right now.

As she walked down the hallway past her quarters and into the deeper, darker parts of the castle she thought how ironic it was that she should be as familiar with these areas as she was. As she headed down the stairs to the dungeons near the Slytherin wing of the castle she thought back to all the hundreds of times she'd been down here while at Hogwarts. Not exactly by choice, at least not all the time. Being one of Professor Slughorn's prize students was often more trouble than it was worth. But at least it had given her a place while she was here, something to distract her from the awkwardness of being five years older than the rest of her class.

She passed the painfully familiar potions room as she approached Professor Snape's office. Although he had switched over to teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, she understood his office had not changed location.

Sure enough, as she approached the open door she could see the black-cloaked figure of Severus Snape turned away from her, apparently organizing jars of magical herbs or some such thing on his desk. She took a deep breath, steeled herself for this encounter, and spoke, "Excuse me? Professor Snape?"

His response was immediate. He snapped to attention but his movements were all very fluid as he turned around to face her, his eyebrows raised in a challenging, guarded expression; "Yes?"

"Er…well…" she hadn't been truly nervous around the man yet, but she found she was now, "I felt I needed to come and apologize."

"Felt you _needed _to, did you?" his expression didn't change.

"Um… well, what I mean is that I wanted to."

"Well then?"

She sighed, "I'm sorry for becoming so angry at lunch this afternoon. What I said was uncalled for. And my reaction was… too extreme. I assure you I meant nothing by it. I have occasionally had the problem where I speak before I even stop to consider what I'm about to say."

Snape frowned, "I'm beginning to notice. Well, I suppose your apology is accepted. And if I offended you by my comments it was not my intention. I simply fail to see the reasoning behind some of Dumbledore's actions," he sighed, "And yet at the same time I have continually followed his suggestions and they have inevitably turned out for the best."

"So you aren't going to… try to convince him to put me up for investigation?"

He snorted, "If I were to do so I can assure you he wouldn't listen to me anyway. It would be futile to try even if I wanted to. No, in general I try to mind my own business. It increases the likelihood that others will mind theirs."

"Oh," she grimaced, "I see that you like to be left alone."

"It's that obvious?" he raised another eyebrow in a gesture that was becoming very familiar; "However, I have thus far enjoyed our debates on Muggle and wizarding Society. Professionally, I would like to continue to address this issue when we have the chance."

She smiled slightly, "I would as well. It's actually nice to have someone to debate with. Especially someone with," she cleared her throat, "Such interesting views as yours."

He nodded, watching her with a calculating gaze, "I'm aware that views are changing. I'm just not convinced that those changes are for the best."

"I assume that you're pure blood then?"

He frowned.

"Oh, I suppose that was personal, wasn't it? The whole minding my own business thing. Yeah, I get it. Well, then I'll leave you to your organization."

"Professor Samson," he stopped her, "Before you leave, would you mind answering one question?"

"I suppose," she turned back.

"About your time here as a student," at her frown he added, "Yes, I realize that I'm not following my own advice about minding my own business so I shouldn't very well ask you to do the same, but I can't help but be curious. What house were you sorted into while here at Hogwarts?"

She sighed, "Well, as with most things in my life at that time, that was also complicated. The sorting hat couldn't decide."

"Couldn't _decide_?" he looked more taken aback than anything else.

Dinah nodded, "Couldn't decide. I ended up spending half of each year here as a Gryffindor and the other half as a Hufflepuff."

"I see," a near smirk formed on his face, "Gryffindor and Hufflepuff."

"You have some sort of problem with those houses I take it," she met his smirk with a half-glare.

He shook his head, "My opinions are irrelevant. Of more interest is that you have described to me yet another incident in your student life that has been unheard of anywhere else."

"Changing your mind about reporting me to Dumbledore?" she asked wryly.

"No. Simply trying to figure you out."

"The difficulty is mutual," she replied, then laughed, "But to be honest, I've never taken too strongly to the idea of sorting into houses. I also find it extremely ironic that a Gryffindor and Hufflepuff student like me would spend so much time in the Slytherin halls."

"Excuse me?" he shot her a questioning look, but then nodded before she could explain, "Oh, yes. Professor Slughorn," he rolled his eyes at the name and turned halfway back to the desk, pulling a few more jars out of a drawer and continuing to arrange them.

She nodded, "Yes, but I didn't mind for the most part. It gave me something to focus on each day. But even for him it was rather unusual to get into his favor as a non-Slytherin. I understand he only had a handful of students from other houses, and only one other Gryffindor," she laughed, "I honestly believe he spent most of the hours out of each day attempting to draw comparisons between myself and Harry Potter's mother."

A loud crash made her jump as one of the jars Professor Snape had, she thought, just been lifting out of the drawer fell to the ground and broke into many small pieces. "Oh… I hope that wasn't anything dangerous that fell."

"Yes, well," Snape's voice was oddly flat, and he had turned further away from her so she couldn't meet his gaze, "It's nothing serious. It is getting rather late, though, and I'm sure you have tomorrow's class materials to prepare, as do I. I think it's best if we call this a night."

"Oh. Of course. I can see that you're busy," she said, still surprised at his sudden change of attitude, "Well, good night, then."

"Good night," he waved her off, not turning back around and not picking up the pieces of the jar that had fallen. Rather than wait to see what was going on, she felt it best to turn and leave.

When she finally made it back to her rooms she sat down at her desk and got set to preparing tomorrow's class materials as Professor Snape had suggested. But she couldn't help her mind turning back to his strange reaction at the end of their conversation. Did he truly have a problem with Gryffindors working with Professor Slughorn? His reaction seemed unusually extreme for that, but it was at that topic that his demeanor had shifted so suddenly. Then again, he _had _known that for awhile beforehand. At least that she had been one of Professor Slughorn's students.

There was something strange about the whole thing, but honestly all it did was add another item to the list of things she had to figure out about the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

Soon she was ready for the next day and crawled into bed with Godric on her lap as usual. Perhaps in her future exchanges with him she would understand more. Until then, all she could do right now was to go to sleep and await tomorrow.


	6. Conversation

CHAPTER SIX

Conversation

* * *

The first thing that Dinah noticed when she opened her eyes the next morning was that Godric was not where he was supposed to be on her chest. That was unusual as he didn't usually leave her until she got up in the morning. But she had only been living here for a day or two and perhaps he was still a little out of sorts from the move. Well, he'd show up once she filled his food bowl.

It quickly became clear, however, that that was not going to be the case when Dinah stepped into the main room. She groaned and collapsed onto the couch. She had left her main door open _again_, and this time all night no less! Surely Godric was wandering around the castle anywhere he pleased by now. She had to stop being so distracted that she didn't close the door.

Really, it was all Professor Snape's fault. That thought made her feel a little less guilty and she was able to get up and pour herself a bowl of cereal. At least her other two pets were kept in cages.

Her third years class didn't start until nine, so once she had finished breakfast she began the arduous task of searching the castle for Godric. After an unpleasant meeting with Filch on whether or not he'd seen the cat that led nowhere, she finally had to give up and head to class.

She had almost made it to her classroom when a soft, muffled sound got her attention. Turning to her left, she saw that she was standing next to a boy's lavatory. The sound seemed to be coming from within.

Curious, she walked closer and pressed her ear to the door, secretly hoping that nobody passed by to wonder what she was doing. The sound became clearer. It was soft crying.

She frowned. Perhaps one of the first years was having a hard time. But there was nothing she could do for the child right now. She needed to get to class, and besides, she couldn't quite go into the boy's bathroom, now could she? At any rate, the first years all worked through their homesickness problems in due time. She would make a point to try to be more encouraging in the earlier classes.

She pulled away from the door just as a group of older students came around the corner. Lucky timing, Dinah thought as she headed around the corner herself then around one more to her classroom. It was already filling with third years who looked ready and engaged for class. She had noticed that as a general rule the students in the years where the class was an elective were more enthusiastic. After all, they had _chosen _to take this class.

It was a bit conflicting. On the one hand, the students who had elected to take the class were more responsive, and it was easier to get her message to them. Ironically though, it was the _un_responsive classes that were in more dire need of getting that message. She couldn't forget that.

This morning both of her classes were electives, though. The third years and the sixth years afterward. She enjoyed meeting new students and seeing their reactiosn to the topics she presented. She couldn't help but notice, however, that in the elective courses the percentage of Slytherin students was much lower than in the required courses. Why exactly _was _there such a correlation between Slytherins and pure-blood snobs? She'd have to try to figure that out one of these days.

She ended up talking to a few especially enthusiastic Muggle-born third years during her office hours, and only had a few moments to stop in her room and check for Godric's return before she had to leave for lunch. She ran into Lucy on her way out.

"Hi," the other professor smiled and waved as her students dispersed in front of her, "You heading to lunch?"

Dinah laughed, "Of course I am. How's your second day going so far?"

"Oh, not bad. I woke up late, found a strange cat in my room, who's currently residing in my office, and to top it off no one showed up for my office hours. That's the least of my worries though. As you said it is only the second day," Lucy laughed again, "Geez the way I'm talking you'd think I've been having a terrible day. I haven't, really. I'm just being a bit pessimistic today I guess. How's your day been?"

Dinah's eyes widened. Well, at least now she knew where Godric had gotten off to. It was nice that he had at least found a friendly person to intrude upon; "Not too bad. The students have been pretty receptive to most of my ideas. Some of them are being resistant but it's only their first day and, well, that's to be expected anyway I suppose. I also lost my cat," Dinah smiled.

Lucy laughed, "Perhaps I found him. Why don't you come over later and see if it's your cat? I've been keeping him in my office so he doesn't get lost again and I've got food for him of course. He's not suffering; I was lavishing him with attention last time I was in the office."

"Well, he's definitely an attention hound so I'm sure he's loving it there. Are you free at all this afternoon? I have a break later and I can come get Godric if you're free."

"Godric? After Godric Gryffindor?"

Dinah nodded.

"That's fun. I've been calling him Nick. For Nicolas Flamel. Anyway, I have office hours from three to four but other than that I'm in class until dinner."

Dinah smiled. Nick. That was a cute name. And also fitting for her big brown cat. "All right. I'll come get him sometime after dinner if that's no problem. Enjoy your lunch!" Dinah said as they entered the Great Hall, waving to Lucy as she headed to the end of the table. Two seats away, her new mysterious acquaintance sat, acknowledging her appearance with a short nod.

After Dinah had munched on a few pieces of her steak and shrimp kabobs she was convinced that Hagrid again was not coming to lunch. More interesting, Professor Vector didn't seem to be showing up either.

"The universe seems to want us to continue our conversations," Severus Snape acknowledged her thoughts out loud.

Dinah looked at him, rather surprised. Coming from any other professor, she would have expected small talk. But not from him, regardless of what the universe wanted. And he was looking at her a bit differently than before. He looked curious and thoughtful. "I suppose so," she finally managed to reply, with a small smile.

"You were telling me about your time with Professor Slughorn. It seems he found you rather similar to one of his other Gryffindor students?"

"Oh, well not especially similar. He was just grasping at straws for the most part." She glanced across to the other side of the table, but Professor Slughorn was nowhere to be seen. Lucy was eating her food in a rather isolated environment, carefully picking each shrimp off of her kabob as she came to it.

"I see," Snape replied. Did she detect a trace of disappointment in his voice? But no, that wouldn't make any sense.

"Well, we were both Gryffindors, at least some of the time, and we were both talented witches. Had to be, for Slughorn to want us in his Slug Club," she laughed, "He seemed to think my views on human interactions mirrored hers. She was also always trying to get along with everybody, he said," she smiled, "She probably had an easier time than me, though. Being the same age as her fellow students and all."

"Too many fellow students," Snape muttered, turning to stare at his kabobs and pick at them much as Lucy had just been doing.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing," he pushed his plate away and stood, "I'm going for a walk on the grounds. If you would care to join me I have some questions I'd like to ask you about Muggles and Muggle-borns."

Dinah was aware that both her eyes were as wide as saucers. She knew that they had both expressed an interest in continuing their talks, but she had not expected a flat-out invitation to walk with him like this. It seemed something had changed since the incident yesterday. She had thought, at the time, that she had driven him further away somehow. But now the opposite seemed to be occurring.

"Of course if you don't want to…" he smirked as he watched her stare at him.

"Oh!" she scrambled out of her seat, "Sorry. Certainly I'll go with you. I'll enjoy continuing our debate."

Snape simply nodded and began to head through the great hall to the entrance of the castle. He walked rather fast and Dinah found that she had to rush to keep up with him. A student or two glanced at them as they walked by. Probably also shocked to see Professor Snape being, apparently, social.

She smiled as they passed through the entrance doors and emerged into the bright afternoon sunlight. She smiled and shaded her eyes, looking up at the clear blue sky, "Lovely day. I'm glad you thought to do this."

"The weather _has_ taken a good turn since Sunday," Snape agreed, turning to the left and walking along the grounds, "Now, Professor Samson, why do you think it's so easy for Muggle-born students to accept our world? To give up their ordinary school lives, their friends, and leave it all behind for a completely new life?"

"Hm," Dinah frowned, "I don't think they really do that. Not that I can speak for anyone's experience but my own, but Muggle-born students always remain close to their parents. You don't see them except when they're here at Hogwarts. During summer and during breaks I expect they have no trouble returning to the Muggle world.

"On the other hand…" she grimaced, realizing that her next comments would likely give Snape some extra points in their debate score, "Well, I suppose they may have felt like outcasts in Muggle society. I never experienced that until the age of sixteen, so I don't know, but I assume other Muggles might become uneasy when they see young witches and wizards performing involuntary magic."

"Indeed," her companion looked positively bitter for a moment, and then continued, "Then they are happier in our society than in their own?"

"Well, perhaps. I mean, I do think that it would be comforting to them, to realize that they aren't so different anymore, that there are others just like them. It might help them to find themselves."

"So you admit that our society is, in that case, a better life?"

"A better life for _them _perhaps," Dinah said, a pretty good argument coming to mind if she did say so herself, "But not for Muggles. All this does is provide further emphasis that our worlds shouldn't mingle, not that one is necessarily better than the other."

"But our worlds do mingle. Or at least there is an overlap, that of the Muggle-borns who, as you say, continue to associate with their families, and if they have them, perhaps some of their close friends. If it truly is best to keep our worlds apart, how do you regulate such relationships?"

Dinah sighed, looking around as they got further from the castle entrance. Students wandered around the green, chatting amongst each other and practicing spells and broomstick flying. "Do you mean to say, we should exclude Muggle-borns from wizarding society because they provide a link between the two worlds? A link which The International Statute of Secrecy supposedly eliminates?"

"I'm not suggesting _exclusion _of anyone," Snape retorted, "You misunderstand me. But I do think that your point is valid. I think, at the very least, such individuals should be monitored closely. And I don't think the influence of the Muggle world is very healthy for magical development."

"Why is that? I am perfectly talented. Not to brag, of course. I'm not the greatest witch on Earth by any stretch, but I'm not inferior in any way to pure bloods, and I have had perhaps more association with the Muggle world than any witch in history."

"And how many Muggles have you told that you are a witch?"

"Er, well," she flushed, not having expected this question, "My parents, of course. Grandparents. Aunt, Uncle, Cousin. I haven't told any of my Muggle friends, since that's so discouraged, but I wish I _could _tell them I'm here and not in New Zealand." It didn't make much sense for her flush to deepen at her next comment but for some reason it did, "And Dylan knows."

Snape snorted, "A lover, perhaps?"

"Perhaps," she muttered, not meeting his eyes and hoping her face didn't too much resemble a beet or radish, "_Ex_-lover."

"Even worse."

"Why is that?"

"I assume you didn't erase his memory in any way?"

"Well, no. I couldn't do that, it wouldn't be fair."

"Then a solitary Muggle with, I assume, no longer any connection to you, is running around with knowledge of our world without any supervision."

She winced, embarrassed, "Well, perhaps. But no self-respecting Muggle would believe him if he went around telling them that he dated a witch and that there is a whole society of people who can perform magic. He'll want to protect his sanity, I'm sure. He's not going to tell anybody."

"Yes, but you aren't the only one who has done such a thing. Many wizards and witches with Muggle lovers tell them, and if they don't stay together then they have that knowledge too. How can we monitor the sheer number of Muggles who know about our society? How can we prevent any kind of uprising if enough of them manage to locate each other?"

"That's a little bit fatalistic, isn't it? I mean, what are the odds of something like that actually happening?"

"You tell me. How many are there?"

"I don't know. Probably very few."

"Probably?"

"Damn you, I don't have _all _the answers!"

He laughed, "I'm just glad I managed to find the limit of your knowledge somewhere."

"I suppose I could take that as a compliment," she replied, surprised. And his laugh surprised her, too. It was, of course, a laugh at her expense, but she liked how it sounded. She blushed. How her thoughts had gone down that road she didn't know, but she was determined to steer them off of it before any other weird things happened. "But how can we make strict rules about who Muggle-borns can tell and who they can't? So many special cases would pop up as exceptions to the rules. Right now, it's supposedly any kind of person with an intimate, trustworthy connection? But that could be defined in so many ways. But if we restricted further…" she shook her head, "This is a perplexing problem."

"I suppose it would be impossible to force Muggle-borns to leave their entire Muggle past behind."

"It would be terrible."

"But if we did, hypothetically, I wonder which world most of them would choose. Which one would you choose?"

"Wow…" she blinked, "I… I really don't know. I mean, I love both worlds, just in different ways. I mean, look around," she gestured out at the waving grass around them, inhaling the fresh air. A group of first-years ran after each other across the lawns, giggling and calling to each other, "This part of our world, spending time with friends, playing and laughing with each other, it's no different than that in the Muggle world. We're all just people… maybe the answer to so many problems is to focus on our similarities instead of our differences."

"Well, that doesn't answer my question, but you _are _an idealist, aren't you?" Snape replied with a smirk.

She shrugged, "I suppose so. But I can't change who I am."

"Hey, been to the nurse's office yet, _Sneezy_?" a mocking voice echoed across the lawns.

Professor Snape stopped abruptly and his features curled into a sneer. Seeing that expression on his face made it easy for Dinah to forget her errant thought about his laughter. But she wasn't feeling very good herself as she looked out in front of them. Andrew Speasy was hurrying in their direction with John Wortham and Porter Lee on his tail, calling out insults.

Speasy sneezed and whirled to shoot them a death glare, "Stay away from me you filthy Gryffindor scum!"

"Gonna go gang up with that ass Cantrell and come back and curse us, are you?" Lee chuckled; "Careful, if you sneeze in the middle you might curse yourself by mistake!"

"I don't have to take this from Mudbloods like you!"

"Hey, I happen to be half-blood!" Lee retorted, whipping out his wand.

"Close enough!" Speasy snatched his own wand and held it out in front of him, "Might as well be a Mudblood!"

"DO NOT SAY THAT WORD!" Professor Snape shouted, causing Dinah to jump. He marched forward and grabbed Speasy by the collar.

"Professor Snape!" Speasy exclaimed, "What are you doing out here? And with the Muggle Studies professor?"

"That," Snape sneered, "is none of your business. Now will you be speaking that word again?" he shook him, "Well, will you?"

"No, professor!" Speasy shouted, "But why would you care if-" he cut himself off with a fit of sneezing.

"Good," Snape shoved him aside and ignored the beginnings of the question. He turned to face Wortham and Lee, who visibly shrunk back at his gaze. Dinah didn't think it was possible for the Dark Arts professor's gaze to darken any more, but it did, by about ten-fold. When he spoke again his voice was cold, "And you two… he took a step forward and they backed up. It seemed to satisfy Snape, and a vicious smirk drew across his features. He nodded, "Do you think it wise to go around, as first years, thinking that you are so utterly _wonderful _and better than everyone else?" His upper lip curled into a sneer and Dinah almost wanted to back up herself, it was that nerve-wracking. "Do you not think that it would be better to dispose of your cocky self-important attitudes and focus on your studies?"

"No, Sir – I mean yes, Sir!" Wortham stammered, "We were just-"

"I know what you were 'just'," Snape growled, "And you had best stop it immediately or face dire consequences. Ten points from Gryffindor!" Wortham and Lee groaned and Snape smirked, "For _each _of you."

"But that's a total of twenty points, Professor!" Wortham exclaimed.

"Really?" Professor Snape mocked, raising an eyebrow, "I am exceedingly impressed with your arithmetic skills. And if I ever catch you mocking Mr. Speasy or anyone else again you will lose even more points. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Professor," Lee mumbled.

"Um," Dinah cut in, "Could I please add in five points from Slytherin for use of the word?"

"If you must," Snape agreed through gritted teeth.

"All right, five points from Slytherin Mr. Speasy. I told you once before to try to condition yourself against use of that word."

Speasy frowned, "Yes, Professor Samson."

"All right, now get out," Snape snapped, "All three of you!"

"Yes, Professor!" they said at once, and scurried off, Wortham and Lee in one direction and Speasy in the other.

Dinah sighed, "They're going to be trouble-makers, the three of them."

"Wortham and Lee are."

"I admit Speasy doesn't deserve the treatment they're giving him, but I don't like his attitude towards them either. He should just ignore them." At Snape's raised eyebrow she sighed, "I know. That's the worst advice anybody can give, isn't it? Ignoring _never _works."

"Never," he agreed with a slight eye roll.

"May I ask you something, Professor Snape?"

"No one's stopping you."

"You don't particularly like Gryffindor, do you? I mean, more than any other house."

Snape frowned but didn't get a chance to answer as they were interrupted by a loud, boisterous cry of "Dinah Samson!"

Dinah looked up and smiled slightly at the large man with the mustache who was approaching. Professor Slughorn had finally cornered her. "Professor," she nodded as he arrived and threw a large arm around her shoulders; "Good to see you again." Snape watched them with an amused expression.

"I finally managed to find you! So sorry we haven't chatted sooner. I've already spoken with that other new one, Professor Ketteridge. Seems nice, but she was never in the club, like you!"

"I like Lucy," Dinah said, "I think she'll do a good job in her new role."

"As I'm sure you will!" Slughorn was now vigorously shaking her hand, "And I must say congratulations! I always _knew _you were destined for great things, even without the-" he cut himself off at her nervous look, "Oh, but never mind, we aren't supposed to talk about that, are we? Dumbledore's orders."

She nodded. She had always known that part of the reason Slughorn had wanted her was because of the prophecy. But it was nice to know that that wasn't the only reason, since she was fairly certain the prophecy would not apply now anyway. Hopefully. But now, she feared Professor Snape would be even more curious about her past, after Slughorn's cryptic comment.

Her old potions professor had now turned his attention to Snape, "Severus!" he clapped the other professor on the back and Snape's face curled into a scowl. Slughorn didn't seem to notice it; "Don't usually find you wandering around with new colleagues. I guess you and Dinah must be getting to know each other. A lot like your old friend Lily, isn't she?"

Dinah's eyes widened at this unexpected information. But before she could say anything, Professor Slughorn glanced at his pocket watch, "Oh, my, I must be getting back to my next class," he clapped Dinah on the shoulder, "So good to see you again, Dinah. Don't be a stranger now. I'm sure I'll see you around again soon."

"Bye, Professor!" she waved as Slughorn disappeared, then turned back to Professor Snape, who was now wearing a positively livid expression. "Lily Potter was a friend of yours then? Why didn't you mention that before?"

Snape growled, "Professor Slughorn is a good-for-nothing loudmouth."

"Well!" she blinked, "I'm going to pretend that wasn't exceedingly rude."

"Lunch hour is nearly over," he turned on his heel and began to march off in the opposite direction, back towards the main doors, his robes billowing behind him. She was well aware that he hadn't answered her question.

She hurried to keep up with him, intense pangs of curiosity now running through her. But his new attitude warned her not to press the matter further, at least not now. So instead she asked him a different question. "Tell me, when you changed to Defense Against the Dark Arts professor why did you keep your Potions office? That's where Slughorn used to be."

"He didn't like his old office," Snape muttered, "Called it an 'old water-closet'. Fine by me, I prefer my dungeons over his pleasant upstairs office, in the middle of all the student traffic," he sneered, "Perfect thing for Professor Slughorn, though. Ideal place from which to spy on prospective Slug Club members."

"The dungeons do seem more fitting for you," Dinah agreed, "And I admit Professor Slughorn is a bit of a character, but he means well."

He shrugged, slowing down as they approached the castle entrance, "Perhaps. And he was useful as a potions teacher. I won't deny that I learned many things from him. Although I'm also largely self-taught."

"That's impressive," Dinah said, "It takes a lot of dedication and intelligence to be self taught. I've always admired people who could learn things on their own."

"Have you, now?" he smirked, "Well, I suppose that's all well and good. But flattery won't save you having to answer to the problem of Muggle knowledge of our society."

"I didn't expect it to," Dinah said, "So we're back to that again?"

"I just hope you realize that your ideals don't always match the situation in reality."

"Professor Snape, I'm not _that _much of an idealist. I understand that no situation is ever perfect. I know that there aren't reasonable answers to every question. In fact, I don't think there are real answers out there to very many questions at all. But..." she paused as a sudden idea came to her, "I think I might have an answer to at least one of those questions. Or at least the way to get at an answer."

"What are you talking about?"

She grinned, and he looked oddly perturbed by her cheerfulness; "You'll just have to wait and see. It may take awhile, but wait for it. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Meanwhile I'm happy to continue debating with you when we get the chance. See you later," she hurried into Hogwarts, leaving a bewildered Severus Snape behind.


	7. Project

CHAPTER SEVEN

Project

* * *

"Raging Kneazles."

At Dinah's pronouncement the large eagle statue curved upwards, revealing the spiral staircase that led up to Professor Dumbledore's office. She climbed the stairs two at a time and knocked breathlessly on his office door.

"Come in."

She took a few seconds to compose her excitement and entered the office. She found the headmaster sitting at his desk, his fingers steepled in front of him.

"Ah, Dinah." He beckoned her forward, "I was hoping we'd get a chance to chat soon. Come sit down and tell me how your teaching experience has been so far."

She smiled and sat at the desk across from him, "Very well so far. The students are mostly receptive, and those who aren't I hope I can convince in time."

"That's what I'm hoping as well," he nodded, voice solemn.

"I know. I actually came here today because I have a proposition for something I'd like to do. I think it will be really useful."

"Pray tell what it is, and I'll see what I can do," his eyes twinkled. It always seemed like he knew everything that was going on before you even told him. But surely he wouldn't have guessed this.

She nodded, "I'd like to – with your permission of course – create a survey and have all of the Muggle-born students at Hogwarts fill it out."

"What kind of a survey?"

"It would include a number of questions. Mostly, I want to find out how many Muggles they have told about their powers. I want to have some idea of the raw number of Muggles out there that know about our world."

"Intriguing," Dumbledore did indeed look intrigued, "But the students at Hogwarts only make up a small portion of the Muggle-borns in the wizarding world."

Dinah nodded, "That's the beauty of it. With my Muggle technology – my laptop and my statistical analysis software, I can enter all of that data as a random sample of the population and then extrapolate the results to get a suggestion of what it might be like in our society as a whole. Of course, I think if this is successful I might like to do more studies with different groups – different countries even, if the ministry allows. But this is a start."

Dumbledore blinked once and she grinned. She had surprised him. "That is..." he paused for a long time, "_very _intriguing Professor Samson. I knew that selecting you as a Muggle Studies professor, with your unique background, would prove fruitful. I'm not familiar with all of the terminology you used, but you seem to know what you're talking about. I don't see why it would be a problem to at least administer the surveys here. After that, we'd have to talk again."

"Oh, don't worry. I'm not in a rush. It will take some time to analyze the initial data set anyway. I want to examine total numbers of Muggles told as well as types of relations told, and see how it is affected by variables such as student gender, year in school, and house."

"I'm very impressed," Dumbledore smiled, "And to think that Muggle technology will allow you to do this. Sometimes I think we underestimate their abilities. But I am curious... what gave you the idea to start this project?"

"Professor Snape did, actually. He challenged my views on the wisdom of allowing Muggle-born students to keep their connection to the Muggle world, suggesting that they may tell too many Muggles that we're unaware of as a society."

Dumbledore was silent for a very long time. She had apparently surprised him again. He looked thoughtful, and there was something in his gaze that she couldn't place as he stared at first her and then his fingers in front of him. Finally he looked back up at her and spoke, "You have been... talking with Professor Snape?"

"Yes," she laughed, "Hard to believe, isn't it? We've had quite a few friendly debates – or well, mostly friendly, I may have exploded at him once by accident," she flushed and then shook her head to clear it. "Anyway, we've been debating about our views on Muggles and Muggle-borns. Up until today we've been fairly evenly matched, but he stumped me on that point. I hope to clarify the issue with this study, not just to show him but because he made me realize it is an issue that should be investigated. Muggle statistics is a unique way to do this."

"I don't doubt it," the headmaster still seemed distracted, "But I'm surprised you were able to strike up a rapport with Professor Snape. He isn't usually a... social person."

Dinah nodded, "I've gotten that impression, yes. Actually we probably wouldn't be associating at all if it weren't for a mistake I made on my first day. I left my door open and he happened to spot me chatting on my mobile with my mother while he was walking by. I think my use of Muggle technology deeply offended his sense of wizard pride." She grinned, "That got us debating and I suggested he sit in on one of my classes to see how I presented my views to the students. He did, and since then we've both agreed that we enjoy these debates and would just as well continue them when we can. I wouldn't call us friends by any stretch but we seem to be... acquaintances?" she shrugged.

"Hmm..." Dumbledore frowned, but his eyes seemed to lighten with curiousity as he pondered something Dinah couldn't guess at, "A strange coincidence indeed, setting up your initial meeting. Perhaps this is the answer that has eluded me... why Severus was reborn..."

"Excuse me?" Dinah's eyes widened, not at all certain she'd heard right. Surely he wasn't implying that Severus Snape had been given a new lease on life so that he could debate with her about Muggle issues.

"Nothing, nothing," the headmaster met Dinah's eyes again, his cheerful expression returned, "Simply thinking out loud. Just do me a favor... continue to debate with Severus? It will do him good to be exposed to your views."

"I had planned on it," she nodded, still surprised. But of course it was only fair since she had managed to surprise the all-knowing Professor Albus Dumbledore twice in one day.

"Now, back to this new project of yours. I think it would be most reasonable for us to hand the surveys out at dinner one of these nights. That way every Muggle-born student will be certain to get one. I assume you'll need some time to prepare the survey questions?"

"A few days at least," she nodded, "We could shoot for next Monday at dinner, perhaps?"

"Yes, I think that would be fine. I look forward to seeing the finished product. Oh, by the way, have you had a chance to become acquainted with Professor Ketteridge? I am sure since you're both new you would be able to help each other out a bit."

"Yes, Lucy and I may be becoming friends," Dinah smiled, "I was going to sit in on one of her classes one of these days, and she one of mine. I've always been an avid reader, although of mystery, not so much historical novels and romance," she grinned.

Dumbledore chuckled, "Well, we all have our preferences. But I'm glad you two are hitting it off. Now, is there anything else you'd like to discuss?"

"Not right now. Only..." she paused, "Well, I was wondering what, if anything, you still think about the prophecy? Do you think it's been... invalidated with Harry's defeat of Voldemort? I only ask because Filch and Professor Slughorn have already reminded me of it a bit, Slughorn more nicely of course. And Professor Snape is suspicious of the age difference thing..."

"Hmm," Dumbledore frowned and his hands returned to their steepled position as he regarded Dinah, "I realize you are still quite bothered by that prophecy. Unfortunately, I don't think it wise to ever assume that one has been invalidated, no matter how the circumstances seem to favor such a conclusion. It may simply be that our initial interpretation of the prophecy was wrong." At Dinah's nervous frown he smiled a bit, "I know that is not the answer you were hoping for."

"Not really," she sighed, "I'm afraid it will come out. I want to do this work, to finally live a normal life in the wizarding world, I truly do. However..." she trailed off and didn't finish her sentence.

"I know that the prophecy and your... unique gift caused quite a stir during your first year here at Hogwarts," Dumbledore nodded, "and that things were even more difficult for you afterward. But I assure you that I will do everything in my power to prevent such problems from reoccurring. Obviously, being an adult changes quite a few variables."

She nodded, "I have less fear of being judged. But... my 'unique gift' as you put it... that is something that even adults have a hard time understanding. If the prophecy alone were to come out I would surely get some unwanted attention, but if my gift also came out it would be very problematic."

"It hasn't since your first year, and it won't as long as we can help it," Dumbledore said, "But I also think that perhaps, eventually, it would be good for both you and society to come to terms with it. The associated taboo should be dispelled, as I tend to think it's unfounded."

"I think so too," she agreed emphatically, "But how to convince others of the same thing? No, that's not so easy."

"Indeed," he agreed, "But please don't let Filch or Professor Slughorn worry you. They both know that if they make a fuss about the matter I will be greatly displeased."

"But-"

"And Professor Snape," he grinned, reading her thoughts, "Please don't worry about him. He can come across negatively sometimes, but he is very good at minding his own business. Even so, perhaps he would be one that might... understand the difficult times you had at Hogwarts. But that's neither here nor there, and I'm sure you are not acquainted with him well enough for such heart-to-heart conversations."

"I should think not," Dinah chuckled, "But I do enjoy debating with him. And..." she blushed. Why on earth was she doing that again? "I don't know; he seems like he might be a nice person, deep down."

"Hmm..." Dumbledore's thoughtful look from earlier returned, "That is something for you to judge for yourself."

She nodded, and stood up; "Well, thank you for this meeting, Professor. I'll have the survey completed by Monday. And as for the prophecy..."

"Try not to think much about it," the headmaster advised, "There is likely not much you can do to alter the outcome. And it seems that what we previously judged it to mean may be incorrect, so we don't even know how to interpret the prophecy at this time. So don't let it worry you. What will happen will happen. And we will cross our bridges when we come to them," the corners of his eyes crinkled into a smile, and she found his encouragement, as usual, uplifting.

Perhaps she was thinking too much. "Thank you. Goodbye, Professor Dumbledore."

"Good luck," he waved and she left his office.

On her way back through the halls she contemplated his words. Although his assurances made her feel better, there were still so many strange, unanswered questions lingering. No one understood the prophecy, and it might yet come true in ways neither she nor Professor Dumbledore had even imagined.

She turned into the girls' lavatory as she passed it, unable to wait until she got back to her own quarters. Just as she was washing her hands and getting ready to head back to her room, a giggle from above made her turn and face the source.

"Well, well," the floating girl with glasses giggled, "If it isn't Dinah. My, long time no see."

"Myrtle!" Dinah smiled. She had forgotten that this lavatory was the one Moaning Myrtle preferred to occupy. It had been the lavatory she had used most often during her time at school, and she must have entered it automatically without thinking. Strangely enough, she and Myrtle had struck up an odd sort of friendship while she was in school. The lonely ghost girl and Dinah had actually had quite a bit in common, at the time.

"You disappeared long enough," Myrtle giggled again and flew right up to Dinah, looking her up and down, "It must be interesting to grow old."

"'Old' is a bit of a stretch," Dinah frowned, "So how have things been treating you?"

"Oh, same as usual," she sniffled, "People always making fun of me, and yet," her usual personality shift occurred and she went back to giggling again, "at least I have _him_ around."

"Him?" Dinah's eyes widened, "Him, who?"

"The boy who's always crying because he doesn't have any friends," Myrtle's voice was low and flirtatious, "There were two, you know? The older blond one was _very _pretty. But he left last year. There's the other one, though... he's younger, but he's cute in his own special way."

That might have been the boy she had heard earlier today. "Speasy?" Dinah guessed, remembering the encounter between him and the other boys at lunch time.

"I don't know his name," Myrtle said, "But I know he looks familiar. I just don't know where from. Sometimes I think I remember but it goes away. But we're friends... that boy and me. _Very _good friends."

"I'll make sure I remember that," Dinah grinned and suppressed an eye roll. For all of her moaning and complaining about being alone and made fun of, Myrtle still managed to be a huge flirt.

"Hmph," Dinah's sarcasm didn't escape Myrtle, "You can laugh if you want to, but you don't know what its like for him and me. Go teach a class somewhere!" she moaned and dove into the nearest toilet.

Dinah rolled her eyes again and left the bathroom. Myrtle was bipolar enough that she didn't worry much about insulting the ghost. She'd have forgotten about Dinah's indiscretion, or chosen to ignore it, by the next time they saw each other. Dinah was used to it. But she had to admit that she was intrigued by Myrtle's friendship with the sad boy. If it was Speasy like she suspected, then he and the ghost had hit it off very quickly.

Poor Speasy. Hopefully Dinah could get through to him a little bit, before he became irreversibly prejudiced against Muggles and Muggle-borns. That was what ultimately led to people like the Death Eaters.

Dinah made it back to the room and ensured that she closed the door behind her this time. Not that it mattered since Godric had already escaped and wound up with Lucy. She'd go and pick him up after dinner.

After checking her watch and determining that she had about a half hour left on her break before a class with the seventh years, she sat down at her desk and pulled out a quill and parchment. Might as well start brainstorming questions and formatting for her survey.

She wrote 'Survey of Muggle-born Students' on the top, then spent the rest of the half hour trying to make up her mind if that was a good title or not before giving up and going to class.


	8. Past

CHAPTER EIGHT

Past

* * *

Dinah slurped up the last of her ramen noodles and wiped her mouth with a napkin as she stared down at the parchment in front of her. After another not-so-productive break after teaching the seventh years and a much more productive office hours, she had found the time to work on her survey while eating Muggle food in her room.

Dismissing the title as irrelevant for now, she had managed to jot down a demographics section. Right now it said: Name, Age, Sex, Year in School, House. She tapped her quill on the edge of the desk as she considered what had brought her to a second standstill. Well, two things actually. First should she ask for name at all? Was anonymous better? Second, maybe she should include half-bloods in here as well. But then if she went back and sampled a larger pool of people at a later time she might sample the Muggle-born parents of some of those half-bloods, which would have similar answers, some of which would overlap, in a way...

She sighed. Would that be considered pseudoreplication? That was a statistical no-no, of course. Was it extremely arrogant of her to design this assuming she'd ever be allowed to sample a larger population? Or should she not worry about this part right now and go back to it later?

Her decision was made for her, at least temporarily, when a knock sounded on her door. Smiling to herself that she had remembered to close it yet again, she went over and answered it. Lucy stood there with Godric in her arms and another, smaller cat at her feet, her expression apprehensive.

"Lucy!" Dinah smiled, surprised. She had planned to go over to Lucy's and pick up Godric as soon as she needed a break from her survey, which probably would have been about now anyway. But it seemed Lucy had decided to come here instead.

"I'm sorry. I know we said you'd come get him, but..." she paused, looking more apprehensive by the minute, "I was wondering... can I come in?"

"Sure," Dinah opened the door wider to allow her access.

Lucy came in and let Godric down onto the floor before settling on the couch. The other cat, a grey female, leaped up onto Lucy's lap as Godric ran off in the direction of the bedroom. Lucy stared down at the cat, and Dinah had a feeling she was trying not to meet her eyes on purpose. She couldn't imagine why, though. Had she somehow made the other professor uncomfortable about something? It hadn't felt like that at their last meeting. And besides, if she had done so then it was strange for Lucy to come over here on her own volition.

Finally, Lucy spoke, stroking her cat with a distracted hand, "I think I may have given you the wrong impression the other day."

Now Dinah was extremely confused. "Wrong impression? Of what?"

"When I called romance novels research materials," the other woman explained, that apprehensive tone back in her voice, "I know you might not believe me, heck I doubt anyone would, but we've never... that is Sirius and I haven't... you know."

"Oh... _that's _what you're worried about?" Dinah asked, amused. All that worry on the other professor's part, and completely unnecessary. Dinah hadn't even thought twice about those words since their recent conversation when the subject had come up. Sure she had assumed that was what Lucy was implying, but it wasn't as if she had dwelled on it or thought less of her either way. But... on the other hand, to Lucy perhaps it was more of a big deal. "Well, now you mention it I suppose I can understand. I hope I didn't seem too flippant when you said it. I didn't really mean to sound like it was so easy to believe you were... well, doing things or whatever. I just assumed that's what you were getting at, and it's so common these days, anyway," she shrugged.

"Oh, you were fine and I did sort of imply it," Lucy finally looked up, relief on her face. "It's sort of weird for me is all. I mean we've done pretty much everything but... and we do sleep in the same bed. I like having him close. I'm kind of afraid he's going to disappear on me again."

Dinah sighed. Having people close, huh? She remembered feeling that way about somebody, once. Suddenly she longed to feel like it again. "It must be nice. Being in such a close relationship, that is."

Lucy nodded "Yes, it is. I like it when we're in bed and I'm just about asleep and he pulls me close and hugs me. But I'm beginning to think that this fear of mine is getting a little ridiculous. I mean I don't want to go to bed tonight because he's not going to be there and I've gotten so used to him being there."

Lucy paused and closed her eyes, and Dinah was taken aback when tears began rolling down the other professor's cheeks. She winced. Obviously this was something that was very bothersome to Lucy, but she had no idea how to respond. She had never been quite good at handling emotional situations like this.

"I'm always afraid now," Lucy continued in a whisper, "Afraid he won't be there in the morning. And now that I'm here he won't be. My brain knows that this is stupid and he's fine but it can't quite seem to convince my heart that this is stupid and he's not going to disappear again."

"I'm sorry," Dinah said softly, trying to make her voice sympathetic. She worried it sounded awkward, though. "I'm sure it must be difficult. But surely you can talk to him about these worries?"

Lucy sniffled and wiped at her eyes, "You're right I suppose." She looked up and smiled a bit, "I've gotten so used to him acting like a teenager that I tend to forget he's old enough to handle his emotional girlfriend. And I'm really just avoiding having to go to bed. But once I'm asleep I won't know what I'm missing, right? I hope you know you can talk to me about whatever, whenever. You probably won't believe me but I really am a fairly decent listener."

Dinah smiled, "Thank you, I'll keep that in mind." Lucy seemed like an insecure person, but then again Dinah herself wasn't exactly super secure either, not really. Surely there were certain things that would be good to tell a friend about. Her mind shot back to her bizarre conversation with Professor Snape at lunch today, and Dumbledore's thoughtfulness regarding the matter. Maybe that would be something she could tell Lucy about? But, then again, she wouldn't even know where to start. Professor Snape was hard to comprehend, and yet she wondered if they might be becoming... dare she say it... friends? No, that was ridiculous. Or at least, that was something she needed to look into herself more before she talked to anybody else about it. And Lucy looked stressed enough at the moment. "You really should get some sleep, if you can. I should too... early classes tomorrow and all that." Now she was sure she sounded awkward.

Lucy nodded, "Sorry for dumping all that on you. I didn't mean to, but thanks for listening anyway. Come on Dora," she stood and headed for the door, then turned back, "Oh, my seventh years are going to be turning in their papers on what they think literature is tomorrow if you want to stop by. It should be an interesting discussion."

"No problem," Dinah smiled, glad that she had been at least somewhat helpful. "And sure, I'll try to stop by. I've been curious about your classes."

The other professor smiled and left the room with her cat – Dora – trailing along behind her.

Dinah sighed and left her parchment behind, going to curl up on her bed and consider the previous conversation. Godric leapt up next to her and began purring, wandering back and forth and rubbing his head on the pillow, sheets, and her hand as she tried to pet him. Finally he settled down and she began stroking him, "No more running off, okay buddy?" She grinned and kissed the top of the cat's head, then lay back down and stared past him at the rest of the room.

First in her conversation with professor Snape and then with Lucy, her thoughts had been forced to return to Dylan twice today. She sighed. She really didn't want to be with him anymore, of course. Didn't even have a desperate desire to see him. But she wanted those feelings again.

She closed her eyes and remembered when they had met in their senior year at the University of East London, and had then gone on to Cambridge together to get their Master's degrees. He had been a physics major, of course, with lofty goals of going on to become a master of quantum mechanics and the like. And then in their first year as Master's students, after they had made love for the first time, she had told him about being a witch.

She couldn't help but let a wry grin spread across her face as she remembered how much that had thrown him for a loop. It changed everything he thought about the nature of the universe. They had had many discussions about that over the next three years, and it partly shaped her own considerations on the nature of magic, energy, Muggle technology, and the virtues of each society.

In retrospect, it was probably not a good idea to tell him about herself at such a time. But at the time she had only felt wonder at what they had just shared, and being a woman she had been certain their connection was so deep that she just had to tell him everything about herself. And so she had.

Ultimately, it may have led to their downfall. But they had managed to make the relationship work until he had gone off to Oxford for his Ph.D. while she stayed at Cambridge. Probably good that he left Cambridge, since it was becoming more and more difficult for him not to go rushing into Stephen Hawking's office and tell him about the existence of magic.

Actually, it was probably her fault that his career path had taken the direction it had taken. To achieve his goals it would have made more sense to stay at Cambridge with some of the top people in the field, but he had felt like he had to leave. Hopefully, he would still be able to achieve his goals.

But more than all of that, she remembered how it felt being close to him. Sharing their thoughts, and then snuggling up together for the night. It was nice to share a bed with another person. At the time he was all she could see, and she had been so certain he was her soul mate. But there had always been little signs there that she had chosen to ignore. Deep down, she had always known that there were things that just didn't mesh between them.

That they were fundamentally incompatible.

So it didn't matter that they weren't together any more. But she still missed the feelings of being together with somebody. And at thirty-eight, she definitely wasn't getting any younger. If she wanted a husband and family she had better hurry up and meet somebody soon! The question, of course, was what to do to make that happen. But the answers were, as usual, difficult to come by.

She shook her head to clear Professor Snape's image from her mind before falling asleep.


	9. Literature

CHAPTER NINE

Literature

* * *

The next morning Dinah checked the list of all of the professors' schedules that she had been given, after throwing on her robes. She had her first years' class again in what started a pretty full morning. And it would be her first day with the fifth years, the only group she hadn't met yet. Lucy's seventh year literature class was at 11:00 during Dinah's break. Perhaps after that class was over she'd suggest to Lucy that they go out and get some lunch somewhere in Hogsmeade. It would be a nice change of pace and perhaps they would have things to discuss about the class. Plus she felt like a friendly lunch invitation was a good idea after all the awkwardness of last night.

Lucy didn't seem to be at breakfast, and neither was Professor Snape. But Dinah wasn't lonely as the blueberry hotcakes had summoned Hagrid up from his cabin. He talked her ear off the entire time, and she found herself rushing so as not to be late to class.

As she hurried in she caught Joseph Cantrell whispering something to Andrew Speasy. "Can you believe that article we had to talk about last week?" he complained, "What a load of rubbish! Learning about Muggles isn't going to help the Ministry do anything. It's just a waste of valuable time. If that Burbage woman thinks-"

"_Thought_," Dinah corrected tersely, stopping in front of the boys.

"What?" Joseph flinched and looked up at her, "Professor?"

"'If that Burbage woman _thought_. If you recall, she is no longer with us because she was brutally murdered at the hands of those who think along the lines of what you just spoke. Try to remember that, will you?"

Cantrell winced, "Yes, Professor Samson." Speasy shrunk down in his chair at her gaze, probably remembering their encounter the day before.

"All right, you go Professor Samson!" John Wortham shouted from the other side of the room. Dinah turned and gave him a mild smile before heading up to the front of the room to begin class.

Her fifth years' class that followed had around twenty students, comparable to the amounts that ended up in her third, sixth, and second year classes, the ones that were electives. The much smaller class sizes made it easier to work, but again it was unfortunate that those who needed the information most didn't generally take the elective course.

After her fourth years class was over, Dinah dropped off the homework assignments that they and the first years had turned in on her desk in her office before locking up and heading to Lucy's classroom.

The other professor flashed an awkward smile and waved at her when she walked in and Dinah blinked in surprise. Lucy was wearing a rather odd hat that hung low over her eyes. Dinah tried not to stare too much and found a seat in the back. It didn't seem to fit Lucy's character to be wearing that, and some of the students were snickering. She hid a smile as she wondered what the school rules were about professors wearing hats to class, since the students weren't allowed to do so.

As more students shuffled in their attention became torn between the hat and Dinah, obviously wondering what she was doing there. Hermione shot her a smile and wave after sitting down next to Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood. She grinned and waved back. Hermione's homework assignment that she had turned in yesterday had been excellently done and she had made many good points, even though Dinah hadn't asked for arguments, just a summary of current knowledge and list of what they wanted to learn. She was sensing a bit of the overachiever personality there.

Once the students had all arrived Lucy cleared her throat and began the class, starting by explaining Dinah's presence.

"I'm sure you're all wondering what Professor Samson is doing here today. Well, we're both new here and we each find the others' subject rather interesting so we've decided to sit in on each others classes at some point. Both to learn and also to observe different teaching techniques. Now today we're going to be discussing our essays that we wrote since last class and Professor Samson please feel free to join in with your opinion as well. Is there anything you'd like to say before we dig in?"

Dinah shook her head, "No, just thank you for letting me sit in. I'm hoping to learn a lot of interesting new things today, so I hope you can satisfy my thirst for knowledge." She smiled and a few of the students laughed.

Lucy smiled, "You're welcome. Now," she looked at the students, "would any of you like to share from your essays? You're not required to, but if you feel comfortable doing so I would appreciate it." Instantly Hermione raised her hand. She seemed to behave similarly in most classes. Lucy gave a slight nod in her direction. "Yes, Miss Granger, please go ahead."

Hermione stood, cleared her throat, and read aloud the most rambling, complicated definition of literature that Dinah had ever heard. She supposed if she read the statement three or four times she might get the gist of what it meant, but Hermione recited it so fast all she could get was that the student had probably found the definition in a very big dictionary... or something.

"I'm sorry," Lucy interrupted the definition, "but that's not exactly what I meant when I asked you to tell me what literature was. I mean it's a perfectly acceptable essay so far and you've done exactly what I asked but I wanted more of what you personally considered literature. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. If that's the case I'm sorry as I said earlier I'm new at this and so we'll both have things to learn."

Hermione sat back in her seat looking embarrassed.

"Please don't feel bad. It means a lot to me that you were brave enough to share the beginning of your essay with the class. Perhaps if I word my question a bit differently…Do you consider this," she held up a book entitled _Wizard Prince, Muggle Bride_, "literature? Or is this," she exchanged the smutty romance novel for a book called _The Salem Letters_, "more like what you would call literature?"

Dinah watched the students, but none seemed inclined to offer an answer. They exchanged looks and shrugged at each other, and some appeared amused, probably at the first title. The silence went on so long Dinah felt she had to answer for them; "Well, I think I'd represent the students thoughts if I said that the latter is what most people would consider... literature," Dinah grinned a little, "But perhaps you're going to tell us that that's not the case?"

Lucy smiled, "Not exactly. I do agree that that is what most people would say. But I would counter with the question: Who is qualified to decide what is and what is not literature?"

Dinah nodded. That was where she thought this was going. And really, she didn't have an answer herself. The students also looked unsure.

A male student who Dinah recognized as a Hufflepuff although she couldn't remember his name raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Cadwallader?"

"Well, shouldn't the experts be the one to decide what is literature and what isn't?"

"That would be the logical conclusion yes," Lucy agreed, "But then we must ask ourselves who are the experts?"

"Aren't you an expert?" Another Hufflepuff, Felicity Wellbeloved asked.

Lucy's mouth turned up in a slight smile and she turned to her desk. Was she laughing? At the comment? She was subdued again when she turned back around. "Thanks for the compliment but just because I teach it doesn't make me an expert. It does, however, make me knowledgeable. What would make someone an expert on literature?"

Luna Lovegood spoke up in her soft, dreamy voice, "It would seem logical that if you read all the books ever written you would be an expert but that's not doable in someone's lifetime. Even if you could do it everyone brings their own biases to the work and so determining what is and is not literature would always be subjective and therefore no one can rightly determine what literature is."

"Thank you Luna," Lucy smiled. "That's about as right as you can get on the subject. As I said last class there really isn't a right or wrong answer to the question. Like we learned from Hermione literature can be any sort of written work really. Now you might not like romance novels but that shouldn't diminish their worth as a creative work. This brings me to my next topic of discussion," she waved her wand and a piece of chalk began making a diagram on the board. There was a box in the middle with the word "Text" written in it and a number 3 circled underneath. Three lines came out of the box, one on each side and one on the top. Each line connected to the words Author, World, and Reader. The words had small numbers 1, 2, and 4, respectively, circled underneath them.

The chalk then went on to write some more as Lucy continued talking. "These are the four name kinds of Literary Theory. The first is an expressive theory of literature or how the text relates to the author. The second is a mimetic theory and is referring to the text being an imitation f something in the world. Thirdly we have the formal theory and that just means we look at the text itself and its shape. Finally there is the pragmatic theory which asks what effect does a literary text have on its reader? Before I go on are there any questions?"

While most of the students furiously scribbled down notes Joss Harper raised his hand and proceeded to inform Lucy that the class was supposed to be about literature.

Dinah was glad she was sitting in the far back, so the student didn't see her crack a smile.

Lucy raised an eyebrow, "Well, yes but I think you guys are mature enough to handle something beyond just reading the books and talking about them. Don't you?"

"I—I—I—I-"

"I think you are. Besides what we're learning about today will help you with future assignments. Now, if no one else has any questions I'd like to move on to the kinds of questions we, as literary theorists, might ask ourselves when looking at a text. Don't worry though, if you have questions later I'd be more than happy to answer them during my office hours or anytime really," she glanced at the time, "We might be cutting it a bit close on time so those of you who didn't read the chapter I assigned will get a reprieve for today, but be warned we are going to be using this lesson during our discussion next class," she flicked her wand and the chalk flew to another board where it began scribbling out more words.

Dinah had to focus as hard as some of the students did to follow the progression of the class. She had never taken literature or literary theory courses during her college years and was surprised at the complexity of the subject. She couldn't help but wonder how these theories differed from Muggle theories. It seemed pretty similar, as a general rule. But if that was the case then how had it come to be like that? It wasn't as if Muggles and magical folk shared notes about those things. She'd have to ask Lucy if she knew anything about it later.

"…and the last question we'll be talking about today is cultural. In other words how can the work illuminate our understanding of cultural, ethnic, economic, or gender groups?"

Dinah smiled. This was more familiar territory. It would be interesting to see how Lucy presented it.

"For instance, in the first chapter of Fall From Grace how do we learn about the differences between men and women in the 16th century? What does the author teach us about the culture of the time? We can't discuss much about the ethnic and economic differences in the book because we haven't been introduced to anyone who wasn't of the nobility and at the time they were all exclusively the same ethnicity."

Hermione raised her hand and offered a much more intelligible explanation of the issue, although she did reference the book and since Dinah hadn't read it she couldn't follow entirely. But it was rather well argued as far as she could tell.

Lucy let the class go early after that and was straightening the students' parchments on her desk as Dinah walked up to ask her to lunch. The first diagram that had been written on the board distracted her for a moment. She liked the boxes, and that part had made some sense to her.

"Nice and simple isn't it?"

Dinah turned to Lucy and grinned, "Mostly. Although I must confess I never realized literature was as complex as you described it today. Or as broad. I mean, when I was doing my degrees at Muggle University we did refer to the journal articles we read as 'literature', as in going to survey the literature or do a literature review. But I guess I always thought there were two definitions of the word. The one that meant, well basically fiction classics and then the one that meant just any kind of written work. But they're both the same 'literature'."

"Yeah, I mean it's not wrong to think of literature as only works of fiction but I think we limit ourselves in saying only certain types of literature have worth because they're deemed to be 'classic'. Not that a romance novel generally has a life altering theme but they can have an entertainment value for those who read them. And the articles you had to read for your degree probably illuminated your understanding of cultural, ethnic, economic, or gender groups?" Lucy grinned.

"Oh yes." Dinah nodded, "My whole _life _was cultural, ethnic, economic, or gender groups. For eleven years straight. Certainly puts the seven years people spend at Hogwarts into perspective, doesn't it?"

Lucy toyed with the quill sitting on her desk, "I suppose. Sometimes I think it would have been nice to have the opportunity to continue on with more concentrated studies, but I probably wouldn't have done it anyway. I would still have made the choice to start auror's training."

"Wow, an auror, huh?" Dinah's eyes widened. She would never have guessed that Lucy had taken that path; "That's really impressive. What made you change your mind about it?"

"Um, I had been an auror for about a year when Cedric Diggory was killed. I don't suppose you heard about that? Well shortly after that Dumbledore and Harry tried to tell everyone You-Know-Who…I mean Voldemort was back. The Ministry basically said there was nothing to worry about, he wasn't back, Dumbledore and Harry were just a couple of crackpots looking for attention. I quit that summer. I told them I couldn't represent a Ministry whose policies I did not support. Never for one moment did I believe Dumbledore was crazy. I didn't know Harry at the time but I had no reason to believe he was just looking for attention like they said."

"I see," Dinah nodded, "I tended to believe them back then too, despite what I read in the Daily Prophet when I got a chance to look. Dumbledore had been too good to me for me to ever consider him a crackpot." She paused as Lucy gave her a curious look. No matter how she liked the other professor, she was _not _ready to tell anyone about her past and the prophecy. She shook her head; "Anyway, I thought maybe we could go get lunch at Hogsmeade or something today? I haven't been in a long time, and it would give us a chance to chat some more. That is, if you were interested."

"Oh, that'd be great!" Lucy looked pleased, "I woke up late and didn't' get a chance for breakfast. It hasn't been that long since I've been to Hogsmeade but it'll be nice to have a meal where I don't worry about being cornered by Professor Slughorn."

She grinned, "I know. He can be rather a pest sometimes, can't he? I was in the Slug Club when I was here, so I know full well what it's like."

Lucy rolled her eyes as the pair walked out of the room, "I never had the pleasure until this year. He was retired by the time I came to Hogwarts," she shrugged, "My family connections probably wouldn't have been enough for him to invite me anyway. The only thing I would have had to recommend me would be my ability to make the potions."

"Yes, he does value potion-making ability. But I think that alone wouldn't be enough to get you into the club unless you were so good that _every _concoction you prepared was 100% perfect." She stopped when she realized she was implying something extra about herself again; "But enough about Slughorn. I'm starving!"


	10. Sirius

CHAPTER TEN

Sirius

* * *

Dinah smiled and looked around as she and Lucy wandered the bustling streets of Hogsmeade. It was such a peaceful village, and had been one of her favorite places to frequent as a student. Nobody had known that she stood out in any way while she was here. "Well, where would you like to eat?" She glanced around at the road they were on. Honeydukes was nearby, but she wanted food, not candy. A rather shabby looking building with goats tethered outside was labeled 'Hog's Head Tavern', but it didn't really seem like the kind of place to have lunch on this sunny day.

"The Three Broomsticks is pretty popular. It can get kind of crowded though, so if crowds bother you you probably don't want to eat there."

"No, that's fine. I seem to remember they had excellent butterbeer," the two women headed into The Three Broomsticks and had to wait about ten minutes before Madam Rosmerta showed them to a small table.

"I've been meaning to ask you," Dinah asked after their drinks were brought and they had ordered their food, "Where did you learn about literary theory? I don't know much about it in either magical or Muggle society, but I feel like the concepts would be similar. Do you know if they are?"

Lucy shook her head, "I'm not sure if they are or not. I learned from books we had at home. That's what my…father does. He analyses books I suppose you could say. He had a ton of books about theory and I taught myself from them. I'd assume any of the theories that came about before the Statute of Secrecy went into effect are the same but anything after that…"

"Hm," she mused, "I don't know, I just have a feeling there are some similarities. I wonder if any kind of knowledge leaked back and forth somehow. Then again, I assume there could have been Muggle-born witches or wizards in the past that wrote those books you read from their experiences in both societies."

"You could be right. I mean I know there are wizards and witches who've had relationships with Muggles and I'd assume they'd have shared ideas about things," Lucy said thoughtfully, taking a sip from her mulled mead.

"That could be an argument for Professor Snape," she spoke almost to herself, grinning, "That more of our society and the things we know are connected than some people think."

"Been arguing with the former Potions Master, have you? That must be…interesting to say the least."

"I wouldn't call it arguing," Dinah said, then took a moment to thank Madam Rosmerta as she deposited her ham sandwich and chips in front of her and Lucy's corned beef sandwich with boiled potatoes at her place, "At least most of it isn't arguing. More like friendly debating. We've actually done it like three more times since I talked to him in class."

"Oh," Lucy said, "I'm sorry I guess I'm still used to thinking of him as my professor instead of my colleague. I can't really imagine debating with him. The last time I argued with him I got detention…"

Dinah laughed, "I guess he can be intimidating. I keep forgetting that he actually taught you. I never had him because I stopped taking potions after my fifth year."

Lucy shifted in her seat, "Oh, really? Did you just not want to continue on or something else?"

"Well," Dinah frowned, deciding how best to word this, "Being in the Slug Club I had already excelled in potions, but I also knew at that point that I wanted to go to Muggle university rather than getting a job in the magical community. I wasn't worried too much about my N.E.W.T.s and so I didn't take any more classes than I absolutely had to. I did a lot of independent study instead. Dumbledore oversaw it."

"It must have been nice not to have to continue on with potions. I mean I did well and everything but I could have done without the two years of intense, mind-numbing pressure."

She smiled, "It's probably a good thing I didn't have Professor Snape as a teacher then. Plus we would have been the same age. That would have been strange."

Lucy looked vey amused, "Not to mention awkward when you came back here to teach. Did you always plan to come back here and teach?"

"It was always in the back of my mind, although I wasn't sure if it would ever happen. I mentioned it to Dumbledore right before I left and he said he would 'continue to keep me in mind for the future', whatever that meant. But it was rather inspirational. Anyway, after my somewhat difficult years at Hogwarts I really wanted to learn about ... well, just about people. How they interact in societies, how discrimination works, and how to try and fix it. I really wanted to make a difference in the way Muggle-borns were treated. Also I never much liked the Sorting system. I guess I could be biased though. I was stuck fluctuating between two houses my entire time in school."

"Two houses? I'm sorry I'm confused," Lucy did indeed look _extremely_ confused.

Dinah smiled. Telling this to Lucy would be a lot easier than telling it to Professor Snape. "I was a special case. Maybe because of my age, I really don't know. But the sorting hat couldn't decide. I ended up spending the time before break as a Gryffindor and the time after as a Hufflepuff. Every year."

Lucy grimaced, "That must have made things so much worse. I mean you probably couldn't have gone out for Quidditch if you wanted to or anything else like that really. You couldn't develop a loyalty to one house…"

"Right, I actually saw more clearly how the houses divided people. Stronger where Slytherin was concerned but also with the other houses." She shrugged, "But I persevered and it helped me choose a satisfying career path so I guess I shouldn't consider it all bad."

"Personally I liked having the different houses but maybe it's because I had my cousins in Gryffindor and Tonks in Hufflepuff that I didn't really seem much division. There was some don't get me wrong I just never noticed any extreme cases, except with, as you said, Slytherin."

She nodded, "Slytherin was the biggest problem, for sure. Still is as I understand it. But I always hoped I could change that a little bit. Or at least try," she took a sip of her butterbeer and finished off the last bite of her sandwich, "By the way, if you want to sit in on one of my classes, maybe it would be good to do the seventh years. Some of the students in your class are in each of my seventh year classes. Though I can't remember what our schedules are like off the top of my head. It's something we could look into."

"That sounds fine. I could recite my whole schedule for you." Lucy grinned.

Dinah laughed, "Well, how about we make it easier and I tell you when I have my seventh years. I teach my first group of seventh years at two o'clock on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and I teach my second group at five o'clock on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday."

"Well my two o'clock is completely booked all week but I could make five on Wednesday. I can come today if you want but I'd like to get a jump on those essays. Hey!" Lucy yelled when someone yanked her hat off her head.

"What's with the hat, Lu? You never wear hats," a tall, attractive but somewhat lanky man with shaggy black hair grabbed an extra chair and plopped down next to Lucy.

Dinah noticed a flash of what appeared to be black writing on the other professor's forehead before Lucy clapped her hand over it, "I just felt like wearing a hat, okay? Dinah, this is Sirius. Sirius this is the new Muggle Studies professor Dinah Samson."

"Um, nice to meet you," Dinah said distractedly, still wondering what was on Lucy's forehead.

"You too," he flashed a mild smile, but his attention was also focused on Lucy, "You look like an idiot. You can take your hand off your head, you know," he tugged at her hand.

"No, no I like it where it is, thank you."

There was a brief, almost flirtatious struggle, but Sirius finally managed to yank Lucy's hand away from her head. "Well, well, what have we here?"

There was indeed black writing, in a number of long lines, scrawled across Lucy's forehead. Dinah found herself leaning forward, trying to make out the words.

"It's nothing," Lucy mumbled.

"It doesn't look like nothing. Does it Dinah?" he asked, chuckling.

"What? Oh!" Dinah flushed, embarrassed as they both turned to look at her and caught her staring intently at the writing. She sat back in her seat, "Um, well, no."

Lucy gave Dinah and odd, implacable look. "I couldn't sleep last night. I was writing letters and I - I fell asleep on them," she blushed and by the contrast Dinah could see that whatever was written on her forehead was written backwards. The words were still too small to make out from this distance.

"Oh," Dinah said, her curiosity dampened by this very uninteresting explanation. She smiled, "I guess that's a mistake anyone could make. I've done stupid – or, weird – well, things like that from time to time, too."

Lucy cracked a smile but Sirius just laughed more. "You're cute," he said, pulling her to him and kissing her. And kissing her. And kissing her some more.

Dinah shifted in her seat. It was all well and good that Lucy was in a relationship but such a prolonged display of affection in the middle of a pub was rather awkward to watch.

"Hey, why don't you two take that over to Madame Puddifoot's tea shop with the rest of the kids!" somebody shouted.

"Need to throw some water on them and break that up!" another voice yelled.

Sirius pulled back and yelled, "Then bring me a butterbeer, Rosmerta."

"Sorry," Lucy muttered to Dinah, her flush deepening.

"Eh," Dinah waved her off, and then shifted in her seat again before popping her last chip into her mouth. Suddenly, she was craving dessert.

Lucy shoved the remains of her sandwich towards Sirius but finished up the last of her potatoes, "So," she said absently.

"Soo..." Dinah searched for words, "Well, I think I'm going to order a custard tart for dessert. Will you two have anything?"

"Ooh, I think we'll have some apple pie," Lucy said, and Sirius shrugged agreement. "Was their anything else you wanted to ask me about the class or the students?" Lucy asked after they ordered their desserts.

"I don't think so," Dinah shook her head, "But maybe we'll have more questions for each other after you sit in on one of mine."

"I'm sure we will," she turned to Sirius again, "Can I have my hat back so the students don't have a reason to make fun of their professor?"

"You can have the hat back but I don't think it's going to help. You look odd in hats."

"Which is why I don't normally wear them."

Dinah smiled, "Well, I hope my presence in your class today helped distract the students from your hat at least a little bit."

Lucy laughed, "I'm sure it did. I think inviting you to join in the discussion scared them into participating more. They didn't want to be embarrassed by someone who wasn't even in the class and a professor no less."

Dinah nodded and then turned to make conversation with Lucy's significant other, "Do you live in Hogsmeade, Sirius?"

"Not yet," he shook his head, "I'm looking for a place to buy around here so we have a place to live during the school year. We've been living at Grimmauld Place in London since the Battle of Hogwarts."

"It'll be nice having him close for easy visits," Lucy said, leaning close to her boyfriend.

Dinah smiled and nodded, "That would be good for both of you, I'm sure. What do you do, Sirius?"

"I walk around, read some, look at houses and apartments, write Harry every so often," he said.

"Um... oh," she said, taken aback. He had spoken casually enough, but she suddenly felt guilty by assuming he did some sort of job when he apparently didn't. He must be independently wealthy or something. But she had no idea how to phrase that or what to say at all now.

"Uh, Sirius, I think she meant what sort of job do you have," Lucy said, elbowing him.

"Oh, I don't have a job. My family was obscenely wealthy and I'm the last heir they'd grudgingly acknowledge, me being a blood traitor and all, so it all came to me when my parents and brother died."

"Oh," Dinah sighed and smiled, glad that he wasn't annoyed with her. "Well, I guess it worked out, though. In the long run. You should be able to get a nice place here in the village."

"That's the hope," he agreed, "The couple I've looked at so far have been in worse shape than Grimmauld Place."

Lucy patted his knee, "When you find the right one you'll know. I don't mind fixing up the London place but I'd rather not have to spend my weekends fixing up a place here too."

"Well, best of luck to you," Dinah said, and then placed her fork down after taking her last bite of custard tart and looked at her watch, "Classes start up again in fifteen minutes it seems. We should probably apparate out of here and head back."

"I suppose we should," she cast a somewhat insecure glance at Sirius.

"It was very nice to meet you, Sirius. I guess we might see each other around again," Dinah smiled and extended a hand to him. He reached over and shook it and at that moment a memory flooded back to her of Lucy mentioning that Sirius and Professor Snape essentially hated each other. She shook her head and stepped back. That was irrelevant right now. After all, she still barely knew either Professor Snape or Sirius. What were the odds she'd ever have to be around both of them at the same time? Extremely low and probably nonexistent.

"Probably if you two spend more time together outside of Hogwarts," he turned to Lucy, giving her a goodbye peck, "See you this weekend?"

"I think so, I'll let you know if plans change," Lucy told him. She and Dinah apparated from the tavern to just outside the gates of Hogwarts.

"He seems nice," Dinah said.

Lucy hugged herself, smiling as they walked, "I think so."

Dinah smiled, "You seem very close. I hope he finds a place soon for you."

"Me too. I think a combination of us living together and him…" she paused, "dying helped us to become so close."

Dinah gave a sympathetic nod, remembering the encounter between them the night before; "I'm sure everything will work out. That said, we should probably get to our respective classes. But thanks so much for joining me for lunch. I had a good time."

"Me too. I have office hours next so I'm not too worried about getting back on time but I should probably make sure to be there anyway. Just in case one of the students needs something."

"Why don't you come by next Wednesday to sit in on my class? I'm sure you have a lot of grading to do today, like you said. So do I, so I know how that goes. Plus I have another project I'm trying to work on, but you'll know more about that on Monday. Next Wednesday works for you, though?"

"It should work, yes. Oh, but now you've got me curious about your project and I've no time to question you about it."

Dinah grinned, "It's just as well. I'm sort of saving it for a surprise. That is if I can ever finish it. So you'll just have to wait till Monday like everyone else."

Lucy smiled, "Well, I guess I'll have to be patient then. I'll see you later?"

She nodded, "See you later." They separated and headed to their respective destinations.


	11. Slughorn

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Slughorn

* * *

Dinah had another break after her class with the second years, and so she started working on the survey again. She stuck in some parentheses and the word 'optional' after the name category for now. She'd talk to Dumbledore tomorrow or Friday about whether he thought it should be anonymous or not. Right now she needed to at least try to get to the important questions.

Underneath the demographics section she jotted down the question: How many full Muggles know of your witch/wizard status? She followed it with an underline, and then started chewing on the end of her quill. Something about that didn't look right. It should end with a colon, not a question mark. But she couldn't ask a question without a question mark. But a question mark followed by a colon was not good grammar either. At least it didn't look right when she stuffed it in there. She scratched it out completely and wrote below it: Number of full Muggles who know of your witch/wizard status. She followed that with a colon.

There. Much better.

Now another question plagued her brain: whether to make the data from the question into a continuous or a categorical variable. Should she have them write down an exact number or put in categories like 1-3, 4-7, 8-10, 11? She was no expert on how many Muggles Muggle-borns told. She had told nine, but she could easily be a special case. Besides, that was the kind of information she was trying to figure _out_. So perhaps a continuous variable was best. Besides, with a continuous variable she could regress the number of people told on the student's age, and if she wanted to look at categories she could always construct a frequency histogram.

That decided, she inserted a long underline after the colon for the students' to enter their number. Moving down the parchment, she wrote, "Check the box by each type of relation you have told, followed by a colon and then a bulleted list of relations including Mother/Female Guardian, Father/Male Guardian, Siblings, Grandparents, Aunt/Uncle, Cousin, Other Relatives, Friends, Significant Other. She looked at the list for awhile, trying to see if she had missed something.

"Argh!" She resisted the urge to crumple up the parchment and throw it away when she realized that some peoples' male or female guardians might be their uncle, aunt, or a grandparent.

No, going mental was not the answer. She needed to calmly and rationally think this through and fix the problem. She scratched off the list and rewrote it, this time with Mother, Father, Siblings, Grandparents, Aunt/Uncle, Cousin, Other Primary Guardian (if not listed above), Other Relatives, Friends, Significant Other. Well, it sounded stupid but it was at least a bit better. She stuffed in an "Other (please describe)" category with an underline after it at the bottom of the list.

She sighed and got up from her desk to stretch. Had to get away from this for awhile. But she also had to have a draft done by Friday so she could show it to Dumbledore and get his approval before Monday. What kind of masochistic person was she, volunteering to do this after she had thought she was done fighting through the hell of finishing Master's and Ph.D. degrees?

It had sounded like a fun idea at the time. After all, in comparison to the boatloads of data she had analyzed for her degrees this little survey would be easy. And yet it was turning out more challenging than she had initially expected. It didn't have to be perfect, of course, but she really wanted to do this right. Or as right as she possibly could.

Well, she still had essays to grade at any rate, and plenty of them. She sat back down at her desk, shoved the survey parchment in a drawer, and pulled out the first years' essays. She managed to get through half of a nicely written one by Mae Yates before she needed to get to class and teach her second group of fourth years.

* * *

Although she was stressing about grading papers and finishing her survey, she made a point to go to dinner since they were serving pot roast. As she took her seat she smiled and nodded at the black-haired professor two seats down, having a strange desire to be friendly and proactive after her talk with Dumbledore, "Good evening, Professor Snape."

He raised an eyebrow at her, but replied, "Good evening, Professor Samson. I noticed you weren't at lunch today."

"I noticed you weren't at breakfast," she retorted with a grin.

His second eyebrow lifted and he shrugged, "All right. Point taken."

She laughed and scooped some roast onto her plate, "I was just teasing, although I know you don't like that. But really, I had a perfectly reasonable reason for missing lunch, and if I tell you you don't even have to tell me why you weren't at breakfast." When he just stared at her she continued, "I ate lunch in Hogsmeade with Professor Ketteridge. We seem to be hitting it off pretty well." She shot Lucy a wave across the way, where the other professor was once again being hounded by the insufferable Professor Slughorn.

"Hrmph," Snape grunted, his expression darkening a few degrees, "I suppose since you're both new it would make sense. And I don't have a problem with Professor Ketteridge herself..."

"Sirius," Dinah said without thinking, and then flinched as Snape shot her a glare. "Sorry, thinking out loud. It's just we ran into him in the village today and Lucy had mentioned earlier that the two of you don't get along for some reason. But I'll shut up now." She spooned an inordinately large amount of mashed potatoes onto her plate and then proceeded to drench it and the roast with brown gravy, not meeting Snape's gaze.

He didn't say anything for awhile until she started eating. Then he tactfully changed the subject by saying, "That's the second time I've seen you attack your food with such gusto."

She blinked and looked up, "Oh, sorry."

He gave her a smirk that might have almost been a smile if it reached his eyes, which it didn't. "I wasn't suggesting it was a problem, merely noting it. Actually, it's rather amusing."

Dinah felt her face flush, but it wasn't an entirely bad feeling, "Yes, well, I've sort of always been like that. I like food, what can I say? And, well sometimes it provides a good distraction when I'm embarrassed about something. I guess it's a wonder I'm not fatter than this. I must have good metabolism. But you don't want to hear about all of that. Rather," she let herself smile a bit again, "I think you'll be pleased with the project I mentioned to you yesterday."

Professor Snape shrugged, "I don't know what it is yet."

"You'll find out on Monday."

"Then we'll see," he pushed his empty plate away and stood, "Meanwhile I have papers to grade. Enjoy the rest of your meal..." he eyed her plateful again and then added wryly, "If you can eat all of that."

"You'd be surprised," she grinned again. He simply nodded and walked away. She sighed, oddly content, and leaned back in her chair. Across the way, Lucy appeared to be offering Professor Slughorn a polite excuse to leave his presence. Her old professor shot a grin across at her and once his previous quarry left he stood and started walking over.

"Dinah," he plopped into the seat next to her which was usually occupied by Professor Vector, "I was just chatting with your friend Lucy, and I think I've come to an important conclusion."

"An important conclusion about what?" she asked, paying more attention to the sky in the ceiling than to him.

"It seems she is involved with the infamous Sirius Black and the two of you ran into him today at lunch. Now as you might know I had his brother Regulus in the Slug Club."

She nodded absently, "I think I recall you mentioning the name before."

"Well, I had always wanted a matched set, but unfortunately Sirius showed no interest in my Slug Club in his school years. Oh, I'm sure he had excellent potential as he went on to do great, great things. But hanging around with that James Potter trickster kept him from his studies. I'm lucky I managed to keep Lily around once she also fell for Potter's charms. Not that I'm disappointed or anything. After all, Harry came out of that union."

"Yes, he truly did do great things." _And saved me from having to do any myself, probably_. "But I'm not sure what you're getting at, Professor."

"I'm planning on throwing a sort of Slug Club reunion party. I've invited some potential new students and old members, as well as your new friend Lucy and I've asked her to bring Sirius. Oh, and Severus would be invited too of course. He was in the club during his early years before he started hanging around with those Avery and Mulciber boys... At any rate he has a great affinity for potions. I saw you were talking with him just now."

The man saw everything. "I don't think he'll come."

"No, of course not, not with Black there," Slughorn looked thoughtful, "Never got along well, those two. But you'll come, won't you?"

"I'll come," she agreed, not particularly thrilled but not wanting to disappoint Professor Slughorn. As a general rule, his parties were fun in that you could socialize with others but not so fun in that you were constantly being hounded by Slughorn about whatever he insisted on discussing with you. But at least Lucy and Sirius would, presumably, be going.

"Excellent!" Slughorn clapped his hands together with satisfaction, "We'll have it the weekend after next then. I'll give you more details soon after I go about inviting the others. Oh, by the way, I think you should drop over to my office this evening, if you have the time. There's someone I'd like you to meet."

"Well, I suppose I have some time..."

"Perfect! Do come with me then. He'll be at the party, too."

Dinah had no clue who or what her old potions professor was talking about, "If you don't mind, I think I'll finish my pot roast and then drop by."

"Ah, of course. There's no hurry. I'll be waiting for you upstairs." He stood and left.

Dinah sighed, free for the moment, and finished her pot roast in silence. Then she headed through the halls to a room on an upper level, towards the side of the castle overlooking the lake. As she walked into the potions classroom she couldn't help but think that this was definitely a better place for Professor Slughorn than the dank dungeons below. No, now it was Professor Snape and his Defense Against the Dark Arts class that would be held there.

This room was lined with windows, and the brightness suited Slughorn's boundless energy and cheerful, though occasionally annoying, disposition.

A tall, blond man in his thirties or possibly forties stood near a table with various potion-making ingredients and a cauldron. He looked up and nodded when she entered. Although extremely well-built, his spectacles made it look like he spent more time reading than exercising. "You must be Professor Samson," he said, and his voice held a slight accent.

She nodded, about to ask who he might be when Professor Slughorn burst into the room. "Dinah!" he walked in between her and the other man, "Welcome. It's my pleasure to introduce you to my new assistant, Evgeni Wilkins."

"Yev...jynee," she repeated.

"Oh, just call him Eugene," Slughorn said, "That's the British equivalent and he doesn't mind."

Dinah thought that perhaps Evgeni _did _mind but was too polite to say so. But either way, she extended a hand to him, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Wilkins."

"Eugene here was quite hard to come by," Slughorn said proudly, "When Dumbledore permitted me to take an assistant I wanted only the best of the best. Eugene hails from Bulgaria where he's done some very important potions work."

"Actually, my father was British. He married my mother and we moved to her home country when I was very young," Eugene explained, "I attended Durmstrang."

"And excelled there!" Slughorn cut in before Dinah could respond. "He's taught a few potions courses at the school the past couple of years and has done some guest lectures all over Eastern Europe, but I was able to convince him to come and join me here at Hogwarts. You can make a much bigger name for yourself here at Hogwarts."

Eugene shrugged and nodded, not looking particularly impressed with Slughorn's comments either way, "Professor Slughorn tells me you also excelled in potions as a student."

Dinah nodded, hoping she wasn't being too immodest, "Yes, I did well. But I had a lot of time on my hands."

"Eugene has been instrumental in creating a variety of new and useful potions," Slughorn explained, "Tell her what you're working on now."

"Well," the assistant began, "I'm still in the early stages, but I'm hoping to create a Youthening Potion that will be much stronger and hold its effects longer than either Polyjuice Potion or Shrinking Solution."

"That's impressive," Dinah said, blinking in surprise, "Rather large-scale, isn't it?"

"Very," Eugene agreed, "I'm hoping to-"

"It will absolutely revolutionize the field of potion making!" Slughorn cut him off with boisterous exclamation, "A more major potion hasn't been crafted in at least a hundred and fifty years. And if anybody can do it, you can! It will be your life's work."

"I'd like to think I'll continue working afterwards," Eugene said wryly, "But yes, this would be a major accomplishment."

"How strong are you attempting to make it?" Dinah asked, "That is, how long until the effects wear off?"

"In its most ideal incarnation it would be _irreversible _except by counter potion. Not quite an immortality, because it doesn't protect you against any diseases, or to be cliché, say, having your head cut off, but it would allow a person to essentially stay young indefinitely."

"That's amazing," she said softly, although some part of her deep down shouted warning that that might not necessarily be a good thing.

"Well, I'm sure it will have to go through much iteration before it reaches that point," Eugene said, "So don't let your hopes get too high. But I'm still pleased with the rate at which I'm making progress on the potion."

Slughorn nodded, "He's been keeping frogs in tadpole form for about two weeks at a time now. That's much longer than the typical two-hour period of the Shrinking Solution."

"Yes," Eugene agreed, "But I'm sure moving from frogs to humans will shorten that time."

"Well, time is what we have plenty of!" the professor said cheerfully, clapping Eugene on the back and causing him to nearly drop the vial of red liquid he had been holding. Hopefully it was only pomegranate juice or something.

"Best of luck to you," Dinah said.

"We'll definitely keep you updated on the progress. I'm anxious for the party, as I'm sure the other Slug Club members will be anxious to hear all about Eugene's research, too."

Hopefully, that meant that Slughorn would spend most of the party dragging Eugene around to meet people and leave the rest of them relatively alone. Although she did feel kind of bad for Eugene, stuck in that position. But the younger man seemed to be taking it in stride so far.

He smiled, "Thanks. It was nice to meet you Professor Samson."

"Dinah's fine. I'm sure I'll see you around. Now if you two will excuse me I have a _mountain_ of papers left to grade." She bid them a friendly farewell and left towards her own quarters, stopping in her classroom on the way to pick up her copy of the survey and all the students' tests.

As she passed the boy's lavatory she was again met with the sound of that crying from before. She took a few steps closer and listened for a moment. Perhaps the child was in more distress than she had originally supposed. But, hopefully, Myrtle was taking care of it a bit. She had said that they were friends. And a friend, even a ridiculously flirtatious ghost friend, was comforting to have.

She sighed and wandered off. She would do her own part in class to keep the other boys from making fun of Speasy so much. But Speasy had to do his part too. It would be hard to make him understand that.

She closed the door to her room, impressed with her recent track record of remembering to do it, and settled down at her desk. Might as well work on the survey again. At least for a half hour before moving to the papers. If she didn't keep looking at it every now and again her brain might get too far removed from what she had been doing with it and thinking about it.

It was clear now that she couldn't interview half bloods of any sort. After thinking about it, it had become obvious that her thoughts on pseudo replication had been correct. Half-bloods had all sorts of weird connections and she would end up with overlapping results, perhaps even without surveying older populations. So it was indeed going to be just a survey of Muggle-born students.

Now, she just had to add some more questions. There was only so much she could ask, but she now wondered about the effects of telling people about their Muggle born status might be. Surely some of the students had told people who then had to have their memories erased for some reason or another. That could be another question.

She wrote in 'Have you told anyone who subsequently had to have their memories erased?:'. Ah, the question mark followed by a stupid colon again. She reworded it. 'I have told people who subsequently had to have their memories erased by the Ministry:', and then stuffed in boxes where they could check 'yes' or 'no'. And then she wrote in 'If yes, check the boxes showing what relation these individuals were to you:' followed by the same list of relation types that she had included above.

There. That was pretty good, although she might want to reword some of it. Now, what reasons would the Ministry erase memories for? Telling other Muggles and not keeping the secret was one, but were there others? Maybe the best thing would be to just ask them to describe the reason rather than making a list of possible reasons. It would be interesting to know even if it wasn't statistically analyzable. And maybe it would be, if the reasons could be grouped together into a few main ones. She'd have to see.

Well, it was better to put it aside for now. She could try and figure out other questions or rewording tomorrow, and then hopefully by Friday could show it to Dumbledore.

For now, she had to get back to grading essays.


	12. Survey

A/N: Sorry if the survey part comes out looking a little bit odd :) It's hard to get the bullets and underlines and all of the formatting stuff to translate onto the website. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER TWELVE

Survey

* * *

"There!" Dinah exclaimed later Thursday evening, holding up her finished, or at least mostly finished survey. After a full day of classes and some boring meals without either Hagrid or Professor Snape present for conversation, and amidst essay grading, she had managed to finish up her draft. The final version read:

* * *

Survey of Muggle-born Students

* * *

Name (optional):_

Age:_

Sex:_

Year in School:_

House:_

* * *

Family's annual income:

£0-£4,999

£5,000-£14,999

£15,000-£29,999

£30,000-£49,999

£50,000-£74,999

More than £75,000

* * *

Number of full Muggles who currently know of your witch/wizard status:_

* * *

Check the box by each type of relation who knows:

Parent(s)

Sibling(s)

Grandparent(s)

Aunt(s)/Uncle(s)

Cousin(s)

Other Primary Guardian(s) (if not listed above)

Other Relatives

Friend(s)

Significant Other

Other (please describe):_

* * *

I have told people who subsequently had to have their memories erased by the Ministry: Yes No

* * *

If yes, check the boxes showing what relation these individuals were to you:

Parent(s)

Sibling(s)

Grandparent(s)

Aunt(s)/Uncle(s)

Cousin(s)

Other Primary Guardian(s) (if not listed above)

Other Relatives

Friend(s)

Significant Other

Other (please describe):_

* * *

Briefly describe the reason for which this memory modification was performed:_

* * *

Rate your satisfaction with being a witch/wizard thus far:

Low Somewhat low Neutral Somewhat High High

* * *

Your family feels _ about you being a witch/wizard:

Unhappy Somewhat unhappy Neutral Somewhat happy Happy

* * *

I miss my old Muggle life:

Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always

* * *

Since becoming a witch/wizard, my relationship with my Muggle family has:

Worsened Slightly worsened Not changed Slightly improved Improved

* * *

I am tempted to tell Muggles I am a witch/wizard and/or tempted to perform magic in front of them:

Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always

* * *

Prior to learning that I was a witch/wizard, my relationships with Muggles were:

Negative Mostly Negative Neutral Mostly positive Positive

* * *

After learning that I was a witch/wizard, my relationships with Muggles were:

Negative Mostly Negative Neutral Mostly positive Positive

* * *

On average, my relationships with other witches and wizards at Hogwarts thus far have been:

Negative Mostly Negative Neutral Mostly positive Positive

* * *

If you would like to say anything more on the subject of being a Muggle born witch or wizard, please do so in the space below:

* * *

She had decided to add all those questions about how the students felt in at the very end, because the survey had looked much too short without them. It would make the statistical analysis hard, and she was slightly apprehensive about some of the answers, though she wasn't quite sure why she should be, but it was probably a good idea to include them in there nonetheless.

The only things that still worried her were the name section and the annual income section. Surely some students wouldn't want to have their financial income listed, but she didn't want to make that optional. It would be an interesting categorical variable for her analysis, and quite likely an important one. But it was personal. And they might not want to put their name down if they put down financial information. Of course, it wasn't like names were necessary. Maybe she should get rid of that part completely.

She sighed. The best thing to do would be to simply show it to Dumbledore as is and see what he thought. But that was something for tomorrow, during her break after breakfast. Right now she had a bit more grading to do. The students would all get their initial essays back at the beginning of next week. Next time she assigned homework she wasn't doing it at the same time for all of her classes; that was certain.

She set the survey aside and pulled out the remaining essays.

* * *

Dinah had slept in a bit and eaten a quick bowl of Muggle cereal and milk in her rooms for breakfast on Friday morning, since she had no immediate class. Now she was hurrying through the halls toward Dumbledore's office with her survey in tow. She had almost made it there when she nearly crashed into Professor Snape, who appeared to be leaving the office.

He frowned, "Professor Samson."

"Professor Snape," she replied with a hasty nod.

He half-smirked, watching her with a thoughtful eye. It was a different look than he usually gave her. Dinah couldn't help but wonder if he and Dumbledore had been talking about her, much the same way that she had talked to the headmaster about Snape. She shifted awkwardly in her stance, but he wasn't moving to let her through. His eye landed on the parchment she was carrying. "What do you have there?"

"Oh!" she nearly jumped, realizing that he might be able to read some of the words. She grinned and stuffed it behind her back, "Nothing. You'll see on Monday."

He sighed, "Don't you think that's rather childish?"

She was about to retort something but was distracted by loud giggling. She and Professor Snape turned to see a small cluster of students wandering past, shooting them furtive looks.

"Can you believe it?" one student whispered to the other, "That's the second time I've seen the greasy git with the Muggle Studies professor. Did you see them outside at lunch yesterday?"

"Yeah," another giggled, "And they're always talking to each other at meals, too. It's weird."

Without speaking and without any change of expression, Professor Snape pointed his wand at the students and all of their papers went flying. They scrambled to pick them up and then scurried away.

She turned back to look at him, and hoped her eyes didn't show what she was feeling. They had called him a 'greasy git'. That just didn't seem right. Sure, his hair _was _rather greasy, and the git part might fit his personality at least where students were concerned. But it still seemed mean. Besides, though she hadn't thought about it before, although he did look slightly unkempt she had never sensed anything really dirty about him. It wasn't like he smelled or anything. She flushed. Where on earth were her thoughts going?

"In case you were wondering," his sudden words caused her to jump, "I could care less what the students say about me."

"Oh," she frowned. She could sense that her eyes were sad this time so she looked away, idly fingering her robes with the hand that wasn't still holding the parchment out of his view. "I mean, yes I understand that. But isn't it rather disrespectful? I mean, after everything you've done last year... for them and for everyone..."

He snorted and she looked up. He didn't seem appreciative of her comments. In fact, he seemed agitated. "Oh, they have plenty of respect for me when they're in my classes. And I don't need recognition for what I did last year. Although the Potter boy seems oddly insistent that I get it. Perhaps if I had known that I would be reborn I wouldn't have shown him..." he trailed off. It seemed Professor Snape had some secrets of his own. He shrugged, "I suppose he couldn't have done what he needed to unless I told him, unfortunately."

She sighed, "You know, you would make it easier for me to mind my own business if you didn't make cryptic comments like that."

"And you would make it easier for me to mind _my _ownbusiness if you didn't hide things behind your back like some kind of flighty first-year."

"Fair enough," she groaned, but smiled a bit, "It seems we always end up evenly matched no matter what we're talking about."

He looked a bit uncomfortable, "It would seem so. Now if you don't mind I have a class coming up and would like to go prepare."

She stepped aside. Why did he make her feel like she had to do that instead of him just going around her? Then again, she had been waiting for him to move aside as well, when she could just as easily have walked around. Was their some kind of invisible magnet between them or something? That was a slightly unnerving thought. And why was it that she couldn't take her eyes off of him until his billowing robes disappeared around the corner at the end of the hall?

Dinah shook her head. Whatever. She didn't have time for this anyway. She needed to go and show her survey to Dumbledore.

* * *

"This is impressive," Dumbledore slid the survey across his desk and back to Dinah with a small smile. "Now, that said, I do have a few questions and suggestions. But please, if there's anything that concerns you why don't you go ahead and share it with me first."

"Sure," she smiled, "And thank you. Well, I was thinking that I have some concerns about the financial status question."

He nodded.

"I guess I worry about it being a personal question, and then that coupled with asking them for names. _Do _you think I should ask for names? Or should we make it anonymous? It doesn't really matter from the statistical side, but I thought you might have an opinion on that matter and so I waited to talk to you about it. Right now I have name listed as optional."

"Hmm, I had a few concerns about that part as well. Mainly, and I don't know if you've considered this or not yet, but you do realize that some of these students are very young and may not know their parents' annual income."

"Oh!" she clapped a hand to her forehead, "Really, how stupid of me. That makes so much sense. I guess I got so wrapped up in finishing the survey I didn't think about it."

"That's all right," Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling, "I wouldn't expect you not to make mistakes. Nobody's perfect."

"You seem to be," she joked.

"Oh, I am hardly perfect," he was still smiling, but his eyes grew distant for a moment, as though fathoming things Dinah couldn't even guess at. "At any rate, I think one solution would be to leave the name optional, and then put in an 'if known' statement after the financial question."

"That could work. Except it means I won't get full data on that."

"The other option, and one that I was thinking we might use either way, is to have each and every student use a lie detector quill to take the survey. After all, you'd like correct data, wouldn't you?"

"Yes," she blinked, "Wow, I didn't even think of that. I guess there are some pretty great things about magic. Although I'd like to think the students wouldn't lie."

"So would I, but that would be a bit ambitious, don't you think? Either way, if we do that we should definitely leave the name as optional."

"You know," she said, "Actually, leaving the name as optional might present a new item for analysis. I can see if there is a connection between a choice to reveal ones name and certain answers. Oh, but... will a lie detector quill detect the right answer for a student if the student on their own doesn't know the answer?"

He shook his head, "I'm sorry, I got ahead of myself. The lie detector quill will be useful for the other questions, but we can cast an auto-answer spell on them that is specific to that question. That should take care of the financial issue."

"Great! Then that really takes care of things."

"Yes, and there was one more thing. I'm not sure how Muggle statistics works, but you might want to consider the fact that on a rare occasion Muggle-borns are discovered in the same household. That is, there are some sibling Muggle-borns here."

"Oh," she frowned, not having thought of that either, "Oh no. That certainly puts a damper on things, doesn't it? I can't believe I didn't think of... well, you must think that I'm completely thick."

"No, no," he grinned, "Not at all. We can't all think of everything. I certainly couldn't have thought up some of the things you put in here. But there surely must be a solution to that problem."

"Well, could we... make siblings take the test together and just note that somewhere? Or they could take it alone but make sure that they write their names and I can figure it out on my own. Or they could consult each other and make sure they have no overlapping answers. Like divvy up the answers. Which do you think is best?"

"I think..." Dumbledore began slowly, "That we might not change anything at all. We can, of course, encourage them to note their names, but we couldn't force them. And the only questions that will be a problem are those about the specific people they've told. Besides, I think that you're just looking for trends, correct? How many people Muggle-borns typically tell? That overall conclusion shouldn't be affected by the sibling problem, should it?"

Dinah took a few moments to think that through. "You know, you're right. That should be okay, I think."

He nodded, "I do have a couple of suggestions for extra questions you could include to address that issue. Would you like to go through and look at them together?"

"Yes," she agreed, "I would like that very much."


	13. Issues

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Issues

* * *

Dinah stood in front of her first-years class on Monday, ready to start a new week. "Good morning," she said, once the class had filled. "I hope you all had an excellent first weekend here at Hogwarts. But now it's time to start back up with our exciting exploration of Muggles and Muggle society. That said," she held a pile of parchments in front of her, "I have your initial essays to hand back to you."

Some of the students groaned and others exchanged happy glances. She'd have to try to take note of which students usually exhibited which reactions.

She walked among the rows and handed papers back to students individually, trying to establish rapport as best as she could with thirty-six students in the class.

"Miss Yates," she handed Mae's paper back with a smile, "Very well thought-out essay. I look forward to hearing more of your ideas in class."

The small girl beamed, and Dinah moved on to Cantrell and Speasy, both of whom were glaring in Mae's general direction as she flipped through the essay looking at the comments. "Mr. Cantrell," she plopped a messily written parchment in front of him, "You might want to take this class a bit more seriously in the future. Speasy, not bad. At least you tried to organize your thoughts and explain your observations. I hope eventually you come to find this class stimulating. Same to you two, Mr. Fitzgerald, Miss Hisakawa. Good job, Mr. Aves, Miss Brown. I hope I can address some of your questions over the course of our year together." She continued on, making small comments to each student which she hoped were encouraging.

Finally, she finished and stood back in front of them. "We're going to be starting a new section today. I'd like to start off covering some basic human themes before we move into exploring Muggle and Wizard societies specifically. So we're going to start off by talking about the topic of 'discrimination'. That is, looking at things and labeling them by how they are different rather than by how they are the same. That's the most basic definition of the word. In some more complex definitions, it can have a negative connotation as in the mistreatment of groups of people that are considered 'different.'"

A few groans sounded throughout the room, and she sensed that the volume was highest in the Slytherin section. A small smile formed on Dinah's face. This was the perfect time to start handling that issue.

"Now, I promise, this is going to be fun. Today, we're just going to get used to the idea with a very simple activity. You are going to separate into groups of four people each, _but_ you don't get to pick your groups. We will count off to the number nine as I point to you and all of the ones will be in a group, all of the twos, etcetera. That way you get to meet new people from different houses and backgrounds. Yes, Mr. Mitchell?"

The blond, slightly plump Hufflepuff boy lowered his hand, "How come in this class we don't have just our own house or one other like in our other required classes?"

"I'm glad you asked that," she smiled, "Because of the nature of this class - looking at differences as we will do now, and the like – I asked Dumbledore if we could have all of the houses together. He agreed that it was a good choice. Now, let's count off."

Once the students were settled in their groups she asked them to take out pieces of parchment. "Now, as a group, I want you to talk amongst yourselves and make a list. I want _at least _ten different items on this list. You will make a list of ways that you can discriminate among each other. And by this I don't mean in the negative way, I mean how can you categorize each other. For example, what kind of pets you have or what part of Britain you live in. You can come up with anything you like, except I'm asking that you not put these on your list." She waved her hand and the chalk wrote a few items on the board. 1. Blood status, 2. House, 3. Boy or Girl. She almost put 'sex' but thought better of it. She might get some unnecessary giggles out of that one. And after a million sociology classes emphasizing the more subtle meaning of the word 'gender' she always hesitated to use it. Not that many eleven year olds would consider themselves a different gender than their sex, but you never knew.

"I ask you not to use these because we all know already that these are ways to group you. That's what this class is all about, after all. I'd like us to explore other ways of categorizing ourselves. Okay? Begin." And the students hurried to work.

* * *

Dinah headed to lunch with a fresh spring in her step. Her section on discrimination had begun well in both of her classes. With the fourth years she had skipped the intro activity and moved right on to discussing a classic study in discrimination. The American teacher Jane Elliott's study on the division of the students in her class into blue eyed and brown eyed groups and subsequent declaration that one group was superior to the other. There was still quite a bit of controversy surrounding the study, but it was an excellent topic for discussion. The students seemed very responsive to it so far.

She sighed and her mood fell as she passed the boys' bathroom. That crying again. She had been hearing it off and on for the entire last week. It was beginning to be a problem. Maybe it was more than one student... there was really no way to tell without going in there. Perhaps she should tell Dumbledore or someone about the problem. Maybe there was a way to make an announcement at a meal about being nice to others, or something.

She tried to ignore it and walked the rest of the way to the Great Hall. Professor Vector and Hagrid were both there today, so she could do little more than share a passing nod with Professor Snape. It seemed, however, that Slughorn was absent, and Lucy looked rather relieved as she ate her chicken sandwich in peace.

Dinah wondered if perhaps Eugene's Youthening Potion was coming along well. She'd have to drop by again some time this week and see. But not today, what with her full afternoon schedule and the fact that her surveys would be passed out at dinner. She yawned and leaned back. Class discussions were stimulating, but tiring. That was probably a good thing, though. After finishing the last of her carrots she bid a good afternoon to Professor Vector, who she'd been chatting idly with while eating, and headed back to her classroom. She ran into Lucy on the way.

"Oh, hello." She smiled, "I noticed there was no Slughorn at lunch today. Must be nice. How was your weekend?"

Lucy smiled, "Emotional. I talked to Sirius like you said and it was…emotional, but other than that it was good. How was yours?"

"Good," Dinah replied, "I visited my parents in London. I hadn't seen them in awhile and of course they wanted to know all about my classes and such. But I'm glad you were able to talk to Sirius. It went well, I presume?"

"Um, yeah. We're working on my issues. Talking about them didn't make them magically disappear but he knows about it now and I'm doing my best. My sleep's still messed up and I spend a lot of my alone time worrying but Sirius knows and Dumbledore knows so it'll help I think. Sorry, I'm babbling again."

"It's okay," Dinah smiled slightly, starting to get used to her new friend's peculiarities. "I'm glad things are better. And it's only been a few days, I'm sure they'll continue to improve. But I've got to get to class now. My afternoon is 100% full."

Lucy laughed, "Happily I at least have a break and an office hour, but then my classes are smaller than yours. Anyway, good luck with the rest of your afternoon. I'll see you around."

Dinah bid Lucy good-bye and continued to her Second Years class.

* * *

"Attention all students," Dumbledore's voice boomed out across the Great Hall at dinner, "I'm sure many of you are wondering why dinner was made mandatory today. Well, we have something rather unique going on today."

Dinah, feeling a little bit self-important but trying to keep the feeling tempered so that she didn't seem like a snob, still couldn't resist shooting a grin at Professor Snape two seats down. He smirked back at her. Really, it was becoming almost amusing how all of her attempts at joking or friendliness got the same response from him.

"Our own Professor Samson of our newly redesigned Muggle Studies course has crafted a short survey that we are requesting all Muggle-born witches and wizards to fill out."

Dinah was aware of a hum of discussion in the room on the students end, but her gaze kept shifting to Snape's. His eyes actually widened slightly in surprise and he shot her a look followed by an almost imperceptible nod. Satisfied, she turned back to watch Dumbledore.

"The survey should not take long, but we are going to give you a week to complete it as I know you all have other homework assignments, classes, and the like. So you will all come to another mandatory dinner session next Monday to turn your surveys in. Now, all of you who are Muggle-born should appreciate this as a great opportunity to make a difference in how the wizarding world perceives Muggle-born witches and wizards as well as the Muggle society which you grew up in. I believe this will be a very positive experience for each of you. Those of you who are not Muggle-born," he continued, and Dinah smiled, glad that he had not used the terms pure blood or half blood, "I realize it may be disappointing that you don't have a survey to take also," he smiled, his eyes twinkling, and some of the students laughed. "However, believe me when I say that this will benefit you as well in the long run."

"You will be using these specially-assigned lie-detector quills to ensure that your surveys are truthful, but I suspect that won't be a problem with most of you either way. The quills are also enchanted with an auto-answer spell for a question about your parents' financial income. The pen will answer this on its own for demographic purposes but you will be unable to see the answer, in case your parents wish for you not to know. Because financial information will be provided on the survey, your names are optional. Now, everyone who is Muggle born please come up and collect a parchment from Professor McGonagall."

Dinah watched as about half or nearly half of the students in the Great Hall stood and walked up to where Minerva stood at the other end of the table next to Lucy, handing out parchments. Lucy met Dinah's gaze for a second and smiled, her eyes wide in surprise. In fact, many of the other professors were giving her curious looks. Good. She had created a bit of a stir with this, which was what she had hoped for. Presumably it would be a positive stir.

"Well," Professor Vector shot her a smile when they had begun eating their shepherd's pie dinner; "I'm not sure what it will do, but that's a very interesting move. What made you decide to do it?"

She cleared her throat for a minute as she met Snape's eyes. He smirked and turned back to his food. He was fully aware that he had been the one who had given her the idea. But she would respect his privacy in the matter. "A lot has changed since the defeat of Voldemort, even though it's only been a summer. The Muggle Studies class has been totally revamped and rearranged. The entire wizarding world has started to rethink its policies on Muggles and Muggle-borns. I think it's important to know, in that case, how Muggle-borns feel about a lot of things in their relationship with both worlds. Hopefully, this survey sheds some light on it."

"But there are so many students. I think there are somewhere around two-hundred and forty Muggle-born students in Hogwarts. How can you find patterns?"

"Well, that's the beauty of it," she flushed slightly, "I can use Muggle statistics programs to do that very quickly in what would take much longer to do by hand."

The Arithmancy teacher smiled, "Sounds very... numerical."

"Oh, there are _a lot_ of numbers involved that's for sure," Dinah smiled. "But no magical properties. Just ordinary, mundane math skills. But ones which would take months to go through without my computer program. And I need those months to try and interpret the data. Because even with all of the patterns identified we need to try and think about _why_ those patterns are there, and want to do about it in the future. Statistics is a really fascinating branch of Muggle mathematics. Although, it can be rather tedious. I'm not sure I quite realized at first what I'm getting myself into."

"I'm sure you'll do well," she smiled, "You seem to know what you're doing. I'm curious to see your results."

"Me too!" Hagrid boomed from next to Professor Vector; "You can show those so-called 'pure bloods' a thing or too, I'm sure!"

She smiled slightly and looked past Hagrid at Professor Snape. The smirk was still firmly planted on his face as he took a bite of pie. He wasn't looking at her, but she was sure he would have much to say when they got an opportunity.

Well, she was ready for it.

After dinner, she was walking out towards her quarters when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and saw Lucy standing before her.

"Well, that was a surprise!" the literature professor said with a smile.

"Indeed it was," a more subdued voice said behind Dinah.

She smiled and turned to see that Professor Snape had popped up behind them. "So glad you think so."

Lucy, on the other hand, had flinched when the dark-haired man spoke. "Well," she gave him a swift, nervous nod, "Professor Snape. Um, I'm going to head back then, Dinah. I'm sure we'll talk later." She waved and scurried off in the opposite direction.

"You know, I think you make her nervous," Dinah said to Snape, "Then again, you seem to make quite a lot of people nervous."

"Not you," he replied, and she couldn't tell if that was a note of frustration she heard in his voice or not.

She smiled a bit, "Well, not usually, anyway. I'm sure you have plenty to say, and I was heading back to my rooms. Since it's rather crowded here, you're free to walk with me if you like."

Severus Snape seemed to consider this for a moment, looking around at the room as if checking to see if anyone was paying attention to them. Finally he appeared to deem it safe and turned back to her, "If we must."

"Okay," she smiled, "Let's go."


	14. Talk

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Talk

* * *

"Tell me," Professor Snape began in his usual monotone as they walked away from the busy Great Hall, "Exactly how is it that Muggle... statistics," his face contorted in disgust as he said the word, "are supposed to help you answer the question I posed to you last week?"

"You'd be surprised. There are actually things that Muggle technology can do that magic can't. I can't really explain it all in detail to you now. It's probably better for you to wait until I've completed the analysis, and then you can read my report."

"And how long will that take?"

"It could take a couple of months, or more, I really don't know. But as I told Professor Vector, most of that is data interpretation. The computer can show patterns very quickly. But there are a lot of questions on the survey. I suppose if you asked nicely I could show it to you."

He smirked, "Indeed. Well, if you would... _please_..." he didn't seem quite 'pleased' to say that word either, "be willing to let me examine it at some point."

She shot him a grin, but he was looking straight ahead and not at her. Either way, she felt pretty satisfied with herself. "Professor Snape, how do you feel about the Ministry of Magic?"

He shot her a somewhat surprised look, "We're talking about politics?"

"Well, I think it's all related, don't you? I mean, we were discussing their knowledge of Muggles who know. We know that whenever there is a big mishap they're attention is drawn to it, and they perform memory charms and the like to address the problem. I actually put a question like that on my survey. But they know essentially nothing of the Muggles who know that _don't _cause a stir. I mean I think it's a concern that the Ministry doesn't even monitor when magical children are born. McGonagall does that."

"Of course that's a concern," he looked surprised that they agreed on something, "But I would have thought you would feel the opposite."

"No," she shook her head, "That's not really connected to the value of either society, when you think about it. It's really just about efficiency. I know the Ministry is starting to reshape their policies, but I think it will be awhile before they can have it functioning the way they should. Hogwarts has made more, quicker progress than the ministry has, with the way my class has been revamped and everything."

"Hm," he nodded slowly, "I do agree that some of those changes to your class may have been necessary. But I don't think glorifying Muggle society is a necessary change."

"I'm not glorifying anything," she retorted, "But back on topic, when you look at my survey you'll see that I've included a question about how many Muggles they have told. Statistically, I can compare that with other information about them and see if there's a pattern. And once we get an average of how many Muggles are told per student we can multiply that by how many Muggle-born witches or wizards there are and get some idea of how many Muggles may know. But that total number of Muggle-borns will be hard to come by when the information is scattered all over the place."

He shrugged, "I suppose that information could be useful. An actual number would be more useful."

"You think so?" she shook her head, "It might be useful at any given moment to know how many Muggles know about wizard society, but there will always be births and deaths and memories being erased and new people being told. And so you'd have to do counts over and over again to keep that number known. It's highly inefficient, plus it doesn't tell you anything about patterns, like how many people women tell versus men, or financial status, that sort of thing."

She stopped when they reached her door, and turned around to face him, her back against it. Inviting him in would probably be weird, so she just watched him and waited for a response. He regarded her for a long time, and then spoke, "That does make sense. I guess I should give you a little more credit than I do. You really seem to know what you're talking about."

Dinah smiled, "Thank you. I really appreciate that you would say that. But don't worry, I'm sure there are plenty of things you can still stump me on."

He almost smiled, but again it didn't reach his eyes. Still, it was encouraging. "At least our lunch conversation last week led to something somewhat productive. But you do realize that Dumbledore had to design magical quills for use on the test. That removes the Muggle effect a bit, wouldn't you say?"

She shrugged, "Perhaps a bit. It will make the survey more accurate, but the beauty of statistics is that they are robust to a little bit of false information. You report the values with usually 95% confidence, so... well, it's kind of hard to explain. But I do admit that having that magic enhancement will be useful. But it just shows that both societies have equally valid things to contribute."

"Which would lead a normal person to conclude that the two societies should merge. So you circle back to the beginning."

"No, I still don't think it means we have to merge. I mean, sure it would be nice if it were possible, but I just don't think it is. But there is that overlap with Muggle-borns, so I'm glad you inspired me to do this survey."

"I'm curious to see your results. Though I don't know if you'll sell me on your points or not."

"That's the most exciting part of all," she grinned. "Finding out if I do. Well, um... I could go in and get a copy for you now if you'd like. You could take it and read it at your leisure."

He shrugged, "If you want."

She opened the door and her cat ran out. She sighed and put her hands on her hips, "Godric!"

Snape snorted, "Godric? Named your cat after Gryffindor, did you? Well, I suppose that's typical."

She turned her glare from her cat, who was now circling Snape's robes and sniffing at them, to her colleague, "For your information, Mr. Slytherin, I have four pets which I named after _each_ of the founders. My toad is named Salazar."

He frowned, "I see. Well, I suppose – what on _Earth_?" he looked away from her and down at Godric, who had made a little meow sort of noise and was now running a circle around Snape's feet. He stopped in front of him and looked up, meowing again and sticking his paws in the air.

Both Dinah's eyebrows raised, "I don't know. He's never done _that_ before."

"Well," Professor Snape turned back to her, "You should go inside and get the – _cat_!" he sighed and turned to glare at Godric again, who was now batting at his robes and running in more circles around him. Snape pulled his robes out of the way, and Godric playfully jumped after them.

"Weird," Dinah said, "You know, I actually think he likes you."

He frowned, "Go get the survey."

She laughed, "Okay." She leaned over and picked up Godric, "Come on, you. Leave Professor Snape alone." She took him inside and grabbed a copy of the survey from her desk, then headed back out into the hall, closing the door before her cat could follow her. "Here," she handed it to Professor Snape, "Please let me know what you think of it."

He nodded, tucking it into his robes. "You can count on that."

"I hope my results can convince the Ministry that they need to keep closer tabs on wizards, have some kind of list of people registered somewhere. I know they were doing something like that last year, looking at all of the Muggle-borns, but that was so corrupt. It couldn't have been done well."

Snape frowned, "I really can't say much on that. I wasn't deeply involved in it, but I had to let it go on. I had nothing to do with it."

"Oh," she said softly, "Don't worry about that. I didn't mean it in that sort of way, I was just thinking out loud. Believe me, Professor Snape, I never intend on making another accusatory comment about your behavior last year ever again. I don't want to unwittingly say something hurtful."

He looked at her for a moment and then sighed, "That's appreciated." He took a step back, "Good night, Professor Samson."

"Good night," she gave him a small smile and he walked away.

She headed back into her room and leaned her back on the closed door for a moment, the small smile still on her face. He seemed to be opening up a bit. Although why she should care she didn't really know. Maybe because that's what Dumbledore wanted.

Yes, that was probably the reason.

Still smiling, and not choosing to analyze why anymore, she headed to her room to get ready for bed.


	15. Parselmouth

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Parselmouth

* * *

"So when Ms. Elliot separated her students into blue-eyed and brown-eyed children, she didn't tell them how to treat each other in any way. And yet they became hostile towards one another. Why do you think this is?"

Hermione Granger raised her hand and Dinah called on her.

"Well, first there's the fact that Ms. Elliot still treated them differently herself, and so there would be jealousy on behalf of the lower group and the higher group would want to gloat. So I think that shows that human nature is sometimes that which makes people show off. But on the other hand, its interesting because she also told them that blue eyed students are smarter because of the pigment in their eyes being linked to intelligence or something. That had no basis in reality but the students just assumed she was right from the beginning. It really shows that we listen to what authority figures tell us. So when our parents – or some of our parents tell us that Muggle-borns are inferior, we believe them. Or some people do."

"Very good observations," Dinah smiled and Hermione beamed, "Mr. Vaisey?"

The Slytherin Tobias Vaisey lowered his hand with a frown, "But I don't see how this relates to our society. I mean, she lied. There are no _real _differences between brown-eyed and blue-eyed people, but there _are _real differences between wizards and Muggles."

"Is that true?" she raised an eyebrow, "Okay, then let's pretend she didn't choose brown and blue eyes and instead picked a different trait. Say she was a home economics teacher. That's a Muggle class where they have students learn life skills like cooking and sewing. Assume that Ms. Elliot singled out the students who couldn't bake a cake properly, and said that was a sign of stupidity, and gave special privileges to those who did it 'right'. Or perhaps she was a music teacher and singled out the people who could play their instrument well over those who couldn't."

Victoria Frobisher raised a hand; "Those are real differences. Well, I mean they are differences in behavior."

"Like some people are capable of using magic and some aren't," Dinah agreed.

She nodded, "But I don't think any of those people are necessarily better than the others. They may have other skills. Is it the same with wizards and Muggles?"

She shrugged, "That's what I'd like you all to think about. It wouldn't be very fun if I told you. And besides, this isn't about my opinions, it's about yours. But I will ask you this. If it was so easy for the students to buy into something that was as 'obviously' ridiculous as the blue eyes versus brown eyes thing, what does that say about the rationality of our other prejudices?"

The students were silent, but they seemed to be seriously considering the question. She smiled, "With that thought, I'm going to dismiss you all for the day. No homework, but keep in mind that I'll be assigning a lot of readings next time for you to do over the weekend, so don't get too comfortable, and keep thinking about these issues."

The students all shuffled about getting ready to leave, but Hermione came up to her desk, "Professor Samson?"

"Yes?" she smiled and sat down, arranging some papers in front of her.

"I really like the questions your lectures are raising. And I wondered... well, I was hoping you might be willing to offer some support – even just vocal support to the other professors and such – to this project I've been sort of tackling offhand when I get the chance over the past few years."

"Probably," she nodded, "If it's related to what we've been talking about. What is it?"

"Oh, it's definitely related. At least I think so. It's called S.P.E.W."

"S.P.E... Spew?"

"Not Spew!" Hermione looked frustrated, "It's the acronym."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just seeing the word in my head and..." Dinah suppressed a chuckle but she couldn't hide her slight smile.

The girl sighed, but smiled a bit as well, "Sorry, it's just that my..." she flushed and clutched her books a little more tightly, "Boyfriend used to make fun of it all the time by calling it Spew. It's a bit of a sensitive subject for me. But it stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. It advocates for better treatment of house elves."

"Oh!" Dinah found herself nodding almost vigorously in response, "I see. I also agree that the way they're treated is absolutely atrocious. Although I've focused much of my research on the human problem, I think the treatment of other creatures is a very important point as well. I'd be happy to give you whatever support I can."

"Thank you!" Hermione looked positively ecstatic, "You have no idea how much I appreciate it. Well, I have another class to go to but maybe we can discuss it sometime?"

She nodded, "I'm always available during office hours."

"Oh, and I took your survey right away. I love that you're doing that."

Dinah smiled. The seventh year students were so much more mature than the first years, and Hermione seemed almost more like a peer than a student sometimes. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. I only hope the results pan out like I hope for them to."

"Good luck. I hope the students can see your report when you finish it."

"We shall see," she said somewhat wistfully. Hopefully, the report turned out well. She bid Hermione farewell and stood from her desk, feeling pretty good about how things were going lately.

She had an hour break before her office hours began for the afternoon, and it was such a nice day outside that she decided to walk around the grounds again. It wouldn't be _quite _as fun without Professor Snape to keep her company and challenge her mind but she'd just have to live with that.

Dinah left through one of the back doors and stepped out into the sunny daylight. A few students wandered around the grounds and the Black Lake glittered in the distance. She wandered forward, enjoying the fresh air and the voices of the students around her. She found herself ambling towards a hill on he left that sloped gently down toward the Forbidden Forest far in the distance.

A couple of students whizzed by her on their brooms, anxiously practicing for the Quidditch tryouts that were occurring this week. Dinah smiled as she watched them, but didn't sit down on the grass until she had gotten a big further from the hubbub, next to a large oak tree that sat on the edge of the hill just where it dipped into a slightly steeper portion.

She leaned back and stared up at the sky. She hadn't really given herself a chance to come out onto the grounds on her own and just enjoy Hogwarts yet. She really did have a deep affection for this place, despite the hardships she had faced while here. It was in such a beautiful area, and Dumbledore had always been supportive of her even when times were difficult. She was truly lucky to have had the opportunity to fully explore both the Muggle and wizard worlds, and it seemed like she was doing a good job at getting her message to her students. Perhaps her getting her powers at a late age had been a blessing in disguise. And now, it would finally pay off. Things were definitely going to be better here now.

"You look happy!" a pleasant voice said next to her.

She turned to smile at whoever had spoken, "I am! You see I-" she broke off abruptly when she saw who had been talking to her.

It was a small black adder.

The adder looked rather shocked herself, "You can understand me?"

Dinah looked nervously around, trying to quell the terrified knot rising in her throat. It calmed down only slightly when she saw that the coast was apparently clear and no one could see her. She turned back to the snake and made her voice a whisper, although she was never sure if volume differences translated or not, "I can. I'm sorry," she smiled, "You were probably just thinking out loud."

"I was," the snake agreed, "But all the same I'm glad you heard me. I've never talked to a human before."

She nodded, "I have to keep it a secret because most humans don't understand."

The adder nodded, "Most humans are mean to us. The smooth snakes and grass snakes try to hide most of the time, so I hear, but we adders have defenses so sometimes we creep up on you anyway. Just to see what you're thinking."

"I know," Dinah agreed with a sympathetic nod, "Let me apologize right now if a human has done anything mean to you before. Most of the humans just... no, they really don't understand," she repeated. "Even I have to hide my skills because it scares them. I wish I didn't though. I wish I could show them how nice you all are."

"That's nice," she agreed.

Dinah smiled, "Maybe someday. I was just thinking-"

"Professor Samson!" a terrified voice shrieked, and the adder slithered quickly off toward the forest.

She flinched, the knot rising once again in her throat, and looked up to see who had spoken. The voice had been so twisted in terror that she couldn't tell whether it had been a boy or a girl. John Wortham and Porter Lee stood not more than ten feet away from her, staring and pale-faced.

Wortham raised a finger to point at her, his speech and breathing ragged, "You're a parselmouth!"

"Now – now boys-" she held her hands out in front of her.

"I'm gonna tell my Dad about this!" Lee exclaimed, taking a few steps back, "He can write to the Ministry."

"Please," she realized she was wringing her hands, and felt the heat of shame crawling up into her cheeks that she was actually afraid of her students right now, "I promise you both, it's really nothing. Dumbledore knows and-"

"Dumbledore _knows_?" Wortham exclaimed, "And he lets you teach? Was the Daily Prophet right about him all those years ago?"

"Don't _say _that!" But her voice didn't come out strict, like a teacher's, it came out pleading, like a victim, "It's not true. Really, being a parselmouth isn't-"

"You-Know-Who was a parselmouth!"

"So was Harry Potter!" she was grasping at straws now, still wringing her hands.

"Yeah, but he's not anymore!" Lee retorted, "The _Daily Prophet _says so! He only had the ability 'cuz You-Know-Who gave it to him! What's your excuse?"

"_Please_ Wortham, Lee, just listen for a moment."

"What are you gonna do to us?" Wortham backed up a few steps so he was even with his friend.

"Nothing! I just want to explain-" she broke off. She had dug herself into too deep of a hole. Although she had said 'nothing', she really had no choice now. She pulled out her wand and they both flinched. She forced herself to ignore it. It wouldn't be a problem soon. "I'm sorry boys," she said softly, "Dumbledore gave me permission to do this. _Obliviate_!"

After the light from her wand hit the boys they both shook their heads for a moment in the usual reaction to the spell. "Professor Samson?" Wortham looked worried, but the expression was totally different from before. He held up his hands, "We weren't doing anything, honest!"

Lee looked around, "Speasy isn't even here!"

She forced a smile, "I know that. I was just sitting out here thinking, myself. Are you boys going to try out for Quidditch this year?" she nodded at the broom in Lee's left hand, which she had only noticed just now.

"I am!" Lee beamed, "My Dad was a chaser when he went to Hogwarts. I hope to do the same."

"Well, good luck then. You should both get back to practicing, shouldn't you? I need to go get ready for office hours. Good job on your essays, by the way."

"Thanks!" they both said, and then hurried off to practice Quidditch.

She sighed, but her throat was still tight. She looked up at the sky, hoping the sun would cheer her up, but clouds were starting to form now. Dark ones.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and a new one cropped up in its place. It figured. And just when she had been so sure things would be better.

But nothing had changed. When people knew she could speak parseltongue they always reacted the same way. Even her parents were freaked out by it. She couldn't keep a pet snake like she wanted, had to be careful whenever she was outside in case she inadvertently talked to one... she had forgotten that already. So wrapped up she had been in the thought that it would be okay now. That maybe everything would be okay now.

But it would never be okay.

She began walking back towards the school, the previous spring in her step lost to the darkening sky. She had had to perform a memory charm on her students. Dumbledore had given her permission for it, but if the parents ever found out... if the Ministry ever found out...

Professor Snape had been right. Dumbledore took too many risks for the sake of his students. Both current and previous ones. She probably shouldn't be teaching at all. Why had she thought things would change? Why?

She remained a sort of zombie for the rest of the day, only barely managing to sit through office hours where an excited Hermione ran through a million thoughts and ideas about S.P.E.W. Her student had expressed some frustration at her monotone answers and general distractedness, but Dinah had managed to save face by ensuring that she was just stressed because of grading papers and would be happy to talk some more about S.P.E.W. at a later time.

If she didn't quit Hogwarts, that is.

Part of her knew that talking to Dumbledore was probably what she should be doing right now, but she ignored that part and wandered toward the front gates after her office hours ended. Dinner was lamb chops, one of her favorites, but she wasn't hungry. Professor Snape would probably be shocked at that. But it didn't matter.

She sat on the main steps and watched students scurrying inside for their meal. A few shot her passing nods ad they ran past and she managed to acknowledge some of them, but her thought's weren't on school or students or food as she stared out at the grounds all the way to Hagrid's cabin and the Forbidden Forest in the distance.

Her thoughts were on the past.


	16. Memories

A/N: Special thanks to Mark Darcy, ILoveFantasy, 100PercentAnime, and potionguru for your reviews! Your nice comments and interest in the story are much appreciated! :)

* * *

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Memories

* * *

_"Dear, your father and I are very concerned about this," Dahlia Samson said softly, sitting down on the big green sofa next to her daughter and across from where her husband and Dinah's father, Edward Samson sat in his favorite chair._

_ "I'm not doing it on purpose!" sixteen-year-old Dinah moaned, wringing her hands, her usual nervous response, as she faced first her mother and then her father, pleading for understanding._

_ All she got was the usual exchange of worried looks. "You say that, but it is very difficult for us to believe that you don't know what your voice sounds like. Do you really think if you make random hissing noises those snakes will understand you?" her father said._

_ "But they _do_ understand me!" she knew it was hard to believe, but it was just as bad telling her parents that she was making up hissing noises. No matter what she told them she couldn't win. They had caught her twice now, and she had been trying to be so careful. She enjoyed talking to the snakes. It gave her perspective on how other creatures saw the world. "And I don't hear hissing noises, I hear normal talking. You simply _must _hear that too!"_

_ "We don't, Dinah. You know we don't," Her mother replied._

_ "I'm not crazy! If you just let me go outside and find one I can tell it to do things and when it does what I tell you I tell it to do you'll know that-" but she broke off as they exchanged the look again. She was _not _getting through to them at all._

_ "Dinah, I think we need to talk to somebody about this."_

_ "No! No, please, don't! I won't do it anymore, I'll-" she broke off as a knock sounded on the door. "I'll get that!" She stood from the couch before her parents could protest and hurried to the door, grateful for at least a short reprieve. She opened it to reveal an old man with a long, gray-white beard that nearly reached his waist. He was dressed in odd clothing, some sort of robes and a cloak, and half-moon glasses rested on his nose, behind which gentle eyes glittered. "Can I help you?"_

_ "Miss Dinah Samson?"_

_ "That's me..." she hesitated. She was quite sure she had never seen this man before in her life. "Who might you be?"_

_ "Albus Dumbledore," he said, extending a hand, and she had a vision of the bumblebees that flitted through their backyard garden. The name seemed to fit him. It was like the old man was buzzing with positive energy. Just being in his presence was calming. As she shook his hand he continued, "I need to speak with both you and your parents about a very important matter."_

_ She frowned, but held the door open slightly further. There was nothing threatening about this man, she was sure. "I don't know. Perhaps another time would be better. Right now we're discussing-"_

_ "The fact that you can speak with snakes," his eyes twinkled._

_ "What?" she backed up, now feeling uneasy, "Did they call someone? Did they send you to-?"_

_ "No, of course not," he said hurriedly, and despite her mind telling her it was unwise, her heart wanted to believe him, "I'm on your side, Dinah. You see, I am the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland."_

_ "Hog... school of... what?" she was sure she had heard wrong._

_ "It is a school for people with special abilities like yours. You may have noticed that you were able to do other things in the past few months?"_

_ "Well, yes now you mention it. Sometimes when I'm in class at school and the teacher calls on me to answer a question I don't know, she'll... well, she'll get interrupted. It's happened multiple times. The papers fell off her desk, there was a sudden black-out..."_

_ He frowned, "I see. Well, there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. You, Dinah Samson, are a witch."_

_ "What?" She backed up again. Was this man mad? Or was he somehow trying to insult her? "You can't possibly mean-"_

_ "Dinah, who is at the door?" her father's voice demanded from the distance._

_ She sighed, and against her better judgment opened the door the rest of the way, "You might want to come inside and talk to all of us."_

_

* * *

_

_ "I understand what you're saying, Mr. Dumbledore," Edward said slowly, "But you must also realize how hard it is for us to believe this."_

_ "I do," the old man, whom Dinah had come to like more and more over the course of their conversation, said, "And that's why I invite your family to come with me to Diagon Alley and see some of the world for yourselves. Dinah will need to purchase school books and supplies."_

_ "I suppose we can do that," Dahlia agreed, "Ed?"_

_ Dinah's father nodded, "Yes, that would be fine. And after you showed us some of your abilities I'm willing to give this a chance. It's better than... well, the alternative we were considering."_

_ Dinah exhaled with relief and her mother squeezed her hand. Already, she was more grateful to Albus Dumbledore than she could express. Her parents didn't think she was mad anymore, or at least they were coming around. She was safe._

_"I'm glad you all agree. But," Dumbledore frowned and Dinah bit her lip. His look worried her. "There _are _two or three things that I have to tell you, that... are a bit different and potentially problematic in this case."_

_"What are those things?" her mother's calm tone comforted her just a bit._

_"First of all, Dinah's ability to speak to snakes. It is not something that all witches and wizards have and it is sort of... frowned upon in some circles. I think we'll need to keep that under wraps for the time being."_

_Dinah sighed, "That's proven hard to do."_

_"I'll help you with that," his expression was reassuring, "But our second problem will be harder to hide. You see, most of our students begin to show signs of magic at a much earlier age. In fact, we usually know they are a witch or a wizard the moment they are born. I don't quite understand why it took so long for your powers to show up."_

_"What does that mean?" she had to ask._

_"I'm not sure," he admitted, "But the rest of the first year students will be eleven years old. You may have some difficulties there, but I have some ideas of how to handle that too."_

_She sighed, "I'm willing to try whatever you suggest." It was slightly odd, but surely it wouldn't be that bad. Not with this man on her side._

_Headmaster Dumbledore nodded, "There's one more thing, though. And this is a concern. It doesn't explain everything, but may shed at least _some _light on why your powers weren't discovered until this late time." He paused for awhile, and once again his look made Dinah uneasy. She fidgeted in her seat a bit before he continued. "A few months ago, a prophecy was conveyed to me. And I am fairly certain that it is referring to you..."_

* * *

Dinah let her mind drift away from that memory as a light rain began to fall on the grounds, sprinkling onto her hair and robes. She didn't move from the steps, though. The rain was barely noticeable, and she only vaguely acknowledged that night had begun to fall and very few students remained in the area. Those who were still outside were hurrying indoors with their umbrellas open. But she didn't care to follow them.

She didn't want to follow that memory any further, either. The parseltongue moments were hard enough to remember, and she didn't want to think about the prophecy at all right now. Instead, she let her thoughts float ahead to a different time, in the middle of her first year.

And the words that echoed in her memory were disturbingly familiar...

* * *

_"You're a parselmouth!" Abigail Burns shouted, backing up along with the rest of the first year potions class students, as the brown and black adder that had snuck into the dungeons to escape the rain quickly slithered away into a small hole in the dungeon floor._

_ Dinah looked frantically from Abigail, a first-year she had tutored and thought was her friend, to the other students, all staring at her with terror on their faces like she was a demon sent out to destroy them. She then turned to see Professors Slughorn pointing his wand at the hole where the snake had disappeared, _"Stupefy!"

_"No!" she exclaimed, as the light shot out from the wand, and then he summoned the stunned snake out, handing it wordlessly to Filch._

_ The caretaker came forward with a vicious glint in his eye and took the snake's body, moving his hands to the neck._

_ "No!" she shouted again, but Filch shot her a self-important, uncaring look. "Don't! He didn't do anything; he was just trying to escape the rain! Please don't!" _

_"I'm sorry, Dinah," said Slughorn, "We can't have poisonous snakes wandering the halls." Even her professor, who was a Slytherin and supposed to like snakes, was giving her an uneasy look. He gestured to Filch, who snapped the snake's neck._

_"No!" Dinah buried her face in her hands, unable to look._

_Barnabus Franklin snorted, "You care more about the snake than about us, Dinah! You probably _told _it to bite me!"_

_"I told him to leave you alone, that you wouldn't hurt him!" she shouted, "He was backing off, didn't you see?"_

_"You're lying!" George Andrews exclaimed, backing up into the students clustered behind him and nearly knocking them over. "No good people can speak Parseltongue! You're not a Hufflepuff _or_ a Gryffindor, you must be a Slytherin!"_

_"Now, now," Professor Slughorn tried to calm him, "We mustn't judge based on houses."_

_"Herpo the Foul, Salazar Slytherin," another student exclaimed, "Even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is a parselmouth! She's just like them!"_

_"I thought you were my friend, Dinah!" Abigail accused, trembling in terror, "Were you going to tell the snake to bite me when I wasn't looking?"_

"No_!" Dinah moaned, tears springing to her eyes, "Why- why do you all keep saying things like that? I didn't even do anything! I was trying to help! Snakes don't hurt anybody, they're more afraid of you than you are of–"_

_"What's going on here?" a voice demanded, and Dinah turned with relief to see Professor Dumbledore walking into the room with Professor McGonagall behind him._

_"Professor Dumbledore!" she exclaimed, "Please! Help me!"_

_"Headmaster," Slughorn gave a little nod, his face still uneasy, "It seems our Miss Samson can speak to snakes."_

_"Here, I took care of this monstrosity for you, Headmaster!" Filch held the dead snake up in Dumbledore's face like an offering; "Be careful of that girl, too. She might have more lurking around."_

"I _didn't bring him in here!" Dinah shouted, tears now rolling down her cheeks, "Tell him!"_

_"Now, everyone," Dumbledore pushed the snake away with a stern look at Filch and took a few steps into the center of the room. The other students visibly relaxed when he stood between them and Dinah. "I am fully aware of Miss Samson's gift."_

_"You _knew_, Headmaster?" Franklin demanded, "Why didn't you do something? Oh, it's because of the prophecy! How can she defeat You-Know-Who if she's just _like _him!"_

_"That's right," a Slytherin girl whispered, "There's the prophecy, too. The rumor's been going around for weeks now. It must be a lie! She couldn't help get rid of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. She must be a Death Eater!"_

_"I'm _not_!" Dinah exclaimed._

_"That's enough," Dumbledore held up his hands, "I don't know how the prophecy information leaked out, but rest assured we are not even certain what the words mean. And regardless of what they mean they have nothing to do with Dinah's abilities. We don't know how the Parselmouth gift crops up in witches or wizards. Perhaps she has a distant relation to Herpo the Foul or Slytherin, or perhaps it came about of its own accord, but there is absolutely no evidence that there is any connection between it and being evil. As Dinah said, snakes are more afraid of you than you are of them. If you listen to her, she can tell you that they are harmless."_

_"It was going to bite me!" Franklin retorted._

_"He was scared!" Dinah said, "I told him to stop and he did. And then Mr. Filch... Mr. Filch-" she buried her face in her hands again._

_"Just doin' my duty, Sir," Filch said proudly._

_"And your duty is complete," Dumbledore said firmly, "Please go dispose of that snake and don't come back here. And keep your mouth shut about this incident, will you? If you don't there will be consequences." He turned to the room. "That goes for the rest of you, too."_


	17. Realizations

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Realizations

* * *

True to his word, Dumbledore had made certain that the incident was hushed up. Still, the rumors floated around for years afterward. Every time people walked past her they pointed, whispering that they had heard somewhere that she could talk to snakes, that she was a Death Eater, that there was a prophecy about her but nobody knew what it said. Some thought it was that she was going to defeat Voldemort, others that she would join him. The true meaning was lost on all but Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Slughorn. Eventually, Dumbledore had deemed it necessary to use a memory charm on all the students from the class, but it was too late to quell the rumors that never stopped.

She had stopped tutoring Abigail Burns and had finished up her first year Potions class in one-on-one sessions with Professor Slughorn. She never made more than mild acquaintances at Hogwarts from that point forward.

The sky was dark and the rain was pouring now, icy cold droplets falling onto her in a steady rhythm. Her ponytail was limp, the frozen strands of hair clinging damply to her neck. Her robes were soaked through, and the grounds were empty. Still, she stared ahead. She didn't really feel the cold, and she wasn't sure if the numbness was coming from the inside or the outside. Probably both.

All she could here were the echoes of the past. Harsh words whispered in the halls from other students in all years.

* * *

_"There goes that Samson, girl, look. She's so old, isn't she? I don't even know why she's here at Hogwarts, especially with all the things people say about her._

* * *

_"They say she's a parselmouth. Did you see the way she looks at the Slytherin flag all of the time? I bet she's going to be a Death Eater, no doubt about it."_

* * *

_"Look at her, always off with Professor Slughorn doing her own thing. She thinks she's so special just because she has a prophecy about her!"_

* * *

_"Ha ha! Dinah Samson! Isn't she a snob? She never talks to anybody but Slughorn!"_

* * *

_"I don't know why they think a parselmouth can save the world from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."_

_"She's a parselmouth? Oooh."_

_"Whoever made that prophecy must be daft!"_

* * *

_"I hear she uses snakes to send secret messages to You-Know-Who. They say she's prophesied to join him and rid the world off all the Muggle-borns."_

_"But that doesn't make sense. Isn't _she _a Muggle-born?"_

_"No, he's a half-blood himself, they say. It doesn't matter. He's probably using her, convincing her that he'll spare her if she helps him, but then he'll just get rid of her in the end."_

* * *

_ "Yeah, she's in the Slug Club. But the other members only tolerate her because Slughorn makes them. And _he _only likes her because of that prophecy. You know how he is."_

* * *

Dinah heard footsteps on her left. She tilted her head just far enough to catch a glimpse of a dark figure out of the corner of her eye. Professor Snape was walking along the outer porch of the castle, approaching her, a black umbrella in hand. She turned to look back out at the forest, uncaring.

The footsteps halted, "Professor Samson."

"Professor Snape," she titled her head forward in a nod, and continued to stare out at the dark, rainy grounds.

There was a pause before he spoke again, and his voice held a hint of impatience, "Exactly what is it that you think you are doing?"

She shrugged, still not turning to look at him. It didn't matter what anyone thought. She was alone here. She was always alone here.

"You need to come inside."

"No."

"_No_?" he repeated, voice tense.

"Just leave me alone. I'm fine here."

He snorted, "Hardly fine, Professor Samson. In case you were unaware, it is halfway through the month of September and this is Britain. You'll catch your death of cold if you stay out here much longer. Your robes are already soaked through."

"I don't care."

He sighed and there was another long pause. She wondered why he wasn't turning and leaving back into the school where it was warmer. After what felt like ages more of staring out at the Forbidden Forest, the rain suddenly stopped. For a moment she wasn't sure what happened, and then she realized that Professor Snape had held his umbrella over her.

She turned only slightly to look at him. The rain was now falling on his exposed head and robes, and his expression was frustrated, but not uncaring. Still, it didn't matter. She turned back to the forest, "You don't have to do that, you know? I'm fine out here."

"Indeed," he agreed, voice thick with sarcasm, "I always think people are fine when they sit in the freezing cold rain staring ahead of them like a zombie while they shiver from hypothermia."

Was she shivering? She hadn't noticed. She just shrugged in response.

There was third long pause, and she had almost forgotten he was there when he spoke again, his voice very firm and unusually decided, "Dinah."

She felt her body flinch this time, his speaking of her first name a loud knock on the door of her closed up heart. She turned to look at him fully for the first time, her voice filled with a strange kind of almost hopeful hesitation, "...Severus?"

"Come inside. _Now_." He extended the hand that wasn't still holding the umbrella over her head.

"I..." she stared up at him for a long while. There was no way she could say no now. No way at all. And she didn't want to. "Okay..." she placed her hand in his.

It was warm.

As he helped her into a standing position she could think of nothing but how amazed she was at the warmth of his hand. Perhaps it was because she could now tell that the rest of her body was frozen, could feel the shivering that had probably been running through it for a long while now. But it was more than that, she was sure. It seemed so counterintuitive that a man with his often so cold personality would have such a warm touch. But it was warm. It was so warm. So warm that she felt regret wash through her when he finally let go.

She followed him silently through the halls, half-consciously staying as close to him as she could without touching him while they walked. She wrapped her arms around herself as they approached her quarters, the cold biting into her. He stood by while she opened her door and stepped in, and he actually followed her inside a step or two. He looked at the linen shelf near the door and grabbed a towel, shoving it into her arms, "For heaven's sake, dry yourself off. You're going to freeze."

She clutched it in her hands, wanting for a moment to hug him and feel that warmth again. But she was intelligent enough to realize that that would be an absolutely terrible move to make. So instead she smiled, "Thank you."

"Don't do that again!" he turned on his heel with a swish of his robes and marched off toward his own rooms.

Still smiling, she closed the door after him, and then wrapped the towel around herself, heading to her bedroom as she rubbed it over her skin, trying to warm up. Her heart felt warm, though. And she knew why.

She cared for him.

It was obvious now. Sure, there had been little signs and odd thoughts sprinkled throughout their experiences together up until this point, but it had been easy to ignore them. She had told herself it was because she enjoyed debating with him, because he was mysterious and she wanted to figure him out. And those things were all true, of course. But at some point over that time she had developed an actual romantic interest in Professor Snape.

In Severus.

She honestly wasn't sure why she felt this way, but maybe she had sensed that warmth even before touching him. She _had _told Dumbledore that she felt he was probably a nice person deep down. Of course, there was no guarantee this could go anywhere. And if it ever did, it was rather obvious it would require work. _Much _more work than she had had to put into her relationship with Dylan.

She wasn't even sure how he felt about her. But surely there was something there. He hadn't had to help her tonight, but he had. He hadn't asked why she was upset, keeping true to minding his own business, but he had cared enough to force her out of her stupor and pull her inside. To reach for her hand. To say her name.

She put on a pair of warm pajamas and crawled under the covers as Godric crawled up next to her and laid down. Her body was warming fast. She let her mind recall over and over again, not students whispering things about her in the halls when she was young, but Severus saying her name. _Dinah. Dinah._

She wasn't too worried about the details of developing a relationship with him at this point. She was just looking forward to talking with him again on a first-name basis. Just wanted to revel in the realization of her new feelings.

"Severus," she said softly, enjoying the feel of his name on her lips before she fell into a comfortable sleep.


	18. Tommy

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Tommy

* * *

Dinah felt so much better the next morning it was amazing. She made it to breakfast early and piled her plate high with fried eggs and potatoes. When Severus came in she made a point to meet his eyes and smile, "Severus."

"Good morning," he replied, not saying her name again but not looking like he objected in any way to her using his.

Well, she knew this would be slow going. Her heart still felt light and fluttery as she took a big bite of her food.

About halfway through the meal, when Professor Vector had left, he looked over at her still piled high plate and rolled his eyes, "Glad to see you're feeling better."

She laughed, "I am. Thanks to you."

He shrugged, "I looked at your survey."

"And?"

"Interesting," he admitted, although he made sure to look grudging about it, "There are a lot of questions, and the information may be useful to know. But I'm reserving judgment until I see the finished product."

"Fair enough."

He nodded, "I have to prepare for class now. Do try to finish your meal before your own class starts, will you?" he smirked down at her plate.

Dinah shook her head and rolled her eyes back at him, "Yes, I'll make sure to do that." It was almost like he was teasing her. That was a _very_ good sign.

She had to force herself not to skip to class when she was finished eating.

* * *

The first years all stood from their seats and turned to stare at Dinah as she lugged a bunch of large equipment into the classroom. She met their gazes with a smile, "Surprise!"

"That's a telly!" Mae said excitedly, "Are we going to watch a movie?"

"Why are you always so interested in this class, anyway?" Speasy snapped.

Mae turned a glare at him and placed her hands on her hips, "I happen to like it, _Andrew_! Be nicer!"

Speasy snorted and looked away with a sneeze, and Dinah couldn't help but raise her eyebrows as she continued to drag the electronics down the aisle. She wasn't aware that Mae and Speasy were on speaking terms. A very interesting and hard-to-interpret development if she'd ever encountered one.

She plopped the television and the accompanying VCR on her desk, then pulled a cassette tape from her robes and set it on top of them. "Good morning, everyone. I have a special treat today. Since you all did such a good job making your lists on Monday, I thought today we could throw in some of the old-style Muggle studies material. So we'll be killing two birds with one stone today by continuing our discussion on discrimination while at the same time exploring the exciting world of Muggle electronics!" she made a ceremonious gesture at the items on her desk.

"Where did you get that stuff?" Colin Aves asked, raising his hand high but not waiting for her to call on him before speaking, "My brother took Muggle studies before and they never brought in real Muggle things to show the class! They just talked about them!"

Dinah smiled, letting his speaking out of turn thing go for the time being. She had his older brother, Geoffrey, in one of her fourth year classes. The brothers were a rather boisterous pair. "I've spent a lot of years in the Muggle world. Part of the reason Dumbledore selected me for this position is that not only did I complete my wizarding school here at Hogwarts but I went on to obtain degrees at two Muggle universities. I like to spend time in both worlds and I also have a Muggle house in London, which is why I have plenty of Muggle artifacts to use while teaching this class. Yes, Mr. Cantrell?"

Cantrell lowered her hand and scoffed, "Why on Earth would you want to do that? Especially when this world is so much better than that one!"

Dinah sighed. She was starting to wonder, even this early in the year, whether she would ever be able to get through to this boy. "Don't make judgments on others lives before you've lived in their shoes," she said softly, "That said, I think it's a good segway into our topic for the day. Concerning the lists you made last week," she held up the pile of lists they had handed in to her at the end of the day on Monday, "How would each of you feel if I chose a list at random, closed my eyes, pointed to a number, and then declared that that difference made one group of you better than the other. For example," she looked at the first sheet, "What if I said that everyone who owns a dog is smarter and better than everyone who doesn't?"

The students exchanged glances for a while and finally Porter Lee raised his hand. Dinah called on him, managing to keep her face unchanged when she remembered how differently he had reacted to her yesterday. "Professor Samson, that doesn't make any sense."

"Doesn't it?" she allowed a small smile to form on her face and then shrugged, "Well, I won't do such a thing in our class, so don't worry. But there _was _an American Muggle schoolteacher in the 1960s who did just that. Or something very similar. And that is what we are going to watch a Muggle video about today." She had decided that the reading on the subject she had given some of the older students might have been too high of a level for the younger ones, and so had summoned her 'Frontline: A Class Divided" video from home to show to them. She had seen the documentary in one of her undergraduate sociology courses and it had made such a lasting impression she had made sure to get a copy for herself.

There was an excited murmur through the class, and Dinah's smile widened, "Now I know it will be a _little _hard for some of you to concentrate on the content of the video what with the novelty of seeing a Muggle movie. But I want you to try to pay attention to what's being said, not just the pictures and sound and all of that. So after today I'd like you each to write a 12-inch essay about the video. You should spend about half of the essay describing the movie and the second half writing down your ideas about it. You can also throw something in about Muggle television or electricity if you like, just don't make that more than one paragraph long."

The students all nodded and took out some parchment to take notes. Then she started the movie.

* * *

Dinah ran into Severus on her way to lunch after her break a few hours later. He was walking away from The Great Hall and not towards it, "Hello." She still wasn't quite used to the weird jump her heart now made when she saw him. "You're not going to lunch?"

"Not in the mood," he raised an eyebrow, probably thinking again how odd it was that they kept running into each other. "I just came from a forced meeting with our wonderful 'Professor Slughorn'," he made a face and Dinah couldn't help but giggle. Severus continued, "It seems he's holding some sort of reunion for his club and wanted me to show up."

"He asked me," she nodded agreement, "I'm going, but I guessed that you wouldn't be."

He nodded, "Seems he's staged the entire thing just so he can attempt to get Sirius Black into his collection. Some sort of regret from the past he's trying to fix, I suppose. I don't think he wanted me to know, but that man can't keep anything bottled up inside. It slipped out. I wasn't inclined to go from the beginning but that clinched it. I have no need to be anywhere near that dog."

"Dog?" Dinah shook her head, confused.

Severus shrugged, his tone careless, "Sirius Black is an unregistered animagus that takes the form of a large black dog."

Dinah blinked, "Whoa. Um... are you sure you should have just told me that?"

He smirked, "It makes no difference to me who knows. Although I suppose your friend Professor Ketteridge may object to my having told you."

"Only perhaps," Dinah sighed, "So, why exactly do you find him so objectionable?"

"That I do care who knows," he said, raising a second eyebrow. "We _have _discussed that before, if you recall."

She flushed, "Right. Sorry. You're not exactly making it easy for me not to wonder, though."

"I suppose I'm testing your statement that you are able to mind your own business," he retorted, "However, I shall try to be clearer about what is and is not your business in the future."

She stifled a sigh and nodded. He _was _rather difficult to deal with sometimes, that was certain. "Sure. So..." she felt her flush deepening and idly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "I guess I won't be seeing you at the party, then."

Severus shook his head, "As long as that dog is in this castle I do not intend to leave the dungeons."

She managed to hide her disappointment at his words. After all, she had expected them.

"But on another subject," Severus continued, "Professor Slughorn tells me you've also been introduced to this Eugene Wilkins and his youth potion project."

"Yes," Dinah agreed, "Did he introduce you, too? It's all rather fascinating, I think. But I don't know if it's ultimately a good thing or not."

"I doubt he'll be able to pull it off. But I suppose one never knows with all of the money Slughorn is pouring into the research. I suppose I'll offer my advice if they're ever desperate enough."

She laughed, "Really? That's so generous of you. Well, I myself am hungry and so I'm going to make a quick stop at lunch. I can always let you know if I find out anything more about the project while at the party."

"If you want," he shrugged, indifferent as usual, and then continued down the hallway. The students he passed all either cringed and cowered or quickened their paces to go around him, so it was like a path opened for him to walk through. Dinah found herself extremely curious to sit in on one of his classes and see what he actually did that terrified students so much.

She headed in the opposite direction toward the Great Hall. She finished her lunch of fried fish sandwiches quickly and headed to the library. She wanted to check out a book on Muggles that she remembered being particularly awful, so she could discuss what was wrong with it in some of her classes. She was on her way back to her rooms with the book when the crying in the bathroom caught her attention again.

She sighed. It was too much and going on for too long. After a quick look around to determine that no one was in the area she crept up to the door again and pressed her ear against it. She was so focused on listening that she didn't notice her book was slipping out of her fingers until it crashed to the ground with a loud thump.

"Who's there?" the boy's voice sniffled and demanded from inside the bathroom.

"Nobody!" Dinah shouted, and then covered her mouth. Why had she answered? She should have just run off in the other direction, but she had blurted something out and now the child knew that somebody had been listening to him. She leaned in closer. Maybe if she was very quiet he would forget she was there.

"You can hear me?"

"Yes," Dinah almost cursed out loud as she covered her mouth again. It seemed to be going off without her permission today. Okay, this time she would be really _really _quiet and then-

"Come in."

"What?" she exclaimed, and then covered her mouth a third time, biting down hard on her nearest finger. What was wrong with her? Not only that, but why was she not moving? She should be running away, should have run away long before this. But her feet felt firmly planted to the floor.

There was a long pause and then the boy's voice came back again, timidly, "Please?" the voice pleaded, "It's okay if you're a girl. Nobody ever comes in here except for me."

Saying no was probably the right thing to do, but Dinah didn't listen to her conscience. The voice was so innocent and so pleading, and she had been hearing the crying too much over the past weeks to ignore this student's plight. Checking to make sure, once again, that nobody was around, she opened the door and stepped into the boy's bathroom.

She turned left and headed into the area with the stalls. Sure enough, and thankfully, it appeared that no one else was in here, although she supposed Myrtle could pop in at any time. One of the stalls, the second to last on the left, had its door hanging open. When Dinah passed it she finally made out the figure of a small boy with dark brown hair, staring up at her.

Her first reaction was a double take. This wasn't Speasy at all. Honestly, she had always sort of assumed that it was, but apparently she had been wrong. Still, she wanted to help this boy. She took a few steps closer and knelt down at his level.

"Hello," he said, rubbing at his eyes as he looked up at her.

"Hi," she said softly, "Are you okay?"

He shook his head, "I don't know. Nobody wants to be my friend."

"Now, I'm sure that's not true. What's your name?"

"Tommy. What's yours?"

"I'm Professor Samson," she frowned. Surely, he was aware of who she was. He was so small, but he couldn't be a first year student because she was certain he wasn't in either of her classes. Still, she found herself asking; "You aren't in any of my classes, are you?"

He shook his head, "No." He paused and then looked up at her with deep brown eyes; "What's your _real _name?"

She frowned, "I really don't think it's appropriate for me to-"

"Please?"

She sighed, but she couldn't resist his innocent brown eyes as he looked up at her with a pleading expression, his voice vulnerable as he searched for just one friend to understand him. She smiled, "Dinah."

He smiled back, "It's nice to meet you, Dinah. Myrtle told me about you."

"See?" she said, trying to sound encouraging, "Myrtle is your friend."

Tommy shook his head, "But the others aren't. They never want to play with me. No matter what I do I can't make them understand me. Myrtle's nice, but it's just not the same..."

Dinah sighed and nodded. It had been a long shot, anyway. "I know...Myrtle means well but having a ghost friend isn't the same as real, living human friends, is it?"

He shook his head again.

Dinah remembered her thoughts from just the day before, before Severus had showed up to rescue her. Remembered all of the things people had said about her, and how lonely she had been during her Hogwarts years. "Listen, Tommy," she said softly, "I understand how you feel. When I was a girl, the same thing happened to me. Myrtle and I were always friends, but she was really the only one. The others were never more than acquaintances."

"But that's better than having everyone hate you."

"Oh, I'm sure no one hates you, Tommy. You seem like a very nice boy. You need to just give them a chance."

He sniffled, "You think so?"

"I know so."

"Will you be my friend?"

Dinah felt her eyes widen. Surely, this would look bad if others saw it. In the Muggle world she'd probably get arrested. But she smiled, "Of course." She felt her gaze soften when she made him smile in response, but she continued, "But we need to help you make other friends, too."

"I can't. It's too late now."

She shook her head, "It's never too late, Tommy. I'm sure we can work something out. But I have to get to class, now, so I can't stay."

His face fell; "Oh."

"I'm not leaving for good," she put a hand on his shoulder, "Listen, my office is on the first floor just nearby here. If you ever need to talk or just need some advice you can always come see me."

"Thanks, Dinah. But you should come here again."

"I'm really not sure this is the best place for us to talk, Tommy."

"But I have to be here," he said quietly, "This is the only place I can go, now."

"I'm sure that's not the case. But please come see me if you get the chance. Are you okay for now, though?"

"I think so. I'll leave soon. You should go before you're late."

"Okay," she gave his shoulder a friendly squeeze, "Cheer up, okay? You have many years left here to change things. And I'll help all I can."

"Bye," he waved at her, his face much more cheerful than when she had arrived, and so she reluctantly left him there. She was thoughtful as she headed to her class with the second years. She would have to figure out a way to help him. The last thing she wanted was for him to be forced down the path she had gone down.

If there was any way she could, she would make it so that didn't happen to Tommy. She would surely be able to make a difference for him where she had been unable to make it for herself. And the best thing to do was start early, so that he would have many more, happier years at Hogwarts.


	19. Differences

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Differences

* * *

"Well?" she turned off the VCR and smiled out at her second class of first years; "What did you think?"

The students all exchanged glances and excited murmurs. The ones with the most wonder on their faces were the pure bloods and some of the half bloods who knew nothing of the Muggle world. The Muggle-borns seemed to be thinking more about the material on the film than about the television-watching experience itself.

Finally, Elijah Llewwllyn raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Llewwllyn?"

"How do the pictures in the movie move without magic?"

"Um... well, it's recorded on film and the images are shown really fast in succession – does anybody have thoughts about the _content _of the video? Yes, Miss Hightower?"

"I didn't like how the students were mean to each other for no reason. Why did they just suddenly decide that people with brown eyes were bad even when they had never thought so their whole lives before?"

She nodded, "Good question. I think sometimes we don't think rationally when we start comparing ourselves to other people. After all, it feels good to think we're special, doesn't it?"

"I guess so," she said, "But I can feel special without hurting others."

"Yes, and I think that's an important lesson we all need to learn. Please, feel free to put all those thoughts in your write up. I think I'm going to let you all go a little bit early today. One more thing you should think about for our discussion on Friday is whether or not you think Ms. Elliot was doing a good thing for her students when she put them through this study. Think about good and bad reasons and we'll talk about them next class session. Okay, dismissed."

She smiled as they all shuffled out. Without Speasy, Cantrell, Wortham, and Lee, this first years class was a lot easier to deal with than the other. But most of the Slytherins were rather quiet and hesitated to make comments about things. Whether that was better or worse than Cantrell's comments she wasn't sure, but hoped she could change things and help them open up later.

"Dinah?"

Dinah looked up at the knock at her door and smiled, "Hi, Lucy. Glad we're still on for you to sit in on my seventh year class."

"Yeah, me too. I've been looking forward to this all day."

She beamed, "Really? Well, then I hope I don't disappoint. By the way, do you know a student named Tommy? Or Thomas or Tom maybe?"

Lucy smiled, "I know three. What's his last name?"

Dinah frowned. She had forgotten to ask that. "You know, I don't know."

Her friend laughed, "Well, then I can't really help you much."

"I think he's a second year," Dinah said, realizing that maybe she should have asked some of her second years earlier if they'd known him.

Lucy shook her head, "I know fourth, sixth and seventh years."

"No, it couldn't be them," Dinah said, "I think I know the fourth and seventh years you mean, and then there's the sixth...no, the boy I'm thinking of is young. If I didn't know any better I'd say he was a first year, and there's no _way _he could be older than third. Well, never mind, I guess it's not important. How's your week been?"

"Um, okay," Lucy said, but looked a little uncomfortable. "I think I caught a cold from that rain last night," she sneezed, "I heard you're coming to Slughorn's little reunion thing he's having."

"Bless you," Dinah said, glad that she hadn't caught a cold from last night. Really, it was a wonder she hadn't. "Yes, I'm going. It should be ... interesting. He told me he'd convinced you to bring Sirius."

"Thank you," Lucy said, and her sneeze seemed to have increased her congestion. "Yeah, he sort of wouldn't let me leave until I'd told him we'd go. Even though neither one of us was in his club. I talked to Dumbledore though and he's allowing Sirius to stay the whole weekend so that'll be nice."

Dinah knew her face was falling but she seemed incapable of stopping it, "Oh no."

Lucy cocked her head to the side, confused, "You seem disappointed. I thought the two of you got along well enough during that lunch."

"Oh, no," Dinah waved it off, embarrassed, "I'm sorry, that came out all wrong. I did get along fine with Sirius at lunch, he seems very nice. It's just that Severus said-"

"Wait, Severus?" Lucy cut in, looking very surprised, "You and Professor Snape are on a first name basis now?"

She felt herself flush a deep crimson and was fully aware that Lucy noticed and was looking at her like she was completely and utterly insane. "Apparently we are," she agreed, and then felt relief as a few figures wandered into the room, "Oh, look! Class is starting. I'd better get ready. Just sit wherever and I'll introduce you when everybody comes in." Still red, she hurried up to her desk.

Dinah was pretty sure she looked normal again a few moments later when more students began shuffling in. Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood sat down near Lucy on one side of the room, and Ginny leaned over to talk to her about something Dinah couldn't hear from that distance. She remembered they were cousins. Not that the red hair and mild resemblance wasn't already obvious enough. It seemed they were talking about a tense subject.

Soon, it was time to begin class. She stood and smiled, "Welcome back, everyone. As some of you may remember from last week if you were in Professor Ketteridge's literature class, I sat in on it. Today, Professor Ketteridge is returning the courtesy by sitting in on one of mine. So please, Professor, feel free to join in the discussion if you'd like."

"Thank you. I don't know how much I'll be able to contribute, not being terribly familiar with the Muggle world myself, but I'll do my best."

"Don't worry, I think you'll fit in well today," Dinah smiled, "We're talking about a topic that should be easy to follow for everyone. Now as you all recall we were discussing the teacher Jane Elliot's study on discrimination between blue-eyed and brown-eyed students. As you all saw in your initial readings, she has been highly criticized for performing this study. Does anyone have any ideas why? Ms. Lovegood?"

"Well," Luna began in her soft, unassuming voice, "I think people's initial reaction would be negative because the children she performed the exercise on were so very small. I think the natural human protective instinct looks at the children being put through this situation and focuses on the bullying they received rather than the ultimate purpose of the study, and people are just appalled that she made the children suffer so much."

"That's a very good point, and I think it's absolutely true," Dinah nodded, always impressed with Luna's observations. "Any other reasons?"

Ritchie Coote raised his hand, "Didn't the readings also say that she usually put brown-eyed people down as superiors first, and that brown-eyed people were more often races that were discriminated against anyway. They kept saying she was secretly favoring minorities the whole time, so that would make the study invalid?"

"Yes, and there are plenty of points in favor of that, too. From that we can also see that sometimes there are correlations between different types of labels people can receive. I think that – yes, Miss Claverdon?"

Valerie Claverdon, a rather outspoken Slytherin in the back row, frowned at Dinah, "Why do we keep talking about all of this difference stuff? I thought Muggle Studies was supposed to be concerned with learning about the Muggle world. When are we going to start doing _that_?"

Dinah smiled a bit. Honestly, she had expected this question and was surprised it hadn't come up sooner. "I realize that might be confusing for some of you. But rest assured, it all relates. Plus, we're not even a full two weeks into the year yet. I just want to make you aware of these difference issues in the beginning so that you keep them in mind when we start talking about Muggle artifacts and the Muggle lifestyle."

She shrugged, "I guess so."

"Besides," Dinah said, "We _are _learning about Muggle society in these discussions. We are becoming aware of the fact that Muggles have their own prejudices and diversity issues that they have had to work through, just as we have in our society. And the readings I'm going to assign today will hopefully give you a better idea of some more of those issues and how they have and have not been handled. Then we can compare and contrast them with issues we face in the magical world.

"Now I'd like to change the subject a bit and ask you all a question. After the discussions we've had thus far about differences, do you think some differences are better or have more meaning than others or is it just the way we choose to _look _at differences that affects things?"

Lucy raised a hand, looking eager to contribute, and Dinah acknowledged her. "I think it's the way we choose to look at the differences. I mean I think it's human nature to want to categorize yourself and the things around you. To some it's a way to show how they're better than others but then there are those who use it only as a way of identifying themselves. Personally if you asked me to identify myself I would tell you I'm a pureblood but at the same time I don't feel that makes me any better or worse than someone who isn't pureblood. It's simply what I am; it's a way for you to differentiate me from another. Not that you could tell that by looking at someone," she paused and took a breath, and Dinah had the idea that she wasn't quite finished yet.

Sure enough, soon she added, "This might be a bit off topic but just bear with me. There's this school of thought in literary theory called semiotics, one of the things they talk about is 'meaning as difference'. They say that words mean what they are not. Basically, the word cat doesn't inherently mean cat. It means not dog, rat, horse, etcetera. All that to say, I think it's really all about how one defines the categorizations for themselves. Do they have an inherent meaning or are they just identifying what they are not?" Lucy took another breath, her expression sheepish as she looked around at the students.

Dinah smiled as the students frantically scribbled down notes, unsure whether they should write this down or not since it came from another professor and all. Dinah was glad they were doing so. "Thank you, Professor. You raise many interesting points. And don't worry, off topic is just fine. I like to try to integrate many different disciplines into exploring these issues whenever I can. After all, there are many different ways to look at the world. And that sort of connects to my next point as well.

"I also think that there is nothing wrong with categorizing ourselves per se. After all, people all want some sort of identification, some sort of way to individualize themselves. And this world would be rather boring if we were all the same. For example, if you look at some aspects of race relations in the Muggle world, there are folks who say 'equality' means treating everybody the same and ignoring differences. Then there are groups, usually the minority groups concerned, who retort that they wish to maintain their ethnic culture as a label, and equality means embracing those differences and accepting them for what they are. The phrase 'celebrate diversity' is becoming popular in some Muggle social circles as of late.

"But I'd like to point out as well that there are many more ways than one in which to categorize a person. For example, Professor Ketteridge says that if someone asked her to identify herself she would tell you she's a pureblood. But I think her answer to simply "identify yourself" would in reality be much more complex than that. Is pureblood the first thing that would come to her mind in that case? Perhaps, but Professor Ketteridge is also many other things. She is a woman, a witch, she is British, she's a teacher... which of these items is most important for describing Professor Ketteridge, do you think?"

"Well, you can't possibly put such things into a rank order of importance!" Ginny Weasley said, causing Lucy to smile.

"Exactly!" Dinah grinned, "So you see we've come full circle. Lucy's literary 'semantics' ... sorry, I forgot the word," Dinah flushed and shot Lucy a slightly apologetic look, knowing full well that semantics was not what she had said. "All of those labels together create a very individualized identity for each person, in which it is more difficult to say what a person 'is' but it becomes rather clear what they are not. Namely, they are not anyone but their self. And a self can be many different things depending on context and situation, while still being ultimately one whole that is not identical to any other."

"It was semiotics in case anyone was worried about getting that down," Lucy said, "There's this quote I remember from a Muggle book I happened across awhile ago. It sort of deals with identity and self categorization but it's kind of long and convoluted so I'm not sure you'd want me to repeat it. Though I would agree that a pureblood is not all of what I am, just a part of it. We are, each and every one of us, the product of those who came before. And that's not the quote in case anyone was wondering."

"Please, we have time," Dinah smiled, jotting down the word 'semiotics' on a parchment of her own, just in case, "Go ahead and share the quote with us."

"All right. It's from the book Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. 'I no longer want to be anything except what who I am. Who what am I? My answer: I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done, of everything done-to-me. I am everyone everything whose being-in-the-world affected was affected by mine. I am anything that happens after I've gone which would not have happened if I had not come. Nor am I particularly exceptional in this matter; each "I", every one of the now-six-hundred-million-plus of us, contains a similar multitude. I repeat for the last time: to understand me, you'll have to swallow a world'.

"I think what he's saying is that we all affect each others lives. We are what we are because each of us has influenced the lives of others."

"Well," Dinah said, pleasantly surprised and a little overwhelmed as the students tried to write this down. "Thank you, Professor Ketteridge. That was a beautiful quote and I think it really summarizes what I'm trying to get across here. Don't worry about writing all of that, students," she had to stop them before their frantic scribbling got in the way of absorbing the message. "Just make sure you understand the basics of what our literature professor just said. Yes, Mr. Fladbury?"

The Hufflepuff boy lowered his hand, "So is it okay to call ourselves pure blood then? Because in the first class period you said we should try to just call ourselves 'people' more than those sorts of labels."

Dinah had to laugh. That was certainly simplifying things again after such an all-encompassing quote had been read to them. "Well, I honestly think it's all about balance. We should accept and embrace differences but we should also never forget the things that make us all similar. As far as calling yourself pureblood, I think as Professor Ketteridge implied, it really all depends on the tone in which you say it."

Lucy nodded, speaking up again, "To me personally saying I'm pure blood is no different than describing me as pale skinned, brown eyed, or ginger haired. It's just a part of who I am."

"Good. Thank you for stimulating the discussion for us, Professor Ketteridge," Dinah smiled, "And with that, I think its time to hand out your reading assignments for this weekend. There are a number of them so we won't discuss them until next week." She grabbed stacks of four different papers and began handing them out. "All of these are Muggle works on the subjects of differences and diversity. Two of the articles look at race relations and slavery issues from two very different parts of the world. One discusses the European Holocaust of the 1940s, which I regret to say is rather similar to what Voldemort was trying to do recently. And the final one is a rather fun, interesting paper about gender relations in Japan. I encountered it in one of my Asian studies courses at Muggle university. It takes one of the most fundamental differences we know – that of male vs. female – and attempts to turn it on its end by arguing for and against "gender neutral" behavior, which suggests such things as eliminating things that are gender specific, up to and including letting boys wear dresses if they want to." Some of the students giggled and she smiled, "Rather silly sounding, I know, but this issue is beginning to be seriously considered in various parts of the world. I have mixed feelings on the whole thing, but go ahead and read the summary and then decide what you think. No write-ups yet, just read the papers and think about them. Okay, dismissed."

Lucy waited until the students left, waving at Luna and Ginny when they turned to go, before she came up to talk to Dinah. "That was pretty interesting. Sorry for talking so much. I get an idea and that leads into another and another and I sometimes don't realize I should stop talking and let others have a chance too."

"It's okay, it always happens when you're trying to get a point across about something you care about. I do it, too," Dinah smiled, "Besides, you made a lot of interesting points. I'm glad you found my lecture engaging. I felt bad because you didn't really know anything about the study I was talking about."

"Oh, that's okay," Lucy waved her comment off, "After all it's not like you had any idea what I was talking about in my class. I know you might not need to take me up on this but if you ever need to bounce around ideas for your class or even just get the perspective of a relatively unprejudiced pure blood you can always ask me."

"Great, that would be nice. Same here too, of course, although I don't know how much I could help you. By the way, have you heard from Slughorn about what day and time that party is supposed to be? I haven't yet."

"No, but if he's at dinner tonight I'll try to get it out of him…if he'll let me speak that is. I understand his parties are formal? I hope so because I already told Sirius he had to get some dress robes."

"All the ones I've been to have been," Dinah shrugged. "So I'd assume so, yes."

Lucy sighed as the two started walking towards the Great Hall for dinner; "It should be interesting. Especially if Nick shows up."

"Nick?"

"Um, yeah. Old boyfriend. He was four years older than me. It didn't end well and I'm hoping he won't be there. He probably will be though. My luck's like that sometimes."

"Ah, I see. Yeah, that could be awkward," they made it into the Great Hall, where a dinner of chicken and broccoli casserole was being served. Dinah spied Severus and flushed slightly again. "Well, I guess this is where we separate. Let me know what you hear from Slughorn, okay? If he gives you the date and time you can just tell him you'll give me the message. He doesn't need to come find _both _of us and talk our ears off."

Lucy smiled, nodding, "I will if he'll let me. Enjoy your dinner." She headed to her side of the table where Slughorn was already sitting.

Dinah sat down at her seat just as both Professor Vector and Hagrid sat down in theirs, effectively blocking Severus from her. In fact, he hadn't even seemed to notice her arrival. She sighed and sat down to her food. If she got a chance to talk to him later, she figured there could be no harm in _not _telling him that Sirius was staying for the whole weekend. After all, she would like to have him wandering the halls and not cooped up in his dungeons the whole time. And worst situation, if he came into contact with Sirius, she'd get to spy on what it was between them that was so bad.

She felt a slight twinge of guilt at that plan, but ignored it as she dug into her food.


	20. Party

CHAPTER TWENTY

Party

* * *

Professor Slughorn's Slug Club Reunion Party had turned to to be scheduled for Saturday evening at 4:00 PM, with socializing followed by dinner at 6:00 and then more socializing. Hopefully, it wouldn't run too late.

She wandered towards Slughorn's rooms in her dress robes. It wasn't quite formal enough to wear a dress, so the robes were good enough. She hesitated just for a moment when passing the path leading to Severus's dungeons. No, it was pointless. He wouldn't be coming and it would be stupid to go and ask him about it. Still, she had this childish desire for him to see her in her dress robes. Not that he would give her anything more than a smirk, as usual.

She continued to the second floor instead, and Slughorn's rooms were already bustling with people, some she knew and some she didn't.

"Hello, Professor Samson," Hermione greeted her at the door.

Dinah smiled and was about to greet her student when Slughorn accosted her. "So glad you could make it, Dinah! Please, enjoy yourself! Eat, converse, whatever you like. I really _must _go spend more time with Sirius. Fascinating fellow, really, although he seems impatient with me. I can't imagine why," Slughorn scurried off as quickly as he had come. Dinah glanced over to where he was headed and waved to Lucy, who was with Sirius.

She smiled and waved back, looking happier than she had been the last few days, now that Sirius was here. Dinah sighed. She liked Lucy, but since Wednesday the other professor had been in a rather depressed state. It was getting a little hard to deal with because she really didn't know what to do or say when Lucy got like that, and it was rather unpredictable from one day to the next how she would respond to any kind of comment. Although, she supposed she needed a friend right now, so Dinah continued to try and handle it however she could. After all, she didn't ever want another person to feel as alone as she had during her years at Hogwarts.

She would go over and talk with them some more later. Right now, if she went over there it would be like she was following Slughorn and she didn't want to look like that. So instead she wandered where her normal instincts usually took her... the food table.

"Dinah!"

Dinah looked up and smiled as Idris Flint came over to the table; "Idris! Long time, no see. How have you been?" Idris had been one of Dinah's closer acquaintances in the Slug Club, although vastly different personalities and interests had kept them from becoming close friends.

"Oh, fine," the former Gryffindor who had been one year below Dinah in school said, tossing her dark – almost black – brown hair behind her shoulder as she leaned over the punch bowl and refilled her glass, "I was busy getting ready for next Quidditch season – I work for the International Association of Quidditch now, you know – when I got the owl from Slughorn that he was having this reunion thing. Thought it would be nice to come and see some familiar faces, so here I am. I hear you're teaching here now?"

Dinah nodded, filling Idris in on her job. Idris listened and nodded, but didn't seem exceedingly enthusiastic about it, which was consistent with the way things had always been between them. Idris had always been intensely focused on the here and now, and on what she wanted at any given time. Her Hogwarts years had been all about Quidditch games and social interactions. She hadn't been prejudiced against Muggle-borns, but had never taken any kind of interest in the whole blood relations issue, and so hadn't had much patience for Dinah's philosophizing on the matter.

"Hello, Idris. And Dinah. May I call you Dinah?" a new voice said.

Dinah and Idris turned to see Professor Slughorn's new assistant approaching them with a friendly smile on his face.

"Hello, Eugene," Idris smiled in greeting. She must have already been introduced.

"Hi," Dinah mimicked the gesture, "Of course, Dinah's fine, Eugene... or would you rather I called you-"

"Eugene is fine," he said in his slight accent, waving it off, "I am getting used to the name."

"Okay, then. How's the potion coming?"

"Pomegranate juice!" Eugene announced as Idris politely excused herself. She had never been that interested in potions, but had been in the Slug Club through family connections. Dinah nodded in farewell as her old acquaintance walked over to talk to a young man that looked slightly familiar. Dinah couldn't quite place him though, so she turned back and addressed Eugene.

"Pomegranate juice?" She recalled seeing some red ingredient she thought might have been pomegranate juice in the potions room before. She must have correctly identified it.

"I think pomegranate juice is the key ingredient," he continued in an excited tone, "The length of time the frog stays in tadpole form continues to lengthen every time I increase the pomegranate juice concentration of the concoction. I have yet to reach a point where the benefit levels off!"

"That's right!" Slughorn exclaimed, popping in out of nowhere, "Telling Dinah about your pomegranate discovery, are you?"  
"I am," he agreed.

Dinah smiled, "Glad things are going well. And I suppose it makes a kind of sense. In the Muggle world, pomegranates are known for their health benefits and antioxidant capacity."

"Fascinating," Slughorn said, "I must tell Miss Granger. Her parents are dentists in the Muggle world, you know? They tend to people's teeth."

Dinah had to stifle a laugh, "I know what dentists are, Professor."

"Ah, of course you do," he smiled, "Come, Eugene, I must introduce you to Sirius Black and Lucy Ketteridge. Dinah, please join us."

"Sure," now that she was asked she figured it was okay to follow Slughorn. She stuck a few cubes of cheese onto a plate, grabbed a glass of punch, and followed the two over to where Lucy and Sirius were talking to the young man Idris had walked over to earlier.

"Oh, hi Dinah," Lucy said, and then sighed a little, "Professor Slughorn."

"I'm back," Slughorn smiled, "And I brought someone I'd like to introduce to you. Ah, Nick, good you can meet him too."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lucy didn't look particularly pleased as she made an offhand gesture to the young man, "I didn't introduce you, Dinah. This is Nick Hill, one of... well, I knew him as a student. I told you about him."

Nick stuck a hand out at Dinah while Sirius scowled in his general direction. "Dinah," Nick said rather bluntly. It seemed a bit rude.

"Nick Hill?" Dinah tossed the name around in her brain, "I think I knew you."

"I was a first year in the Slug Club when you were a fifth," he said, "We didn't talk much, but we saw each other."

"Ah, right," she agreed, now recalling the skinny, self-centered boy that had gotten into Professor Slughorn's good graces by having a father with a fairly exalted position in the Department of Mysteries.

As Slughorn went about introducing Eugene to the three others, Dinah distracted herself by looking around the room as she chewed on a toothpick after eating the cheese off it.

"Wait, I can get that! No! Don't! Stop!" Dinah's gaze landed on Hermione Granger who was fighting with a house elf that had been trying to take her empty plate from her. Dinah smiled to herself as Ginny Weasley had to come and intervene. Hermione was indeed passionate about her S.P.E.W., perhaps overly so. She'd have to try to get the message across to the girl that if you wanted to change peoples' – or house elves' - minds about something that was deeply ingrained, you had to proceed very slowly.

The girls wandered over to say hello; it seemed they knew Eugene, probably from class. Eugene expressed disappointment that Ginny had been unable to persuade her boyfriend to come to the party. Dinah felt a small twinge of disappointment, too. It would be very interesting to meet Harry Potter. But it made sense that he wouldn't be here. Besides, he probably had enough attention at this point and wanted to get away from it. Knowing about prophecies and the like, Dinah couldn't blame him.

"Well, being an Auror and going around hunting old Death Eaters is a full time job," Ginny said with a small smile, "That said, it would have been nice if he could have come. Parties are generally more fun when you have a date."

Dinah frowned and nodded agreement, thinking again how disappointing it was that Severus couldn't come. She tried not to glare at Sirius when the thought hit her. No, instead she sneezed.

"Bless you," Sirius said, and her attitude softened toward him a bit.

"Thank you," she said, suddenly feeling congested, "Well, that's rather odd. I seem to be coming down with something." Had her day in the rain on Tuesday finally hit her? If so, it was rather long-delayed. But with her luck, that was probably what was going on.

"I'm sorry, Dinah!" Lucy looked concerned and a bit self-conscious as Sirius slid an arm around her waist, "Did you catch it from me?"

"Oh, no," Dinah waved her off, "Don't worry about it. It's just as likely I got it from myself as from you."

"At least you didn't get sick from the food," Hermione said, and then grinned, "I recall being told that Cormac did so after I left him at the party year before last and threw up all over Professor Snape's shoes."

Dinah covered her mouth but couldn't stifle her giggle. "Oh, my, that must have been so amusing. What I would give to have seen the expression on his face at _that_!" She managed to stop when she noticed Lucy giving her a look. Her friend had caught her talking with Severus in the halls on Thursday, and seemed to be a little freaked out by it. Later she had taken to giving them odd looks when she'd seen them conversing at meals.

Not that there had been anything going on to get excited about. It was just Severus's usual smirks and stoic remarks followed by Dinah replying to him in a much more energetic manner. Although it did seem Severus was becoming a bit more vocal about how odd he found it that they kept running into each other in the halls.

Well, if nothing else at least it was a slight distraction for Lucy.

"I'm sorry," Dinah sniffled and wiped her nose with a napkin, "This really seems to be hitting me hard. Is there a bathroom where I can go for a moment and see if I can get this under control?"

"Oh, please," Slughorn said, taking a step back. He had always been a bit of a germophobe. "There's one down the back hall, turn right at the end of the room and it's the second door on the right. Go and get that taken care of."

"Thanks," she sneezed again, held the napkin to her face, and hurried off in the direction that he'd pointed.


	21. Mystery

A/N: Thank you for all of the nice reviews. Those of you who are waiting for more Severus, take heart that after a little more exposition in this chapter without him he will be coming back and making pretty much consistent appearances in all or nearly all chapters from this point forward. Just gotta get through a little bit here...

Please keep reading and reviewing! Thanks again! :)

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Mystery

* * *

The back hall was dark, but she could just make out what she needed to see to find the bathroom. It was darker inside the small room, but a simple _lumos _charm took care of that. Dinah looked in the mirror above the pewter sink. Lovely. Her nose had become a bright, cherry-like shade of red somewhere in between when she had put on her dress robes and now. She grabbed some toilet tissue and blew her nose, but still felt quite a bit of drainage. Perhaps she should take an early leave from the party.

Some hot tea with honey now sounded infinitely more attractive than the tart punch. She grabbed a handful of toilet tissue and stuffed it into her robes just to be safe, and then washed her hands. Holding one bit of tissue to her face, she left the bathroom and leaned against the door, staring out into the hallway and listening to the sounds of the party in the distance. To leave or to stay?

She sneezed again, loudly, and was answered by a loud thump down the hall on the right. She frowned and scratched the itch from her nose with the tissue. Surely her sneeze hadn't been violent enough to jar something from a shelf in one of the adjacent rooms.

A few more silent seconds were followed by the creaking of floorboards in the same general direction as the thump. And then she heard footsteps.

Yes, those were clearly footsteps. Dinah checked to her left, but everybody seemed preoccupied with the party. Hopefully, no one was snooping around in Slughorn's private rooms. She took a few hesitant steps in the direction of the noise, and the floorboards creaked beneath her. The footsteps became faster and then she heard another thump.

She hurried forward; completely ignoring the fact that now it would appear that _she _was the one snooping around in Slughorn's private rooms. There was definitely somebody in here, and for all she knew they could be stealing or spying or any number of unmentionable things. She stopped at a closed door on the left side of the hall, fairly certain that this was where the sound had come from.

She held back another sneeze and then listened, but there was no more noise. Against her better judgment, she tried the door handle. It was unlocked. She pushed it open and stepped into a large, dark bedroom. The window at the far end was open and a cold breeze was blowing in. It appeared that whoever had been in here had escaped in that direction.

Dinah knew she should probably turn around and go tell somebody, but she found herself walking forward. A large suitcase was open on the gray bed on the right wall, with some clothes strewn out around it. The desk on the left was full of pictures of Eugene with various people and a row of books written in a different language. A poster on the wall advertised the Bulgarian Quidditch team, and all of this evidence together allowed Dinah to conclude that this must be the guest room Eugene was staying in.

A rather thick book lay separate from the row and a page was marked in the middle. Dinah opened to it, but couldn't read any of the words. Still, it appeared to be some lists followed by narrative, so it was probably a potions book. She flipped through it, and noticed that Eugene had sketched some kind of symbol she'd never seen before on the inside front cover. It was a triangle with a circle in the middle and a line through it.

She didn't think much of it and closed the book, as her attention was drawn to something much more suspicious against the far wall to the left of the window. A rectangular cherry wood table stood there, and on it were a few sliced pomegranates along with some filled vials and test tubes and around twenty emptied or half-emptied glasses of red liquid. Dinah frowned and walked over, lifting up the glass that had the most liquid in it and sniffing. It smelled fruity, like pomegranate, and she had a sudden thought that this was probably the youthening potion. But there was a print on the side of the glass. The sort of fuzzy half translucent white print that human lips left when they drank from a glass.

Was someone _drinking _the potion? Eugene couldn't possibly be human-testing the concoction at this early stage. That would certainly be unethical.

Then again, she might just be over-thinking things. Maybe it was just straight-up pomegranate juice.

Well, either way she wasn't drinking it to find out. And there had _definitely _been someone wandering around back here. Someone besides herself.

Another thump from further down the building caused her to freeze in her tracks. If someone caught her in here she would be in _so _much trouble, and she wasn't even a student! But there was nothing she could do now except just stand there and hope nobody showed up. There was nowhere to hide that she could see in the immediate vicinity. Whoever had made that noise was either the person who had been here earlier or Slughorn or Eugene coming back, possibly to check on her. Unpredictable as it was, she still hoped it was the former.

But after awhile nothing had happened and so she allowed herself to exhale. An exhale which was immediately followed by a sneeze she had to stifle. It was time to get out of here, before she truly did get caught. She crept across the room, careful not to creak the floorboards while walking, and listened at the door. She heard no one and so opened it and stepped back into the hall. It was still empty. She scurried toward the light at the end and back into the hubbub of the party.

Sirius appeared to be having a heated argument with Nick while Lucy looked on awkwardly; Idris was chatting with one of the team members of the Hollyhead Harpies, Slughorn was talking loudly to some people she didn't know, and Ginny and Hermione were conversing in a corner. The rest of the party seemed relatively normal. Dinah hurried past without talking to anyone. Best to get back to her rooms and just explain to Slughorn later that she had left because she didn't feel good. The way he was about germs, he certainly wouldn't mind.

"Dinah!"

She jumped about a foot when Eugene intercepted her. Clutching a hand to her heart and trying to look innocent, she plastered a smile on her face that she hoped looked genuine and said, "Yes?"

"Sorry to startle you," Eugene smiled back, and Dinah had the sudden thought that such a nice person couldn't possibly be doing something unethical. "Is your cold better?"

"Er, no," she admitted, holding the tissue to up to her red, still running nose, "I think it's probably best that I leave here before I give this to somebody else. Plus, I'm sure I look gross. Give my apologies to Professor Slughorn for me, will you?"

"I will," he agreed, "Oh, but before you go I would like to ask you if you would be willing to come by the potions room some time Monday evening. I would like to show some of my progress to you firsthand."

"I think that would be fine," Dinah agreed, "Provided I'm not still sick, I'll make sure to come by."

After Eugene had thanked her, Dinah managed to make her getaway. When she got back to her rooms she fed her pets and got out of her dress robes before making that honey tea she had wanted. She curled up in a chair with a blanket, the tea, and a bunch of tissues and thought about what she had seen tonight.

Should she tell Dumbledore about all of the suspicious things that had gone on? She didn't want to be accused of spying or trespassing, but maybe it was something he needed to know. Still, she didn't really think Eugene would be doing anything _wrong_. It was just a gut feeling she had.

And then a new possibility occurred to her. The most obvious suggestion was that Eugene was drinking it himself. An odd, possibly dangerous practice in her opinion, but who was she to judge another's potion-making methods. Then again, if he was doing that why hadn't he just said so to somebody already? Maybe he was embarrassed. In light of that possibility, it was also a thought that maybe the person snooping around was some rival trying to get their hands on Eugene's formula.

If that was the case then Eugene was probably fully aware of it and there was no need for Dinah to draw unnecessary attention and ridicule to herself for sneaking around in Slughorn's rooms.

Still, she would keep an open eye and an open mind when she was around the potions assistant from now on. That way, if anything strange did happen, she would know when it was time to tell someone.


	22. Potions

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Potions

* * *

True to his word, Severus hadn't come out of the dungeons all weekend. Somehow the information must have leaked to him that Sirius was staying at Hogwarts the entire time. But it hadn't mattered that much at any rate because Dinah had spent all of Sunday fighting to get rid of that cold, with a bit of help from Madam Pomfrey. And at last, on Monday she felt mostly better. At least well enough to get through her classes. And then dinner was especially satisfying as the Muggle-born students handed their surveys back in to her.

Dinah flipped through the surveys after dinner as she walked through the halls toward the potions room to meet Eugene like she'd said she would. The answers were varied and she was rather excited to get a chance to statistically analyze them. Right now, just glancing, she couldn't identify any real trends, but some answers were interesting.

She had to stop examining them and look up when she made it into the room, and was very pleased to see a dark-robed figure standing and examining the table of potion ingredients along with Slughorn and Eugene. "Severus!"

He raised both eyebrows, but didn't look unhappy to see her; "Dinah."

She grinned and gave an inner cheer as he used her name for the second time and walked up to the table, standing as close to Severus as she could without touching him. She had convinced herself that the very air around him held that same warmness that the touch of his hand had held, although that was probably her crush on him talking. Still, it felt nice to be interested in someone like this for the first time in awhile. Made her feel young again.

"Glad to see you two are still getting along," Slughorn beamed at them, "I was just telling Severus that-"

He was cut off when Dinah sneezed. "Sorry," she grinned sheepishly with a slight sniffle, "Getting over a cold. Don't worry, I'm not contagious anymore."

"Hm," Severus made his noncommittal noise, "I wonder what could have caused such a thing?"

She laughed, "No idea," and turned to meet his eyes. He was frowning at her. Dare she think there was some concern in his face as he did so? He had been concerned enough the night of the incident. Once again she felt herself resisting spontaneously hugging him.

But then he simply shrugged and turned back to the table, "Eugene, you were saying...?"

"I was," Eugene agreed, and then gestured to a line of tiny vials, each filled with an equal volume of red liquid, that he had set up on the table. "Here I have lined up ten forms of the potion in its current state. They are lower concentration versions because I want to show you all what happens when the pomegranate juice concentration increases. So although I can currently keep a frog in tadpole form for at least two weeks –"

"He's still waiting for his current frog to grow up again," Slughorn offered in explanation.

The assistant nodded, "So these here are constructed so that the frog will only be young for one minute to ten minutes, as I linearly increase the pomegranate juice concentration," he pointed to a parchment which listed the concentration of the juice in each vial.

"Nice," Dinah said.

"Potentially," Severus added, "And I assume you have some frogs for us?"

"Indeed!" Slughorn waved his wand and summoned over a glass bowl full of what Dinah guessed were ten large bullfrogs climbing over each other.

"Well, that looks unpleasantly crowded," she frowned at the frogs.

Severus rolled his eyes, "We seem to have a frog rights activist in the room."

Dinah wasn't smitten enough with the man not to glare at him for that comment, "Thank you for your input. I was simply making an observation."

Eugene just laughed, and lined up ten smaller glass bowls each with numbers on them corresponding to the numbers of the vials; "I will place a frog into each one," he began to do so with the first slimy frog, "And then we'll introduce the potion. The convenient thing about working with frogs is that you don't have to have them drink the potion. It is absorbed through their skins." He took an eyedropper full of red liquid from the first vial and squeezed, causing a tiny drop to fall on the first frog. It instantly transformed into a tadpole.

"Amazing," Dinah said.

"Yes, and we must quickly move to the next frog and the next," Eugene said in a rushed voice as he did just that, "So that they have all been dosed at approximately the same time. And then we shall wait for them to transform back."

They didn't have to wait long. Soon the first tadpole popped back into frog form. "That was fast," Dinah said.

"Lowest concentration," Eugene explained, "Lasted only thirty seconds. The remaining ones should return to their original states at approximately thirty second intervals, leaving them all frogs again five minutes from now."

She nodded, and glancing to the side was surprised to see that Severus was actually writing these things down. He was dedicated to his art; that was certain.

When a little over five minutes had past the final tadpole grew up.

"What do you think?" Slughorn asked.

"It's impressive," Dinah said. "Pomegranate juice _does _indeed seem to be the key."

"Not exactly," said Severus, and they all turned to look at him.

"What I mean is," he explained, looking tense now that they were all staring at him, "It's all well and good that increasing the pomegranate concentration has increased the length that the frogs stay in tadpole form. However, if the goal is to make this irreversible except by counter potion then it isn't enough. Even if the pomegranate effect doesn't asymptote soon, and even if you can get it to the point where it lasts a very long time, even years, it's still going to wear off eventually. You need something else - perhaps a co-ingredient of some sort – to keep the pomegranate from losing its effect. Unless and until you do that, your potion won't be complete"

Dinah had the sudden realization that Severus was in a class of his own when it came to potion making. It made more sense now than ever that he had been the potions master for so many years, and why Slughorn had had him as at least a partial member of the Slug Club. He was actually rather amazing.

Eugene sighed, "Of course you're right, Severus. But I have yet to locate that next key ingredient."

A loud bang from somewhere outside of the room caused all four of them to look up before they had a chance to say anything further Dinah listened, noticing that Eugene was looking rather embarrassed. A few more clinks sounded and Dinah was able to identify that they seemed to be coming from Slughorn's nearby rooms before they stopped.

Eugene cleared his throat, "Yes, well..."

Slughorn shot him an odd glance and then laughed before turning back to Dinah and Severus, "I'm always hearing strange noises coming from Eugene's room. Rather odd, that." He turned to Eugene with a smile, "You don't have any pets you aren't telling me about, do you?"

Rather than laughing, the assistant's cheeks flushed with embarrassment, "Um, no. I have no pet. It's just... I like to keep my window open. Sometimes the wind moves things..."

"Just be careful the wind doesn't cause you to lose something," Slughorn said good-naturedly. He didn't seem very suspicious of Eugene. Then again, it wasn't as though Dinah could prove anything either. The window _had_ been open when she'd been in the room over the weekend. Perhaps it was the source of the noise after all. Then again, when standing in the room she had heard an odd noise from outside. But that could have been Eugene or Slughorn or any other guest. And besides, she still couldn't bring herself to believe the friendly assistant was doing anything wrong.

"Well, as much as that was enlightening," Severus said, and Dinah was pleased to hear no sarcasm in his voice; "I should probably return to the dungeons at this point for some grading. If I think of anything that might serve as another ingredient I will let one of you know."

"Thank you, Severus. We appreciate it," Slughorn said.

Eugene nodded, "I will let the both of you know if we discover anything more."

"All right," Dinah agreed, "Thank you. I should probably go back as well. I have surveys to analyze as well as schoolwork to grade."

"I see you're anxious to begin grading your surveys," Severus said as they walked away from the potions room toward the other side of Hogwarts.

Feeling triumphant that it had worked out so she could walk back with him, Dinah smiled as she pulled the stack of surveys out from her robes again; "Very. Hopefully I can show you some things with the results."

"We'll see."

She ignored his usual uninterested tone and began to flip through the stack. "Hmm, here's a Muggle-born Slytherin. You know, I honestly still tend to think that there won't be any of those. It always surprises me in my classes before I remind myself that they exist."

"Hmm," he didn't offer any kind of opinion on it.

She sighed as she scanned the survey, "Their answers about how happy they are here seem quite negative. But maybe it's just a one person thing. Here's a Ravenclaw... Hufflepuff... another Hufflepuff... seems that only telling three or four Muggles is common practice – Oh! Look here!" she snapped the parchment to emphasize her point, "Here's a Muggle-born Slytherin who has told a total of 13 Muggles about herself thus far. I know her, Gloria Wintringham. She's in one of my fourth year classes and she's very, very quiet. Severus, what _is _life at Hogwarts like for Muggle-born Slytherins? And how many of them are there?"

He sighed; "You have the papers in front of you, you should be able to figure out how many there are by _counting _rather than by me telling you. And I honestly don't know much about that issue. As you say, they're generally... quiet."

It was Dinah's turn to sigh, "And you haven't done a thing about it. Really, Severus, sometimes you can be..." she trailed off.

"Yes?" he prodded, his signature eyebrow raised. He looked like he was daring her to go on.

"Never mind," she frowned, "I don't want to say something that I'll regret later."

"Likely a wise choice."

"Slytherin is going to have to change its ways. I'm just saying."

"Indeed," his sarcasm and apparent indifference to her comments was rather annoying.

She chose not to hide her frustration. "You know you might make _some _sort of comment about the whole thing."

"And what would you like me to say?"

"Anything!" she exclaimed, exasperated, "Just show that you acknowledge that you understand what I'm say-" she cut herself off with three sneezes in a row and then sighed, "Excuse me."

Severus turned to regard her for a few moments, both of them stopping in the middle of the hall. "You should really take care of that."

Dinah cracked a smile; "Is that a show of concern?"

He frowned at her. Did he actually look a bit embarrassed? He cleared his throat, turned away and began walking again, forcing her to hurry to keep up with him. "I'm simply asking if you're certain you're over the effects of the cold."

Her smile widened. He was actually very sweet – sometimes - in a sort of awkward way. "I don't think I need to worry. Madam Pomfrey took excellent care of me yesterday. I really feel fine now, it's just the sneezing."

Severus stopped and turned to face her again, "If you're wrong, I can give you an infusion of Pepperup Potion. My ingredients are fresher than Madam Pomfrey's."

She just stared at him for a few minutes before saying softly; "Thank you. I will."

He must have noticed her blush because he suddenly looked uncomfortable and cleared his throat again, turning and pointing down the hall, "Your rooms."

Indeed, they had just come around the corner and approached Dinah's quarters. She headed to the door and opened it only to have Godric rush out again. He stopped in front of Severus and stuck both paws in the air, meowing in a way that almost sounded like a howl.

Severus sighed, "You need to learn to control your cat."

Dinah giggled, "Actually, I think it's hilarious. He just wants to play."

"Hm," Severus made his noncommittal noise and took a step back from Godric.

She sighed, "All right, I'll get rid of him. Come here, You." She picked up Godric and carried him into her rooms, tossing him into her bedroom and closing the door. When she hurried back to the main entrance Severus was already walking away. "Severus!"

He stopped and turned back around to face her, his eyebrow raised, "Yes?"

"Sorry," she flushed, not knowing why she had called to him like that. It probably would have been better just to let him leave for now, but she hadn't been thinking. On sudden inspiration, she held up the stack of surveys, "Just thought I'd mention that I'll start analyzing these now. Don't expect me to go easy on you with the Muggle-born Slytherin thing either. You just wait until I have these analyzed and _then _we'll see who wins in our debates."

"Do you tackle _everything _with the same enthusiasm with which you tackle your food?"

She laughed, "Is that a bad thing?"

"It's an... interesting thing," he admitted, looking thoughtful.

Dinah smiled, "I don't mind you finding me interesting."

"It's late. We have papers to grade."

"Indeed," she mimicked his favorite gesture and raised an eyebrow. He seemed to notice and looked agitated. But she wasn't perturbed by that. "Good night."

He nodded sharply before turning on his heel and walking away as she closed the door with a smile on her face.


	23. Pensieve

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Pensieve

* * *

"All right, I know that topic was rather heavy for all of you, same as the slavery papers," Dinah said, putting aside the paper her seventh year students had read on the Holocaust and grabbing the final paper in her pile, "So in these last few minutes of class I'd like us to switch to a somewhat lighter subject. The last paper you read, on gender relations in Japan. I'd love to hear some of your initial thoughts on it. Miss Granger?"

"Well," Hermione lowered her hand, her expression thoughtful; "I thought it was strange how one half of the article basically argued for not differentiating between the sexes at all – as you said, letting boys wear skirts and the like – while the other half presented the point of view that if society so much as switched from calling roll in schools by the sexes to alphabetical order, their whole structured world would fall apart."

Dinah smiled, "Thank you, Miss Granger. That part always struck me as interesting as well. The opinion of the second man always seemed extreme. Yes, Mr. Burrow?"

"It is extreme. I mean, however you call roll is up to you, but to think that if boys and girls are mixed up in it then they somehow won't know the _difference _between each other..." he trailed off and shook his head.

A Ravenclaw girl giggled, "I think we'll still know the difference between each other."

"Well, at older ages, probably so..." Dinah allowed herself a grin at that. These were, after all, fairly mature students. "But think about the young ones. Assuming they're fully dressed, of course." The students giggled at that comment.

"It shouldn't matter!" a Hufflepuff girl said; "I mean, think about it. Plenty of western countries call their students alphabetically and mix up the boys and the girls, and none of that weird stuff has happened to them. Like boys and girls wanting to sleep together on field trips and share bathrooms and things."

"Ah, but you see it's here where we have to look at things from a cultural perspective. It may be that to some conservative Japanese, our western societies _are _already ones in which men and women 'don't know the difference' between each other, so to speak. The independence of western women may worry some of them. And even among our western countries there are differences. For instance, the nonworking housewife is still much more common here in Britain than it is in say America."

"But they didn't say women would want to work. They said they'd want to share bathrooms and odd things like that. It just seems... kind of like convoluted logic," Hermione said.

"I agree with you, to an extent," Dinah nodded. "Mr. Shaw?"

The Slytherin boy smirked and lowered his hand, "I'm a little bit more worried about the first part. I mean, who in their right mind would put men in skirts?"

"Yes, that part... the definition of 'gender neutral'... is very interesting," Dinah said, pleased that the Slytherins in this class were actually somewhat participatory. "To any society, the concept of letting men wear skirts and dresses is an odd one. Mr. Flagg?"

"I'm sure these people mean well, but it's not like it would be easy to do. I mean, if _all _boys wanted to wear skirts that would be one thing. But if only some of them do they'll get teased something awful. And I'm pretty certain most boys don't want to. So how do they justify that?"

"I don't know. It would require an entire overhaul of peoples' values and what we call societal paradigms. We'll talk about paradigms later. As far as this reading goes, it's all very complicated. I'm not really asking us to come to any kind of conclusion. I just thought it would be fun to become aware of some of the issues floating around in the Muggle world with regard to differences and discrimination."

"You know," Victoria Frobisher said thoughtfully, "It's interesting how many different kinds of – well, differences Muggles can come up with and claim are very important. Some of them seem ridiculous. I wonder if the importance we place on the differences we come up with in our own society are just as ridiculous, only we can't see it."

Dinah was sure her face lit up as bright as the afternoon sun, and she hoped she didn't look too ridiculous as the huge smile spread across her face. She was pretty sure she had just gotten her first taste of what it's truly like to spread your knowledge and influence another. Surely, this was what teaching was all about! And she had done it. She had gotten her point across _exactly _as she had intended and hoped. "And that," she said, still grinning like an idiot, "Is just exactly what I was hoping to get you all to think about. Now, on that positive note I think you can all be dismissed."

The students got up and shuffled out of the room, but Hermione Granger walked up to the desk. "I wonder if this would be a good time to talk about S.P.E.W. again?"

"Certainly," Dinah smiled. Nothing could dampen her mood right now. Not that she didn't enjoy talking with Hermione anyway, of course. "My office hours aren't for another hour but I do have a break. I was going to go and get a snack from the Great Hall. Why don't we sit in there and discuss it?"

Her student agreed and they were just starting to walk down the hall when they ran into Lucy coming from another corridor. "Professor Ketteridge!" Hermione smiled and waved.

The other professor gave Hermione a grin and waved back, "Hermione. Quizzing Professor Samson about Muggles, are you?" She seemed to be teasing the student.

Hermione giggled, "No, Lucy. I'm actually getting her help with S.P.E.W."

"Lucy?" Dinah repeated, "You two are on a first name basis?"

The younger girl flushed, "Well, some of the time. Not really in class but... well, it was okay now, right?" she asked Lucy.

"It's fine," Lucy waved her off and turned to Dinah, "She's dating my cousin Ron and the two of them are good friends of Harry's so we've seen a fair amount of each other in recent years."

Dinah paused, digested this, and then smacked herself on the head, "Oh my. How dense of me. I suppose it's rather _obvious _now that you mention it. You and Ginny are close, Ron is Ginny's sister, Ginny spends time with Hermione at Hogwarts, Hermione and Ron were Harry's companions and Harry's dating Ginny, your cousins are the Weasleys... For some reason those connections never formed in my brain until now!"

Hermione laughed, "That's fine. It's rather convoluted if you look at it that way."

Dinah smiled, "Either that or I'm dense. I really think the 'me being dense' thing is the real answer."

"Or you're just thinking about other things," Lucy offered with a smile; "Do you mind if I join you two?"

"Certainly not," Dinah shook her head, "Come with us. We can get a snack or something. Although..." she frowned as they began walking, "I suppose it's sort of ironic that we'd begetting snacks from the house elves at a meeting to talk about..."

"Oh no! That's awful!" Hermione started, but they all froze when they turned a corner and stumbled upon a heated argument. It seemed Severus had cornered Wortham and Speasy doing something rotten again. Upon hearing their approach, Severus had turned to his glare at their group. Lucy and Hermione visibly shrunk back, not unlike the two students were doing, but Dinah just frowned.

"You two go on ahead," she told Lucy and Hermione, "I'll follow. I think I can help with this, though." She left the two bewildered women behind and walked up to Severus, "What seems to be the trouble here?"

Her presence seemed to calm at least Wortham, who pointed an accusing finger at Speasy, "He called me a Mudblood again! Take points away from Slytherin!"

"I did not!" was Speasy's heated retort, "I called you a 'Mudbl'! I stopped before I finished!"

"Yeah, only because Professor Snape showed up-"

"Enough!" Severus shouted, "You are _both _going to lose points if you continue to argue in my presence, and it takes a lot for me to remove Slytherin points."

"Lovely, admitting your bias to the students," Dinah muttered.

The gaze Severus turned on her was practically livid, "I asked them not to argue; that means you, too."

She sighed, "I'm sorry. I was simply-"

"If you call me a Mudblood you've got to call Mae a Mudblood, too," Wortham taunted, interrupting Dinah.

Speasy turned red as a beet and went into a fit of sneezing before clenching his fists and shouting, "What's Mae got to do with this?"

"Well, she's your _girlfriend_, isn't she?" the other boy stuck his tongue out, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Dinah was sure it wouldn't last long though, not with Severus around. But when she turned to look at her colleague he seemed instead to be frozen in place. His gaze was shifting back and forth between Wortham and Speasy and his eyes were wide. It looked as though he had received a shock of some sort.

"I- she's- not- we're- just- you- can't- I- mean-" Speasy was sputtering, fumbling in his robes for his wand.

Dinah sighed. If Severus was going to do nothing, then it was up to her. She stepped in-between the two boys, "That's enough, _now_. Wortham, you need to stop taunting other students. Speasy, your use of that word is-"

"I didn't use it! I stopped myself like you said! I'm really trying not to!"

She frowned and considered this; "Well, all right. I'm not going to take points away from either of you right now but you'd both better get to class and stop fighting or that might change. Is that understood? If you can't be respectful then don't talk to each other."

The boys muttered acknowledgement and hurried off in opposite directions.

Dinah exhaled, "Well, that was enjoyable, as always." She turned to the other professor, but he still seemed frozen. "Severus?" she reached out and touched his arm.

His response at her touch was instant. He flinched and whirled around in split seconds, glaring daggers at her.

"Whoa!" she backed up and held up her hands, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you. I just touched you! You seemed distracted..."

"Then just let me be," he almost growled.

"Honestly, Severus," she said softly, "If I had realized you have such a volatile response I wouldn't have come near you. What is_ with_ you? You didn't flinch when you held my hand before."

Now he was as red as Speasy had been, "I didn't hold- I was simply trying to-" he broke off when she started giggling and sighed; "You don't understand. Working undercover with Death Eaters for eighteen straight years... you learn to be on your guard about everything."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it," she made herself stop giggling, "No, I suppose it's understandable. But being that afraid of simple human contact-"

"I am not _afraid _of anything. There!" he tapped her on the shoulder with one finger, "See? I touched you. Now go back and talk with your Professor Ketteridge and Miss Queen Gryffindor Know-it-all and let me get back to my dungeons."

She raised both eyebrows. He didn't seem to be a fan of anybody, this man. But she couldn't help smiling, "My, you are amusing. All right. I'll go. See you around."

"Perhaps," he said in an offhand tone, walking in the opposite direction.

She laughed loud enough to be sure he could hear her and continued toward the Great Hall. He was going to be more of a challenge than even she had suspected. But she was up for it!

Lucy and Hermione were chatting and munching on a plate of cheese and crackers when Dinah made it to the Great Hall, and they looked surprised at her cheerful expression.

Hermione smiled as Dinah sat down across from them, "I wouldn't normally look so happy after coming from a meeting with Professor Snape."

She shrugged, "He's not so bad when you get to know him."

"Harry defends him so much," Hermione said thoughtfully, "I'm not always sure I understand why. It seems there's more behind the story than he's telling us."

"Story?" Dinah's interest was peaked by the students' comment.

She shook her head, "I can't say. I'm sure I'd get in trouble if I did. But pretty much everyone knows at least what Harry said at the face-off with Voldemort. That Professor Snape initially joined our side because he was in-"

"More crackers?" a house elf popped up by the table.

"Certainly," Hermione said, and Dinah was initially surprised at her easygoingness in the matter before she saw what was concealed in Hermione's hand when she handed the elf their empty plate. A sock. She dropped it on the plate just as the elf took it.

The elf flinched and jumped back. "No! No, Miss, I can't!" it said, flustered, and pushed the sock off before hurrying away with the plate.

Hermione sighed and picked up the sock from the floor, putting it back on her own foot; "I don't understand why they always do that."

"Perhaps they don't _want _to be free," Lucy offered, eying Hermione's foot, "And I certainly hope they _wash _that plate before giving it back to us."

She flushed, "Sorry about that. Usually I have a supply of fresh ones ready, but I wasn't aware we'd be doing this today. I'm sure they'll wash it. More importantly, why on Earth wouldn't they want to be free?"

"Have you ever considered," Dinah said slowly, "That they wouldn't know what to _do _with themselves if they were free? Where would they go? There aren't exactly free house elf societies to join."

"We could make one!" Hermione stood and slapped her hands on the table, flushed with excitement; "That could be done, right? Would you help me?"

Dinah chuckled, "Well...it's a lovely thought, but I don't think it can just up and be done like that." She turned and thanked the house elf that brought more cheese and crackers on a fresh plate with a new design. The house elf flushed with pride at Dinah, then turned an uneasy glance at Hermione before slinking away. She nibbled a cracker, "I understand your passion, and I think it's very important to change the status quo. But you have to realize that when you bombard people all at once with a view that they don't share or understand or that clashes dramatically with their own views, it does nothing but make them close their mind to you. They don't listen, and I think the people that you've talked to about S.P.E.W. up until now and the house elves as well are responding in that manner."

"That and I think people are resistant to change when it's the only thing they know. Not that it makes it right," Lucy was quick to add, "but if all you ever knew was a certain way of life you might be reluctant to change it when someone tells you you should. Especially if you don't view your life as all that bad. Perhaps instead of trying to free them all by surprise you could talk to Dumbledore and others as well about offering vacation time, sick days, and pay for those elves that desire such things."

"That might work," Hermione looked embarrassed as she poked at the piece of cheese she was holding, "I guess I just want so much to do the right thing."

"That's not a bad thing," Dinah encouraged; "And Lucy's right. It's sort of analogous to when technological societies stumble upon more primitive societies in the Muggle world. They're quick to push technology and modern values on these societies and always encounter resistance. Cultural clashes are the same. But that doesn't make one side wrong or the other right. Now as far as house elves go, I do think that slavery is always wrong. But, like it or not, it has become deeply engrained in our society. I think you might first want to focus on _treatment_. I mean, the house elves here are well treated. Don't you think you should go in small steps to reform the society? For example, aren't the most worthy circumstances – to start, at least – those house elves that are abused and truly mistreated by their families?"

"Yes, like Dobby by the Malfoys. And probably Kreacher a bit, too, previously. But those are the people that would be least likely to listen to me."

Lucy laughed, "But those are the people you wouldn't need to encounter directly anyway. If the Ministry..." she broke off and turned back to her cheese-cracker sandwich, subdued. Dinah remembered that she had some serious issues with the Ministry.

"It's true," Dinah took over the conversation, "The Ministry has had issues in the past, but if you talk to Dumbledore and the new Minister about it, I'm sure they'll at least listen. Maybe there are things – very small steps at first- that can be done to improve the lives of abused house elves. And of course I'll back you up if need be."

"Thank you," Hermione smiled, "That's a great thing to do. But what if I get like I usually do and they stop listening?"

"Think of how we do things in class. I don't think I bombard you with ideas, do I?"

She shook her head, "You ask us what we think. You present questions to consider."

"Exactly. Give the other person a chance to be a part of the conversation, a part of the issue. Don't tell them what to think, ask them to consider things. It takes a long time and you don't _always _get your message across, but I find that in general it's a more useful strategy."

Lucy nodded, "It really is. People are more likely to accept a different view point if they think they came to that conclusion themselves. And besides, you know Kingsley at least a little bit so you should be more comfortable with him. He's a good man and will work with you as best he can. I'd be willing to talk with him as well if you need it."

"That's wonderful," Hermione sat back in her chair happily, "Thank you, both of you. Let's come up with some ideas of how and when to go about all of that, if that's okay?"

"Sure," Dinah agreed, and Lucy nodded.

* * *

"Ah, so you've met then," Myrtle burst into giggles as she floated above Dinah in the girls' bathroom nearest the Great Hall during her mid-afternoon break. "Isn't he niiice?"

"He seems so," Dinah agreed thoughtfully, "And I haven't heard from him since that last time, so hopefully I made him feel better."

"What? _You're _the reason he hasn't been coming to see me lately?" Myrtle looked offended.

"Well..." Dinah flushed, "Maybe, I guess. But don't you want Tommy to feel better?"

"Tommy!" she exclaimed, now looking positively livid, "You _know _his name?"

"He told me right away."

"Hmph!" Myrtle sniffled, "How dare he tell you his name before he told me? And after I've been helping him out all these years and being his only friend he never _once _told me!"

"All these _years_? You mean one year, right? He couldn't possibly be a third-" but she cut off as Myrtle moaned and dove into a sink.

Dinah sighed and wandered from the room. Perhaps ghosts like Myrtle understood time differently than humans. Or maybe Tommy really _was _a third year. It would make sense if he got made fun of in that case, being so small. Not that that was right by any means. But perhaps she didn't need to worry either way. After all, he was presumably fine now.

She smiled when she turned the corner towards her hall and found Severus. Perhaps it wasn't such an odd coincidence that she was always running into him since he had to pass by her area on his way to and from the dungeons. Still, it always felt like they were at just the right places at the right times. He was involved in what appeared to be an argument with a brown-haired Slytherin girl from one of the older years. She had to be a fifth or sixth year because Dinah didn't recognize her from any of her classes.

"Please, Professor Snape?" the girl pleaded. "You could do it, you know you could. He probably doesn't remember me, but you could introduce us sometime."

"Miss Greengrass," Severus said in a frustrated tone, "I haven't spoken with the Malfoys since The Battle of Hogwarts and I don't intend to do so any time soon. They have their own issues to work out and my relationship with them has been strained since everything that happened last year."

Dinah stepped up to them and they both tilted their heads, noticing her presence before going back to their discussion.

"You don't have to do much!" The girl, Miss Greengrass apparently, said, still pushing the matter; "Just send an owl or something. Mention he might like to meet me. Draco would like me, I know he would. I _am _a pureblood after all, and he knew my sister."

At the mention of being pureblood, Severus shot Dinah an almost _guilty _look. She couldn't help but smile. "Don't worry; I'm not a monster about the whole thing. And _you _didn't say it."

"Um, hello," the girl turned a respectful but uninterested nod in Dinah's direction, "Professor..."

"Samson," Dinah said; "Muggle Studies."

"Yes..." she frowned, "I suppose I'll have to take that next year, won't I? Well," she turned to Severus again, "Please think about it, Professor. I'm sure Draco would be happy to talk with you. You did _help _him and everything."

"Go to class."

"Yes, Sir," she turned and walked away.

"What was that all about?" Dinah asked.

Severus sighed, "Astoria Greengrass. Seems she has some sort of _crush _on Draco Malfoy and would like me to introduce them."

"Mm. Crushes are funny things..."

He shifted uncomfortably before turning to face her, "On a different subject, I think I've identified three or four ingredients that might warrant investigation for maintaining the effects of the pomegranate juice in Eugene's potion."

"That was fast," she smiled, "But good to know. It's nice that you're willing to help out like this."

He shrugged, "You seem to have taken an interest as well. If you like... well, if you come by later this evening I _could _show you what I've found. That is, if it fits your schedule."

"Um," she began, blushing but hoping he didn't notice it. He wasn't looking at her and she had a feeling it was because somewhere he knew that's what she'd be doing. But it didn't matter. He was actually asking her to come see him. "No, that would be nice. I'm interested in seeing what you've found."

"Then come after dinner."

She smiled. He was being rather short about it. "Is eight o'clock all right? I had planned to call – well, contact my family at seven."

He sighed, "Eight o'clock then."

"Eight o'clock it is. You know, I was really impressed by the stuff you came up with on Monday. Are you sure you'd rather be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts instead of Potions?"

Severus, perhaps sensing that enough time had passed for her not to be blushing anymore, turned back to face her; "I'm sure. Professor Slughorn is an excellent potions professor, albeit an obnoxious one, and after everything that's happened in the past few years Dumbledore agrees that my qualifications in Defense Against the Dark Arts is unsurpassed. Nor does he – apparently – entertain any more worries that teaching the class will endear me to the dark arts in some way."

She shrugged, "All right. That makes sense. I just thought you were so good at the potions thing – that is, I'm certain you're good at your other post too. With everything you've done – oh, that sounds bad, doesn't it?"

He laughed, "You _are _an interesting one, aren't you?"

"I should be saying that about you," she smiled back. This was probably the first time she'd really seen him smile at her. This look they were sharing now wasn't a one-sided smile on her part met with a half-smirk in response. This was real. And he looked amazing when he smiled for real.

If it had passed any more quickly she would have doubted her sanity that it had ever really happened. Luckily, he had just held it long enough for her to know it did. Still, she wanted it to last longer. Maybe tonight...

"You have classes, if I'm correct?" Severus's voice broke her out of her reverie.

"Ah, yes. Then I'll see you tonight."

He nodded and walked off towards the Great Hall while she headed to her classroom.

* * *

Dinah's father had been a bit surprised at her apparent rush to get off the phone. She felt a little bad, but she couldn't wait anymore. Sure, it was only seven thirty, but surely Severus wouldn't mind if she showed up a bit early. In fact, she would have been earlier still if she hadn't stopped to make sure her clothing and make-up were just right.

Not that Severus necessarily noticed such things, but just in case.

The door to his office in the dungeons was hanging open, but she stood in the doorway and knocked on it. When there was no answer she tried again. And when there was no answer still she leaned forward and poked her head into the office to look around. It was well-lit, as far as the dungeons went, and some papers were strewn on the desk, but Severus was nowhere to be seen.

Well, it was probably fine for her to go inside and wait for him, since the door was open and all.

At first she sat at the other side of his desk, but soon her curiosity got the better of her and she stood to look around. He had a shelf of potion ingredients in various different-sized jars on the back wall. She skimmed the shelves. Most of the ingredients she knew, but some she didn't. They all looked exceedingly fresh though, and she supposed he made it his business to guarantee that they were. She picked up a jar which appeared to be filled with a bunch of very flat brown slugs and watched them crawl around on the glass.

She smiled. He definitely had an interesting collection.

She put the jar of slugs back on the shelf and continued on to the smaller desk that stood next to it. The lamp on the desk was lit, and a large stone bowl next to it contained a dancing, swirling, glowing liquid.

A pensieve.

Those were fairly rare, weren't they? She herself had never tried to pull a memory out of her head. In fact, the whole thing kind of freaked her out. But apparently Severus was in the habit of doing so.

Dinah was about to move on when movement in the liquid caught her eye. Leaning in closer, she could just make out shapes shifting across its surface. And then flashes of images – scenes with people. One person looked strikingly like a young Severus.

She smiled. A young Severus, huh? That would be interesting to see. Well, maybe if she kept watching she could make out traces of the memories floating within on the surface. Not sticking her head in, of course, just watching the surface.

If she leaned just a tiny bit closer, she could get a better view...

She leaned in...

And the liquid seemed to reach out and grab her, pulling her headfirst and tumbling into the stone bowl of Severus's memory.


	24. Severus

A/N: I do not own any of the scenarios presented in this chapter that are taken from the books. I only own Dinah's reaction to them. Severus and all characters besides Dinah belong to JKR. Also, I know some of the scenes may be awkward to read. It's because I put in VERY minimal dialogue from the books and instead just tried to describe the scenes as best as I could in my own words. I don't think it would be right to do otherwise, so I hope everyone can bear with it. Again, I DO NOT OWN THESE SCENARIOS.

Thanks everybody for reading so far! Hope you keep enjoying the story and reviewing :)

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Severus

* * *

Dinah stood in a park. It was sunny and two little girls played on the swings in the distance, the red-haired girl swinging much higher and faster than the blonde next to her.

She frowned. The scene before her was pleasant enough, but she _shouldn't _be here. If Severus came in and found her spying in his pensieve he'd – oh she didn't even want to know _what _he would do – or say – or anything for that matter. She had to get out of here, but she really didn't know how to do so.

She hadn't expected to get sucked in in the first place, at least there was that much in her defense. Then again, she _had _been wandering around his office without permission and looking at his stuff. And even if the pensive hadn't pulled her in he would surely still object to her watching the patterns moving on the surface. Or even being in his office.

Honestly, what _had _she been thinking? She'd never know now.

Well, now that she was stuck here she might as well make the best of things. She looked around the park and spied a figure in the bushes, perhaps not as well hidden as it wanted to be. She walked away from the swinging girls and toward the figure. She crouched down so she could see better. The little boy staring out at the girls in the park had long black hair and a pale face with a slightly long nose. But she recognized him.

It was Severus. She resisted the urge to squeal like a little girl. He was adorable as a child, although rather oddly dressed. He was wearing Muggle clothes, something she never would have expected him to be doing. But they were huge, mismatched, and awkward. Maybe he felt he had to dress as a Muggle to come to the park, but didn't know how to do so properly. Still, there was something odd about it.

He was watching the girls with an odd glint in his eye. She followed that gaze to the swing set just as the red-haired girl, rather prettier than the other, flew off at the top of her swing and floated to the ground. There was really no doubt about it.

The girl was a witch. Either Muggle-born or half-blood. Probably Muggle born, as the sister was expressing acute disgust at her actions. Their dialogue identified them as sisters.

Dinah turned back to Severus, who was now watching as the red-haired girl, Lily, was causing the petals of a flower to open and close while her sister, Tuney, protested more out of fear than anything else. Severus's young eyes never left Lily.

It was a little stalker-ish actually but she decided to ignore that for the moment.

The scene culminated with Severus jumping out of the bushes and declaring very loudly that Lily was a witch. Dinah covered her mouth and stifled a giggle. He was so spontaneous and adorable as a child thus far, much different from his older, stoic self. Made her wonder if this scene here was just a momentary lapse in his character or if he had truly changed so much from youth.

The young Severus looked embarrassed. Probably hadn't intended on bursting in on them like that. Dinah was just starting to question his anti-Muggle and anti-Muggle-born values when he talked animatedly with Lily, but luckily – or unluckily - his normal attitude seemed to be preserved at least with the sister. She was, like many Muggles, skeptical to the point of stubbornness, and after a while convinced Lily to walk away from Severus. Ultimately, both girls stormed off in a huff, leaving Severus scuffing his shoe on the ground, depressed that his scheme hadn't worked.

She almost wanted to comfort or reassure him, but obviously that would have no effect, so she just watched and thought. Lily... almost certainly she was Lily Potter. Or _would _be when she married James Potter. Slughorn had said she and Severus had been friends, but Severus's attitude whenever the subject came up made a lot more sense if he'd had a crush on her at some point.

The images around her began to swirl and change shape, and before she knew it she was standing in a dark, musty room. The room was bare of decoration, save a single desk with a tiny, barely-lit oil lamp, and a bed. The young Severus sat on the bed, looking frustrated as a woman helped him put on a giant long-sleeved jacket. The woman had long, limp black hair like Severus, pulled back at the nape of her neck, and her face was pale and drawn. Although very plain to look at, Dinah sensed she might be pretty if she tried. But she didn't look like she wanted to try.

"Mum, why do I have to wear this?" Severus asked.

"Hush, Severus," the woman said, her dark eyes darting back and forth nervously as she buttoned her son's coat; "You know we have no choice."

"But why do I have to wear _his _clothes? We have robes. We could just-"

"You know how he hates what we are."

"He hates everything."

"That's not true. He loves us..."

"He does not!"

"You just can't see it, Severus. He really does love us."

Severus snorted; "_I'm _not the one who can't see. Mum, can't we at least get clothes that fit us? If we _have _to wear Muggle clothes why can't we get new ones every once in awhile? You could get a dress or-"

"Stop it!" she admonished, more fear in her voice than there was scolding. "Don't ever let your father catch you saying that. We don't have much money. He'll think we're ungrateful for what he _does _give us. Just be happy you have food to eat and a roof over your head and stop complaining about clothes. It's selfish."

Severus sighed, but didn't say any more as he sat there with his mother. Dinah bit her lip as she watched. This whole thing didn't sound good at all.

The door to the room slammed and both Severus and his mother flinched. Dinah cringed a bit herself as she turned to look at the man who had entered. He was tall, with black hair and dark eyes like the other two and a long, hooked nose. His face was flushed and he tossed an empty liquor bottle to the floor, his eyes darting back and forth between his wife and son.

"Tobias," the woman managed a small smile; "Did you have a good day?"

The man sneered instead; "The milkman was just here."

She stood and faced him, holding her body tall but stiff in a weak, halfhearted show of whatever pride she had left inside of her. "Yes... and?"

"He asked how you were doing. Why would he ask how you were doing?"

"Being..." she shrugged, "polite?"

Without any warning or provocation, the man's hand shot out, slapping the woman so hard across the face that she nearly fell over. Severus whimpered and stood from the bed, running into a corner. Dinah knew she could do nothing, but that didn't stop her from following the boy and kneeling next to him in the corner, wishing there was some way her comforting thoughts could reach him. She watched the rest of the scene from that spot, from his perspective.

Severus's mother managed to right herself, clutching her hand to her cheek and staring up at her husband. He grabbed her collar and shook her, "You told him all about your little secret, didn't you, you little slut? He knows, doesn't he? Knows you're a ... a..."

"I don't – know what you're talking about," she sputtered, "I've never told anyone. You _know _I would never break my promise to you, Tobias! So that Severus can go to Hogwarts – I'll keep it a secret from everyone else – I've always kept it a secret-"

"LIAR!" he shouted, spinning her around and pinning her up against the now-closed door. "You and him are going to run off together, aren't you? To that witch-world of yours."

"No," she whimpered, cowering, her pride broken, "Never."

"If I," he got right in her face, and Dinah was certain his breath would be hot and smell like alcohol, "_ever _hear that you've been messing around or telling anybody about what you are... If I even get _this much_," he showed the tiny amount with his fingers, "shred of evidence, you're going to wish you were never born. Mark my words!"

Severus whimpered again and his father tossed his mother aside with a rough shove, then turned, coming closer and closer to Severus.

"No!" Dinah shouted, getting in-between them, but it had been a useless move. The terrible man's hand reached right through her body and grabbed Severus by the collar, pulling him up so that his feet actually left the floor.

"You! Have you been encouraging your mother to disobey me?"

"No! Let me go!" Severus struggled, but his father's grip only became tighter.

"Tobias," the woman pleaded from where she was pulling herself up from the floor, her voice raspy, "Don't-"

"Shut up, woman!" he hurled Severus to the ground and took an ominous step forward. Severus tried to right himself, but wasn't fast enough. His father's hand went into the air.

Tears sprung to Dinah's eyes and she shouted 'no' again, reaching out. But just as Tobias Snape's hand came flying toward herself and Severus, it dissipated into the swirling gray colors. The gray slowly transformed into light blues and greens, and then Dinah was kneeling in that park again, the bright sun and singing birds oblivious to the utter darkness that had come before.

Severus sat in the grass with Lily. He looked happy again, now that he was with the red-haired little girl. She seemed to make him much happier than Dinah had ever been able to. It also seemed that somewhere along the line they had managed to become friends. They were chatting about Hogwarts, both with wide-eyed excitement about their future school. Severus was telling Lily about everything with a somewhat self-important attitude, when the subject of being Muggle-born came up.

Dinah held her breath as Lily asked if that made any difference. The Severus she knew thought that it made a huge difference. Even the little Severus seemed to dislike Muggles with the way he had treated Lily's sister, and with a father like that she couldn't exactly blame him. Still, she'd hate to see him hurt Lily with that attitude. She waited as the little Severus considered his friend's question, and finally he had an answer.

"No. It doesn't make any difference."

He went on to praise Lily's magic ability, but Dinah only half paid attention to that. She was more focused on the intensely warm feeling that washed through her body at Severus's words. Despite his upbringing and his horrid home life, he cared enough for Lily to realize that it didn't matter, at least in that case. He was a good person, Dinah was certain. Even if he had made wrong choices at times in his life, he truly had a heart. Surely she could make him feel that way again. He had the capacity to understand others, when he cared enough about them.

Could he ever care for her like that?

Lily asked about Severus's family, and his face fell. He looked away from her and muttered responses, ripping apart blades of grass. Dinah sighed, waves of sadness running through her. At least her family had always loved and cared for her, even if she _had _had issues from time to time in her youth. Poor little Severus.

"Severus?" Lily asked hesitantly, and Dinah watched as the child version of her modern-day colleague reacted. The corners of his mouth turned up with a sort of shy, blissful happiness as his friend spoke his name. He even flushed.

Dinah didn't pay much attention to the rest of their conversation, but rather sighed and got stuck in her own thoughts again. He hadn't smiled like that when she had used his name for the first time. Hadn't smiled like that at all.

The scene switched.

She was standing in King's Cross Station. Lily and her sister were arguing, but Dinah walked over to Severus instead. He stood with his mother, both of them now wearing robes and looking much better for it. The mother still looked tired. Broken, and uninterested in everything that was going on around her. Severus on the other hand looked elated. Again, she couldn't blame him. He was finally going to escape, at least for a time.

Another woman walked over to them, towing a child along with her. "Eileen!"

Severus's mother turned and managed a weak smile at the other woman. "Hello, Sarah."

"It's been _so _long, hasn't it? I haven't seen you in ages, not since you married that Muggle. I still don't understand why you did it, but it _is _good to see you. Do you still play gobstones?"

"No," Eileen replied in a tired voice as Severus began to look anxious. "I've been busy. Life, you know. Marriage, raising a child..."

"Yes, yes," the women continued to converse as Sarah's child ran off toward the train. Eileen's enthusiasm stayed as low as it started, though, and soon Sarah seemed to become bored with the conversation.

"Mum, the train's leaving," Severus tugged on his mother's sleeve.

"Ah, yes," Eileen said distractedly, and Sarah wandered off to say good-bye to her own child. She leaned over and planted an absent-minded kiss on the top of Severus's head; "Good luck at Hogwarts."

"Thanks," he gave her a weak smile. Dinah sensed that he did love his mother, but was frustrated at her behaviors. She was the classic battered wife, sad as it was. So wrapped up in pleasing her husband that she couldn't see reality for what it was. It led to the unintentional neglect of both hers and her child's basic needs. It was too bad _so _many people like that still continued to live without any outside help.

Severus looked relieved to escape to the safety of the Hogwart's Express. But when he found Lily on the train she was crying. It seemed her sister had become so jealous and bitter over the fact that Lily was a witch that Lily was convinced she now hated her.

Severus was less comforting to Lily than he was bewildered at her reaction. Dinah sighed. He still placed so much emphasis on blood status. He didn't seem to understand that family could be more important than whether a person had magical powers or not.

He tried to switch the conversation to Hogwarts. Lily was just starting to cheer up when Severus made a comment about being in Slytherin and was interrupted by laughter from a group of four boys nearby.

Dinah turned to look at them. The one who seemed unofficial leader of the group, the one with messy brown hair and glasses, was praising the glories of Gryffindor. He looked so much like Harry Potter that Dinah had no doubt this was Lily's future husband, James. A short, pudgy boy and a fair-haired slender one were with him, along with one other. This one Dinah recognized instantly. The shaggy black hair and carefree, confident expression. The relaxed, easygoing posture. Lucy's boyfriend, the infamous Sirius Black.

Severus sneered and made a comment about Gryffindors being stupid, which started a huge argument. Somewhere in the midst of it all It culminated in Lily dragging Severus off toward a different part of the train, and the boys making mocking noises suggesting that they were a couple.

The last thing Dinah heard before the scene switched again was Sirius's voice calling after them. "See ya, _Snivellus_!"

The students were all gathered in the Great Hall being sorted, but Dinah's thoughts were on the previous scene. She felt a great deal of irritation at Sirius's behavior. At least this scene seemed to explain why the two had such animosity towards each other, and why Severus had been acting so strangely about the whole Wortham, Lee, and Speasy issue. Come to think of it, Mae too. His shock at discovering that Speasy might have had a crush on Mae had seemed odd, but it wasn't so much now. He had definitely had strong feelings for Lily Potter.

Or Lily Evans, it seemed her name was now, as she was called up and sorted into Gryffindor. She shot an apologetic smile at Severus as she joined her new house table. He groaned in frustration, but there was nothing he could do. He was sorted into Slytherin. All four of the boys from the train were sorted into Gryffindor, although the hat had paused for a time before declaring the house of the short, pudgy one.


	25. Evil

A/N: I do not own any of the pensieve scenarios presented in this chapter that are taken from the books. I only own Dinah's reaction to them. Severus and all characters besides Dinah belong to JKR.

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Evil

* * *

Dinah was now in the dungeons where the old Potions classes had been held, and where Severus now conducted his Defense Against the Dark Arts lectures. It was the same room where she had had her own incident, years ago. The memory made her shudder, but she had to focus on Severus right now.

It appeared to be a joint Gryffindor-Slytherin class, because Severus was there along with Lily and all four of the obnoxious boys. They looked to be around third year students now.

"Congratulations, Severus!" Slughorn was saying, one arm slung around Severus's shoulders as the two of them stood at the front of the room. "No one has yet prepared a more perfect concoction on their first try than you have to this date." Severus was giving Slughorn more of an agitated look than anything else, but he smiled and his pale face flushed when Lily began clapping loudest of the group. The boys, James and Sirius at the lead, were instead making mocking expressions. Slughorn handed Severus a small vial of something as a prize, and turned the class loose for the day.

Lily ran up to him; "Sev! That was so great! You're the best potions-maker _ever_, aren't you?"

Dinah smiled as Severus flushed. 'Sev' was a very cute nickname, and felt somehow appropriate for the younger, more energetic and personable Severus she was seeing in these scenes.

"_Sev_," James Potter mimicked, and Sirius and the pudgy one, Peter, snickered. Remus Lupin, the fourth boy, seemed less interested. "You're the best _ever_."

"Shut up, Potter!" Lily and Severus retorted at the same time, and then giggled together for a moment.

"Shut up yourself, Snivellus!" James yelled back.

"Stop calling him that!" Dinah shouted, but nobody could hear her. The scene dissolved into greens and blues again, and she was standing on the Hogwarts grounds. Severus was older still, probably a fifth or sixth year. He was still pale and slender, looking a bit young for his age group, but not excessively so like Tommy might have been. He looked stressed and Lily looked frustrated. She was complaining about things that he had done along with some friends named Avery and Mulciber. Dinah frowned and walked closer. Was this Severus's turning point toward becoming a Death Eater?

Severus wasn't listening much to the things Lily was saying. Rather, he seemed more interested in pointing out all of James's many faults. Although, apparently James had done something to 'save' him in the past. Dinah wondered what that could be. But Severus seemed to think that it hadn't been such a noble thing after all. In fact, he seemed to truly despise James. It was all about James, Dinah noticed, not Sirius as she might have expected from what she already knew. Soon she knew why.

"He fancies you!" Severus blurted out, his face bright red.

Dinah felt a heavy weight fall in her chest. The look on Severus's face at that moment was so intense. As he blathered on nearly incoherently about James, she was reminded of Speasy a few days previously, reacting to Wortham's accusations about Mae. But it was more than that. She'd never seen Severus quite like this before, and it was finally clear to her. Severus's feelings for Lily were _much _stronger than that of a crush, much stronger than 'best friends'.

He was in love with her.

Even at this young age Lily was gorgeous. Her shining red hair and bright green eyes were resigned as she sighed and met Severus's gaze. Once she admitted to him that she disliked James's attitude as well, he went back to being happy. So happy that he ignored her next words and her worried expression, as she voiced her concern that what Severus, Avery, and Mulciber did was _evil_.

Dinah's heart sank at the words. But maybe with Lily on his side, he wouldn't go too far.

She recalled, though, that that hadn't happened in the least just as the scene switched again.

Severus and the four boys were sitting nearby each other while taking their O.W.L.s. The boys were snickering at each other as they watched Severus scribble furiously, his face right up against his parchment. Dinah had to smile, though. He was as dedicated as always.

The O.W.L. session was dismissed, and she followed behind Severus as he walked out onto the Hogwarts grounds. He headed in the direction of the lake before plopping down under a large oak tree, reading. She watched him for awhile. He was making notes in one of his Potions books. The book was, in fact, filled with notes about how to change instructions, apparently for a better end result. He really was a genius in the matter, it seemed. But his expression was what intrigued her the most. He didn't seem evil or anything of the sort at this moment, just dedicated. Just doing something that he truly enjoyed.

The pleasant silence was broken by a shout of, "Hey, _Snivellus_!"

Severus clapped the book shut and his face took on a panicked expression similar to the one on Dinah's own face as they both turned to where the four Gryffindor boys were marching toward them, a sinister mischief in at least James and Sirius's eyes. Severus stood and was about to scramble away, but didn't make it in time. A beam from James's wand knocked everything he was holding out of his hands.

Dinah glared at the boys, especially at Sirius's smug expression. She knew this man. She had thought she liked him. Now, she wasn't so sure anymore. This behavior was uncalled for. Severus hadn't been doing anything to them; in fact he had tried to run away. He had been minding his own business and they were mocking him for nothing more than their own morbid amusement.

She couldn't look at all at what they did next. Severus was upside down in the air and they were gloating that they could see his underwear. To Severus's credit, he was strong under pressure. He didn't show any weakness. But that didn't stop the other boys.

What stopped them was Lily.

She showed up on the scene, demanding that they put him down and really digging into James and his group for their atrocious behavior. Odd that the two of them were supposed to get married in the future, in Dinah's opinion. Lily certainly seemed to dislike him. And honestly, Dinah couldn't figure out what a nice girl like her could possibly see in a cocky, self-important git like James.

But Severus wasn't grateful.

He called his best friend a Mudblood.

Dinah winced. Perhaps it had been inevitable, but she hated to hear that word coming from Severus's mouth. It had been said without thinking and in a moment of distress, but he couldn't take it back now. And she could see in his stricken face that he knew it, too.

Lily's expression was for one moment surprise and then quickly turned to disgust. She turned away from him and ordered James to do whatever he wanted, before storming off in a huff.

The scene switched.

Severus was sitting in front of the portrait leading into the Gryffindor common room, his ear stuck to the wall, listening. Waiting. He looked more anxious and upset than Dinah had ever seen him. She bit her lip and knelt next to him, waiting to see what would happen.

The portrait opened and Lily came out, her face as angry and disgusted as it had been in the last scene. Perhaps even more so.

"I'm sorry!" Severus blurted, looking more distressed by the minute.

Lily would hear nothing of it.

"I'm sorry!" he said again, begging. Pleading. Desperate. Dinah wanted to hug him, but it would be a useless gesture.

But Lily's response was the opposite. She chided him for his behaviors, said nobody even understood why she still spent any time with him, and accused him of wanting to become a Death Eater along with his Slytherin friends. But when she made the accusation, Severus had no retort. No response.

It was clear then, to Lily and Dinah. He _did _intend to become a Death Eater. And he apparently didn't understand what was wrong with that, either. But surely there was a way to get through to him.

Lily shook her head. "You've chosen your path and I've chosen mine."

"Wait, what?" Dinah exclaimed, before remembering that Lily couldn't hear her. The red-haired girl went back into her room, leaving the broken, miserable looking Severus alone outside.

This was too much. He'd chosen his path? He was no older than sixteen! There was still time to help him. Lily couldn't give up on him _now_, she was all he had! If she left him alone, then it was guaranteed that he would become a Death Eater. Couldn't she see that? To throw a long-term friendship away at a mistake he made in the heat of the moment... even if it _was _a horrible one.

Dinah could no longer resist hugging him, but her arms went right through his shoulders, instead wrapping around herself as she leaned forward and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them she was one with Severus. Their bodies and heads were blended together in the same position, clutching themselves, staring at the ground, thinking.

She wondered if she would have responded like Lily. If she would have been like that at the age of sixteen. So certain that you were now an adult, that the decisions you made now would be the ones you stuck with for the rest of your life. Unaware of how young you truly were, and of how much things could change. Would she have abandoned him too?

That was the problem with Gryffindors. Sometimes they just tried to be _too_ noble. Right now Dinah felt like a Hufflepuff.

Loyal.

Since she hadn't been in Lily's place on that day, she would never know for sure how she would have reacted. But she knew that Lily had ultimately chosen James. Lily's feelings for Severus hadn't been romantic in any way. Maybe they _could _have been at some point, but they weren't now. Dinah, on the other hand... the feelings that ran through her when she looked at Severus. She couldn't – wouldn't _ever _abandon him. Not now. And almost certainly not then either, had she been given the choice.

But this young Severus was alone now. He had lost his best friend and all he had left were the Death Eaters.

His fate was sealed.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, and the scene changed.

* * *

Severus was standing in a dark, stone room, empty of even the smallest piece of furniture. And he was older – much older, in fact. He had to be twenty years old or nearly so and was starting to take on more of the features he had now. He was a rather handsome young man, in Dinah's probably biased opinion. Yeah, she was probably the only person who thought so.

But she didn't care.

Still, what was this room?

A huge door creaked, and a cloaked figure stepped in. The figure removed his hood, and Dinah shrunk back. The man was tall, with a smooth, hairless head. His face was thin and pale, his lips red and his nostrils flattened and minimized to nothing but two sharp slits in his vacant, sinister face. The eyes were black, cold, and heartless.

Voldemort.

"What is it you have to tell me, Severus?" The evil man's voice was low and smooth, potential danger rumbling beneath every word.

"My Lord," Severus bowed. His own eyes were darker and blanker than Dinah had seen them before, but there was still more light in them than in Voldemort's. "I have overheard a prophecy." And he recited what he had heard. A prophecy that could be referring to none other than Harry Potter.

The other man's dark eyes flashed, and Dinah found herself hiding behind Severus, looking at Voldemort over his shoulder. _That _was what she had been supposed to defeat, potentially, according to her own prophecy? "Thank you, Harry Potter," she whispered.

"Ah, Severus," Voldemort hissed, clenching one hand – very slowly – into a fist, holding barely visible anger and fear at the prophecy under the surface of his spoken words; "What useful information you have delivered. Now, what does this mean? 'Neither can live while the other survives', indeed. Then I must be the one to destroy. I believe I know the identity of this family."

Severus bowed his head, "It is my pleasure to serve you, My Lord."

"Don't tell him that!" Dinah exclaimed, and then smacked herself on the head. She was pretty bad at getting used to this pensieve thing, wasn't she?

"Yes," Voldemort was saying; "The evidence is clear. We shall eliminate the boy and his parents before any harm can be done." Dinah had the sudden thought that Voldemort was acting pretty cavalier about the fact that this prophecy threatened to defeat him. Did he really have such confidence that he could not be defeated?

"I will be happy to do the honors," Severus's mouth twitched with excitement, and Dinah made a little noise of distress. Handsome, maybe, but couldn't stand to see the Death Eater Severus. This wasn't who he really was.

"No!" Voldemort shouted, and Severus stepped back, subdued. "_I _must be the one to destroy my mortal enemy. That boy and his family. That... Harry Potter!"

Dinah jumped, as Severus had just taken a step back into her – well, _through_ her actually, but she had expected to be knocked over. Having a hard time with this pensieve thing, she was indeed.

She walked around and the instant she saw Severus's face thought she might burst. He had turned whiter than a sheet, his eyes wide and desperate. It was worse to look at than when he was a child, because now he looked more like the Severus she knew. "No," he whispered, "The Potters? Not-"

"You question my orders?" The danger in Voldemort's voice was now loud and clear.

"Please!" That didn't stop Severus from begging, his voice cracking with desperation. "The boy – the father – that's fine, but please – not Lily – not the mother – spare her, if you would just spare _her_ and her alone I would-"

"HOW DARE YOU!" Voldemort screamed, and both Severus and Dinah flinched.

Dinah, for a moment, managed to feel some of Lily's disgust from earlier. So this Death Eater Severus would just have James and Harry killed, then? And then he actually expected Lily to come back to him? Where did he come up with these oblivious views? Was it his family life, the friends he had chosen at Hogwarts? Probably a combination of all of it had led him down this path. Dinah let out a long breath and forced herself to remember how different he was now, and how he had been okay as a child. He would get better... somehow.

"You ask me to change my plans because of your lust after a _woman_? Your priorities concern me, Severus..." Voldemort took a threatening step forward.

"It's not that!" Severus face was like that of the desperate child she had seen in previous pensieve scenes. "Lily is – she's-"

"Enough! _Crucio_!"

"NO!" Dinah shouted, and tried to push Severus away from the horrible beam that shot out from Voldemort's wand, but she ran through him and to the other side. So she covered her face and didn't look behind her. Couldn't look behind her. She heard Severus make a few, strained noises, but he didn't scream. He was strong. He had always been strong.

When Voldemort spoke again, Dinah assumed it was over and safe to look. Severus was half-kneeling, half-standing, wiping blood from his mouth and nose, but the desperate look hadn't left his eyes.

When Voldemort had given the final word that the plan would proceed as expected and as soon as possible, he left the room. Severus looked around, panicked, and finally apparated away.

Dinah followed with him, floating through the swirling gray pensieve liquids to a spot on an unknown hill. Severus had gone to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore talked to Severus with a trace of impatience, and expressed his own disgust at Severus's wish to have only Lily spared. Still, Dumbledore promised he would try to protect the family. Severus, for a tiny moment, looked relieved.

Dinah was on the hill again, but the scene had changed. The Severus she saw now looked strikingly like his mother as he collapsed on the ground in front of Dumbledore, despairing and broken.

Lily had been murdered.

Dinah felt tears stinging her eyes again when she saw Severus in so much pain. He looked more like the Severus she knew now, not the Death Eater version that had been so hard to see. But he had lost everything. For real this time. And yet, Dumbledore was there.

Dumbledore, that all-knowing sage who was there for you when no one else in the world was. There was always Dumbledore.

The pact was made. For Lily's sake – not Harry's or James's, as Severus had to make blatantly clear – but for Lily's sake he would go with Dumbledore and try to protect her son. Even if it meant being a double agent and putting his life in danger in the future.

If Voldemort ever came back.

* * *

Dinah was in Dumbledore's office listening to a Severus who looked much more familiar ranting and raving about how horrible Harry Potter was. Just like his father, apparently. Arrogant, selfish, thinking he was above it all because of the prophecy. The words hit Dinah hard. People had said some of the same things about her, and they had been totally unfounded.

As usual, nothing perturbed Dumbledore. Severus was only seeing what he expected to see. Harry was a good child. And then something about Professor Quirrell, whoever that was...

Next Severus was squaring off in some sort of practice battle with a rather obnoxious-looking man dressed in much too bright colors. Dinah had to laugh as the battle unfolded. She recognized the man as Gilderoy Lockheart after awhile, someone she had read about on occasion but never really been interested in. She hadn't really understood all the hype surrounding him. Besides, Severus was much more attractive.

And much more intelligent and skillful, apparently. He quickly put the other man out of commission before sending in Draco Malfoy to battle Harry Potter. Everything was going well, until Draco released a snake via the _Serpensortia _spell... and Harry started talking to it.

Dinah had to force herself not to look away. The scene unfolded in the same way as her own. Harry was telling the snake to leave a boy alone, but everyone else assumed he was encouraging it to hurt the boy. What actually bothered her the most, though, was the expression on Severus's face. It wasn't especially readable, but he was definitely not thrilled with it. More like shocked, the way he was staring in disbelief as everything occurred. How would he react if he ever found out that _she _was a parselmouth?

Now Severus was in Dumbledore's office again, but he looked even _more _like he did now. Years had begun to pass by fast in the pensieve, apparently.

The Dark Mark was starting to burn, on both Severus and Igor Karkaroff's forearms. Voldemort would be revived soon, and then, Dinah feared, life would get much more difficult for Severus.

The next scene revealed the beginning of those difficulties. The old Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, was vehemently insisting to Dumbledore that Lord Voldemort had _not _returned, no matter what Harry Potter said. Severus was standing and watching the exchange, looking more and more agitated – and in pain - by the minute as he clutched his left arm. Finally he stormed forward and pulled back his sleeve, shoving his arm in Fudge's face and demanding that he look at it. The dark mark was active and alive on his pale skin.

Dinah flushed at the expression on his face, and almost laughed at the fear on Fudge's. Severus was starting to seem like the most courageous man she had ever known.


	26. Caught!

A/N: I do not own any of the pensieve scenarios presented in this chapter that are taken from the books. I only own Dinah's reaction to them. Severus and all characters besides Dinah belong to JKR. Feel free to check out the first chapter of CommanderValeria's "Don't Leave Me" co-fanfic as a refresher on how certain characters like Severus and Dumbledore came to be revived.

A/N 2: For those of you not reading CommanderValeria's fic, here is a (very short) excerpt from it (taken with permission), which explains the "revival of the dead" thing:

* * *

- "Dumbledore sat in his old chair and steepled his fingers before replying, "It seems that you have managed to do something that is only heard of in legends."

"I did this?"

"In a way. Yes."

"How?"

"I shall explain as best I can. You see, what I think has happened here occurred because of a very old type of magic. According to legend there is a sort of protective magic that surrounds those killed by evil means and prevents them from being completely dead. They may appear dead and can even be buried without any decay occurring, but they are not actually dead."

"But how did everyone become…revived?" Lucy asked.

"That takes a number of different occurrences. Possibly the most important among those is a momentous event, in this case Voldemort being well and truly killed. Another would be that those the magic surrounds must have what legend terms a 'higher calling'. The last part is where you come in. In all the stories I have read where this happens, it always happens when a truly grieving person stands a night's vigil over some of the more recently dead."

"How do you know who has a higher calling and who doesn't?"

"You don't, or at least it's not always obvious. After all it's not hard to think of a reason Remus and Tonks might have a higher calling, but can you think of one for Professor Snape?"

Lucy shook her head.

"I trust Severus completely, but as I said it's not clear what his higher calling may be. We can only assume that he has one. Perhaps, in time it will reveal itself. Perhaps not. Those of us who do not put much stock in divinations may never know." -

* * *

Hint, hint, here ;) – why do you think Severus was revived? Lol. I know the explanation is a little odd but it was what we managed to come up with in keeping the story as canon as possible and not messing with JKR's "no reviving the dead" thing.

So, without further ado, on to chapter 26!

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Caught!

* * *

The scene swirled around her, and Severus was standing in front of Dumbledore, whose hand was horribly mangled by some incident she probably couldn't imagine. Severus was scolding the headmaster for putting on a ring without any consideration of the curses that might be on it. Dumbledore chuckled and admitted that his act had been foolish.

Curious, Dinah walked closer to them. They seemed to be rather close now, in an odd way. Dumbledore seemed to trust Severus a great deal, and Severus himself seemed even to care for the old man. He looked exactly the same as the Severus she knew, so this couldn't be very a very old scene at all.

And then things got really interesting. Severus told Dumbledore he had less than a year to live, and Dumbledore took it rather well. Apparently Voldemort had ordered the young Draco Malfoy to kill Dumbledore, but rather than allow him to it was now Severus's job to do the honors.

Dinah had to chuckle at Severus's sarcastic response to that. And yet, the situation was a serious one indeed. Severus looked more stricken as the conversation went on, and expressed concern that it might be damaging to his soul to be forced to do the deed. But Dumbledore was convincing. He was going to die anyway, and Draco's soul would be irreparably damaged if forced to commit the murder. Plus, if Severus did this then his role would be completely clear in all the Death Eater's minds. They couldn't possibly suspect he was on Dumbledore's side if he actually _killed _Dumbledore.

In the end, Severus agreed.

The next scene revealed a frustrated, almost angry Severus. It seemed Harry and Dumbledore had been going off together and he was actually _jealous _of the attention and information about the mission that Harry was getting. Dinah smiled. This Severus was much closer to her own Severus. Thank goodness he was okay again.

Dumbledore assured Severus that he still trusted him, and promised to tell him everything that night.

That night, _everything _was revealed. And Dinah was blatantly shocked. Harry was a horcrux; a piece of Voldemort's soul was hidden inside of him. And in order to defeat the dark wizard once and for all, Harry had to die.

Severus was shocked, too. Actually, more than shocked. He was nearly as incoherent as he had been as a child. Dumbledore had deceived him. He had gone on all these years trying to protect Harry for Lily's sake and now the boy was supposed to _die_?

But it was Severus's response to Dumbledore's casual question of how many people he'd seen die recently that truly got to Dinah.

"Lately, only those who I couldn't save."

Dinah felt warm. It was the same warmth she remembered from when Severus had touched her hand on that rainy night. Those words meant everything. Severus may have started out on this mission joining the good side _only _for Lily's sake, but over the years of working with Dumbledore he had come to care for others as well. Now he wanted to protect everyone. It was just like he had told her during their first debate. He had actually done all he could to _protect_ Charity Burbage's ideals, even if he didn't share them. He had protected the students of Hogwarts, and all of the Muggle-borns and Muggles in the world by staying undercover with Voldemort's group.

But it must have been... _so _difficult to do. She took a few steps forward, so she was as close to Severus's pensieve image as possible. Then she had to smile as Dumbledore made an offhand comment about sorting too soon, essentially suggesting that Severus's bravery should have put him into Gryffindor. Severus looked... less than happy about that statement.

Her bliss and happy amusement didn't last long, though. Severus's next comment about Harry prompted Dumbledore to assume Severus cared for the boy.

Severus... the Severus she knew _now_... shook his head in a firm no, and summoned his patronus.

From the tip of his wand a bright, silver light burst forth. It took shape in the air around them, and the lighted on the ground. A beautiful, silver doe. Slender and shimmering, more lovely than anything Dinah had ever seen. Delicate, with bright, gentle green eyes. Green eyes like Lily's. And in Severus's eyes, surely a million times more beautiful than her snake patronus could ever be.

"All this time?" Dumbledore asked.

"Always," Severus replied softly, and Dinah felt the world crash down around her as the pensieve scene swirled to the next one.

As if that scene hadn't been painful enough, Dinah was dumped into a black stone bedroom where Severus knelt over some sort of box in the distance. She took a hesitant few steps, and then gasped and froze in place. Severus was staring down at a picture in his hands that held a happy-looking image of Lily, James, and Harry. He ripped off the part with Lily on it and ripped off the bottom of what looked like a letter, tossing the unwanted parts aside as tears rolled down his face.

"Oh, no," she whispered. "Severus, no. Don't. Please." She couldn't stand the sight of this. The tears that had come to her eyes once or twice previously in this pensieve adventure now began to fall. She laughed, and reached up to wipe them away; "Odd. I guess you can cry in a pensieve, huh?"

For the second time, Dinah came forward and put her arms around Severus's shoulders, then melted into him and closed her eyes. There was nothing she could do, though. The love he had for Lily was ... _so unbelievably strong_. Even now. Perhaps even especially now.

How could she ever compete?

She allowed herself to open her eyes for a moment and stare down at the words of the letter Severus was holding. It was signed 'Lots of Love, Lily.' The rest of it said something about somebody being friends with Gellert Grindelwald. Dinah's curiosity was only mildly peaked. Who had been friends with Grindelwald? Technically, she could move and go look at the rest of the letter, but she didn't want to leave Severus. And it wasn't as if the letter mattered, anyway. All that mattered was him.

And maybe herself a little bit, too. Knowing how strong his devotion was to a dead woman, after seventeen years, she started to seriously doubt her ability to form a relationship with him. It all became clear. His discomfort at any kind of physical affection, his dropping of the vial when Dinah had mentioned Slughorn comparing her to Lily. In fact, she thought bitterly as more pain washed over her, he had probably only started talking to her on a regular basis because he had some idea that she might be similar to his long-lost love. That had been the first thing he had asked, in fact, after she had mentioned it. He had asked – casually, but now she saw through it – about Slughorn's comparison of her to one of his old students.

But she _wasn't _like Lily. _She _wouldn't leave him. Wouldn't abandon him.

And that was probably the problem.

Severus abruptly stood and she didn't have much chance to prepare for it. She stood after him and wiped the tears from her face as he did the same. He tucked the two items into his robes before leaving the room.

And the scene changed again.

Dinah wasn't paying much attention to what was happening now. The scene had switched to an ugly pair of professors. She recognized them from _The Daily Prophet _as Alecto and Amycus Carrow, the Death Eater professors that had been at the school last year. The one thing that managed to snap her out of her miserable thoughts for a moment was the sight of students that she recognized. The professors stood in front of Severus at the headmaster's desk with three students in tow. Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, and a boy she didn't know.

"These three tried to steal that sword!" Alecto sneered, as the students looked at Severus and cowered. She pointed to a shining sword leaned up against Severus's desk.

Severus looked rather regal in the desk, actually, as he regarded the two professors and three students with an unreadable expression, tapping his fingers in rhythm on the desk's surface; "I see."

"What should we do with them, Sir?" Amycus asked, looking anxious to do some serious harm.

"I think a fitting punishment..." Severus said slowly, letting his words hang in the air as the professors watched with excited expressions and the students apprehensive ones. "Ah," he said; "There. They will join our groundskeeper Hagrid for work in the Forbidden Forest."

The professors looked satisfied, but the students' jaws dropped and they exchanged shocked glances with each other. It seemed that this punishment was _not _as harsh as they had expected. And Dinah knew that it wasn't. They wouldn't get hurt with Hagrid with them, and Severus knew that too.

He was protecting the students.

Now Severus was talking to the picture of an old headmaster about people in the woods somewhere and delivering the sword to them. Severus's instant anger at the portrait's use of the word 'Mudblood' got Dinah's attention. Although now she wondered if he hated the word on principle or just hated himself for having used it on Lily before, effectively ending their friendship. Hopefully, he at least _somewhat _hated it on principle. And she did believe that he still wanted to protect others. That most recent scene had proven it.

The next scene startled her because she once again found herself staring at Lord Voldemort. He was watching Severus, asking him strange question after strange question, and Dinah didn't like where this was going at all. Severus, on the other hand, kept begging for Voldemort to let him go and find Harry Potter. In fact, Severus was becoming desperate again. From previous scenes in the pensieve Dinah knew that he needed to talk to Harry and tell him what he had to do. Obviously the boy hadn't died after all, so some loophole had to have been found in the whole horcrux issue. But that wasn't of much concern to Dinah, as she now recalled something else.

_Severus _had also died. If only for a few hours.

She felt a whimper rise in her throat as she took a few steps forward to stand by Severus's side. Voldemort was reaching the climax of his speech, and his expression just grew darker and darker. Next thing she knew he spoke to Nagini. The words only herself, Voldemort, and the snake could understand. In parseltongue.

_Go_.

Nagini lurched forward and latched on to Severus's throat as Dinah screamed. She couldn't help it. But Severus, as usual, didn't make a noise as the snake injected her venom and then slithered away. She knelt by his side, swiping at the tears that rolled down her cheeks again, but with little effect. Yes, she knew he had come back to life. But it didn't make this scene any less painful.

Another person was running in. Dinah sighed with relief. Yes. Harry was here. He would get the information he needed. The information was leaking out of Severus's head in the form of countless memories. Probably the very ones she was watching now. That would explain Hermione's comment earlier about Harry knowing more than he was letting on to his friends.

Severus begged Harry with his last breaths to take the memories, and then...

"Look... at... me..."

Severus's final words. Dinah looked where he looked, and met Harry's eyes just as Severus did. Shining green eyes. Eyes like Lily's.

And then the scene swirled around her, but didn't seem to settle down very fast. Everything was gray, at first right in her face in many different shades. But then it settled down and seemed to back off, and she found herself standing in a plain, neutral-toned gray space. She stood up, but there was no clear floor to be seen. Everything around her was just gray.

She began walking, and her footsteps echoed, though on what she couldn't tell. She felt strangely peaceful here. Her distress in the last scene abated somewhat. Nothing happened, though, as she walked through the gray, echo after echo sounding off of walls that were not evident either.

Was this the limbo that Severus and the others who died – or almost died - had experienced while waiting to be revived? And if so, what did that mean about the nature of death? This gray space...

Now probably wasn't the time for such philosophical questions, though, because soon the scene abated and she was back in the room where Severus laid, apparently dead, on the ground.

But then his eyes opened.

His first reaction was confusion, followed by bewilderment as he looked at the empty room around him. The background which, Dinah suddenly recalled, had been filled with the noises of war before, was now as silent as the gray space she had just been wandering in. It meant that the Battle of Hogwarts had finished, and Voldemort was defeated.

Severus seemed, eventually, to draw the same conclusion because he sighed. She heard so much relief in that sigh, and found herself sighing as well. It all made sense. He had spent the last eighteen years living a life that hadn't been his own – following the orders of a man he hated to protect the son of the woman he loved. And eventually to protect the world as well. And through it all, he had only had one friend – Professor Albus Dumbledore, whom he had been forced to murder to maintain his act and protect the last remaining bit of a damaged young man's soul. All noble acts, but they must have drained him. They had to have drained him.

Now, just maybe, he could live normally.

And yet...

Dinah thought these words as Severus's expression turned from a relieved – almost happy – one to a more serious, thoughtful one. She followed him as he left the odd room, and when they both emerged outside Dinah realized where they were.

They had been in the Shrieking Shack. The sun was just rising outside, giving the vast field of grass and trees a pinkish glow. Severus looked towards Hogwarts in the distance. Lights glowed in some windows.

Severus spoke one word before he began walking in the direction of the school.

"Lily."

Dinah sighed as the scene changed. His apparent last words were used to see her eyes and his first new word had been her name.

Maybe it was hopeless for her, after all.

"And of course," Dumbledore was saying cheerfully in the bright lights of the Great Hall, "Professor Severus Snape of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Dinah's mouth dropped open as she stared across the room at none other than herself. Why did Severus have a memory of their meeting in his pensieve? It made no sense. No sense at all! And if she even allowed herself a moment of belief that he actually found meeting her to be important to him, then she was surely setting herself up for disappointment.

But why _else _would he have this scene here?

Severus turned a critical eye on the Dinah of a month ago. "So, you're the professor of _Muggle Studies_, are you?"

Dinah felt a small twinge of pride as she watched herself meet his gaze with a firm, strong expression. "Yes, as a matter of fact I am."

Severus opened his mouth to respond, but the words she heard did _not _match the movement of his lips.

The words she heard were "_What have you done_?"

Dinah barely had a chance to feel panic as the colors of the Great Hall melted into a swirl around her and she was sucked up in the air, tossed around, and then finally deposited back on the floor of Severus's office. A quick glance at the clock on the wall revealed it to be eight o'clock. Impossible! She had been in there for _much _longer than a half hour – hadn't she?

She didn't have much time to worry about that, though, as she slowly turned to see the tall, dark figure of Professor Severus Snape not more than a few feet away.

He was glaring at her with such fury she should have run away screaming right then and there, but she didn't. She wasn't seeing his anger.

She was seeing the little boy who had had to watch his mother's confidence destroyed at the hands of a monster, who had followed the little red-haired girl around with so much hope in his eyes. She saw the child who had been mocked and ridiculed by his peers for no reason, been abandoned by the ones who cared about him, who had made mistakes but eventually atoned. She saw the man who had spent eighteen years in a literal hell just to fight for the safety of this world, and who had been forced to kill the only friend he had left. She saw the happiness, the pain, the loss, the tears. She saw all of Severus Snape now, like she'd never seen him before.

And it hurt.

She wasn't sure what made her do it. Her body seemed to move on its own as her eyes filled with tears and she ran forward, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug at the same time as she screamed, "I'm sorry!"

His response was instant. He flinched and froze up as stiff as a board, his arms tensed at his sides. She could barely feel the warmth now, although she could tell it was still there. He didn't want this. Didn't want affection or pity or anyone – _anyone_, especially some woman – touching him like this.

But she couldn't let go. When he didn't respond she started babbling. "Oh, Severus, I'm so sorry! Please forgive me! I didn't mean to! The door was open – I was just waiting for you and I – oh, Severus!" she moaned, burying her face more deeply into his chest, feeling him flinch again. But he still seemed too stunned to do anything more.

"I can't believe you went through all that. Now I understand why Wortham and Lee bother you so much. There was no call for the treatment you received from James and Sirius and ... and then you said 'Mudblood' but you didn't mean it and she just – I would never have done that to you, I swear! It's so wrong! And after that you spent eighteen years protecting everyone and now Harry wants to give you credit and you should get that credit, you did _so _much. So, so much," she finished in a whisper.

He finally seemed to gain control of his movements. His hand went up to rest on her shoulder. The touch wasn't rough, but it wasn't gentle either. He simultaneously pushed her away and stepped back, managing to put enough distance between them for her to look up and meet his eyes.

His face wasn't furious anymore, but it _was _frozen. She could read nothing of his thoughts. He was just staring at her. Finally, he spoke in a firm, decided tone; "Leave this office."

Tears sprung to her eyes again and one or two spilled over. "I'm sorry," she whispered again.

Severus gritted his teeth; "Professor Samson, I need time to think about this. And I need to be alone. I need you to leave. _Now_."

"Mm," she whimpered, pain slicing through her as he called her 'Professor Samson' instead of 'Dinah'. But she knew she could do nothing but obey. After her intrusion on his most personal thoughts and memories, she had no right to demand to stay. And it was true that he needed time to think. She would too, in his position.

But what worried her most was whether he would ever want to see or talk to her again after he finished thinking.

"Go."

That word, in English this time, was the same that Voldemort had spoken to Nagini in the pensieve, and like its effect in that case it killed Dinah to hear it. But she could do nothing else. She nodded, and hurried from the office, shutting the door behind her and leaning against it.

Dinah stared up at the Hogwarts ceiling, trying to digest what had all just happened. As she felt warm tears rolling down her cheeks, she knew that it would take years to sort through all her emotions and everything she had seen.

And yet, it likely didn't matter if she did or not.

After this, she would probably never get to spend time with Severus again.


	27. Reconciliation

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Reconciliation

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Dinah's confrontation with Severus over the pensieve. Life had dragged on, but Dinah didn't feel like she was all there. If her students noticed any difference in her behavior they didn't mention it. Others, on the other hand, did notice. Lucy had asked her what was wrong a couple of times. Dinah had tried to blow it off at first, but eventually confessed a little bit of her problem when they ate lunch together in Lucy's rooms, to avoid the Great Hall and Severus.

He had been ignoring her, and that was the largest contributor to her low mood. He hadn't so much as met her gaze in the time since she'd run into him after looking at his memories. What she feared was coming true, and she wondered if she really _would _never speak to him again. It would be pretty awkward, as they had to work with each other at least through the remainder of this year, and she didn't intend on quitting Hogwarts. But maybe he hated her so much that he would do so.

She laughed and pushed the parchments she was grading at her desk aside, resting her head in her hand. That was a pretty stupid thought. All of her thoughts had been stupid lately, actually.

Dinah stared at the laptop computer she had been keeping open on her desk for the past week, the spreadsheet with all the answers from the Muggle-born student surveys entered and waiting to be analyzed. She had left it on with the hope that maybe with it glaring her in the face she would be inspired to do it. But the inspiration wasn't coming.

She had wanted to do the survey for the wizarding world and for general knowledge purposes, yes. But all her enthusiasm for it had come from Severus. Now that he didn't care if she existed any more she just couldn't bring herself to analyze the data.

Dumbledore had also noticed the change in their relationship. When he happened to be in the Great Hall for meals or announcements, he had cast curious looks in their direction from time to time. What he had seen each instance was Severus made sure he didn't look at Dinah at all and Dinah picking at her food all the while shooting furtive glances in her colleague's direction over and over again. Yet, Dumbledore hadn't butted in. He hadn't asked Dinah about it and likely hadn't asked Severus either. He didn't even push her about completion of the survey or ask for her progress. She hadn't volunteered any information either, but she was grateful that he was letting her handle it on her own for now. And yet, at the same time she wished he had some of his sage-like advice for this situation.

She felt so depressed. Although it wasn't as extreme it reminded her of the day in the rain when she had first admitted to herself her feelings for Severus.

She wanted him to come find her, say her name, and reach for her hand again. But he didn't seem to care anymore.

Or maybe it was just taking him a really, really long time to 'think' about what had happened. But probably he had come to a quick conclusion. After all, she wasn't sure how she'd behave in his position. She had made a huge _faux pas_, and she had viewed some of his most personal, intimate memories without permission. And yet, it _had _been an accident, and she had apologized.

Dinah sighed again and stood from the desk, walking over to feed her pets. Apologies probably weren't enough.

There was nobody she could really talk to about the situation, since they weren't her memories. And as she was already in deep enough for viewing them herself, she definitely couldn't tell anybody _else _about what she'd seen. That had made it kind of hard to explain her issues to Lucy, made only more complicated by the fact that Sirius had been in the room in his dog form. Lucy didn't know that Severus had told Dinah about the animagus thing, but she did manage to throw in a few strategically placed comments about how wrong it was for students to bully one another that she hoped might have gotten through to the stupid dog.

She lifted the green toad from its cage and stared; "Well, Salazar. What do you have to say about your stupid house? Can't ever accept any friendly, easy to understand, sociable people into it, can you?"

Salazar just stared at her, his throat pulsing. She sighed. He was just a toad, after all. She put him back into his cage and went to the next one, lifting Helga the rat out and placing her on her shoulder. "Well, I've got a half hour till lunch still but I don't want to go to the Great Hall. Care to walk around the grounds with me? I need to talk to _somebody _and better you than a stray snake."

Helga twitched her whiskers in Dinah's ear and Dinah couldn't help but smile. She dumped some food into Godric's bowl and then left her rooms. Better to get some fresh air and not stay in here wallowing in her thoughts. If she missed lunch she missed lunch. She hadn't been very hungry lately. She missed Severus's comments about her eating habits.

It was a bright, sunny day again; reminiscent of the day she had talked to Severus on the grounds before. Now she was fairly certain he had asked her to go walking with him because he wanted to spy on her personality and see if she was really like Lily.

She had probably disappointed him.

The students seemed happy. No doubt. It was, after all, the first of October and nice weather like this was a treat. Unfortunately, all the happiness around Dinah only depressed her more. She reached up and absently stroked the rat's fur as she began to head towards the lake. Helga climbed up her hair and onto her head just as she rounded a corner of the castle to come upon nothing less than the back of Professor Severus Snape. She froze in place, barely aware of the small animal crawling on her head and tugging at her hair.

Her first instinct was to run the other way. He didn't want to see her; he had made that abundantly clear over the past two weeks. Better to let sleeping dogs lie and not agitate him. But then she heard bits and pieces of the conversation and noticed who else was there.

Wortham, Lee, Speasy, and Mae.

"If you two don't want to lose _every single point _Gryffindor has accumulated up until now," Severus was hissing. "You will shut your mouths and go back to your common rooms until dinner tonight."

"But Professor Snape, it's a nice day!" Wortham protested, "And it's not _my _fault _Sneezy _here can't perform a basic transfiguration spell."

Severus flicked his wand at what appeared to be a small rock on the ground, and it transformed into a broom. Dinah recognized it as Lee's.

"Look what you did to my broom!" Lee shouted, running up and grabbing it protectively. "You slimy little Slytherin snot-bucket!" The alliteration was perfect.

"ENOUGH!" Severus shouted, but the students were too wrapped up on their convoluted argument.

"It was supposed to turn pink, not turn into a rock!" Speasy protested.

"And you think that's _better_?" Lee moaned, clutching his broom more tightly.

Wortham laughed; "You can't do anything right at all, Sneezy! Cantrell should probably drop you seeing as how _useless _you are!"

"Shut up, Wortham!" Mae exclaimed with clenched fists, and Severus's gaze shot to her. Dinah moved a bit so she wasn't in his sight line. She still wasn't sure if she wanted him to know she was watching or not.

"I don't need you to defend me, Mae!" Speasy said, flushing.

"Oooooh, Sneezy's got a girlfriend!" Lee taunted. Speasy tried to protest but started sneezing instead, causing Lee to laugh harder, "I bet you tried to turn my broom pink just to _impress _her, didn't you?"

"I didn't need you to do that, Andrew," Mae said quietly,

"I didn't!" Speasy was bright red; "I was only trying to – I was doing it because- you can't just butt into-"

"Miss Yates," Severus, who hadn't taken his eyes off of Mae for the past few moments, suddenly snapped at the small girl, who flinched and took a few steps back.

"Y-yes, Professor Snape?"

"Go back into Hogwarts."

"What?"

"Go. This argument doesn't concern you." His tone and facial expression made it abundantly clear that she couldn't protest, so she muttered a good luck to Speasy and hurried off. Dinah sensed that Severus had wanted to get Mae out of the picture before Speasy could accidentally call her Mudblood like Severus had done with Lily. "As for the rest of you," he growled, "Twenty points each from Gryffindor and ten from Slytherin."

Dinah almost laughed. No, there was _no _bias in that declaration, none whatsoever.

"You can't do that!" Wortham shouted.

"Oh, _can't _I?" Severus's voice was like ice, and it was Wortham's turn to cringe and back away. "If you and your friend Mr. Lee do not cease this behavior towards Mr. Speasy soon-"

"But he's the one who turned my broom into a rock!" Lee exclaimed.

Speasy snorted, "It shouldn't make much difference. You could probably do just as much with a rock as you could with that broom of yours, you half-blood Quidditch team failure."

"What did you say?" Lee withdrew his wand.

"You and your Mud- your Muggle-born friend should be careful," Speasy held his own wand out.

"Mae's Muggle-born too!" Wortham screamed.

"That's different!" Speasy exclaimed, "She's not a- she's more like-"

"That's enough!" Severus shouted, raising his own wand and pointing it at all three students, "If you don't stop and go back to your houses right now then-"

"_Stop it_!" Dinah screamed, and they all turned to stare at her. She hadn't intended to butt in but she had the sudden feeling that this was going to get really bad if she didn't do something.

"Dinah!" Severus exclaimed, looking and sounding more surprised to see her than anything else.

Her heart skipped a beat and she felt a tiny glimmer of hope for the first time in two weeks as he said her name again. But she couldn't let herself hope _too _much. Rather, she had to focus on ending this problem. Luckily in the time while she had watched the confrontation unfold Helga had decided to climb back to her shoulder. She wasn't sure she could be taken seriously if she had a rat on her head as she hurried forward to where Severus stood with the three students. She stopped next to her colleague, but not too close. "All right, this is clearly getting out of hand. I'm taking off ten extra points from Slytherin and giving five to Ravenclaw."

"But Professor Samson, that still gives Gryffindor _double_ the negative points over Slytherin," Wortham protested.

"That's not my problem," she said coolly; "Treat other students better from now on. Now, all three of you do what Professor Snape said and go back to your common rooms. Aside from class, I don't want to see any of you wandering around or coming anywhere near each other until after dinner is over. And _no more _transfiguring other peoples' property, Mr. Speasy!"

"Yes, ma'am," Speasy sighed, and the three put their wands away and began to head off.

An idea seemed to occur to Severus and he took a menacing step forward, grabbing Speasy by the collar before he had gotten far enough to escape. "And as for _you_, Mr Speasy..." he growled.

"Y-yes, Professor Snape?" Speasy sneezed and repeated Mae's earlier, nervous question.

Severus's dark eyes bored into the young boy's lighter ones; "_Don't screw this up_."

"I won't, I won't!" Speasy insisted, struggling to escape.

"Good," Severus unceremoniously pushed the student away.

Speasy started to scramble off, but then stopped and turned back, a confused look on his face. "Wait. Don't screw what up?"

"Nothing! Go to your common room!"

"Yes, Sir," he hurried away.

There were a few moments of uneasy silence as the Hogwarts grounds returned to its normal, peaceful state. The only thing Dinah noticed was Helga crawling around on her shoulder as she refused to meet Severus's gaze. He wasn't moving either, though, and finally she heard him sigh and couldn't stop herself from looking.

He stared her for a few moments and she tried uneasily to smile, but she wasn't sure if she got her lips to turn up or not. She wasn't exactly aware of her own body at the moment. She could only look at him.

Finally he sighed, his expression resigned. "Walk with me."

All at once, she was aware of her body again. She flushed up at him and wondered if he could hear the sound of her heart thumping in her chest. She could, and it was deafening. Still, she held off the hope as much as she possibly could. Dinah tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and was finally able to reply in a soft voice; "Okay."

They walked in silence for what felt like an eternity, not going anywhere in particular. They just seemed to be wandering in circles across the grounds and just when Dinah was sure her chest was going to explode he spoke again.

"So, you've seen everything, have you?"

"Er..." she flushed and turned to look at him. He was still facing ahead of them, but was watching her out of the corners of his eyes. "I guess so," she admitted. "Maybe."

There was another, shorter pause before he spoke again. "I suppose your bad habits are rubbing off on me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it was your leaving your own door open that caused our initial debate meeting, wasn't it?" His tone was awkward, and he turned again, leading them backwards for the umpteenth time.

"Oh," she frowned and her heart sank; "Yes, it was. So I guess that was a bad thing too, huh?"

"I didn't..." he came to an abrupt stop and she nearly ran into him, "say that." He turned to face her. "Look, do you mind if we find a place to sit down? This walking in circles isn't very productive."

"Uh, sure," she agreed, feeling rather awkward herself. "I was just following you."

He led them to the castle wall and they sat down against it together, looking out at the students milling about the grounds. Suddenly it seemed to Dinah that they did all of their talking out here, or that all of the major events in her life that had happened since she arrived at Hogwarts happened out on the grounds. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, though. The grounds were beautiful...

"You said you have four pets?"

"What?" she jumped when he spoke again. He was staring at Helga, who was still crawling around on her shoulder. "Er, yeah," she picked the rat up and set her in her lap, stroking her fur absently; "Helga. For Hufflepuff."

"I see." He was staring intently at her, his dark eyes boring into her in an odd, inexplicable way. Try as she might, she couldn't tear her face away. "You should know..." he began again after a while. "I'm a skilled Legilimens."

Dinah felt her face flush bright red and she backed away a bit; "What? You mean you've been-"

"No," he cut in, shaking his head. "I tend not to use my abilities on others unless absolutely necessary. Keeping up with the entire concept of minding my own business and hoping that others will do the same. I simply thought you should know. And what _possessed _you to spy on my personal effects simply because I was not in my office?"

His segway into the biting accusation had been sudden and was terribly nerve-wracking. Although, Dinah supposed, she had it coming. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I don't know what I was thinking, honestly. I guess an apology isn't worth much, though. I guess..." she looked away for a moment, and when he didn't respond, she continued. "Listen, I'm sorry I overreacted in there. When you found me, and all... It's just that everything I saw was so overwhelming. And then you kind of ... scared me."

"I believe that was my intention," he smirked.

Dinah nodded miserably; "Then consider yourself successful. But I was more upset when I figured you'd never want to speak to me again."

"I wasn't sure I would want to myself, at first," he admitted; "But I think at this point it's better to discuss the matter, since I have no intention of _Obliviating_ you against your will."

"Thanks for that," she muttered.

"By the way, um... thank you," he actually chuckled slightly when she turned an incredulous look on him before he continued; "For interrupting that confrontation. I'm afraid I was getting rather incapable of handling it without hexing the boys."

"I understand now," she said softly; "Why they bother you so much."

He sighed and looked away, watching a few students as they walked by and cast surprised glances at the two unlikely professors sitting next to each other on the grass. "You may have seen a bunch of memories I was foolish enough to leave floating about in my pensieve. But _understanding_," he shook his head. "I'm afraid no one could ever understand."

Dinah shook her head; "Maybe not the same way you do, but I do to an extent. There's something you may recall me telling you, or then again you may not. I suppose I'm not a terribly interesting person, really. But when I was in school I was made fun of something awful. There were other, deeper reasons, but mostly just because I was older, different... I never really had any friends here."

"Then what possessed you to come back and teach?"

"I know it sounds strange, but I did love it here. Even without friends, Dumbledore was good to me and I learned a lot. I got better at handling the 'no friends' thing in my later years, when I buried myself in my studies. I didn't love the social environment, but I loved the place. It's just beautiful here, you know?"

He shrugged; "It has its merits."

"Um," Dinah decided to try being light, "If it makes you feel better I have decided that I don't think I like Sirius Black anymore."

He actually laughed. She loved it when he laughed. "Don't tell your friend Professor Ketteridge about that."

She smiled. "That's not my intention. Yet. Although she is getting suspicious. I ran into them both, but he was in dog form. She still doesn't know that you told me about his ability."

"You don't know," he said slowly, "Everything yet. About Black. There was a very important memory missing from the pensieve."

"You mean he did _more _to you than just that?" She frowned; "But I guess it seemed in the pensieve that James was the worst. And you hated him the most. Because of her."


	28. Decision

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Decision

* * *

"Her," Severus said in a softer tone, looking away from Dinah. He sighed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair as he stared out at the grounds. Dinah had to force her mind away from the sudden thought she had about how sexy that was. "Yes," he continued, his tone subdued; "_That_, above all else,is what I wish you hadn't seen."

"I'm sorry," she said. "It didn't exactly make me happy, either. I mean not that I-" she cut herself off, turning back to stare down at her rat so he didn't see her blushing. Not that he was looking at her, anyway. "I'm sorry," she said again, more quietly; "Sorry about everything that happened. It must have been so hard. But in the long run it was what turned you back to the good side, what brought you away from being a Death Eater."

"You don't know anything about that!" The anger in his tone surprised her as he turned his eyes back on her. But his facial expression was more strained than angry. "Are you saying that it was a good thing Lily was brutally murdered? So that I could return to the 'good side'? Was losing her the only way I would get a chance to redeem myself?"

"I'm not saying that," she said softly. She didn't really know what she was doing, but she moved Helga onto her right shoulder and then reached across, sliding her left hand into Severus's right.

He flinched at her touch, a move she had expected. But, surprisingly, he didn't pull away. He just sighed and leaned back against the castle wall, continuing to watch her. "Then what _are _you saying, exactly?"

She moved closer to him, her sad eyes meeting his wary ones. Still, he didn't back off. "I didn't mean to imply that it was a good thing. What happened to her. It was awful, the whole thing was. And I like to think you would have come around on your own even if she had lived. You're a good person, Severus. You've just had a hard life."

"Thank you for your assessment," his voice was thick with sarcasm. "I so needed you to tell me that."

She flushed. His hand, still held in hers, was warm. He was always warm, even when his words were cold. "I'm sorry," she repeated for the millionth time this afternoon. "I'm saying all the wrong things."

"I think that's because there's no right thing to say. What you did was wrong, and you're lucky I've decided to even discuss it with you. But I hardly think your judgments make any difference at this point on what is already done and over with and unchangeable. I shouldn't even be _alive_ save for some random piece of inexplicable old magic that has insisted I have more to offer the world."

"Severus," she felt her throat tighten as she listened to the cavalier tone in which he'd spoken. "You don't think you have more to offer?"

"I've already fulfilled my mission. I spent eighteen years in the service of the Dark Lord living a life that wasn't my own. Do you think it's easy to pick up the pieces and live as a normal citizen after all of that? Sometimes I think a peaceful death would have been _better_."

"You can't really mean that," she squeezed his hand.

He shrugged, but his fingers tightened around hers. "Part of me wants to try again. But I don't know if I can. And without... Lily..." he looked away.

"You really loved her," she said, so softly that she didn't know if he heard her. He didn't respond, so maybe he hadn't. She watched his face as he stared unthinkingly in front of him. She saw pain in his eyes, but it was barely visible. He was good at controlling his emotions. Better than she'd ever been at it, that was certain. She ran her thumb back and forth across his hand, expecting him to pull away. Instead, he closed his eyes for a moment. She couldn't keep looking at him without blushing, so she turned away. "I really meant what I said, you know. Back then," she said softly, tucking her hair behind her ear with her free hand and resting her cheek on Helga's soft fur. "I wouldn't have done what she did. Lily. I wouldn't ever abandon you."

He moved next to her and withdrew his hand from hers. She forced herself to turn and meet his eyes, although she knew her face was still flushed. He stared at her for a long time, his face unreadable. Finally, he spoke. "You don't want this."

Dinah's expression turned serious as the solemnity of his tone hit her. She had a feeling she knew what he was talking about. "I don't want what?"

"What it is you think you want;" he said, and then shook his head. "You don't. You've seen the memories. You know how strong my feelings are for Lily. If you are entertaining the notion of becoming involved with me then you are setting yourself up for only disappointment and heartbreak. You know it's true. You don't want this."

She sighed; "Let me decide what it is that I want."

Severus shook his head again; "You're impossible. What can I do to discourage you?"

She frowned. "Nothing. At least I hope you won't do anything. Can't we at least... try? I won't rush you. You can go at whatever pace you want. At the very least I just want to be able to spend time with you freely. These past two weeks have been... difficult. I don't think anything else could be more disappointing."

He snorted, "Just wait and see."

"Please, Severus? I just want to try."

Severus stared at her again, for a long time, and she forced her face to remain calm, while on the inside she was saying _Please say yes, please say yes_, over and over again. Finally, he sighed. "I suppose I can't stop you."

Her face lit up, and he responded with a smirk. "Really? You'll try?"

He rolled his eyes. "Either that or deal with you moping around for the rest of your life. Honestly, I don't think I could stand to have that on my conscience. You _do_ do an excellent job of looking pitiful, Professor Dinah Samson."

She blushed, "I wasn't really trying to. I guess I'm just not as good at hiding my emotions as you are. Maybe you could teach me your strategies."

"They would take years to learn," he replied, still smirking.

Dinah laughed, "Thank you, Severus. Besides, I think you do at least like me. That's the impression I got. Well, I don't know if you find me _attractive _or anything..." she trailed off. Her mouth was going off again without her permission. Amazing that after almost forty years of life she hadn't figured out how to fix that particularly childish trait.

Severus stared for a few moments before replying. "You are..." he turned away and muttered the last word, "pretty."

She felt her face heat up again, this time with pleasure. "Really? Wow... um, thanks."

He shook his head and almost smiled again before turning back to her. "Now that that decision has been made, I believe we might want to head to lunch."

"Lunch!" she exclaimed, food sounding good to her again for the first time in awhile. "Wonderful. I'm starving."

"You should be," Severus smirked, standing up and holding his hand out for her to take it; "You've been picking at your food for the past two weeks. It was horribly out of character."

She smiled, still flushed, and took his hand like she had been dreaming about so much lately. Now it was actually happening again. And he had even noticed her change in eating habits, and cared. She wanted to hug him, but held off. She needed to show him that she really meant what she had said about letting him go at his own pace. It was the only way this might end up working. "Well, I'm hungry again now."

"Hopefully, you can eat as fast as you usually do because there are only twenty minutes of the lunch hour left." He let go of her hand and they began walking together towards the main entrance.

"Oh, I think I can manage."

When they entered the Great Hall Dinah caught Lucy's eye and waved. Needless to say the other professor looked shocked as she returned the gesture. Probably a combination of Dinah both walking in with Severus and smiling again. She wondered with some amusement at how her friend would react when she found out that she and the notorious Professor Snape were sort of – almost - 'dating' now.

Hagrid and Professor Vector were present, so Dinah couldn't really talk to Severus while eating. But the food was sandwiches, crisps, and chocolate chip cookies so Dinah had plenty to distract her. It was also a good thing that pets were allowed in the dining hall, as long as they were kept away from the food. So Dinah stuck Helga in one of her robe pockets before attacking the spread in front of her. She grabbed a turkey club sandwich and a tuna melt and downed them in ten minutes flat, before finishing off a handful of crisps and two cookies. She washed the meal down with some ice cold milk before standing and meeting Severus at the door leading out of the hall.

"Excellent performance," he said with his characteristic smirk and raised eyebrow.

She laughed as they began walking down the hall, "Thank you. Now, sadly, if I'm correct you have a class to teach. Um..." she flushed slightly as something came to her; "Did you ever go and show those four ingredients to Eugene and Slughorn?"

He sighed, "No, that didn't end up happening. I haven't seen either of them in the time since. Have you?" When she shook her head he continued. "I suppose I could show them to you. Come to my office this evening after dinner. I won't be at the meal because I have papers to grade but I'll be expecting your arrival. Oh, and I'm leaving my door _closed _this time, so don't get any funny ideas."

She blushed, embarrassed. "Okay. Believe me; I won't get any funny ideas ever again."

"This whole thing is a funny idea," he said with a grudging sigh. At her sad look he forced an awkward, half-smile. "But I'm going along with it. Now go do something productive. As you said, I have a class to teach."

She smiled back, a bigger and more genuine smile than she'd smiled in weeks. "Yes, and I have surveys to analyze."

* * *

Dinah's afternoon classes had gone by in somewhat of a whirlwind. She was actually more distracted now than she had been lately, and the students had definitely noticed. But she was pretty sure it was just for today, after the excitement of making up with Severus. Things would fall back into place quickly now, most definitely.

Presuming nothing happened to screw up their relationship again.

She pushed that thought aside as she walked down the hall towards Severus's rooms after dinner. She had done the whole hair and makeup thing again, vowing that this time she would get the chance to let it work for her. After all, he _had _said she was pretty this afternoon. He did seem to notice normal things at least a little bit.

The door was closed as promised, but she knocked on it and waited with bated breath for him to answer.

"Come in," his voice called in its usual monotone.

She took a deep breath and turned the knob, opening the door. There was no one in his office, but it looked the same as it had two weeks ago, bringing back nervous memories.

"Come into the next room and don't touch anything," his voice ordered, from the door at the back. Dinah flushed a little and followed. His office was directly connected to his living quarters and he was asking her to come in. Probably figured it was better than leaving her out here with the pensieve. But she felt a swell of pleasure at being allowed to enter his personal space.

She entered a large sitting room, lit by the orange glow of a few oil lamps. It was a bit dank in here like the rest of the dungeons, but otherwise fairly inviting. She sat on a green, overstuffed armchair and waited.

"You're early again," he said casually, appearing in the archway of a hall across the room. Dinah almost fell out of the chair when she saw him. He was wearing a ... black robe and carrying a towel and his hair was wet.

She felt like her face was on fire; "Oh! I'm so sorry!"

"For?"

"Well, I'm early. Obviously you were just bathing or something... you – _were, _weren't you?"

He smirked. "I do do that, you know. Especially when I'm working with potentially dangerous chemicals and spill some on myself like I did ten minutes ago. But also at least every day or every other day like a normal human being. Although it seems most of my colleagues would like to assume I never do. I take it you were the same."

She stared down at her hands, wondering if her face had burnt off yet.

"Not exactly. I mean I noticed you seemed clean, even if people say things about your-"

"Greasy hair," he finished, and she could hear the sarcasm in his voice. "Yes, it's rather like Andrew Speasy's sneezing issue, if you really must know. Something I have been unable to change, and no longer care about. Now, if you're done freaking out I am going to go get dressed and then I'll show you the potions. Don't touch anything," he repeated the order and disappeared again.

Dinah smiled a little and folded her hands in her lap while she waited, determined to follow his order and not touch anything this time.

He came back out in his normal black robes and walked to the table, placing four vials on it in a row. Dinah stood and came over to look at them. "The simplest one," he stuck a jar in front of her.

She stared at the translucent yellow liquid. "It looks like lemonade."

"It's an infusion of lemon juice, vinegar, and salt. I wouldn't drink it."

She grimaced, "No. But really, something that simple?"

"It works as a food preservative. The basic idea is that it will preserve the functionality of the pomegranate juice. But it might not be enough and it might not last forever."

"Hm," she said, starting to sound like Severus. "I wonder if some Muggle preservatives might work." When he scoffed at that suggestion she managed to shoot a glare at him. "Well, why not? It's not like they aren't real substances."

He ignored her and stuck another vial, filled with clear liquid this time, in front of her. "Alcohol. Continuing in the preservative tradition. But there would be issues in adding this ingredient to the potion."

"Clearly," she laughed and pushed it aside. "All right, I get that you don't want to hear about anything Muggle related. I'll just have to make the suggestion to Eugene myself, then."

"Do what you want." He handed her the third vial. This one was fancier than the others. It had a rounded bottom and a bottlenecked top. It contained a bright green liquid and the lid was silver with the image of a snake etched into it.

Dinah lifted a finger and traced the image of the snake. She had always loved Slytherin decorations, despite not being much of a fan of the house itself. If only people could realize what wonderful animals snakes really were. They got such an unfounded bad reputation, a situation that was mostly Slytherin's fault.

Severus cleared his throat and Dinah blushed and looked up. She had been staring at the snake far too long. He probably thought she was mental. "Um, yes. This is?"

"Chopped daisy roots in a clear snake bile broth. The plant ingredient is used in shrinking solution which has some minor youthening properties when applied to certain animals. The bile preserves the roots but might add an extra effect to Eugene's potion as well."

"That sounds promising."

"Indeed. Finally, the toxic potion I managed to spill earlier." He stuck an opaque black jar in front of her. "Ginger and lionfish spine. The ginger is sort of a stimulant of other ingredients and the lionfish spine contains a stinging poison which alters the properties of various fruit juices. In very small quantities it would be safe to drink. If you add a small amount of peppermint it also helps to dumb down the negative attributes."

"Did I ever mention that you're a genius?" she asked, touching the lid of the black jar with one finger before looking up at her new significant other.

He rolled his eyes and sat down across from her; "Is that why you've decided you're so interested in me? I confess; I'm having trouble understanding that."

"Not just that," she said, flushing. "A lot of things."

"Do enlighten me." He folded his hands in front of him and met her gaze with a stare of challenge. He looked more curious for educational purposes than for romantic ones.

"Well...uh... I really enjoy debating with you. I mean you can be pigheaded about the issues sometimes but you at least listen to what I say. You helped me come up with the survey idea, something I'm really enjoying. You helped me that day in the rain so you are really a kind person at heart. You are... um... attractive. Or at least I think so." He snorted in response to that, and she flushed. She didn't really know what to say further on that point and so she changed the subject to attributes he would better understand and appreciate. "You _are _a genius at potions matters. There's no denying it. So I think we're intellectual equals. Actually, you're probably smarter than me but I'd like to think I'm close enough since you have said you enjoy our debates. You're very courageous and I admire so much everything you've done for the past eighteen years to help the wizarding world. And for some strange reason I really like your odd habits, like smirking and raising that eyebrow and making snarky comments at me. Um... that's it."

"Fascinating." He sounded bored.

"Now you tell me something. Why did you say yes this afternoon? You could have said no. I mean, why did you decide to humor me with this 'dating' thing if you're so convinced that it will never go anywhere?"

He shook his head. "Honestly, I have no idea."

She smiled. "Well, thank you. Even if you don't know why, thank you."

Severus just shrugged and stood. "I still have grading to do, so we should call it a night. But I'm sure we'll talk at meals and continue debating and if you insist upon it you can come by in the evenings when I'm not busy. Provided you knock first."

"Er, same here. You could come by my place, that is. Godric would like it."

"I have no intention of entertaining the bizarre desires of your gigantic Gryffindor cat," Severus said. "But we'll see."

"Yeah, I'm sure things will just fall into place however they will," Dinah said awkwardly as he escorted her through the sitting room and office to the door. Then she had a sudden thought. "Um, Severus?"

"Yes?"

"Have you noticed anything... strange about Eugene at all?"

"No. Why?"

"Um, no reason. Just those noises we heard in the potions room that time."

"I think it's probably like he said. The window open. In my opinion, he seems a capable enough Potions Master. Perhaps a bit idealistic as I still don't know if this youthening idea can become a success."

"I guess we'll see. Good night, then."

"Good night." He closed the door after her.


	29. Ghost

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Ghost

* * *

So far, things were going well. Sure, it had only been two days since she reconciled with Severus, but those two days had been amazing. Not that much had happened. They just continued to talk at meals and she had spent a part of Friday night with him in his office while he organized some of his books. He had a rather large collection and had actually consented to let her touch and look at some of them, under his careful supervision of course. Plus, he smiled at her a little more often. Okay, so it was only really one and a half smiles in two days but it was still something.

Otherwise, they had both been fairly busy with grading and surveys. It was Saturday but he said he had a stackful of reports to go through and therefore wasn't up for 'entertaining' this evening. That was fine, though. She would intrude upon him in some manner tomorrow and today she wanted to go and talk with Lucy anyway. She hadn't gotten a chance yet and from her friend's facial expressions at meals she was afraid the other professor was going to explode from curiosity pretty soon.

She didn't have to go all the way there, though, because she ran into Lucy in the hallway coming in the opposite direction. "Oh, hi." She knew she was probably grinning like an idiot. "I was just coming to find you. Where are you off to?"

"Oh," Lucy blushed, "Just down to the kitchens for…something…for later."

"Oh! You usually go to Hogsmeade for the weekends, don't you?" Dinah asked, clapping a hand to her forehead. She had been so wrapped up in making up with Severus that she hadn't even realized her friend probably wouldn't be around. "How silly of me. Was Sirius busy this weekend or something?"

"No, no he's not busy. Or he's not right now anyway. I just had a bit of grading I wanted to do and I get it done faster here so he came to me this weekend." Dinah was beginning to wonder if her friend's face could possibly get any redder.

"Oh! Well, just don't tell Severus. The last time Sirius was here for a weekend he didn't leave the dungeons. Um, did I interrupt something?" She was starting to get a bit suspicious of Lucy's blush, if Sirius were here. "I can always talk to you later."

"Don't worry you didn't interrupt anything. He's sleeping and I won't be telling…Severus. I don't think we actually plan on leaving my rooms much. Slughorn's party was actually a rather…momentous occasion for us and well…it's still new. Anyway, I can talk if you want."

"Well, there's not much to say," Dinah said in an offhand tone. She didn't want to be the one to just blurt out that she was dating Severus. She didn't want to sound too anxious or like she was gloating after all. "Things are better now. We made up."

Lucy smiled, "That's nice. Are you sure you don't want to talk more though? I've got time and I already told Sirius to keep to the rooms. I don't need to be explaining his presence to the students later."

"Sure, if you're up for it," Dinah smiled. "Where did you want to go?"

"Anywhere you want. My room might be out though seeing as it's occupied by a rather scantily clad man."

"Did you still need to go the kitchen for... whatever?"

"No, that's okay," Lucy said blushing again, "I can grab it on the way back. It wasn't really for eating anyway."

"Okay, then you can come to my room for a bit," Dinah said. After they had been walking for a few seconds she added with a grin; "So can I safely assume that your research materials are going into use now or would you get annoyed with me again?" She was pretty sure she knew the answer.

Lucy laughed, "I wasn't really annoyed the first time. More afraid you'd get the wrong impression of me. And yes, they are in use, since you asked," Lucy stopped, "That probably sounded snotty. I didn't mean it that way."

"That's okay," Dinah let them into her room with her key and they headed to the kitchen. "Have a seat. Would you like something to drink? I was just going to get a glass of water."

"Water's fine. You definitely seem to be in a better mood lately. Are you sure it isn't more than you talking to Professor Snape again? You aren't um, putting some of my research materials to use, are you?"

Dinah felt her face flare up again and dropped the glass she had just grabbed from the cupboard. The image of Severus in his bathrobe from Thursday suddenly flashed through her mind and an odd electric sensation flickered through her body. But she couldn't let herself want these things yet, or she would _definitely_ be wandering around disappointed for a long time.

When she looked up again Lucy was watching her with an amused smile. She flicked her wand at the cup to form it back together and started filling it before replying. "No! That is, um... we're not – I'm not – doing _that _yet. Not with Severus. That could take years. But we are, um, 'dating' now I guess you could say."

There. She'd said it. She placed a glass of water in front of a very shocked looking Lucy and sat down across from her friend with as nonchalant an expression as she could muster.

"That's…unexpected. Sorry, I just…I spent seven years being taught by him and, I guess I only know him from a student's perspective but I've just never pictured him dating anyone."

Dinah smiled, "It is a strange image. I'm not sure he knows how to do it himself, really. But I like him. I like him a lot. I'm lucky he's given me another chance, really, after the mistake that I made. So lucky..." she flushed and took a sip of water.

"Still don't want to talk about that?" Lucy sipped her water.

"I can't," Dinah shook her head. "It's not my place. Otherwise, I'd tell you. Besides, it's over with now. I hope we can build a good relationship. He's not really that affectionate yet, but I'm hoping that will grow over time."

"Yeah, I never really had that problem. I mean we pretty much kept our distance physically at first. Except the couple times we kissed. And there were times we hid from Molly and her cleaning sprees. We'd just lay on the floor of one of the empty rooms side by side and sometimes he'd reach over and grab my hand…that was…tingly."

"I know the feeling," Dinah smiled. "And the hiding together thing is cute. Severus actually let me hold his hand for a little bit on Thursday. I'm not sure he was fully aware of what he was doing though. It seemed a little too good to be true."

"That feeling is so great and kind of scary too. I miss it sometimes."

"You mean the 'too good to be true' feeling?"

"Yeah," she said, setting her half empty glass down. "I mean I still get the tingly feeling but ever since…well, it's less the 'too good to be true' feeling and more the 'is this the last time' thing. I don't like that."

"Mmm," Dinah agreed, staring down at her glass. She was reminded of Severus's warning that she was only heading toward heartbreak by getting involved with him. She hated to think that he might be right, but the scenes from the pensieve with Lily had been pretty intense. But it was only the beginning of the relationship, and with enough time he could change, right? "I can see that. Well, I hope neither of us have to deal with that much. Hey, at least you know Sirius really likes you and isn't just humoring you."

Lucy smiled, "There is that, but I think if Snape didn't want you around he wouldn't have said yes. Or whatever it was that he said. I don't know if you've noticed but he's pretty good at keeping people away if he doesn't want them there."  
She had to laugh, "That is true. I do think he likes me a little bit, at least. Got to look on the bright side, I suppose. You know he was in love with Lily Potter, right? That's what Hermione was going to say that time, I think. That everybody that was around at the Battle of Hogwarts pretty much knows about it."

Lucy nodded, "Yeah. I was there."

Dinah nodded back. "Well, that's my biggest roadblock right now. Actually, I have a feeling it might be huge."

"Mmm. Patience is probably going to be helpful. I don't really have any old loves to deal with. Just old lovers."

"I'm willing to be patient," Dinah said. "Right now I'm just glad I can talk to him again."

"I'm happy for you," Lucy stood, "But I should probably be heading back, stop by the kitchens, hopefully get some more grading done. I'll have to show you some of my research later. You might find it interesting."

"Okay," Dinah stood and smiled. "Thanks for dropping by. Let me know whenever you're interested in looking at that research. Severus and I generally spend evenings together, or that seems to be the pattern, but sometimes he's busy. So just let me know at lunch or dinner what you're thinking." She led Lucy to the door.

"All right. Thanks for telling me. It means a lot."

"Um, sure," Dinah smiled as Lucy walked away towards the kitchens. It meant that much to the other professor just being interested in her research and letting her know when she was available? It seemed Lucy still had some loneliness issues. Well, Dinah knew how that was.

Dinah didn't really know why she did it. But she found stepping over the threshold out of her rooms and into the hallway, closing her door behind her. Then she started walking through the halls. She wasn't even sure she knew where she was going until she ended up in that hallway near her classroom, and heard the crying.

She followed the sound to that same familiar bathroom, and sighed. And here she had thought Tommy was doing so well the past few weeks. There were no students in the dark halls this late at night, and so she didn't worry about being spied when she walked up to the door to the boy's bathroom. She knocked twice. "Tommy?"

"Dinah?" the boy's voice replied quietly.

Dinah took that as an okay that she could come in. She pushed the door open and walked into the bathroom only to be hit by a wave of déjà vu. She went over to Tommy's stall same as before, and the small, dark-haired boy looked up at her with a shy smile. "You came back."

"Of course I did," she said gently. "I told you, we're friends now. But I thought you were doing better these past few weeks."

"Oh," he said, his dark eyes distant, "Has it been that long?"

"What do you mean 'has it been that long'?" Dinah asked with a frown.

He shrugged; "I'm just always here, that's all. I don't always know when it is. I'm just here," he finished in a whisper.

"Oh," Dinah sat back, unable to say anything else as the implication of that statement ran through her. Finally, she threw out the only question that came to mind; "Tommy, are you a first year student?"

"Yes."

She sighed. This was too much. Of course, as young as he looked he couldn't have been anything _but _a first-year student. But the question was... _what _year?

"Why are you here, Tommy?" She figured direct questions might not be a good idea. She still didn't know what exactly he was and what procedure needed to be followed.

"This is where I go when they pick on me," Tommy answered. "It's safe here."

"But they haven't been picking on you lately?"

"They have been," he stared down and pulled his knees up to his chin; "They always are. I remember it. But it's a sort of blur. I'm here because they pick on me. They won't be my friends. So I come here."

"How often are you here?"

"Always," he replied, his voice getting softer by the minute; "I'm always here. I can't be anywhere else."

Dinah sighed and closed her eyes, trying to figure out in her mind what her next question should be. But when she opened her eyes, Tommy was gone.

She stood up, her first instinct one of alarm. He had just been here moments ago, hadn't he? But he disappeared. His voice just faded away and then he was gone.

She did the only thing she could think of and left the bathroom, running through the halls to a different lavatory on the second floor. When she burst into that girls' lavatory she called out; "Myrtle! _Myrtle_!"

The ghost girl emerged from a toilet with an agitated look on her face. "You don't need to _shout_, you know. I can hear you even if I don't have real ears anymore."

Dinah didn't have time for conversation. "Why didn't you _tell _me Tommy was a ghost?"

"You didn't ask me," Myrtle replied, sticking her nose in the air.

Dinah sighed.

"Besides, he's _not _a ghost," she continued; "At least he's not like one I've ever seen. He's not translucent and he has colors. He's something else."

"What else is there?"  
"How should I know? You ask too many questions! Besides, all that matters is he's back and you _aren't _going to make him go away again. He's been my only company for years. We share misery together. You shouldn't try to get rid of that; it's not nice."

"That makes no sense, Myrtle," Dinah said. "Besides, don't you want him to be happy?"

"Not if he's going to abandon me. Besides, I don't think he knows how to be happy."

"How long have you been seeing him, Myrtle?"

"Since the day I died."

"Then it's been around sixty or more years that he's been stuck in that bathroom."

She shrugged, "I suppose so. But he has _me_. And don't tell me that's not enough!"

"I wouldn't dream of it," Dinah replied in a sarcastic tone, while her thoughts drifted to the impossibility of the situation. What on earth _was _Tommy if not a ghost? Maybe there was a special kind of a ghost Myrtle didn't know about. She could ask around, or...

"If you're not going to say anything else, I'm going back into the pipes," Myrtle cut into Dinah's thoughts. "Don't get rid of Tommy again." With that order, she disappeared, but at least Dinah could _watch _as her odd old friend dove into a toilet and left her view.

She sighed and sat on the edge of one of the bathtubs. She had to figure this thing out if she ever wanted to help Tommy. So tomorrow she would look in the library. Surely she could find some clue about what kind of magical being he was and how she might go about helping him to heal.

No matter what Myrtle said.


	30. Library

CHAPTER THIRTY

Library

* * *

"Ugh!" Dinah sighed and slammed the thick book shut, shoving it back into the giant pile on the library table where she had been sitting since seven o'clock on Sunday morning. It had been two hours since she'd started researching and she had looked in ten books on ghosts already. Five were even from the restricted section, and yet she could find no information whatsoever about ghosts who were opaque and still showed colors.

The whole thing with Tommy was rather fishy, indeed. In fact, it wasn't the only thing fishy that had been going on lately. The things she had seen and heard in Eugene's room and the noises coming from it later were also highly suspicious.

"Can't _anything _around here be straightforward anymore?" she muttered, pushing the stack of books further away.

"Indeed," said a sarcastic monotone in front of her.

"Severus!" She looked up, surprised and pleased, at the dark figure that had come to stand in front of her. He was looking at her with his characteristic raised eyebrow and holding two steaming mugs of coffee from the mini-kitchen where house elves provided library guests with sustenance for long research sessions.

"I came in to do some research on the Dark Arts for class and noticed you over here," he muttered, sticking one of the mugs in front of her; "It's early; thought you could use this."

"Wow, thanks," she smiled at him.

The expression he returned was really more of a half smirk, but she was used to that. He sat down across from her. "Now do you mind telling me what it is you're talking about? Rather a large stack of books you have here."

"Oh, just researching. I've stumbled upon a new type of ghost... or at least I think so, but I can't come up with any information on it."

"A new... 'type'?" he repeated with a strange expression. "I wasn't aware that there was more than one type of ghost."

"Neither was I." She explained briefly about Tommy, leaving out a few details like how long he'd been there. That probably wasn't important to the matter at hand anyway, at this point.

"Odd," Severus said. "That he disappeared in front of you and is a first year not in any of your classes seems to indicate that he is _some _kind of magical being, at least. But it's nothing I've heard of before. You want to help him, though? If you recall, that has never been done with a ghost before, nor do they seem to need or want helping."

"I think he's different from the others," she said quietly. "I don't think he chose to be this way."

"Perhaps not. But it seems like you aren't getting the answers you want from any of these books," he put his hand on the other of the two piles. The one from the regular library sections that Dinah hadn't pushed away from her.

"Tommy's real," she insisted. "I'm not imagining things. And I'm not imagining the weird stuff that's going on with Eugene either."

Severus sighed. "What 'weird stuff' that's going on with Eugene?"

She paused and took a drink of the coffee, before deciding that she might as well just tell him about what happened, now that they were in a kind of relationship.

"When I was at Slughorn's party, I got that cold, if you remember." At his nod she continued; "Well, I was in the restroom in Slughorn's rooms trying to take care of it when I heard a bunch of weird noises. They were coming from Eugene's room. The window was open, like he'd said, so maybe that was it, but I was worried at the time that there was a burglar or something so I checked it out. I found glasses of what I think was the youthening potion, but with prints on them. Lip prints, that is. Somebody had been drinking it. Then I heard more noises, but I didn't want to tell anybody I was in his room. And then we heard more noises in the potions room that time. I think it's suspicious, but I like Eugene. So I don't know what I should do."

"I see," Severus said, looking almost amused, "So spying in people's personal quarters is a _habit _of yours."

She felt her face flare up and stared down at her coffee cup. She had been blushing an awful lot lately, she couldn't help but think. More than she probably ever had in her life. "No! I mean... it never _used _to be. I don't know what's gotten into me lately."

"Hmm," he agreed, thoughtful. "Either way, I don't know that you have enough evidence to present your case against Eugene to Professor Dumbledore without landing in trouble yourself for being in his room."

"Yeah..." she frowned. "That's sort of what I thought."

"Plus, I don't necessarily know that he's doing anything wrong. If he's drinking it himself, that's his choice. Perhaps unintelligent on his part but not our place to judge. Still, I'll keep an eye out for anything else suspicious. If other things start to happen, maybe we'll have something to tell."

"Thanks," she smiled. "That helps, now that someone else knows. When were you going to take the potions to them?"

"Wednesday. After dinner. They usually work on the potion at that time, so Slughorn has said. You're coming." It wasn't a question.

"If you insist," she said with a small smile, taking another sip of the coffee.

"As for this ghost of yours," he continued. "Perhaps you might look elsewhere for information."

"Like where?"

"The Hogwarts library has a great many references, but it doesn't have everything. I may have one or two books on ghosts in my personal collection that they don't have here, which I can bring to Hogwarts at some point. Also, the Ministry will have books. I don't know if you have any connections where you might be able to request some."

"Lucy knows people there. And so do you, don't you?"

He shook his head. "They haven't been quite as quick to welcome me back into their confidence as Dumbledore and Potter have been. I'd rather stay away from them for now."

"I see. That's fine. But you'll bring the others?"

"Yes. I can do it today if you really want me to."

"Really?" she placed her hands over one of his; "Thank you so much!"

He flinched and withdrew his hand. "Yes, whatever."

"Oh," she flushed, "Sorry."

Severus shrugged. "I told you this would be slow-going."

"I know." She smiled, "You know, it's funny. When I first heard the crying in the bathroom I assumed it was Speasy for a really long time. But now I think that was a ridiculous notion. You and Speasy were always too strong for that sort of thing. I mean, maybe you would cry a little bit in very private situations, but not like that. Not constantly in a bathroom where anyone could hear you. You are both so strong, you know. So strong and courageous about the whole thing..."

"All right, enough," Severus cut in agitatedly. "You've made your point, now stop."

"Sorry," she blushed again and finished the last of her coffee. "Honestly, I don't think I ever learned how to turn my mouth off. I'm a bit old for that, wouldn't you say?"

"I'm not sure what I'd say, to be honest," he said, smirking at her and finishing off his own coffee. "Now, I still have class materials to research. You could join me if you really wanted to. Unless you have more ghost books to look through."

"This is the lot of it, really," she said. "Well, there are probably about a million books that at least _mention _them but that would take forever. I'd rather hit up the books from you and from the Ministry first."

"Indeed," he stood and handed their empty mugs to a house elf wandering by. "Then again, perhaps we'll notice something as we go through the Dark Arts books."

She nodded, as an uncomfortable thought hit her. "If Tommy is some kind of a dark ghost, then maybe so..."

* * *

"Lucy!" Dinah accosted Lucy at breakfast on Monday morning, hurrying over to where her friend was sitting and placing her hands on the table opposite her.

"Um, what?" Lucy asked, looking a little flustered from the attack.  
"I know you don't like the Ministry, but you do know people there, right?"

Lucy looked a little bit confused by the question. "It's the Ministry itself I have a problem with not the people that work there, but yes I know people there."

"Do you think you might be able to ask one of your connections to get some information on magical creatures for me? Ghosts, specifically. Do they have a department on that? I was hoping for some reference books. Ones that aren't found in Hogwarts."

"Um, I can try. I don't really know anyone in that department but Kingsley's the new Minister so he might be able to help. Have you tried asking your boyfriend? He's got plenty of books I've noticed."

Dinah had to flush at Lucy having called Severus her boyfriend. She loved how that sounded. "He showed me his books yesterday but we couldn't find what I was looking for. The Ministry is my last viable option right now."

Lucy smiled, "And you didn't think to ask _me_ if I had any books on that? I mean I do realize most of my books are fiction but I usually find that there's a grain of truth in even the most outlandish stories."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you think you have anything that's relevant?"

"No, not that I can think of. I mean I can go through my books here. Of course a good portion of them are split between Grimmauld Place and the Burrow. Tonks probably has some too. I lost a bunch with all the moving around with the war and that. I'll keep an eye out and in the mean time I can put you in touch with Kingsley. We could actually go there if you really wanted but I'm not sure what my reception would be given how I left."

"Well, whatever works for you," Dinah said, not wanting to push Lucy in any specific direction, although she kind of would rather have her friend go with her. She didn't know any of these Ministry people, after all.

"I don't mind going. I'm probably more familiar with the Ministry than you anyway. When we go might be a bit of an issue though," Lucy chewed her lower lip, her expression the one she usually got when she was worrying about being away from Sirius.

"I'm willing to be flexible with whatever's best for you," Dinah said. "Plus, I don't think it will take that long. But it can't be during classes, of course. I don't know what normal Ministry hours are.

"Oh, there's pretty much someone there around the clock. If we want to see Kingsley it would probably be a good idea to go during the day sometime. We can always stay at Grimmauld Place if we have to and Sirius could come. If you don't mind him tagging along that is."

"Oh," Dinah couldn't hide her frown in time as she thought of the obnoxious child from the pensieve, treating Severus like dirt for no reason. She would have to figure out how to compromise her way out of this. "Sure, I guess that's okay. But let's just do a day thing, not overnight. I have grading to do... work better in my office here..."

"That's fine," Lucy said, not noticing Dinah's odd behavior. "We should probably consult our schedules and the school schedule too. I think it'll be important for us to be here for things like Quidditch matches, feasts, and the like."

"Yeah, and I don't... _think _that I'm in a rush. It's not dire really, I'm just looking to help someone..." she trailed off, not sure if she wanted to divulge the whole Tommy thing to Lucy just yet. So she smiled instead. "Thanks, it'll be a big help. Guess I should let you eat your breakfast now, though."

"All right, just let me know when you want to go. You know if you want you can sit in Slughorn's seat. At this point I doubt he's coming and I'm quite awake now," Lucy smiled.

"Now?" Dinah shook her head, confused. "Oh, thanks but I think I need to go over and sit by Severus before Hagrid or Professor Vector comes and gets in the way. I've got my work cut out f or me with him, you know," she grinned.

Lucy laughed, "I understand. Good luck."

"Thanks, I'll need it," Dinah laughed and hurried happily away to the other side of the table, plopping down into Hagrid's seat next to Severus.

"I assume..." he said slowly, wearing his characteristic smirk, "That you were able to arrange something with your friend."

"Yes," she smiled. "She's going to arrange it so that we can take a trip to the Ministry at some point and request information. Unfortunately, Sirius will probably be present. But I was able to steer her away from an overnight thing and just made it a day trip. That way I don't have to spend too much time in his presence."

Severus rolled his eyes. "I see. Your usual enthusiasm strikes again."

"Just trying to do the right thing."

"Well, he paused, spooning some potatoes onto his plate, "Whether it's the 'right thing' or not, I suppose I appreciate your ridiculous insistence upon disliking and avoiding Black, despite the fact that he has done nothing whatsoever to you personally."

She laughed and smiled at him; "You're welcome."

He almost smiled back. His lips were just turning up at the corners a tiny bit when the hulking form of Hagrid appeared between them.

"Good mornin', Dinah, Professor Snape," he said with his characteristic friendly smile.

"Good morning," Dinah smiled back and stood up, allowing the groundskeeper his seat and moving to her own while Severus simply nodded and turned back to his potatoes.

"Well, yeh seem happier than yeh did before, Dinah," Hagrid said. "Talkin' to Professor Snape again, I guess," he looked over at Severus with an uncertain expression.

Dinah smiled. "Severus isn't so bad once you get to know him."

Severus scoffed from over in his seat at her comment, Hagrid shrugged and sat down to his meal, and Dinah addressed her own food with her usual gusto.

Yes, things were definitely going well.


	31. Frogs

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Frogs

"Are you ready yet?" Severus demanded, frustrated, as he waited for Dinah to join him after dinner on Wednesday.

"Oh, be patient," she laughed, putting on her last touches of makeup after showering. "It's not my fault I spilled food all over my robes at dinner. You smiled at me; it caught me off guard."

"I am not amused," he grumbled from the living room. "And your infernal cat is attacking me again."

"He's not _attacking _you," Dinah insisted with a roll of her eyes. "He's trying to play. You've got to respond to him. It's not that hard."

When he didn't respond she just smiled. No reason to push her luck, after all. She had been lucky enough to get him to wait for her in her quarters while she got ready. After combing her hair one last time and rechecking herself in the mirror she walked back out into the living room to find Severus glaring and swatting his wand at Godric who was chasing it with his paws.  
"Glad to see you playing with him," she said in a light tone.

"I am not _playing _with him; I'm trying to get him to leave me alone."

"He's a cat. You're waving something in his face. That's playing."

"Whatever," he stuffed his wand back into his pocket and stood. "Couldn't you have just changed your clothes? You don't look any different." When her face fell he frowned. "What did I say?"

She laughed and shook her head. "You really don't understand women, do you?"

"Exactly when was it necessary for me to learn to understand women?"

Dinah shrugged. "I don't know. You could always start now, though." He didn't look particularly enthused at her statement so she just smiled and looped her arm into his. "Shall we go then?"

He flinched at her touch.

"Oops, sorry. Too fast for you?"

He just stared at her for a few minutes and then shrugged. "Let's just go to the potions room."

She grinned as they walked out of her room and down the hall, still arm in arm. Ever since they had made up and started seeing each other Dinah's mood had only gotten better and better. It was like nothing could get her down. Hopefully it stayed this way as she tried to slowly build their relationship up at a pace which Severus could handle.

Hopefully.

As soon as they were greeted by Slughorn's curious expression in the potions room, however, Severus cleared his throat and dropped her arm. Ah, well. Really, that was to be expected, anyway.

"I've brought a few potential ingredients," Severus began, all business, marching up to where Eugene stood with some other concoctions and placing the four containers on the table with them.

Dinah smiled at Slughorn. "Hi."

Her old potions professor's raised eyebrow reminded her of Severus. "I see you two are still getting along, then?"

"Well, yes. Don't make it general knowledge; I don't think Severus is ready for that yet."

"Ah, so you two _are_...?" he left the question hanging.

"Sort of," she agreed. "But I'm giving it time. Oh, and _please _don't mention it to the students."

"No, no, that would be bad, wouldn't it?" Slughorn asked in his usual distracted tone.

"Probably so, yes. At least at this stage."

"I hope it works out. You know, I think it will do Severus some good to have a friend, or more if that's how it works out. He wasn't particularly social as a child, except for with those Death Eater boys and Lily. And as a faculty member he's been quite the same. Actually, he never seems to be in a good mood. Rather depressing, really. Maybe you can change that."

"I'll have my work cut out for me, that's certain," Dinah said with a smile, looking again over to where Severus and Eugene were very diligently going through the ingredients one by one. "I suppose we should join them. I'm curious to see if any of the selections help."

"Yes, yes, let's go look."

Dinah followed Slughorn to the table and greeted Eugene. "Anything look promising?"

The assistant nodded, "I am especially intrigued by the third," he tapped Dinah's favorite bottle, the one with the snake on it and the green liquid. "The ingredient from the shrinking solution combined with the preservation effects of the snake bile might be helpful. But I will test all of the four ingredients in varying concentrations. May I keep these, Severus?"

Severus nodded; "I have more."

"If you both want to stay, I think I'll use the green ingredient and test it on the frogs right now." He waved his wand and summoned the frog bowl over to them again, then began gathering and mixing ingredients.

Dinah was just grabbing a vial on Eugene's orders to mix up two parts pomegranate juice with one part water when the crash came from the back rooms. She looked up and met Eugene's slight nervous gaze. Slughorn looked up and met Eugene and Dinah's eyes, then shrugged and smiled at Eugene, waving off to him before both men turned back to the potions they were mixing. Apparently Slughorn had fully accepted the open window explanation for the noise.

Dinah looked at Severus and gave a nearly imperceptible nod. He looked at her for a moment and then nodded back, acknowledging the second instance of the noise. At least _he _understood that something odd was going on here. Satisfied, she turned back to her concoction. The four of them mixed things together for a bit longer before a second noise interrupted.

This one was a croak, coming from the other side of the room.

"Oh," Dinah looked up, and then hurried to follow the noise. She saw Eugene moving as well, out of the corner of her eye, but was way ahead of him. "It sounds like you lost a frog. I'll catch it before it gets away." A flash of movement near a few piles of books in a darkened corner caught her eye, and she walked over. "There it is..." she knelt down and grabbed the...

"Chocolate frog?" she stared down at the solid brown, squirming creature in her hands and shot Eugene, who had popped up behind her, a curious look.

The potions assistant appeared uncomfortable. Behind him, she could see Severus and Slughorn watching with interest. "Yes, I – er, often enjoy them. This one leapt out of the packaging before I could eat it. Um, just before you got here." He took the animated candy from Dinah's fingers and bit off the front half, causing the remaining legs to go limp.

Dinah winced. "Um, yes. I don't dislike them, but I always wait for the spell to wear off before I eat one. I can't... eat something that appears to be alive. Honestly, I think whoever invented these is nearly as disturbed as Bertie Bott was."

He shrugged, "Perhaps. I don't have a problem eating them, though." He stuffed the rest of the frog into his mouth.

"You know," Dinah stood and started walking with Eugene back towards the potion table. "Now that I think of it, that spell wears off in fifteen minutes. We've nearly been here that long, how could you have-"

"Severus!" Eugene quickened his pace and surprised Severus by jumping in front of him and grabbing a vial from his hand; "Excellent mixture. You truly are an artist with potions, just as Horace has told me."

"It's pomegranate juice and water," Severus said dryly, meeting Dinah's gaze again. He definitely noticed that something was up this time.

"Well, such a person as yourself should know that even the simplest combinations must be done correctly," Eugene said, taking the vial over to a different part of the table and dumping it in with some of the other vials they had put together. "Now to add the new ingredient..."

Dinah shrugged. She wasn't going to get much out of him now; that was certain. She'd just have to discuss the issue with Severus when they left.

"Amazing!" Eugene exclaimed twenty minutes later, after two frogs treated with the pomegranate potion at two and three minute concentrations, plus the daisy roots and snake bile, finally grew back up from tadpoles after remaining in that form for three times longer than the second two frogs treated with the control potion without the new ingredient mixture.

"It helps," Severus said, "But it's still not permanent."

Eugene sighed, "I didn't really expect it to be. The potion is still in the early stages, but I think I can tweak this ingredient to get better results. And then, perhaps within the next month or two I will reach a point where I can test it on human subjects."

"Ah... in a month or two, then?" Dinah asked, trying to look uninterested. "So you don't think it's ready for that stage yet? Right now, that is?"

He shook his head, this time not looking the least bit uncomfortable, but she noted that he didn't make direct eye contact with her. "I don't believe it would be productive. Although I can maintain tadpole form for four weeks at the highest pomegranate concentration-"

"His frog finally grew up," Slughorn added.

"Yes," Eugene continued. "And although theoretically this new ingredient may triple that length, there are still great differences in frog and human metabolism and I think more research needs to be done before I can consider human testing. Plus, I will need to find willing volunteers."

"And if you want the potion to be permanent?" Severus added. "What then? I think it will be harder to find a volunteer for a possibly permanent potion unless you have an antidote ready, and that itself cannot be tested until you have tested the potion."

"There are... still factors of that sort that need to be addressed, yes," Eugene said in an absentminded tone, looking uncomfortable again as he grabbed the lemon juice mixture. "At this point we're still in academic territory, however, and I confess I'm curious to see how these other concoctions may pay off. Let's move on, shall we?"

It took about two more hours to test the remaining ingredients and Dinah was rather tired when she and Severus headed back towards their own rooms for the night. The green ingredient had done the most good, but some of the other ingredients appeared to have a bit of function, if only as stabilizers. Eugene was quite enthusiastic about his continuing research, and promised to keep them abreast of any new information he discovered. But Dinah's thoughts were still stuck on the stray chocolate frog she had found.

"You're right," Severus finally said, when they were about halfway back to her rooms. "There is something odd going on in there. Although I can't imagine what the chocolate frog has to do with it."

"It's true," she agreed. "All the weird happenings I've been noticing in Hogwarts lately – the noises, the potions someone had drunk, the chocolate frogs, maybe even Tommy – they're all utterly disconnected from each other. Maybe some of them are innocent but I just feel like I should be suspicious about at least _one _of the things. And I still wonder if at least the Eugene-related ones are connected. Though, like you, I can't see how they would be."

"I don't like it," Severus frowned. "This year was supposed to be different."

He said the last part quietly, and that got her attention. She turned to look at him when they stopped in front of her door. "What was supposed to be different?"

"This year. From the past seven." At her confused look, he sighed. "Ever since Potter showed up at Hogwarts, there were no calm, normal years. Each year began slowly, but one suspicious thing built up after another. Ultimately, Professor Dumbledore would clue me in on what was going on and we would have to address some sort of major issue. Even before the Dark Lord's return there were things happening. The Philosopher's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets, your friend's stupid dog..."

"Oh, I see..." she paused and opened the door to her room, stepping inside. Severus followed, although only a few steps. "I didn't remember seeing much about those things in the pensieve."

He snorted.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to bring it up again."

He sighed, running that frustrated hand through his hair again. This was the second time, and it was just as sexy as before. She felt her body start to wake up, and quickly chided it back into submission. It was _way _too early to be getting its hopes up for that.

"It's fine," he was saying. "I think I've gotten used to the fact that you've seen most of the major points in my life. I didn't have much choice in the matter."

"You really _could _have _obliviated_ me, if you'd wanted to."

"I didn't want to."

She blushed and smiled at him. "Thank you. That really means a lot."

He smiled back, briefly. "Good night."

"Good night. I'll see you...?"

"Around," he finished. "Oh, and I still don't think that we have enough evidence to discuss Eugene with Dumbledore. But I'm definitely going to pay closer attention from now on."

"Right," she nodded. "Me too."


	32. Fight

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Fight

* * *

"Now that we've begun our discussion of electricity, does anyone have any initial questions before I send you off to dinner?" Dinah asked her second batch of seventh year students. "Yes, Miss Lovegood?"

"I think it's fascinating how you taught us the way electricity actually _works_," Luna said. "Nobody ever explained it to me before. I wonder if those things called electrons are relatives of the wrackspurts. It's possible you know; they're tiny and invisible enough."

"Er... yes, well, maybe..." Dinah had come to the conclusion over these first almost two months of classes that once Luna started talking about her imaginary creatures there was nothing you could say to convince her that it was nonsense. So she, like all of the rest of the students and professors, just went with it and tried to gently steer the conversation in another direction.

That was easy enough today, because another student raised his hand. "That's something I always wondered," Stephen Kettletoft said. "I think Muggles are smart to find out how their energy sources actually work, like what's causing it. Nobody's ever told me what _causes_ magic or how it works. They just say that it does work. Does anybody do these kind of 'how it works' studies on magic? Or do they just think it doesn't matter?"

"That's a very good question, Mr. Kettletoft. Now, while it's true that most branches of magic do not address that question, there are places where we know a little bit. The study of potions comes to mind," she said, thinking about Eugene and all that he had been doing lately. He and Slughorn had been hounding Dinah and Severus almost daily with new updates. Unfortunately, they were always small updates and there was still a long way to go before the assistant would be satisfied with his concoction.

"We understand how certain ingredients work in the body," she continued, "And some work is also being done on why treating the ingredients a certain way changes the properties of the final product. I think that we could probably take a lesson from some of the Muggle practices and, as you said, investigate the mechanisms for magic. I don't know if it will be easy or if we have the current knowledge or ability. It is even possible, and this is a stretch, but it's possible that Muggle technology or instruments, at some future date, could be developed that mimic or tap into whatever universal energies cause magic.

"Now, don't look so stricken," she had to laugh at the shock on some of the student's faces. "I don't know that it will happen any time soon or even at all. But although we humans like to separate magic and Muggle energies into neat, separate little groups, the fact of the matter is that they both exist readily in the world in all environments. They may interact on their own in ways we can barely begin to understand. That, obviously, is not my field of study nor do I have any answers. But it's something to think about. People are always discovering new things, and we should be open to such discoveries, should they present themselves to us."

"Wouldn't the two worlds have to combine, if such a thing happened?" Ginny Weasley asked.

"Yes," Dinah said, thoughtful. "Perhaps they would, depending on the nature of whatever discoveries are made. But that's neither here nor there, and obviously it's not happening yet. At the present time, I still think it wise to keep our worlds separate, like I've said earlier. We'll cross any other bridges when we come to them. Meantime, if any of you would like to start looking into what causes magic, you have my full moral support."

"How about monetary support?" Honoria Capper asked with a chuckle.

Dinah had to laugh at that. "Ask me when you have a proposal and after I become a millionaire. Now, if that's all I think I'll let you go early today. Remember, a report on your readings is due middle of next week. Don't procrastinate too long or you'll be sorry the night before."

She waited for her class to disperse before checking her reflection in the hand mirror she had stuffed into her desk drawer last week. She and Severus had taken to meeting each other and then walking to dinner together, so she had to have _something _in her classroomto make sure she looked good beforehand.

Nearly three weeks had passed since they'd started dating and their relationship progression had been mostly stagnant. But she was still enjoying herself and there were little, sweet moments that came up from time to time and made her happy. He smiled at her on occasion and said her name rarely. Rarely enough that it still made her heart jump when he called her 'Dinah'. He was more likely to just say 'you' or to leave the subject understood.

She took off down the hall towards the dungeons and the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The door was open when she reached it and Severus met her gaze for a moment from where he stood at the front of the classroom lecturing the students. His short nod and his eyes told her that she could just wait by the door until he was done, so she leaned against the wall and peered in, listening to the last bit of his lecture.

"I can see you are all terribly frightened by the turn our discussion has taken," he said in a deep monotone thick with sarcasm. Dinah leaned in closer with interest. She had never really heard him teach before, and with the tone in which he was speaking to the students she was starting to understand why he made so many of them nervous.

"The dementors have been removed from Azkaban since the Dark Lord's demise and the rebuilding of the Ministry," he continued. "Although it appears that during the many years they were kept as prison guards there were a certain number of _mistakes. _Namely, prisoners subjected to the full dementor's kiss and who are now lost to the world."

Dinah shuddered. She had never encountered a dementor and hoped never to have to encounter one. They had been a huge presence in the wizarding world during the last war, but she had been safely hidden in the Muggle world. She bit her lip and forced herself not to think about that. About what a coward she was.

"Can any of you tell me _why _the dementors are so difficult or even impossible to control by normal human means?"

Hermione Granger's hand shot into the air.

Dinah smiled. One could always trust that girl to have the answer. But apparently Severus could not. His gaze roved over the remainder of the non-responding students. "Does _anyone _have an answer?"

Hermione's hand remained in the air but he blatantly ignored it and continued to look over the other students. Dinah had to suppress a growl. She did _not _like what she was seeing.

"I see," Severus finally said, his characteristic smirk making Dinah angry for the first time. Hermione lowered her hand. She didn't look particularly disappointed. In fact, she appeared to have expected it. And yet she had raised her hand, probably in some kind of foolish hope that he would call on her at least once before she graduated.

"Well, since none of you are intelligent enough to give me the answer, I will dismiss you," Severus droned, looking utterly pleased with himself. It almost made Dinah sick. "I expect you all to read up on this and for someone to give me an answer next time, because if you don't tell me then I won't be telling you and then you will not do well on your N.E.W.T.s. Class dismissed." He waved them off and spun around to go organize some papers on his desk.

Dinah waited for all of the students to shuffle out past her and gave Hermione a small, sympathetic smile when their gazes met for a moment. Then she marched into the classroom.

When Severus turned back around to greet her his expression had softened to its usual one. "Dinner?" he asked in his normal tone.

But the reappearance of the Severus she was familiar with wasn't doing much for her at the moment. "What was that all about?"

He looked surprised at her tense stance, glare, and folded arms. "What was what about?"

"That!" she exclaimed, making a flailing gesture at the seats where the students had just been. "Hermione was _raising _her hand, and you ignored her!"

"Oh," his expression turned to the nasty one he had been giving the students, and his smirk this time was sickening. "How I teach my students is none of your business, I think."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, is that so? Well, I think it's disgusting."

He scoffed. "Miss Granger is an insufferable know-it-all and there is no reason for me to lower myself to hear her over thought out, self-important Gryffindor answers."

"So you stand there and pretend she doesn't exist? Do you _ever_ call on her? Or any Gryffindors for that matter?"

"Hmph," he snorted and turned away from her, responding flatly and without interest, "No."

"How dare you," she hissed, walking around so that she was facing him and glaring at him. "That is sickening and unprofessional! How do you live with yourself as a teacher when you treat your students like that?"

He rolled his eyes; "Somehow I manage to do just fine."

"Don't you give me that look," she growled, and Severus finally seemed surprised at her anger. Good, maybe she was getting through to him. "That is wrong! That is irresponsible and pigheaded. Now I understand calling on different people than usual every now and again or encouraging people who don't usually answer to answer. That's perfectly acceptable, normal teacher behavior. But _this_? No, this is disgusting. If she's the only one with her hand raised the least you could do would be to acknowledge her. I don't care what you think of her or if she's an insufferable know-it-all or what have you! You call on her and you let her answer. You call on all Gryffindors if they have an answer to a question."

He shook his head, looking baffled. "Why are you getting so upset about this?"

"Because it's _wrong_! I knew you were a strict teacher but I didn't think you were an unfair one! I can't stand to see that attitude. You accuse the Gryffindors of being self-important but what do you think that you were doing in there? Just because you don't like them or their house or the people they associate with you take a morbid _enjoyment _in mistreating them? That's sick!"

"All right, you find it sick and disgusting," Severus threw up his hands. "Honestly, this is turning out to be a wonderful year. I spend eighteen years minding my own business and suddenly I'm bombarded with people judging my behavior and telling me how to do my job. What did I do to deserve this?"

Dinah didn't know what 'people' he was talking about and she didn't really care at the moment. "I have no clue why Dumbledore has never called you out on this behavior before, but _I am_," she snarled. "I won't have any of my colleagues employing such unacceptable practices. _Ignoring_ students, honestly!"

He just stared at her.

"You don't do that!" she stuck a finger in his face. "Do you understand me, Severus? You do _not_ do that anymore."

"All right, all right, I won't do it any more," he backed up and held up his hands. Apparently her anger was really starting to freak him out. "Now please stop yelling at me!"

"Oh, I see," it was her turn to roll her eyes. "You can dish it out, but you can't take it, huh? How very mature. I expected much better from you, Severus."

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you," he frowned down at her, still looking out of sorts from the attack.

"I'd better hear that you're changing your behavior soon, I'll tell you that much. You do _not _treat others so disrespectfully."

"Whatever," he sighed. "Now do you want to go to dinner or not?"

"No, I can't eat with you today. I'm taking dinner in my rooms. You think about what I said and make the appropriate changes. Good-bye," she stormed out of the room the same way she had stormed in.

Her anger only started to subside, albeit slowly, when she almost dropped her dinner plate on the floor as she slammed it onto the table. She was just barely able to catch it in time. Luckily, nothing was on it yet.

She sighed and took a few deep breaths. Tonight's dinner selection of marinated chicken breast and noodles appeared on the plate and she lifted her fork, turning her gaze to the brown cat who sat at her feet, looking up at her with his big, curious eyes.

"He's a total git, Godric! At least to his students. What I ever saw in him I don't even know," she took a frustrated bite of chicken.

As she got some food in her, though, she couldn't help but smile a little. Her frustration continued to die down, and she found her thoughts drifting back to the other moments she had spent with him. His silly habits – the smirks and the snarky comments – and then those rare moments when he smiled and touched her. The warmth of his touch, and the sound of him saying her name.

She knew why she liked him.

Yet, she was still rather pleased with herself for laying into him like she had. _Some_body had to and she had a feeling that it was going to make an impression and also that it probably wouldn't hurt their relationship any. She hadn't really said anything hurtful, this time, and she was certain that those were things he needed to hear anyway.

She had to laugh when she remembered sticking her finger in his face and scolding him like he was a small child. He had responded more with shock than anything else, although he had had an attitude in the beginning. She didn't like his teaching behaviors, but he could change. She firmly stood by her decision that he was a good person.

After what she had seen in the pensieve, how could she think anything else?

Actually, getting mad at him had been rather fun. No, she wasn't a sadistic mental case; she was just enjoying being in a relationship again. Even the fights were nice because it meant that she had somebody to fight _with_.

Of course, now she would have to apologize to him. She wasn't sure exactly how that was going to work out, but decided to just trust that it would. Now, she wanted dessert. She didn't know what today's dessert was, but she wanted strawberry shortcake. So she decided to go to the kitchens and ask the house elves to make her some. Apparently, being angry made her crave fruity sweet things.

Dinah was just passing one of the lateral hallways when she heard the yelling. She stopped in the middle of the hall, where a few students still wandered about, heading to their common rooms for the night, and listened.

She couldn't make out the words, but she was fairly certain that she recognized Lucy's voice. She wandered in the direction the sound was coming from and ended up at the door to her friend's rooms. The yelling was mostly incomprehensible anyway, so she probably wouldn't be able to make out the words unless she was in there, but it sounded heated. Actually, it sounded like Lucy might be crying. And Sirius's voice was both stressed and defensive.

Dinah sighed. It wasn't good for those two to be fighting, especially with how close they seemed and how attached Lucy was. And this didn't sound like a fun argument, as she was starting to think of hers and Severus's as. Despite her new dislike of Sirius, she felt bad for both for both of them.

Lucy had looked rather sad yesterday, Dinah recalled. She had meant to go and ask her what was going on but Slughorn had been rather insistent that she and Severus come see a new youthening potion development and she had been pulled along. She hadn't talked to Lucy very much lately and felt bad about it. She would try to make a point to see her soon. They had to organize that trip to the Ministry anyway, and Dinah hadn't really meant to put it off for this long.

Hopefully Lucy and Sirius would work their argument out tonight, but there wasn't much Dinah could do about it at the moment. So she headed back the way she had come and turned toward the kitchens at the next hall, reminding herself to make sure to apologize to Severus as soon as she got the chance.


	33. Relationship

NOTE: Short chapter but a slightly fluffy one :) - hope everyone enjoys it.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Relationship

* * *

Dinah got her chance to apologize to Severus the next day after dinner, when they were both in the potions room again helping Eugene out with his latest brilliant idea. She'd been avoiding meeting his gaze at meals today, unsure just how to go about the apology, but it seemed she would be forced into it here. Which wasn't really a bad thing.

She finally understood why Slughorn had become indifferent to the noises from Eugene's rooms. They happened constantly, and Dinah herself was even starting to buy the open window explanation.

When Eugene and Slughorn had retreated to a storage area to get some more ingredients and equipment Dinah took a deep breath and looked at Severus. "How is it coming?"

"Well enough," he replied, his tone awkward. "I think adding the new ingredients will help immensely for the transition from frog to rat subjects." He paused, "How is yours coming?"

"Oh, well," she agreed, stirring her own concoction but not really focusing on it. It was now or never. "Severus?"

"What?"

"I'm sorry," she smiled.

He sighed. "No. _I'm _sorry. Perhaps my practices are a bit... outdated."

"Outdated?" she didn't understand what he meant by that.

"I mean for me. I should be over those issues by now... at this age, I suppose," he continued to watch her, tipping the vial of clear liquid he was holding over the glass of pomegranate potion, now a sort of unpleasant brown color from the addition of the daisy root ingredient.

"Severus, stop!" Slughorn hurried over and snatched the clear vial from him with a shocked expression. "You were about to put worm acid into a solution containing snake bile!"

Severus flushed, looking more embarrassed than perhaps Dinah had seen him yet as he stared at the vial. "I was?"

"I never expected such a mistake from you," Slughorn shook his head. "And I don't want my potions room to explode, either. You must be very distracted to have done such a thing."

"I must have been," he glanced at Dinah again, and then stepped back from the potions table. "If you don't mind, I think Dinah and I will have to stop for the day. Obviously I'm not useful to you in this distracted state, and I would like to do some reading up on potion-making methods before it gets too late. If you'll excuse us, she and I will go back to my rooms and look up more information for you so that we can be of better help in the future."

Slughorn raised an eyebrow and Dinah was starting to wonder if Severus had gotten the move from him. He looked from one of them to the other, noting the flush that had risen in Dinah's cheeks and Severus's odd expression. Then he shrugged. "Do as you will. I think we can handle this without you for the evening."

Severus nodded, and then came around the table to Dinah. "You don't mind reading with me?"  
"Hardly," she managed to whisper. She had no idea what had gotten into him but she was starting to think that yelling at him yesterday had been a _very _good thing indeed.

"Well, then," he placed one hand on her back and began to guide her from the room.

She could do nothing but follow. He let go of her shortly after they entered the hall where students were present, but when they made it into his rooms he took both of her shoulders and sat her down on the sofa on the middle cushion before walking to his bookshelf and grabbing two thick potions books. He shoved one into her hands and then sat next to her on the couch, opening the other. "Read that one. I'm looking for any information on transfer of potions from one type of animal subject to another. I trust you're smart enough to know what might be of interest."

Dinah flushed with pleasure. "Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment. Um... exactly what is all this about?"

"What is all what about?" he asked, feigning ignorance. But when she looked at his face she noticed that he still looked embarrassed.

She smiled. "Nothing. Um... Severus?"

"Yes?" he lowered the book and looked at her, his raised eyebrow this time only asking a question.

She took another deep breath and then moved closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder. She waited for his body to flinch and then relax, and then asked her question. "Is this okay?"

He stared at her for a moment, and then nodded. "I think it's okay."

She smiled and nodded back, opening the book just as he slipped a hesitant arm around her waist. They stayed that way for the rest of the evening.

* * *

"Pumpkin pops," Dinah said to the eagle statue. As Halloween was coming up in just over a week, the new password seemed appropriate.

The staircase leading up to the headmaster's office revealed itself and Dinah climbed. She wasn't quite looking forward to this meeting, as she hadn't gotten as far as she'd wanted to on the surveys yet. But she brought her laptop anyway. Perhaps showing Dumbledore the raw data would be impressive looking enough that he would overlook the fact that she only had very minimal results at the moment.

"Good day, Dinah," Dumbledore smiled when she sat in front of his desk. "I trust your Friday is going well so far."

"Yes," she smiled back. "My Thursday went even better."

"I see," his eyes twinkled and she wondered if he already knew what had happened at Severus's last night. But that was silly. "I hear that you recently gave Severus a hard time about his teaching methods," he said, smiling.

Now she flushed. "Er, well sort of. He told you then, I presume."

"Was rather disturbed by your behavior, actually," Dumbledore said. "He asked my advice on the matter and I'm afraid I might not have been helpful. I told him to determine the answer on his own. I confess; he often doesn't enjoy it when I do that."

Dinah had to laugh. At least the headmaster was aware that the way he 'helped' others could be sometimes frustrating. "Well, it worked out. Somehow, it always does."

"For the most part," now Dumbledore frowned. "I appreciate your efforts in getting to know Severus. I even think that it was probably for the best that you saw the memories in his pensieve."

"Oh..." it was Dinah's turn to frown. "He told you about that, too?"

The headmaster laughed, "I'm afraid it's a fact that Severus confides in me more than he would like to admit. But in case you were worried about your own privacy, he has never spoken to me about anything you may have told him. I am suggesting that perhaps you have told him about some of your own past issues?"

She swallowed and stared at the floor, embarrassed. "No," her voice was soft. "I haven't. I probably should, right? It's only fair, since I know all about his... but I just can't. I'm... afraid."

"Afraid of being afraid."

"No!" she looked up, flushed, and then sighed, realizing it was true. "Partially. I suppose. But I've always been like that. It's a vicious cycle."

"I'm not pressuring you, but I stand by what I said before. I think Severus is a person who can understand what you've been through. He likes you, Dinah. More than he's liked a woman since Lily, I believe. Still, I want you to be careful. His warnings to you about getting hurt were not unfounded. I think you know that."

"I know," she nodded. "I don't think I've got my hopes too high yet. And things seem to be progressing well at this point."

"I believe so, too," Dumbledore smiled again. "And I hope that Severus can learn to move on. Just be cautious. That's all I want to get across to you."

"I will be."

"All right. Now, let us discuss this survey of yours."

"Ah, yes," she smiled, pulling her laptop out and pushing the on button, letting it load. "I haven't really had much chance for analysis since Severus and I have been helping Professor Slughorn and Eugene with the youthening potion quite a bit."

"A worthy endeavor," Dumbledore nodded, watching her computer load with a curious eye. "And it allows you to spend more time with Severus, which is a good thing. But perhaps you could help them a little less often so that you have more time to work on your own studies. I also don't think Eugene should rely too much on the help of multiple people. Slughorn is considering him as a successor to his position in the future and this project should be mostly his own work."

"Oh, I see. Well, I'll mention that to Severus. Then again, you probably already have."

"You will find that he knows," Dumbledore admitted, smiling, and then gestured to her laptop. "Can you tell me what we have here?"

"Yes. This is a spreadsheet where I have entered all the students' responses. In this way, I can transport the data quickly and easily into another computer program for analysis."

"Fascinating..." Dumbledore, ever curious about new things, touched the screen. "And your analysis is not yet complete?"

"No," she admitted. "I've begun some of it, but I haven't gotten very far."

"I see. Well, I confess I am intrigued by this machine. Do you think you might show me how you do your analysis? Simply to satisfy an old man's curiosity, of course."

"Of course," she smiled back, both of them knowing that this was really just a cleverly disguised incentive to get her to start the analysis. Still, she went with it, and began showing Dumbledore just how SAS software worked.


	34. Movie

NOTE: So this one is more of a filler chapter as a tie-in with CommanderValeria's story "Don't Leave Me." But I made sure to throw Severus in the middle for everyone's enjoyment.

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Movie

* * *

There was a scratching at Dinah's door. She yawned and got up from the couch where she had been taking a Saturday afternoon nap. Or what had apparently amounted to an evening nap because it was dark outside and she had clearly slept longer than she had intended to. She had been hoping Severus might come by, but she highly doubted that he would be scratching at the door. Her second thought was that Godric had gotten out again, but her cat was staring at her from the kitchen counter.

She shrugged and walked to the door. Perhaps Mrs. Norris was in heat or something. Now there was a lovely thought. She opened it.

The cat turned out to be Lucy's cat, Dora, accompanied by Lucy herself. Dinah was about to shoot out a cheerful hello coupled with an apology for not having been social lately when she saw her friend's face. Lucy was standing there with a bunch of tissues stuffed in one hand and a face that made it abundantly clear she had been crying, and not very long ago either. Her hair was a little frazzled looking, and she was shifting from one foot to the other, giving Dinah a weak smile. "Oh... hi," Dinah said stupidly.

"Hi," she responded, blowing her nose. "Can…can I come in?"

"Oh. Of course," Dinah stepped aside, allowing Lucy the access she needed to enter through the doorway. "Is everything okay?" That was probably a stupid question. Dinah was definitely at her most eloquent today. She suddenly remembered that Lucy usually went to Hogsmeade with Sirius on the weekends, so maybe she was upset because she wasn't there for some reason. She suspected it might have been the fight she had heard on Wednesday, but didn't want to mention that and upset Lucy any more than she already was.

She entered and headed straight for the couch. She sat on it and pulled her knees up to her chin, while her cat pressed up against her. "No," she whispered, "everything is not okay. I don't think I should be by myself tonight. I'm sorry, I didn't ask if you were busy. Are you busy? You've seemed busy lately."

"Oh..." Dinah began for the third time, and inwardly cursed herself again for not being friendlier lately. She'd had no idea it would lead to this insecurity on Lucy's part. She went to stand in front of the couch. "No, I'm not busy. I was really just taking a nap, that's all. Please stay if you need to. I'm so sorry if I've seemed rude lately. Slughorn kept asking Severus and me to help him and Eugene out... I probably should have said no more often but it was hard to. And I got to spend time with Severus so..." she shrugged. "But I should have been more social. I'm sorry. I was going to say that when you came in but you looked so upset I forgot to at first."

"I understand. This," she said, pointing at her face, "is not your fault. It's mine, I'm an idiot."

Dinah had to smile a little, and sat down on the opposite side of the couch. "Oh, I wouldn't say that. It's not always easy to be in control of ones self when something upsetting happens, which I assume has. Experience has taught me that instead of putting yourself down you should probably just accept how you're feeling and let yourself feel that way if you need to. Although I don't know that I'm necessarily good at it. It's easy to yell at yourself. I think we all feel that way." She purposefully kept her comments general so as not to imply she suspected about the fight.

"Well, I feel like and idiot. I shouldn't have told him to go, but how could I not? I mean, he, ah, he wasn't even going to tell me and then he did and he sat there and said he didn't have to go. He didn't want to leave me alone that long. I'll be fine, I said. Idiot." She sniffed and wiped at her eyes, reaching down to stroke Dora.

"I'm sorry, Lucy," Dinah said gently, "But I don't quite understand. Could you explain that again? What happened?" Whatever she was talking about, it didn't sound like a fight. Dinah watched her friend try to get a hold of herself as Godric hopped onto the couch and started sniffing Dora.

Lucy watched the two cats; "Sorry, my brain and my mouth aren't quite connecting apparently. Sirius got a letter from Harry saying he was going to be in London this weekend and wondered if it was okay that he stay at Grimmauld Place. I told Sirius to go and spend some time with him. They've hardly seen each other since the battle. He asked me about fifty times if I was sure it was okay and I had to promise to go talk to somebody if I was feeling less than stellar."

"Well, then I don't think you're an idiot. You're feeling bad and you came to talk to somebody, just like you said you would. I guess you were hoping you wouldn't feel bad at all though, huh? Godric, stop that!" she reached over and grabbed her cat, who had started pawing at the smaller gray cat's ears.

Lucy finally smiled, "Well, at least someone's having fun this weekend." She lowered her legs and let Dora, who was giving the larger brown cat a rather haughty look, climb up on her lap. "I don't like feeling like this. I wish I could spend more than two days alone without turning into an emotional wreck."

"Maybe it's not as bad as you think," Dinah said. "I mean, maybe you don't have to be _alone _alone to be making progress. Most people at least socialize with somebody even if they're not with their significant other. So if you and I can spend some time together and you're doing okay, I think that's a good thing. So how about that? We can do something fun."

Lucy nodded, "I'm willing to try it. I think maybe it's more because I'm used to being alone that I think I need to be alone to be improving. I spent a good deal of my childhood alone and when I was on missions for the Order I was alone."

"I was kind of like that at Hogwarts," Dinah said quietly. "So I know how it goes. I had a lot more friends in the Muggle world... Actually, according to my preliminary survey data, a lot of the Muggle born Slytherins are like that."

"I've noticed that…about the Slytherins that is," Lucy shrugged, "There weren't a lot of kids around where I grew up and even though I had my cousins I didn't see them much before I came to Hogwarts. And I had Tonks. That was all I needed really."

"I would have wanted more, if I could have gotten it," Dinah said, then shook her head and stood up. "But that's in the past now. How about we watch a Muggle movie? I haven't done that in a while, and the newness of it might help to get your mind off things."

Lucy seemed to perk up. "A movie? It's sort of like a play right? That'd be nice. I like watching plays."

"Great!" Dinah stood from the couch. "Yeah, it's similar but a bit different. What kind of movie would you like to watch? I'm thinking that a comedy might be good for you right now, but don't let me make up your mind for you."

Lucy nodded vigorously, "A comedy sounds nice. I mean some can be pretty stupid but there's only one way to find out. Right?"

"Right. I'll pick a good one," Dinah smiled. "Wait right here and I'll go get the telly."

"Telly?" Lucy asked when Dinah brought her small television back into the room and set it on the coffee table. Her friend leaned forward, fascinated by what she saw.

"Yes, I'm sure your Uncle Arthur must have at least mentioned it before. Telly is short for television set." She waved her wand at the box and a small spell surrounded it. "I do that so it works in Hogwarts." She pushed the button and it came on to static, then she placed the VCR next to it and put in a cassette, pushing play. The screen lit up with the logo for the movie's production company.

"Oh, yes. I remember him talking about these. Muggles use them for all sorts of things right? Like for reading the news paper and watching plays. Or movies, I guess you call them. Oh, what's that?" she asked pointing at the green screen, before reading, "This preview has been approved for all audiences. What does that mean?"

Dinah laughed. "A preview shows clips from other movies so you can decide if you want to see them or not. Approved for all audiences just means they didn't put any swearing or racy material in the selected clips, so anybody can watch it."

"Ah. Well, that's nice of them. I don't mind a bit of swearing or sex but it's nice to be warned if there's going to be excessive amounts of it," Lucy snuggled into her corner of the couch, "I'm sorry I don't mean to be a pain but do you have a blanket I could borrow? Sirius likes to tease me but I like to be as wrapped up as I can get when I'm reading or sleeping or, well, watching a movie I guess. Plus it's getting cold out."

"Sure," Dinah reached underneath the couch and pulled out a pile of various blankets, afghans, throws, and comforters. She grinned and placed it on the couch in-between them. "Take your pick."

Lucy pulled out an afghan and wrapped herself up in it, "Thanks." Dora protested being stuck under the blanket and Lucy lifted the edge so she could wander around the couch. She didn't go far from Lucy but the cat was no longer glued to her owner's side.

They had just gotten into the beginning of the film and Lucy was oohing and aahing over everything she saw when a sharp knock sounded on Dinah's door. She recognized Severus's knock and couldn't keep the slight flush from rising in her cheeks. She stood from the couch. "Excuse me, I'll just go and get that." She hit the pause button on the remote control and headed to the door.

Lucy gasped from back on the couch, "Hey, how'd you do that? Oh, never mind you can tell me after you take care of the door."

Dinah laughed and flashed a smile before turning to the door and opening it. Severus stood on the other side, making a point to appear that he wasn't waiting for her, feigning looking around the hallway. She smiled. "See anything you like?"

He kept up the act rather well, moving to face her and not smiling. "Are you busy?"

"Well, sort of, but you can always join us."

"Us?"

"Yes," she stepped aside so he could see in. He nodded briefly to Lucy, who offered him a sort of nervous smile. "Lucy and I are watching a movie."

She realized that those words were not positive the minute she had spoken them. Severus's gaze shifted to the black television on the coffee table and his expression turned rather hostile. It didn't help that Godric had run up to him and started batting at his robes again. He snorted. "I see. A... _movie_. In Hogwarts."

"Oh, come on," Dinah laughed, putting a hand on his arm and receiving his usual flinch in response. He turned to stare at her and she shrugged. "You can't be anti-Muggle forever if you want to be involved with me."

"_You _want to be involved with _me_," he had to point out. "And whether I do or do not enjoy your company has nothing to do with your use of Muggle artifacts. _If _– hypothetically – I enjoy spending time with you, which again I may or may not. But if that was the case I would enjoy doing non-Muggle related things with you. My potential interest in your company which I may or may not have is independent from my dislike of Muggle society. The fact that you are attached to Muggle society is irrelevant because I intend to not do any of those things with you, whether I do or do not enjoy doing other things with you such as reading normal, non-Muggle potions books."

Dinah blinked, trying to follow that convoluted explanation. She was starting to wonder if the man wasn't a bit nuts. To go through that much complexity just to make sure he didn't vocally admit that he enjoyed spending time with her seemed a bit much even for him. Then again, maybe it was the fact that Lucy was in the room. He did tend to be more uncomfortable about their relationship in public. "Well, why don't you give me a few days to interpret that and then I'll get back to you."

He sighed. "I won't watch a Muggle movie with you. Is that better?"

"Much," she laughed.

"And I won't entertain your cat, either," he pulled his robes away from Godric, and Dinah leaned over and picked her pet up. "But if you would like to help me research I will be in the dungeons doing so tomorrow. Come if you want to."

She smiled. "You know I want to."

He looked uncomfortable and his eyes darted over to Lucy, but she seemed preoccupied with her cat at the moment. "Then come. And if you _must_ watch this Muggle movie I suppose I should say 'enjoy your movie', shouldn't I?"

"Don't strain yourself," she grinned, then gave his hand a squeeze. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"If that is your choice," he retorted, turning on his heel and marching off down the hall towards the dungeons.

Dinah smiled and rolled her eyes, closing the door and walking back over to Lucy. "Sorry about that. He has Muggle-hatred issues."

Lucy shrugged, "It's okay. I tried not to eavesdrop. My cat decided to turn coward and hid under the couch. Large dogs that could eat her in one bite she doesn't have a problem with, but apparently she finds Professor Snape very scary."

She laughed, putting her cat down on the floor where he went and started sniffing around Dora again; "Not Godric. He loves Severus. Not sure exactly why, but he always wants to play with him. Severus, of course, has no clue how to respond to something like that."

Lucy smiled, "That's funny to picture." She let Dora down again, wiggling her fingers at Godric. "Well, if Godric likes him then he must be pretty special. There are some people animals just will not take a liking to. Cass, my mum's cat, absolutely hated Nick. Nick Hill, that is. I brought Cass with me to Hogwarts when I came. He died not too long after graduated…Cass, not Nick."

"Aw, sorry to hear that, even though it was a long time ago," Dinah said. "And it's true; animals are good judges of character. Severus is actually pretty great, once you can get through his barriers. His true nature is a lot different from how he acts in front of most people. Although I think I'm only starting to scratch the surface of his true personality. I hope he opens up to me the longer we're together."

"Thanks," Lucy said, "He sort of became my cat after Mum died. I think he missed her just as much as I did. I think Professor Snape will open up more the more time you spend with him. I've never seen him willingly seek out anyone's company besides Dumbledore's before."

Dinah smiled, idly stroking Godric's fur when he jumped back up next to her. "Yeah, he actually came over here willingly today. Such progress," she laughed, and then Lucy's earlier words hit her. "Oh, I didn't realize your mother passed away. That must have been tough."

"Yeah, it was. I was eight. She was killed eleven days before the Potters. It was…kind of a weird time."

"Oh... the Potters," Dinah had a sudden fear that Severus's group might have been responsible for Lucy's mother's murder. After all, he had been a _real _Death Eater before the Potters had died. "Do you know... who did it?"

Lucy shook her head, "No. I mean the authorities were pretty sure it was Death Eaters but no specific person. Tuesday was the anniversary of her death."

"Oh... I'm sorry," Dinah, in a typical cowardly move she tried not to think about, changed the subject back to the movie. "So would you like me to push play again? It's on pause right now. The remote control here does it," she handed the black item to Lucy.

Lucy carefully tuned the item over in her hands, "Is this like a wand? With buttons? All the buttons have a different function?"

"Yes," Dinah pointed, "Push the one that says 'play'."

Lucy pushed it and movie started up again, "Wow. Muggles really do have their own sort of magic, don't they?"

Dinah smiled. "Yes. And that's what I've been sort of trying to get across to the students." They continued to watch the movie, and Lucy seemed to really enjoy it. It was nice to have a good laugh with a friend, Dinah thought. She had always loved watching movies with other people more than watching alone. Not that she didn't enjoy watching alone, too.

Then again, it always drove her nuts when somebody fell asleep before the movie was over, which was just what Lucy did. Dinah turned the television off when it was finished and contemplated whether or not she should wake her friend up. She had no problem with Lucy staying here, but she didn't want Lucy to stay here if she was uncomfortable. She had no idea whether or not her new friend was one of those people who didn't like to sleep in strange places or the like. And she didn't want her to be freaked out or confused when she woke up, either.

After thinking on it a little longer Dinah decided to just let Lucy sleep and not wake her up. Obviously she was stressed and if she was already comfortable it was probably not a good idea to mess with that. And she didn't really think that Lucy would get _mad _at her if she stayed here. But she might be cranky if she woke her up.

That decided, Dinah extinguished the light in the living room with her wand and headed to her own bed for the night.

* * *

Dinah woke up early the next morning, well-rested after taking a long nap the day before and also going to bed earlier than usual. She stretched and got out of bed, almost tripping over Dora and Godric who were curled up next to each other in a patch of sunlight on the floor. Dinah smiled at the cute sight, then slipped on a morning robe over her pajamas and walked out to the kitchen for some breakfast. Lucy was already awake and sitting at the table. She smiled in greeting; "Good morning."

"Morning," Lucy responded, "Sorry for falling asleep on you last night."

"That's all right. I hope you weren't annoyed that I didn't wake you up. You seemed peaceful enough and I didn't want to bother you." Dinah sat down at the table. "Would you like some coffee or breakfast?"

"I was actually pretty comfortable, thanks. Coffee with cream and sugar would be great and breakfast too if you don't mind."

She smiled and stood, "Sure. I'll get some plates and make some coffee and then we can summon up whatever they're serving for breakfast today." It turned out breakfast was eggs, sausage, and toast with jam after Dinah had sat back down and given Lucy a mug of coffee. "So I'd been meaning to ask you when would be a good time to go to the Ministry," Dinah said after she took a bite of sausage.

"Hmm. Well, we could go today if you wanted. If you hadn't made plans with Professor Snape that is. I mean Severus. I'm so used to calling him professor but I guess I should try and get myself out of that habit."

"Today would be fine. I was hoping we could do it before Halloween. And it shouldn't take more than a couple of hours so I'll just go tell Severus that I won't be back until later."

"All right. I could send an owl to Grimmauld Place and maybe we could meet up with Sirius and Harry for lunch or something. If you don't mind. Or I could just stop by there after we're done at the Ministry."

"Oh, lunch sounds fun," Dinah said, feeling a little bit guilty as her excitement at meeting Harry trumped her desire to maintain a standoffish attitude with regards to Sirius. "It would be nice to meet Harry, since we couldn't at Slughorn's party."

Lucy laughed. "He's really a pretty normal kid. Talented and on the mature side for his age but still normal."

"Oh, no," Dinah said, a little embarrassed. "I think so, too. I just still would be interested in meeting him. I mean, it seems everybody here but me already knows him, and I was so disconnected from everything that happened over the past seven years." Not to mention he destroyed Voldemort and hopefully made it so that she didn't have to do so, _and _he was rather intimately involved in some of Severus's pensieve scenes, and Severus was still madly in love with his dead mother. Those all made her curious to meet the boy, but she didn't mention those reasons to Lucy.

"Ah, right. I mostly got to know Harry through Sirius and my cousins. He's got some stories to tell, that's for sure." Lucy took her last bite of egg and followed it with the last of her coffee. "Well, I could go change into some robes that I haven't slept in and send off a quick note while you go talk to…Severus. If you're ready."

"Sure," Dinah finished her own coffee and stood. "You probably need time for Sirius to get the note? I'll just get ready for the day and we can meet at the entrance way at around eleven?"

"That sounds fine," she stood and headed for the door. "Dinah? Thanks for wanting to hang out with me today. I mean I feel okay now, but after yesterday…"

She smiled. "You're welcome. And I'll try to be better about it in the future. Dumbledore has already kind of suggested that Severus and I spend less time helping with the potion and more time doing our own thing... whatever that ends up being, I don't know yet," she flushed at the thought of doing more of her 'own things' with Severus.

Lucy shrugged, "It's okay. I know what it's like to be in a new relationship. I hope things keep going well for you though. You both seem…happier. Friendlier too, in his case. He's certainly stopped glaring at me all the time. Though his version of trying not to glare at me seems to have translated into 'avoid looking at me as much as possible'. He's trying anyway. Like he said he would."

Dinah had to laugh at that. "Actually I find his social ineptness rather amusing. But good to know that he's stopped glaring at you. I'll see you at eleven or so."

Lucy nodded and wandered off to her own rooms, while Dinah headed back inside and showered before going to the dungeons to see Severus.


	35. Ministry

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Ministry

* * *

Her 'boyfriend' was buried in a new potions book when she walked into his open office, but he put it down when she arrived and sat across form him at his desk. She smiled. "Leaving our door open again, are we?"

"Only when I'm in my office and can see people coming and going," he retorted, his voice flat.

She laughed. "I see. Well, I just came in to let you know that I won't be able to join you until later this evening. Lucy and I have decided to go look for ghost books at the Ministry today. Which is nice because I was hoping to get it done before Halloween."

"I see," he repeated her statement. "You're staying for the Halloween Feast next weekend then, I take it."

"I am. I was hoping we could... go together, I guess. I don't know." She stared at her now-twiddling thumbs, a nervous habit of hers. "I mean, maybe ask Professor Vector and Hagrid to move so we could sit next to each other or something."

He laughed, although it was only a short laugh of mild amusement. "I suppose that could be arranged. I doubt it will convince the students of anything they haven't already come up with in their suspicious minds. But there will be no cuddling or hand-holding in public."

"No, of course not. I don't want the students to come up with any more ideas than they already have either, but I want us to sit together. At least for the holiday."

"Then we shall, given Hagrid and Professor Vector's agreement, of course. And... perhaps after the feast we can return here for a short time."

"Really? That's perfect!" her head shot up to face him again and she must have looked too happy about it because he shifted, looking uncomfortable. She forced her expression to relax. "All right, then it's a 'date'. Or a plan. Whatever you want to call it."

"Mmm," he muttered, still uncomfortable. "It is what it is. I trust Dumbledore mentioned to you that we should back off from Eugene and Slughorn a bit, if we can."

"Yes," she agreed. "To be honest I think it would be better. I mean, I still want to help them out from time to time, but I was getting a little tired of hearing all of those strange noises and of dealing with Slughorn's gossipy nature."

Severus smiled a little. "Indeed. And I think you still have survey results to show me."

"Someday," she agreed with a short laugh. "I told you the entire analysis will take awhile. But I'm seeing more and more evidence for this business with the Muggle-born Slytherins. They don't seem as happy here as the other students are."

"I can't say much on that," he frowned. "I'm still working on the 'being nicer to Gryffindors in class' issue. You'll be pleased to know that I called on one yesterday."

"Wonderful," she had to smile at that. "Have you called on Hermione yet?"

His frown deepened. "No. You have to give me time on that one. I wouldn't want to give the insufferable know-it-all a heart attack, after all."

She laughed, "All right, but you can't put it off forever. I'm going to keep pressing you on the matter until you do so."

"I don't doubt it," he regarded her with his usual smirk, but she allowed herself the thought that there seemed to be some affection in the gesture this time. "You should go to the Minsitry."

"Yes...well, I'll be seeing Sirius. Apparently we'll actually be having lunch together. I'm sorry, I should have said no to that part but it seems Harry Potter will also be there and ever since seeing your scenes in the pensieve I have this burning desire to meet the boy. Stronger than before I saw them. Sorry, you don't want to hear that," she finished, realizing that her mouth had gone off again without her permission.

Severus stared at her, and then sighed after a long pause. "You want to meet Potter because he was the bane of my existence for seven years? Or because I'm in love with his mother?"

The fact that he had said 'I'm' and not 'I was' didn't escape Dinah, but she tried not to let it bother her. After all, she knew that was the case anyway. "His _dead _mother," she said, and then winced when she saw Severus flinch in response and look away. She had just done it _again_.

"I'm sorry," she placed her hand over his, and he turned to look back at her. "I didn't mean anything by it. I'm just feeling awkward because I know I shouldn't want to meet him so much for just those reasons. And also that I should have let my irritation at Sirius take first priority."

"Yes, well," he tried to change the subject, "You can't disappoint your overly emotional friend, so I suppose I can accept that you'll be in his presence from time to time."

"I promise not to enjoy it," she smiled and removed her hand from his, standing up. "I'll try to be back by dinner, okay?"

"I'll still be here. Good luck in your search."

"Thanks," she flashed him a smile which he only half-returned and then headed back to her rooms to get her money for lunch and her identification in case she needed it at the Ministry. Then she went to meet Lucy at the entrance hall.

They walked far enough to where they were just off Hogwarts grounds and then apparated to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

Sirius met them at the doorway to the big, ominous building and kissed Lucy hello. "Hi," he said to Lucy, and then gave Dinah a short, friendly nod which she forced herself to return.

"Hi," Lucy smiled, looking happier than she had for days now that she was in Sirius's presence again. "Where's Harry?"

"Sorry, Harry can't be here for lunch. He had some work to do this afternoon and just left about an hour ago."

"Oh," Dinah couldn't keep her face from falling. Well that was just great. Now she was stuck here with Sirius _alone_. Well, Lucy was here but that wasn't making her feel much better at the moment. She sighed; "All right, then let's go eat, I guess..."

"Did you want to eat here or go to the Leaky Cauldron? We can walk around Diagon Alley if you want and see what's open."

"Okay," Dinah said, eating somewhere else besides Sirius Black's home sounding good on principle alone. "Let's go to Diagon Alley. I heard Flourish and Blotts recently reopened and maybe they have a book that might be useful."

Sirius laughed, "Do you really think it's a good idea to take Lucy into a book store?"

"I don't know," she frowned. "Is it?"

Lucy smacked her boyfriend in a playful manner. "I, uh, can spend a lot of time in book stores. _But _that could be helpful since I know Flourish and Blotts pretty well and unless they remodeled I should be able to direct you to the right section."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "You're there enough that all the workers know you and they hold books for you that they think you might like."

Dinah smiled, "That sounds like fun. Let's go."

The threesome walked to Flourish and Blotts, where Lucy led them upstairs to the paranormal section. "Well, I think this might be a good place to start."

Dinah ran her finger down the line of books about ghosts. "Hogwarts. Hogwarts. Not Hogwarts, but that looks stupid anyway. Oh! Here's one that looks fairly new," she pulled the book out and flipped through it. "Interesting, but I'm not seeing what I'm looking for." She had a sudden idea and looked at them over the top of the book. "Why don't you two go and look at whatever it is you like? I'm sure you don't need to hang around while I look through these and then if you find a good place for lunch you can let me know and we'll go to eat."

Lucy and Sirius agreed and Dinah was able to enjoy a bit of quiet research away from Black's presence while the other two did their thing. Unfortunately, she didn't find much in the way of what she was looking for, but one book she found right before Lucy and Sirius came back to tell her they'd found a place looked like it might have at least _some_ useful information so she bought it before joining them at a small place that had just re-opened not too far from the Leaky Cauldron, which was still going through the renovation process.

As they waited for their lunch to arrive Dinah was finally forced to directly interact with Sirius Black when he asked her about her Muggle-born surveys.

"Oh, it's going well," she said, trying to act normal and not be too friendly at the same time. It wasn't quite easy to do. "I'm using some Muggle computer programs to analyze the data in an efficient way, but that will take some time. I'm hoping to look for trends, mostly related to how Muggle-born students function at Hogwarts and especially how they continue to interact with both worlds. I'd like some idea of how much of the Muggle world knows about wizarding society through being told by Muggle-borns. That's something I don't think even the Ministry is very clear on."

"Mmm. I know Lily pretty cut off all contact with her sister but I don't know much more than that."

"Oh. Yes. Lily." _You knew Lily, didn't you? Knew her and liked her and still treated her best friend like dirt? How do you justify _that_? Just because _your _best friend had a thing for her? Did you follow James around like a sick puppy, you dumb dog? And what is the other horrible thing you did that Severus hasn't yet told me about? What was it, huh, what? _She smiled. "I think most people at least maintain contact with their families."

"Probably," Sirius said, "Though I understand from Harry the Dursley's were some pretty nasty Muggles."

She nodded; "It might depend on the personalities of the Muggles involved who gets told and who doesn't. I probably should have inserted that factor into the survey, but I guess it will have to wait for later iterations."

"Perhaps," Lucy said, picking at her food.

"Would you eat?" Sirius said, "You're always bugging me to eat more and most of the time I find you picking at your food."

"Sorry," Lucy said, "I was just…thinking."

"What about?" Dinah asked; glad to turn her attention to Lucy for the moment. She took a bite of her roast turkey sandwich and waited for her friend to answer.

"Well, I'm wondering why it is that Muggle-born Slytherins seem to be so dejected. I don't know if this helps your survey at all but I've noticed I tend to have far fewer Slytherins in my classes and the ones I do have are generally Muggle-born or half-bloods."

"I think it makes some sense," Dinah said; "They're thrown into a house where most of the other students are distrustful of Muggles and think that wizards and purebloods are superior. Their personality traits may endear them to some of those ideas but the fact that they _are _what they're supposed to hate confuses them. And I don't think their peers know what to say around them, since they can't talk about pureblood superiority without insulting the Muggle-born Slytherins and their families. It's probably hard to make friends that way. On the other hand, though, I'd think the few Muggle-born Slytherins would join together and try to make their house more tolerant but that doesn't seem to be the case either."

Lucy nodded, "I know. I have Tad and Rita in my third year class. Both Muggle-born Slytherins. They sit on opposite sides of the classroom in each of the back corners. Tad will speak up from time to time but I don't think I've ever heard Rita speak. Of course Septimus doesn't make it easy for anyone to speak. Sacharissa is my only other pure-blood Slytherin in that class. She's not big into participating but I've caught her outside of class picking on Rita. Part of me would like to think Tad wants to help her but he's just too scared to."

"I think Hogwarts could do with having a few more activities that join together people from different houses and encourage communication among children from different backgrounds both within _and _between houses. I mean it doesn't have to be sappy touchy-feely stuff but I think more can be done than just Quidditch matches where the rivalry is so high. Not that I dislike Quidditch or anything."

Lucy took a few bites of her food before responding, "Yeah. The problem is though the kids that probably need to participate in something like that the most are the ones who would never willingly do it. Right?" she finished, looking at Sirius. She knew that for all his talk about equality he'd been a kid that could have used some bonding time with kids outside his house.

"Um, right. Especially boys. Girls are more likely to want to partake in something like that. Boys think it's too girly or uncool."

_So that's your excuse for treating other people like dirt?_ "Well, I'm sure there must be a way to spin it that will get them interested. I just haven't figured out what it is yet."

"Right," Lucy said, "Hey, while we're at the Ministry why don't we look up some potion books too. It might help you with Eugene."

"That would be nice," Dinah said with a light smile. _Wait till you hear this, Sirius_. "I'm sure that would please Severus, too."

"Sniv—ow!"

Lucy grimaced, stomping on Sirius's foot to get him to stop before he finished saying that name, "Dinah and Professor Snape have been doing research together. Helping Eugene with his youthening potion."

_Don't think I missed that... don't think that at all_. She maintained the light smile. "Yes. It's quite enjoyable for all parties."

Sirius shifted in his seat, looking distinctly uncomfortable, "Well, that's…nice. He always did like his research."

Lucy looked pleased that her boyfriend had refrained from saying something insulting about Dinah's. "Researching is fun. Look at all those books I read for research and think of how they've paid off for you."

Dinah let herself relax a little. The man was trying; she had to give him that. Her smile became just a tiny bit more genuine. "Now, I think maybe we could change the subject before the waitress comes back with the bill." She laughed.

"Hmmm," Lucy mused, "My birthday's in January. Hear that, Sirius? January." It seemed like there was a bit of an inside joke to the comment. Dinah just smiled and they each paid for their food before apparating to the Ministry.

From the outside, the Ministry was well hidden in Muggle London, but once they made it underground via one of the hidden lifts Dinah emerged in a spacious, well-decorated hall where a few Ministry employees wandered about, doing their jobs. She assumed that it was probably busier during the week.

Lucy led them over to the guard who asked; "Wands please?"

"I thought Auror's were allowed to keep their wands?" Lucy questioned, "It's been awhile since I've had to report in."

"Yes, employees are still allowed to carry their wands within the Ministry."

"Well, then…" she raised an eyebrow.

"I still need to check your wand, but it will be returned to you. The others I'm keeping."

"Understandable," Lucy told the man.

Dinah handed her wand to the guard and said low enough for just Lucy to hear. "Are you still considered an employee?"

Lucy shrugged handing her wand over along with Sirius, "I wouldn't think so but if he's not going to question it I'm not going to volunteer the information."

"Well, okay," Dinah said, thinking that for some reason she wouldn't have expected Lucy to do that. The guard didn't seem suspicious and handed Lucy back her wand, allowing them to go deeper into the Ministry where Lucy led. "They probably shouldn't have the guard's duties so separate from those of the phone booth lift. If he had asked to see our visitor passes he would have known you weren't an employee."

"No, probably not. In case you were wondering I wouldn't normally do that. I just wondered," she shrugged, "Can't expect miracles overnight after all." She headed to a bank of lifts, "We need to go to level four. That's the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I'm guessing that would be our best bet but we can go somewhere else if we need to."

"Okay," Dinah agreed, letting Lucy lead them to that area. She wandered around for awhile among the stacks and stacks of books, but was having a hard time finding what she was looking for. "Is there somebody we can ask?"

Lucy shrugged, "Probably. Unfortunately, I don't know a single soul in this department."

They were finally able to locate a bored-looking book-keeper who directed them to the Spirit Division section, in a different room that was attached to the main one. The sheer number of books in the room was overwhelming to Dinah at first before she realized that nearly all of them were record books reporting and summarizing instances where the Ministry had had to deal with ghosts in a legal manner. The section on information _about _ghosts was very tiny. She found one book that might be of interest and then went to ask the book-keeper what was up.

He frowned. "Oh, you want information _about _ghosts? Most of that is in the Department of Mysteries, but they're still regrouping down there from the chaos two years ago. Much of the information was lost, at any rate. But you can go there if you want – you'd have to have an escort, though. Otherwise it's off limits to visitors."

Dinah exchanged glances with her two companions, feeling like she was somewhat on the same page as Sirius for the first time today. She knew that neither Lucy nor Sirius would have much interest in going down there since that's where Sirius had been killed. She also didn't really want to go down there herself as that's where her prophesy was presumably held. Although she had heard many of them had been broken on that fateful day, she hadn't bothered to find out whether her own had survived or not. She really just _didn't _want to go down there.

"I don't want to go down there," Lucy whispered, squeezing Sirius's hand so hard that he winced.

"Neither do I," Dinah said, and then sighed. She didn't want to give the prophecy thing away. "I mean... I've heard it's very creepy and I don't want to make either of you go down there and face it either. Well, maybe we can get somebody to go for us if we ask nicely?"

Lucy nodded, "We could go see if Uncle Arthur's in today."

"The one who is fascinated by Muggles? Ginny's father?" Dinah said, hoping that she was right about that. It would be interesting to meet the man.

"Yep, that's the one. I only have one uncle, by the way. Well, one living uncle that is. There's just one small issue."

"And that is?" Sirius asked.

"His office is on level two with the Auror Headquarters."

Dinah laughed, "And you have your wand. Well, they don't have to know that as long as they don't talk to the guard."

Lucy spread her hands out in front of her, "Let's hope they don't go looking in my pocket." She led them back to the lifts and through the room filled with Auror's offices with her head down. In a hallway off the offices were two doors opposite each other and she knocked on the right one before poking her head in, "Uncle Arthur? Can I come in?"

"Lucy? Of course. Come in, come in," the middle-aged, red-haired man bearing some resemblance to Lucy and Ginny waved them in and gave his niece a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, um, Dinah," she said, pointing at Dinah. "She's the new Muggle Studies professor, she's doing some research into ghosts and hasn't been able to find what she was looking for so I brought her here to see if she could find something. Sirius came just because."

"Oh, and you just stopped by to visit?"

"Um, no. We actually need something. Apparently the books Dinah is looking for are down in the Department of Mysteries. We can't go down there. Employees only, or so we're told. I mean they let me bring my wand in but I doubt I'd get away with going down there, even if I wanted to, which I don't."

"Your wand? Lucy what did you do?"

"Nothing! Ernie let me keep my wand of his own free will. All I did was ask if Aurors were still allowed to keep their wands with them inside the Ministry."

Arthur narrowed his eyes. "Did you tell the guard you were an Auror?"

"No, not exactly. All I did was ask him that question and mention that it'd been awhile since I'd had to report in. Neither one of those things were a lie. It's not my fault he assumed I was an Auror."

"Um, hello, I'm Dinah Samson, new Professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts," Dinah decided that now was as good a time as any to introduce herself to the man. "Lucy tells me you have an interest in Muggles," she added, shaking his hand in a friendly hello.

"Oh, yes! Fascinating creatures. Ginny's written me about your class. Says I'd probably enjoy it myself if I had the chance to take it. Can you tell me what is the function of this and what do Muggles call it?" he held up a ball of netting with a short bit of roped looped so that you could use it to hang the netting on something.

Dinah smiled and took it from him. "It's used in the bath. Soap lathers well on it and then you use it as a scrub for when you wash. They come in all different colors."

"Ah, fascinating, fascinating. Now I believe Lucy was saying you needed me for something. What can I help you with?"

"Well, I'm looking for information on ghosts. Specifically, I wondered if there are different types of ghosts than the ones we usually encounter. Such as ghosts with different behaviors or physical traits. Really, I'm looking for information on anything strange or unexplained or weird that has been noted in regards to ghosts."

"I'll go down and see what I can find. Why don't you three wait here?" He gestured at three chairs they could sit in, one of them being his own chair, and nodded at Sirius as he passed out of the room.

"I hope he can find something," Dinah tried to make conversation, stuck once again in a situation where she couldn't avoid or ignore Sirius.

"I'm sure he will," Lucy said, "He might be a bit scatterbrained at times but he's head of his department for a reason."

Lucy's uncle was gone for a long time and the room fell into an uncomfortable silence. Dinah tried not to glare at Sirius, but she was afraid she wasn't always successful and her inner monologue at him just refused to shut up, similar to what had happened at lunch. Finally, Arthur Weasley came back in carrying a stack of papers and what looked like one old book.

"I'm not sure if this is quite what you're looking for," he said, handing the stack to Dinah, "but I brought back anything I thought looked like what you described."

Dinah looked through the papers. They seemed to be various reports of strange happenings relating to ghosts, but nothing of a legal nature. The book was titled _A Compilation of Observations on the Nature of Ghosts and Corresponding Mysteries_. She looked up at Arthur and smiled. "These look more promising than anything I've seen yet – especially the book. But I don't think I can stay here all the time and read them... are they things I can borrow?"

"You can borrow them. The articles are copies of the originals. The book just needs to be returned in a month. You can re-check it out of course. Or actually I can re-check it out for you."

"Thank you," Dinah smiled and shook Arthur Weasley's hand again. Things were looking up as far as her search for information went. All in all, Sirius's presence aside, it was good that she had come here. They took a short detour to look for potions books in another part of the Ministry, found two of potential interest and checked them out along with the book Dinah had found in the Spirit Division of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Then all three apparated back to the area near Hogwarts.


	36. Confrontation

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Confrontation

Sirius had decided to spend the rest of Sunday afternoon and evening in Hogwarts with Lucy since Harry was gone anyway. Dinah also sensed he felt bad for not being with her this weekend, although as far as she knew Lucy was pretending that she hadn't been as upset as she actually had been yesterday before coming to Dinah's.

Dinah's plan was to break off from their group as soon as they passed her rooms and then wait for an hour or two before going to see Severus, but luck just wasn't with her today. All they had to do was turn one corner and there was Severus, walking down the hallway towards them. The air was thick with tension as all four of them screeched to a halt. For a moment nobody moved or said anything, and then Dinah made the first move by jumping sides.

Literally. In a move she felt necessary she took almost a leap and moved from where she stood next to Lucy and Sirius facing Severus to Severus's side, as close as she could be to him without physical contact, and now she and him were facing Lucy and Sirius and she could see the sneer on Lucy's boyfriend's face, only outdone by the one her own boyfriend's.

"Professor Ketteridge," Severus said coolly, nodding at Lucy although his sharp gaze never left Sirius's face.

"Professor Snape," Lucy returned, uneasily.

Severus's eyes narrowed and Dinah had to resist not stepping away from him. Luckily, her sense of loyalty kept her by his side. "Black," he almost spat out.

Lucy watched Sirius's face with uneasiness as the latter said "Ssssnape," in a drawn out manner. The voice inside Dinah started screaming at him again for intending to say 'Snivellus' but she kept her mouth shut.

"Still enjoying your freedom, I see," Severus murmured. "Coming and going from Hogwarts whenever you please... in whichever form you please."

Dinah got nervous and slipped her arm into his, worried that he was going to go too far and subconsciously hoping that her touch would calm or pacify him. He flinched as normal and then looked at her for a short moment before turning back to glare at Sirius across from him.

"Yes, actually I am," Sirius replied. "I find the ability to choose what form I celebrate my freedom in a rather useful one. Too bad you can't say the same."

"You don't realize that you were freer than I ever was," Severus hissed. "Even including your time spent in Azkaban. And I have no need to celebrate my freedom by turning into a scruffy mutt."

"Severus, don't," Dinah found herself saying, but he was effectively ignoring her.

"You," Sirius said, practically sticking his finger in Severus's face, "Have no idea what it was like there, or being stuck in that damn house day after day. And I believe Dumbledore asked you to keep your mouth_ shut_ about what I am."

"I have no reason to keep such information from the woman I am involved with."

Dinah felt her face flush. _Did he say that or am I dreaming?_ her new inner voice had to ask. _I must be dreaming._

Sirius snorted, "Woman you're involved with? Like you were involved with Lily? Yeah, that worked out well."

"Sirius," Lucy gasped, shooting a concerned look in Dinah's direction.

Dinah had never felt more torn than she did now. She wanted to react hostilely to Sirius's words and stay on Severus's side. And she didn't really know what Sirius meant by those words either. Maybe she was supposed to be defending _herself _and not Severus. Was he implying by his statement that Severus just couldn't get a girl or that she herself was going to not want him just like Lily didn't want him. She wanted to scream that she really did care for Severus, but her voice just wasn't coming to her.

Yes, she wanted to lay into Sirius in some way for his comment, but she also knew that Lucy was still on her side, at least partially. And a more hidden part of her wondered if Sirius's words were essentially true and this whole 'involvement' thing was just a lie as Severus went out of his way to humor her. But he had called her the woman he was involved with without any provocation. That had to count for something. Then again, maybe he was just saying that to make Sirius angry. Dinah was so confused she felt that Lucy's concerned look was entirely justified.

Severus's reaction was her second point of concern. His face had turned a shade of red she had only seen before on the teenage Severus in the pensieve and he was barely coherent as he growled at Sirius. "Don't you... dare... even... mention..." His hand was going for his wand at a pace that felt like slow motion, at least to Dinah.

She clutched his arm more tightly. "Please. Stop. This has to stop." To Dinah's relief, Severus's hand stopped at the same time that Lucy grabbed Sirius's hand and stepped in-between the two men, facing Sirius.

"Don't," said Lucy, having made the move with a certain ease that must have come from her Auror training.

"Lucy. Move," Sirius said, still reaching for his own wand and glaring at Severus.

"No." Lucy said in a firm voice, and then looked over her shoulder to meet Dinah's eyes.

Dinah exhaled, this whole thing getting too stressful for her. It seemed Lucy was the only other sane person in this group. "We have to split up and go to our separate rooms now before this gets any worse," she told her friend.

"My thoughts exactly," Lucy agreed, and then turned back to face Sirius, who still refused to meet her gaze. "Please, Sirius, let's go back to my rooms. Leave them be."

Finally he looked down at her, "He started it."

Dinah wanted to scoff at the childishness of that comment, but part of her was concerned that Sirius had been sort of right. Severus might have been the one who started it with his comment about Sirius coming and going whenever he pleased. Then again, each of them had been responsible for the slow build-up to where they were now. And Sirius was the one who had almost said Snivellus, and every single one of them knew it.

The whole thing was very complicated

"In case you'd forgotten, I have infinitely more cause to be bitter towards you than you have to be bitter towards me. Just ask your friend Remus," Severus's voice was deathly quiet, and he turned, pulling Dinah with him toward the dungeons, leaving an expressionless Sirius and Lucy behind.

When they had made it to Severus's sitting room he let go of her arm and turned to face her. For a moment she thought he was going to say something about what just happened but then his gaze floated to the books she was carrying. "You found some information, I see."

"Yes..." she said slowly, putting her books down on the coffee table but watching Severus with a wary gaze.

"Then I suppose your trip was successful," he sat on the couch, taking the first paper from the pile and starting to look over it.

"I suppose," she sat down next to him. "What were you talking about back there? Remus who?"

"No one." He continued reading.

She sighed. If he was going to be non-responsive about the whole thing then it was all on her to bring this up. "Listen..." she said, drawing her knees up to her chin and watching Severus out of the corner of her eye. "I'm sorry. About what happened in the hall."

"Why?" he asked, not meeting her gaze, "Did you do anything?"

"Well... no..."

"Then there is no need for you to apologize," he finally looked at her with the usual raised eyebrow.

"I just," she sighed again and stared off into the room. "I should have maybe said something, you know? Something more than I did."

"Hm."

"Really! And I was pretty nice to them on the trip. We got a long for the most part and Harry wasn't even _there_."

"You need to stop convincing yourself that you have to hate Sirius Black only for my sake," Severus said slowly, watching her expression. "If you like him, then you like him. Although I can't imagine why you would."

"But I really don't, now," she sighed. "At least, not very much. That's my problem. I should have bit into him more about the whole thing. Said more. That way maybe you wouldn't have responded so volatilely.

"I don't think my response would have varied much, actually, given what he said."

She bit her lip and looked away, trying not to think about the whole Lily thing on top of everything else that was bothering her. "Still... I think sometimes I'm a bit of a coward. I worry about that a lot." There. She'd said it. It was probably more than she'd ever said to anyone, although even Severus couldn't imagine the true depth of that statement.

She felt a sudden spot of warmth, and realized that Severus had just put his hand on her shoulder. She turned slowly and met his eyes again. He was watching her, his expression merely thoughtful.

"You've said more than anyone else ever has for me. I'll say that much," he said after a moment.

She smiled, feeling a little better. "Well, you know. I guess I wasn't completely nice today, after all. I sort of had this inner monologue thing going on."

"Inner monologue?" he repeated.

"Yes. I kept yelling at him in my head. Actually, it was rather amusing. It wouldn't shut up." She laughed.

Severus chuckled at that, and Dinah had to smile. She liked the warm rumbling sound it made when he laughed. "You know... I have to say that I've never before met a person quite as... interesting as you are, Dinah."

Dinah blushed. She wasn't sure whether it was his comment or the way that he'd said it. It was like he was teasing her again, like when he made comments about her eating habits. She didn't know why but she loved those comments, and she loved this. Loved being interesting to him and him not being afraid to tell her that. And saying her name too, of course.

"Thank you," she said, moving to sit closer to him, "Did you really mean it when you said that I'm the woman you're involved with?"

He frowned, cleared his throat, and looked away. "Well... it seems that that's the way it is now. I suppose. So yes."

"And you want this?" she knew she was pushing it, but once again she couldn't shut up.

"I don't know," he admitted. "And I don't want to get into this right now, either. Suffice it to say I think this thing between us is turning out to function rather... well. As it is right now."

She nodded, laying her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. He had tacked on the 'as it is right now' bit, she knew. That meant that he wasn't promising any further developments in their relationship and that he definitely wasn't anywhere near being over Lily. But it had already developed from him having no interest at all to him enjoying at least a minimal amount of spending time together and cuddling. So even without a promise, she was going to let herself believe it could progress further, given time.

And, after all, she thought as he put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her more tightly against him, she didn't exactly mind 'as it is right now' either.


	37. Kiss

NOTE: So, this is looking like it is going to be a _really long story_. I hope that doesn't bother anybody. I just realized I'm on chapter 37 and they are now only kissing for the first time. Lol. But that just means you get lots more fun Dinah/Severus interaction, right? And don't worry, their relationship will keep progressing, just rather slowly as I try to be as true to Severus's character and personality as possible. Just in case anyone is getting impatient at this point I could see this being around 100 chapters when complete, so you'll still get plenty of chapters where they are in a more "serious" relationship than they're in now, just gotta get there!

Anyway, hope everybody is still reading and enjoying this. Please keep leaving reviews when you can, they are much appreciated! :)

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Kiss

* * *

"Move!" Severus shouted at Godric, waving the large brown cat away as Godric continually jumped up and batted at his hand motions.

Dinah laughed and came into the room, just fastening in her second earring for the Halloween Feast. "You two are creating a vicious cycle, you know that, right? If you keep trying to make him leave you alone by waving him away he's just going to keep coming back for more... and more... and more."

"This is why I never had a pet," Severus growled, standing from the couch and walking over to her. He looked her up and down. "Dress robes."

"For the feast," she flushed, "You too, I see. Or at least they look somewhat different from your usual ones."

"They aren't dress robes. But they're fancier than the plain. Dumbledore insists we dress up more than usual for these... events."

"He does..." she agreed.

"You look... nice."

She smiled. "Thank you. So do you."

He snorted. "You're probably the only person that thinks so."

"I don't care if I am. If other people don't notice how attractive you actually are then they're stupid and biased. And that's what I'll tell them."

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow. "I'd like to hear you tell somebody that."

Dinah flushed and stared at the floor. She would probably be too much of a coward to do that. She felt Severus's fingers reach over and tilt her chin up to face him again and her face only turned redder. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing. I wasn't actually suggesting you tell somebody that they're stupid and biased."

"If they insult you, I should. I will from now on. That's a promise. I don't know if Sirius is going to be there, but-"

"Enough," he cut her off, as tense as he usually was when she started talking for too long on his personal issues. "Let's just go. You're fine. You look lovely. And I'm sure you're hungry."

"Telling me I'm lovely and teasing me about being hungry in once sentence," she smiled a little. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack, Severus?"

"You would match the Gryffindors that I am now calling on regularly in class. And perhaps the lot of you would have a great many things to discuss while you recover in the infirmary with Madam Pomfrey."

She laughed. "You're very up on the snarky comments today, aren't you?"

"It's Halloween. I'm feeling festive." He said it with such a straight face and in such a low monotone that Dinah couldn't help bursting into giggles.

He gave her a half-smile, half-smirk and extended his hand to her, saying; "We should go."

"All right, let's go," she took his hand and they left her rooms, but as expected he dropped her hand the minute they began passing students in the halls. Honestly, Dinah was fine with that. She had irrational worries that if the students found out she and Severus were dating they would only use it to make fun of Severus more than they already did, and she didn't want that.

They had already dealt with the somewhat uncomfortable moment of asking Hagrid and Professor Vector if they could sit by each other on Halloween. So now there were a total of five professors who knew about their relationship. Dumbledore, Lucy, Slughorn, Hagrid, and Vector. And it seemed McGonagall was getting suspicious. Besides them, only Eugene and Sirius knew that she and Severus were dating, as far as Dinah could guess at.

When they made it into the Great Hall Lucy came up to greet them, apparently without Sirius. She and Lucy had talked a couple of times in the previous week but Lucy and Severus hadn't seen each other since the incident on Sunday. "Happy Halloween," Dinah said, hoping the conversation didn't get awkward. "Oh, I like your dress robes, they're a nice color."

Lucy blushed and looked down at her purple robes. "Thanks. I wasn't sure about them. You look nice too. You both do." She ducked her head again before looking up at Severus, "I'm sorry about last week. I didn't think…"

Severus regarded Lucy for a few moments, looking almost amused. Probably because even Lucy had noticed that he looked nice in his semi-dress robes. Dinah couldn't keep the smile off her own face and she gave Severus what she thought was a 'see, you do look nice' look. He met her gaze for a few short seconds and then replied to Lucy. "_You_ did nothing wrong," he said, emphasizing the 'you' part.

"Perhaps not, but if I'd been using my training I'd have known better than to enter the school the way we did," she looked at both of her colleagues for a moment before continuing, "I know you probably don't care about this Professor Snape but I'd appreciate it if neither of you told anyone about…well, the dog thing."

"Oh, I haven't," Dinah said. "I didn't even tell you that I knew. Well, I didn't think Severus should have told me either..."

"I've told no one else," Severus said. "I really don't know why I told her," he gestured to Dinah, not using her name which was more common in public; "But I did. Anyone else and Dumbledore would have something to say about it if he found out."

"He probably didn't want you to tell me, either," Dinah said quietly.

"I don't mind you knowing Dinah, it's a relief actually. That time we had lunch together and he came by…it was hard to remember to speak to him like I would an animal. It's just that if the wrong person finds out he could be in a lot of trouble."

She nodded, "I understand. So um... he's not here then?"

Lucy snorted, "No. I didn't think that would be such a good idea. He's back in Hogsmeade anxiously awaiting my return. Probably gearing himself up to give me another lecture about stepping in the middle of it last week. Apparently I'm lucky not to have had my head blown off. I disagree, but," she shrugged.

Severus growled and Dinah wasn't too pleased either. "So he was really planning for it to go that far, was he?" she asked, realizing afterwards that her tone had been rather cold.

"Oh," Lucy said, biting her lip. "No. I-I-I doubt it. I think I scared him when I did that more than anything. That and I turned my back on you two. I knew he wouldn't try anything with me standing in front of him though. And I'd _hoped_ you wouldn't either, Professor."

"I can't harm Dumbledore's prized dog," Severus sneered. "I was reaching for my wand for incapacitation and defensive purposes only. Come," he pulled Dinah's arm, dragging her away from Lucy. "We're eating."

"All right, all right," she drew back a moment and hoped she looked sincere when she said to Lucy; "I'm sorry."

"I know. I'll see you later," Lucy replied, looking a little wilted. Dinah felt bad and shot her a sad little smile before Severus finished dragging her away to their seats.

"I wish that whole scene had never happened," Dinah said, miserably piling her plate with pumpkin stew.

"He shouldn't have waltzed into Hogwarts unannounced. And I had every right to be in the halls," Severus said, dividing his plate with more manageable portions of the various foods offered. "And your friend needs to develop more of a backbone when it comes to comments made about her boyfriend."

"Be nicer to Lucy. It's not her fault Sirius is the way he is. I probably shouldn't have gotten angry, but her comment bothered me and you take first priority."

Severus muttered something before taking a bite of food and Dinah was quite sure she had heard him wrong. "What?"

"Thank you," he repeated, and although it was still muttered she was able to make out unequivocally that that was indeed what he'd said.

She smiled. Maybe she hadn't called anybody stupid and biased but she _had _been brave enough to defend Severus in public. Her only regret was that it had to be to her friend. Still, she felt like she had done something right this time. "You're welcome."

* * *

"How appropriate," Dinah laughed, as she and Severus sat on his sofa together in the dungeons where they usually did their reading. "Researching ghosts on Halloween."

He laughed a bit. "Yes, I suppose it is rather fitting. Yet you haven't heard from your mysterious ghost since the last time you spoke with him?"

"No," she frowned. "It's odd. This happened the first time I spoke with him, too, and Myrtle is getting positively angry with me about it. She thinks that it's my fault he keeps disappearing for weeks at a time right after I talk to him."

"Irritating though the girl ghost may be, she could have a point," Severus said.

"What?" Dinah looked at him, "You think maybe I really _am _making him vanish for awhile after I talk to him? It's only happened twice. Statistically, there's little evidence so far that-"

"None of your Muggle statistics," he cut in with a frown. "I refuse to acknowledge its mysterious powers until you provide me with a full survey analysis. I simply think that there could be a reason you are the only person who has encountered this ghost so far."

"That's silly," she turned back to her book from the Ministry, ignoring the uneasy feeling that was brewing in her stomach at his comment. She wasn't quite sure why it made her uneasy, but it did, and so she was going to ignore it like the coward that she was.

Severus only shrugged and continued looking through the book she had bought at Flourish and Blotts. They had both finished going through the Ministry papers earlier in the week and had found some interesting reports but nothing that seemed immediately useful. "Have you ever considered," he began after a time, "that this boy might be a poltergeist?"

"Like Peeves?" Dinah frowned and shook her head. "No, no. He may be solid and colorful but he is definitely not mayhem incarnate. A poltergeist is out, unless it's a new 'type' of one in which case we're back where we started."

"Hmm," he agreed. "I suppose we should finish investigating the ghost avenue first, then."

"I think so, yes." She shifted a bit, enjoying the fact that she was leaning against him and taking a moment every now and again to just close her eyes and enjoy the feeling of each of the contact points with his body, and the warmth that came with it. That he let her do this whenever they were together on this couch was utter bliss. Unfortunately, sometimes it distracted her from her reading. "Thank you for doing this with me."

"Purely academic interest," Severus muttered, turning a page.

She laughed, "Of course."

They continued reading in relative silence until Dinah hit a chapter that interested her in the book. "Severus, this is perfect!"

"What?" he put his own book down and leaned over to look at hers.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm her body as his hair brushed past her face. He was so close like this; she could barely focus on the words on the page which she was pointing out. "Um... well, this chapter looks at things people have reported that may or may not have been... ghosts."

"Ah, there is something like that in this book, too," Severus moved back, allowing Dinah to breathe normally again for a few short moments, and then showed her his book. "Seems most of this is idle speculation, however. It mostly reports things that Muggles have believed were ghosts, such as odd orbs that show up in photographs. Apparently they are more likely due to the fact that Muggle cameras are unable to compensate for certain odd light conditions."

"Yes, I've heard of those. But I don't think that applies."

"No," he put the book aside. "This book will probably not be very useful. "Yours looks more promising."

"There were plenty of chapters on understanding the nature of ghosts, too," Dinah said. "It seems the author of the book has a very intense interest in whether the ghost state is one of permanence or if ghosts can 'die again' so to speak, if they choose to." When she saw Severus's frown she bit her lip, remembering what he had said about himself when they'd discussed the pensieve scenes. About thinking that maybe he would have been better off not having been revived. She had no way of knowing if that's what he was thinking about, but she was reminded of it.

All he said was; "That coincides with the Muggle view of ghosts as creatures 'stuck' in this world and needing to 'move on'. Different from the reality in which ghosts _choose _to be stuck here and are more often than not _afraid_ of 'moving on'."

"I think Tommy might be more like a Muggle ghost. I feel like he should move on. But what do I really know about him, after all?" she shrugged, and then went back to the chapter at hand. "The author restates that point many times in this chapter about different ghost type things. Even suggests that maybe certain Muggles _can _become ghosts and that the Muggle ghost concept applies to them. We think only wizards can become ghosts but maybe we're wrong. But Tommy went to Hogwarts, I'm certain of it, so he has to be a wizard ghost. But maybe there are wizard ghosts like Muggle ghosts."

"I would think we would hear of it more often."

"But if there really _are _Muggle-type ghosts then they are often hidden or hard to see by most people. To the point where Muggles aren't even sure if they exist or if they are just figments of the imaginations of people who have supposedly seen them. So maybe they're as hard to see for wizards as for Muggles."

"But Tommy wasn't wispy and hard to see for you. He was very much solid, colorful, and 'there'."

"That's true..." she frowned again, flipping through the chapter. "But there are many instances of people seeing odd things that might have been ghosts. Nothing mentions solid, opaque, or colorful ghosts but I feel like it could be a natural extension. Maybe."

"Who is the author of that book?"

"You know, I never thought to check," Dinah turned the book back toward the inside front cover. "It says the information was compiled by... Frederick Binns?" she finished, surprised.

"But Professor Binns's first name is Cuthbert," Severus, following her train of thought with ease, pointed out. "And he has no interest in anything that hasn't been absolutely verified as fact."

"But he _is _a ghost. And maybe he knows this other Binns. We could ask him."

"If we must. But now it is getting late," he closed the book for her, taking her hand into his and pulling her up from the couch.

There was something oddly intimate in the gesture, and Dinah felt her face turning red again as she stood to meet him. She let her other hand wander over to their clasped ones, and Severus did as well, so that they were holding both hands, staring at each other for a long time. His expression didn't change but his gaze felt intense. And then he abruptly dropped their hands. "I'll walk you back to your rooms."

"Oh... thank you. You don't have to, though. I can find my way." _Stupid, why are you telling him no? _She smiled a little. "It seems my internal monologue is back."

He raised a curious eyebrow and then smiled the tiniest smile. "I won't ask what it's saying. Come," he repeated for the second time that night, not acknowledging her previous statement, which was just as well. She walked back through the halls with him and they ended up standing in her open door again. Dinah was suddenly reminded of the day he had taken her back here after finding her in the rain. The first time she had felt his warmth.

"Um... thanks," she repeated, feeling like her smile was somewhat shy. "Happy Halloween?"

"Indeed," he put both hands on her shoulders.

Dinah watched him curiously, not knowing what he was doing. He stood there staring at her for what felt like hours. He appeared to be considering something, but she had no idea what. She was just about to crack and ask him what was up when it happened.

He might have shrugged a little, she wasn't quite sure, because the next thing he did blocked every other thought from her mind. He leaned over, his head coming toward hers so fast that she barely had time to register the movement. He tilted his head to the side in another split second and then his lips were on hers. They pressed against her for not more than an instant, but it felt like an hour. They were soft, she thought. Held a bit thin and stiff, as though he was inexperienced, but yet soft and gentle. Intimate. Then he pulled away and it didn't feel like an hour anymore. It felt like it had been over much too soon. As short as the tiny kiss was, she was sure it had been.

"Good night," Severus said, not smiling but still regarding her with a thoughtful expression for another instant before turning around and walking back down the hall toward the dungeons.

She stood in the doorway for what felt like an eternity, barely breathing, still feeling the lingering sensation of his lips against hers. _He kissed me, _her inner monologue whispered. Actually, she wanted to say it out loud but she was afraid to. If she spoke it, maybe she would find out it had been only a dream.

But it was no dream, she knew. It was real. Severus Snape had kissed her.

She finally mustered the energy to move her arm enough to close the door, and went through all the motions of getting ready for bed with little attention to detail and with her fingers pressed to her still-bewildered lips.

When she crawled into bed and Godric took his usual spot curled up next to her she closed her eyes and blissfully replayed over and over again the feeling of his lips against hers. It was like the first night he had said her name, when she replayed the word 'Dinah' over and over again in his voice. This time it was the image of him standing over her in his black dress robes and hair. His thoughtful look, his face coming toward her, his lips on hers, her eyes closed, enjoying the sensation, and then over too soon.

But she could imagine it.

She could imagine it happening over and over again forever. And dream about it. And revel in it.

And hope that it happened again very soon.


	38. Reveal

NOTE: Thank you so much to all of my nice reviewers, both the regulars and the many new ones since last chapter. I am so glad that everyone is enjoying the story. I hope to keep adding to it at a steady pace and have it complete by spring at the latest. Kind of ending the Hogwarts year at the same time as it would be in the real world :D - but we'll see, who knows, maybe I'll finish it earlier than that. Please keep reading and reviewing and look out for a special short story featuring Dinah and Severus to come out around the holidays! = that was my shameless plug in advance there :)

Now, on to the story!

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Reveal

* * *

To Dinah's dismay, Severus made no mention of the kissing incident whatsoever the next time she saw him on Monday. Then again, he wasn't one to talk about their relationship in words. He was more of a doer. So she was at least pleased when he seemed willing to take her arm again when they were in areas of the school where there were fewer students. They took their lunch hour to go and find Professor Binns to talk to him about the book they had found.

"My brother," the ghost said, floating around the History of Magic classroom at a slow pace and not bothering to make eye contact with either of them.

"Your brother?" Dinah repeated, hoping this would lead them somewhere.

"My much older brother," the transparent old man met their gazes for a few short seconds before beginning his floating pacing again. "Always wondering about mysterious, intangible things. Curious about ghosts his entire life. Needless to say, we two did not always get along or see eye to eye."

"Yes... but do you know if he ever found anything useful?"

"As I said, intangible things. He never found what he wanted. The things he reports on – the mysteries. Never found."

"_You _became a ghost, though," Severus said, seeming like he was hinting at something.

Professor Binns turned to stare at him. "Yes. Intelligent and intuitive as usual, Professor Snape. I was always annoyed by my brother's pursuits, but he was still my brother. It was always natural for me to become a ghost. I wanted justification for Frederick's ridiculous studies. I wanted to see if I could discover the facts he missed."

"Did you?" Dinah found that she couldn't get anything out of the man unless she fished it out.

"No."

"The Muggle ghosts? The other things?" Severus asked.

"My observations as a ghost have never shown me anything not in accordance with already-reported fact. As expected."

"And your experience as a ghost?"

"Same as the others. You can talk to Nick or the Baron or the grey lady or the friar. Even your friend Myrtle," he nodded at Dinah. "Who, I believe, is only making up stories about her sad young friend."

"I saw him, too," Dinah said firmly, feeling like she needed to defend both Myrtle and herself.

Binns shrugged. "Then by all means continue my brother's futile search for information. Report your observations and try to make something of it. My brother should have been the one to become a ghost for all his searching, but I have always believed he was more interested in the mystery of it than in finding the truth. Different as night and day, we were. But when he did not become a ghost I had no choice but to do so. I do not like to think that my brother never discovered fact, and if I could I wanted to do so for him."

"That's nice," Dinah said, and it was. In a sort of odd way.

"However, it has thus far proven fruitless. But I have my class, and am happy to continue teaching it for years to come. Thus, being a ghost was the right choice for me either way."

"Well, I suppose that is all the information you have to give us, then," Severus said, turning to head out of the room.

"Thank you," Dinah added, as Severus more often than not forgot to throw in polite words.

"However," Professor Binns said again, causing them both to turn and face him. "If this boy indeed exists, you might consider a number of tests."

"Tests?"

"First, ask him what is his nature. He can tell you things that you won't find in speculative books. If he does not know, he may be willing to find out. What he is capable of doing – walking through walls, eating – those traits will lead you to an accurate description of his nature."

"If he's willing; and if I can find him again."

"That, unfortunately, is one of the many drawbacks of researching the intangible," Binns said. "But if you find something useful, tell our ghost community. I like to think my brother may have had some connection to reality in his endless searching. But have documentation and proof, before you do anything."

"Er, yes I'll try. Thank you," she said again, and she and Severus left the History of Magic classroom. "What do you make of that?" Dinah asked her companion after they had been walking a while.

"I think even I fell asleep in _that _class," Severus muttered.

She had to laugh, "It's all right; I think we all did."

"Aside from that, I think Professor Binns's comments don't necessarily disqualify the reports in his brother's book. It simply means that they have been hard to verify."

"It would be nice if we could find something out that proves his brother's theories."

"Perhaps. If your elusive 'Tommy' shows up again."

"Indeed, that does seem to be the problem."

"If he had been capable of talking at a faster pace, we would have time for lunch," Severus said.

She grinned. "Come on. His monotone isn't _that _different from yours half the time." She laughed when Severus managed to look insulted. "You know I'm teasing. Well, mostly."

"Shouldn't you be more concerned about the fact that you are going to miss your lunch if you want to get to your second years class any time soon?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Well, skipping meals every now and then is probably good for me. Builds character and all that."

"Indeed. Then I shall see you at dinner."

"Yes. Enjoy your own classes. My second years are learning about telephones today."

He managed a grimace. "Lovely. Please refrain from telling me about it."

"Will do," she smiled as he disappeared around a corner and then let her lips curve into a sneaky grin; "For now."

* * *

Dinah made it to Severus's classroom early again and caught him teaching his seventh years. It seemed they had double Defense Against the Dark Arts before dinner on Mondays and Wednesdays

"Can anyone tell me," Severus said in the very monotone she had been teasing him about earlier, "of the proper spell for defending against a dementor."

Hermione's hand shot into the air and Severus grimaced. He looked over the classroom once, but no one else was raising their hand. Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood were exchanging glances as if they knew the answer, but had no reason to even try to get Severus to respond to them. A few other students had that expression, and most of them looked clueless.

Dinah had to smile when Severus's next move was to look at her. He was almost pleading to not make him do this. She folded her arms and did her best imitation of his raised eyebrow and then nodded. He glared at her and then turned back to the classroom and spat; "Miss Granger?"

Hermione didn't answer right away. Rather, her hand lowered about an inch and then hung in the air while her mouth dropped almost to the floor. She just stared at him.

"Well?" he growled, starting to pace.

"Um, pardon me, Professor Snape," the normally confident student squeaked out, "But did you just call on me?"

"Your intelligence knows no bounds, does it?" he sneered. "Yes, I did, and are you going to answer or not? I do not have all day, dinner is approaching, and if you don't respond then I am taking twenty points from Gryffindor. Now talk!"

"Y- yes, Sir," she said, still staring at him as though he had lost his mind. Then she proceeded to tell the class about the Patronus charm. She was more knowledgeable than most seventh years, but Dinah was fairly certain she and her immediate group had used them quite a bit during the previous war years.

Dinah had to frown when she suddenly recalled what Severus's Patronus was. The lovely white doe that put her own snake to shame. Or at least it would in his eyes.

"I suppose that simple explanation will have to do for today," Severus muttered; "Research the Patronus charm and write a twelve-inch essay on it for Wednesday. Class dismissed." At that swift order, the students hurried out of the room.

Hermione's gaze landed on Dinah's the minute she made it to the doorway, and she walked up to her. "Are _you _responsible for this, Professor Samson?"

Dinah smiled and shrugged; "Partially. Well, maybe entirely. Yes."

She smiled. "Thank you. You two are..." she paused and looked at Severus, who was glaring at both of them, and Dinah feared the intuitive student had no problem seeing between the lines in this situation. "He looks at you differently."

Dinah was unable to hide the slight pink tinge that rose in her cheeks at that comment. "I'd like to think so."

"Well... er... good luck then, I suppose. It's strange, but I hope it works out for the best for both of you. Maybe he'll become friendlier."

"I wouldn't get your hopes up too high," Dinah said with a smile, and the student giggled a bit and agreed before heading to dinner.

Dinah headed into the classroom, meeting Severus's glare with a smile. She placed a hand on his arm. His flinch was a bit more intense than usual because he was still stressed from the strain of calling on his mortal classroom enemy, but Dinah didn't mind. She leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder for a short moment, "That was wonderful, Severus."

"You told Granger," he growled, but his attempt at looking angry was somewhat ruined by the fact that he was flushing.

"She guessed it," Dinah said, stepping back.

"Insufferable Know-it-all," he mumbled under his breath, grabbing Dinah's hand and pulling her out of the room towards The Great Hall for dinner.

She smiled and let him pull her. Dinner today was shepherd's pie with crumpets and jam for dessert. As she spooned some pie onto her plate she looked up at the enchanted ceiling. Dark clouds were roiling around and thunder seemed to echo in the distance. She suspected that the sky hadn't been altered any, and that was what the weather was like outside. "Gloomy, isn't it?"

"It's that time of year," Severus said from two seats over. Neither Hagrid nor Professor Vector was present so they were able to talk quite freely.

"Mm," she agreed, frowning. "I still don't like it much." She looked over at the other professors and the gloomy sky seemed to be bringing them down as well. At least, there was a lot less talking going on among everyone. Except at one end of the table, where Slughorn was talking animatedly to Lucy, who looked irritated as usual. She laughed; "Slughorn is hounding Lucy again. I think he must be getting a bit stir crazy now that we aren't over there as much."

"Perhaps."

"You know, I feel bad about what happened on Halloween. I think I'll ask Lucy to do something one of these evenings this week to make up for it. Problem is the only day I don't have a bunch of grading to do is Wednesday and that's the day that Sirius visits, or so I've been told."

"Hm."

She sighed, picking at her food, "I don't have to."

"You want to spend time with your friend. Although I wonder if she'll want to entertain you on that day at any rate. I think the dog prefers to take his 'meals' alone."

She snorted, "That's disgusting, Severus. It can't hurt to ask, and honestly maybe if you and Sirius just _tried _to get along situations like that day's could be prevented. I don't know what happened between the both of you but don't you think its time to at least _try _to bury the hatchet?"

"I never asked you to defend me or to take my side on this matter."

He sounded like he was getting angry, and so Dinah tried to soften her words. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I mean, I'll stand by you. I said I would and I will. I just wonder if it's really necessary. I know Sirius and James were horrible as children and that he can be a bit of a childish git, but he's nice to Lucy, and he's nice to me when I'm not glaring at him on the outside and screaming at him on the inside. You're both much older now. Can't you just move on from those things?"

He just stared at her for a long time. It looked like he was considering something, but she couldn't imagine what.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm not getting through. It would just be easier for me to spend time with my friend if I didn't have to worry about this issue. But I'll deal with it if I have to. I didn't mean to say the wrong things."

Without warning, Severus stood from the table and walked over to her. "Come with me," he grabbed her hand and dragged her away from her food.

"What? Severus, I wasn't done eating my-"

"You've eaten enough. There's something you have to see."

"Okay..." she agreed, letting him drag her back down to the dungeons and into his office. She thought they were going back into the sitting room but instead he steered her to the small table where his lamp and pensieve sat and forced her to stand in front of it.

"Wait there," he ordered, and then went to a small cupboard, opening it up and going through a number of tiny vials.

Dinah shifted in her stance as she watched him search, feeling uncomfortable in this spot. It brought back too many memories of the day he had found her in his pensieve. The bad memories included both the pensieve scenes themselves and Severus's angry reaction when he had found her viewing them. She didn't really want to be standing here anymore when he came back over to her. He held up a tiny vial with a shining, threadlike liquid in it, and then placed it into her hands. "Use it."

She looked at it for a moment, not registering its use, and then read the small label. It said simply: 'Incidents: 1976.'

Dinah's head shot up to stare at Severus, who was watching her with no expression on his face whatsoever. "Severus, this is a memory!"

"How very astute."

"I mean," she turned it over nervously in her hands; "You actually want me to... put this in the pensieve and view it? Are you sure? I mean, the last time..."

He sighed. "You've seen plenty already. Now you have to see this. It's the only way you can understand."

"You really want me to do this?" She still didn't quite believe him.

"I want you to," he said softly, not meeting her gaze.

"Severus..." Her disbelief was replaced by a feeling of being deeply touched by his words. Whereas a month ago he had refused to speak to her for two weeks after she had seen his memories, he was now volunteering them. He was willingly sharing a piece of himself with her, and she hadn't yet taken Dumbledore's advice and told him about the prophecy or her parselmouth abilities. She bit her lip and pushed that thought aside.

How could she tell anyone without fearing their reactions? She didn't want to frighten or drive Severus away after she was just starting to get through to him romantically. If anything, his willingness to share things with her was only making her more reluctant to share things with him, and that was probably not how it was supposed to be.

"Well?" he asked, looking a bit agitated now.

She sighed, forcing her thoughts back to the present moment. "All right. If you're sure."

"I'm sure. Do it."

She removed the lid from the memory and dumped the swirling, fluid-like substance into the pensieve on the desk. She leaned forward, the swirling colors and flashes of images on the front reminding her of the other time. She had an instant of panic and pulled back a bit, looking at Severus for reassurance. He nodded, and she took a deep breath, then turned back and stuck her head into the bowl.


	39. Werewolf

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Werewolf

* * *

She was on the Hogwarts grounds again, and the four boys – Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus – were sitting by a large tree, chatting while James practiced moves on his broom. It was mild and sunny outside, but there were traces of snow on the ground, so it must have been early spring.

The young Severus was watching them from in the bushes, utter hatred etched on his face. Dinah briefly wondered if this was before or after the incident when Lily had ended their friendship. She crept up so that she was standing next to the young Severus and watched with him.

Sirius, as cocky as ever, ran a hand through his shaggy black hair as he watched James. "You've improved over the year, mate. Ready to impress Evans, huh?"

"She won't be able to take her eyes off me!" James bragged, spinning his broom in his hand.

Severus growled, and Dinah had to remind herself again not to try to touch or calm him. She wasn't actually _here_ after all, she was only an observer.

"What are you doing?" The sudden, harsh voice caused Dinah to jump and she whirled around at the sound, coming face to face with two other boys. They were both dark-haired and wore similar, nasty expressions.

"Avery, Mulciber," Severus muttered, looking at each one in turn. "I'm waiting for them to mention it again."

"Why do you always insist on watching these Gryffindor scum?" Avery demanded, "You're obsessed just because Potter is after Evans and she's started to notice him-"

"She has not, and I'm not obsessed!" Severus snapped, looking about ready to fly off the handle. At least Dinah now knew that this was before the Lily incident. "Lupin keeps sneaking off somewhere with the rest of them and I'm going to find out what they're doing!"

"You're obsessed," Mulciber said. "If you hate Potter so much don't sneak around waiting to get dirt on his friends, just curse the bastard. Use that new spell – 'Sectumsempra', was it? The one that causes wounds."

"They'll know it was me!"

"Not if it kills him," Avery snickered. Dinah frowned at the boy, and was happy to see that Severus did the same. She was starting to realize just exactly what a bad influence these two were.

"Shut up, they'll hear you!" Severus hissed, "I'm not killing anyone. Plus, that spell isn't perfected yet and I'm not wasting it on the likes of Potter. I'm going to get them expelled for all their mischief, that's all. When Lily realizes whatever it is they're doing then she'll realize that Potter is nothing but an arrogant, self-important ass that thinks he can do whatever he want but he can't! And then she'll realize that I'm much better for her."

Avery snorted, "Fine. Keep at this ridiculous obsession of yours. I don't even know why you're interested in a Muggle-born teacher's pet like Evans."

"Go...away..." Severus now had his wand in his hand.

"We're leaving," Mulciber rolled his eyes. "Come find us when you're ready to get back to practicing for being a Death Eater."

"As soon as I get Potter kicked out of school," Severus waved them off and they both groaned before leaving. Dinah turned back to the Gryffindor boys, where the conversation now appeared to be centered on Remus. Severus's interest was peaked and so she leaned forward with him, watching what unfolded.

"Stop being so low, Moony!" James said, plopping down next to the light-haired, slender boy.

"Moony?" Dinah mouthed, wondering what that nickname was all about.

"I'm not low, I'm just preparing," Remus said with a long sigh; "There's not much time left before I have to go."

"Aw, don't worry about it. It's just your furry little problem, that's all. And anyway, the rest of us are with you."

Severus leaned in closer, taking in all of the strange words. It was almost as if James was speaking in code. The bushes rustled, and Sirius's face snapped to attention. Severus was still staring at James and Remus and he didn't notice the third boy looking straight at him. Dinah frowned, not sure if she liked where this was going. It seemed Sirius was now aware of Severus's presence in the foliage.

"Come on, let's go practice some Quidditch moves!" James clapped his smaller friend on the back. "You too, Peter. I know you guys aren't on the team but we can have some fun, get our minds off tonight. Sirius?"

"You go ahead," Sirius said, an almost sinister-looking sneaky grin spreading across his face. "I've got some stuff to study for still... meet you guys at dinner."

"Study?" James burst out laughing; "Since when do you study?"

"Since now, I'll meet you later!" Sirius insisted, looking agitated.

James shrugged, "All right, then. Later," he left with the other two boys.

When they were out of earshot, Sirius turned back to stare at the bushes and snickered; "I can see you in there, _Snivellus_!"

Severus cursed and jumped out of the bushes, coming to stand in front of Sirius. "Black," he spat, and the look the two boys shared eerily mirrored the look Dinah had seen only a week before in modern times.

"You keep hiding in the bushes and Lily's going to think you fancy _James _rather than her," Sirius said, his tone mocking.

"Shut up!" Severus raised his wand, holding it in front of him defensively. "Where is your friend Lupin going tonight? I've had it with this secrecy! You four think you can just do... whatever it is you want and... I've... had it..." He was stammering again. Dinah was starting to notice that the young Severus did that whenever he was furious enough about something.

"Don't strain yourself, Snivelly," Sirius laughed, and then that sneaky grin flashed across his face again. "Don't know why you're so suspicious anyhow. But hey, if it _bothers _you so much then why don't you just go and follow him tonight?"

"What?" Severus lowered his wand slightly, giving the other boy a suspicious look.

Sirius shrugged; "Really, go ahead. No one's stopping you. I'll even tell you what time he's going. He's heading out right after dinner. To the Shrieking Shack. There's a secret passage beneath the whomping willow that leads right to it. Go on. There's a knot on the tree you can push with a stick and then the branches won't attack you. Then you can find out for yourself just what's up and stop bugging us about it. I don't mind if you know about it at all if it gets you off of our backs!"

"Well maybe I will!"

"Good!" He snickered. "I'd been hoping you'd find out sooner or later anyway. Makes things _much _more fun."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, you'll see," Sirius said lightly, standing up and brushing himself off. "See ya, _Snivellus_!" His words were the same as those he had first used to Severus, on the train, when Dinah had been in the pensieve previously.

Severus's face looked triumphant, though, as Sirius walked away, and he started marching in the opposite direction, towards Hogwarts.

The scene shifted, and Severus was rushing up from the dungeons, apparently having just left the Slytherin common room. Dinah had to rush to keep up with him, and when he finally emerged it was into a dark night, the full moon peeking out from behind some clouds.

Severus paused for a moment and looked around. The grounds were silent. He took a deep breath and started walking, slowly, across them in the direction of the whomping willow. He crept around the huge tree, not touching the trunk until he located the knot that Sirius had mentioned. Dinah had to remind herself that she wasn't actually there and so it was okay to lean against the tree and watch as Severus did what he did. He grabbed a long branch from the ground and poked it at the not, causing the willow branches to visibly relax. Then he knelt down and felt around the tangle of giant roots until he identified a small hole leading into a passage. He crawled into it and Dinah crawled after him into a long tunnel.

She was just able to see the inside of a ramshackle building over Severus's shoulder when a million things happened at once. A huge shadow appeared in the opening at the other end of the tunnel, blocking out any moonlight that might have been visible. There was a growl and a gnashing of teeth, and both she and Severus backed up in terror as what looked like a huge, gray beast dove at them. She couldn't' make it out at first but then hands reached through her and grabbed Severus's shoulders, pulling him back and out of the tunnel.

Dinah had to take a moment to deal with the weirdness of having Severus's body literally pulled _through _her, and then crept closer to see what exactly had attacked them. As whoever had reached through her dragged Severus out of the hole backwards, she looked the other way and into the blazing yellow eyes of what could only be a werewolf.

She covered her mouth to keep from screaming, the implications of this starting to register in her brain but not enough for her to fully realize them. She turned and climbed out of the hole, and once in the light at the head of the passage saw just who it was that had rescued Severus.

James Potter.

"Potter!" Severus sputtered. "That was - your friend Lupin is-!"

"What did you think you were doing?" James turned a glare on Severus. "You just _had _to know, didn't you? You couldn't stop snooping, Snivellus."

"Your friend is a werewolf, isn't he?" Severus demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about," James said, and Dinah noticed he refused to meet the other boy's eyes when he spoke.

"Yes, you do! That's the only thing that could have been, Potter, and you know it! If this is what you've been hiding ever since-"

"Prove it," James growled. "And this is your fault, anyway! You just _had _to follow us down here and-"

"Your friend Black is the one who sent me down here!" Severus shouted, his face red with fury. "He sent me here and you have the nerve to-"

"I came here to _save _you from certain death; you think you could be a little more grateful?" James shouted.

"Saved me? _Saved _me? But your stupid friend was-"

Dinah didn't listen to the rest of the conversation, though, as it all finally hit her. Sirius's sneaky grin, his offhand suggestion that Severus follow Lupin down here. He hadn't cared for even a moment that his prank would almost certainly get Severus killed.

At that horrifying realization that, the pensieve scene swirled around her and she was dumped into a new setting. She was in the Great Hall watching Severus finishing what was probably dinner. He was glaring over at the Gryffindor table where the four boys talked, apparently encouraging Lupin. To Dinah's slight dismay she noticed that Lily was now sitting close by them and joining in their conversation from time to time. It seemed that _now _it was after the Mudblood incident.

"Why are you _still _watching them?" Avery demanded. "We have better things to do this year in case you'd forgotten."

"Shut up," Severus growled. "This is my one last chance. I spent the entire summer researching how to disguise myself so I can find out the truth once and for all."

"To impress Evans again? She dumpedyou, Severus. Get it through your head. She _hates _you, ever since you called her a Mudbl-"

"Go away and don't talk about that!" Severus screamed, his face red as he stood from the table. "If I can prove this I can change everything. I have to." He looked over at Gryffindors again, where James had apparently managed to make Lily laugh over something, and intense pain crossed his features. "It's my last chance."

"Well, what are you going to do, then?" Mulciber asked with a sigh.

"Go to the spot _ahead _of them. Use my spells to cover any sound or scent and wait and watch. I'll see for real this time, and then she'll know." He turned and marched from the room, leaving his two friends looking somewhat confused as they finished their meal.

The scene switched and put Dinah in the shrieking shack again next to Severus. But the entire place was calm this time, and he was on the other side of a wall, peeking through a tiny hole in the wood.

She sighed. The only way she could see through into that hole was to merge her head with Severus's. Yes, she had done it before in the more 'intimate' moments when she had watched the other penseive scenes, but it was still a rather odd sensation when she was focused on something else besides an imagined connection to Severus's pain. Still, she stuck an eye in front of the hole and watched. In a few short moments Lupin entered the shack along with three animals.

One Dinah immediately recognized as Sirius's dog form, causing her to grimace. The other two were a huge stag and a grubby-looking rat. The only obvious conclusion was that the other two boys were animagi, too. And since Dinah knew that a doe represented Lily it made the most sense that the stag was James.

Severus drew in a sharp breath as the next moment unfolded, his proof unequivocally appearing before his eyes as Lupin transformed into the large grey werewolf Dinah had seen in the passage. The animals settled down with each other and appeared comfortable, Severus's presence completely unnoticed. She wondered if animagi could communicate with werewolves when they were both in animal form. It was quite possible, anyway.

Dinah drew away from the hole to look at Severus. His eyes were literally wild with excitement and triumph as the scene dissolved around her and dumped her into a new light. Literally.

Severus was marching up out of the Whomping Willow passage on what appeared to be the next morning. The students he passed on the Hogwarts grounds were milling about as normal and nobody seemed particularly drawn to him, so it seemed his leaving all night had gone unnoticed. He headed straight for a young girl with red hair on the main steps; "Lily!" he called.

"Hmph," she turned one hundred and eighty degrees away from him, engaged in a conversation with another Gryffindor girl who made a face at Severus.

"But I know the truth now! I followed Lupin again and was undetected and it's just what I had suspected!"

"Mary, I seem to be being hounded by an undesirable person. Do you mind telling him to leave me alone?"

"You heard her!" Mary said, hands on her hips.

"But-"

"Honestly!" Lily whirled around and glared at him; "You still think of nothing else but following them around! I don't care what you found out, don't you understand that? If this is the last thing you need to do to realize that I'm done spending time with you, then fine! I'm telling you now. I don't care, so stop bothering me!"

"I haven't spoken to you once since you told me not to! I just thought maybe this year... if I could show you that... I mean how can you say you don't care that Lupin is a-"

"Shut up!" she shrieked, then turned to her friend; "Mary, get out of here. I'll meet you later! Go!" The look on her face seemed enough to convince her friend to leave. She turned back to Severus. "If you must know, I know all about that."

"What? You _know_?"

She nodded; "And so does Professor Dumbledore. So if you were thinking this was some kind of wonderful opportunity to get the lot of them expelled then I'm sorry to disappoint you. It would be better for _you _if you didn't tell anybody what you found, because it will end up you who gets expelled!"

"Wait! No! There's more! The lot of them - the rest of them – I think that they're-"

"I don't care what they are!"

"You..." Severus took a step backward, looking stricken. "You know that too, don't you? How could you... you really have turned over to their side, haven't you? You like James!"

Lily didn't respond.

"But he isn't who you think he is! And his friend Sirius is the one who sent me down there in the first place last year to get killed!"

"I can't believe that!"

"But it's _true_! They're not so wonderful. You didn't think they were last year! I found this out for you! I thought... I was so sure if you could find out the truth then..."

"No," she shook her head. A small group of students was gathering, probably summoned over by the yelling. "It's over, Severus. Don't bother trying. Is it so hard for you to understand that I didn't end our friendship because I like James better than you? I ended it because of _your behavior_. Whatever you found out is not going to change that." She turned on her heel and marched into the castle.

Severus sighed and stared down at his feet. The students began to disperse and he looked up, watching them walk away. A girl of around his age looked up from the book she was reading a long enough distance away where she might not have heard much of the conversation, and in a split second Dinah recognized her. She felt her breath quicken as Severus's eyes locked with the girl's for not more than an instant, and then locked in turn with some of the other people wandering around, before he turned and walked into Hogwarts.

He had been looking at everyone in the general area, it was true, but Dinah wasn't thinking about that as she turned and followed Severus down the halls toward the dungeons. She was thinking about the girl with the book who had been in the vicinity and subject to his gaze.

She was thinking about herself.

So this was Severus's sixth year. The year from the label on the pensieve popped back into her head as she watched Severus sink into a couch in the Slytherin common room with his head in his hands.

1976.

Her first year at Hogwarts.

She had seen him.

Well, perhaps it wasn't unrealistic. She had probably seen all of them at various points, but never thought much about it. After all, there were not more than five hundred students at the school most years. There would be plenty of people she would pass by on occasion but never actually meet or know anything about or even think twice about. And try as she might, she couldn't conjure that moment up as her _own _memory.

It had just been a thoughtless moment.

But she had looked up from her book at him. What had she been thinking at the time? She desperately wanted to know. But she just couldn't remember it, so she had no choice but to try to ignore the situation.

If only she had been in her own year and had known him for real.

Maybe everything would have been different.

Dinah forced herself to watch as Mulciber and Avery came into the room. So she had been there that year and had looked at him once. So what? She had looked at many people. It wasn't really unusual. She just had to let it go.

"So you finally made it back, did you?" Mulciber asked, rolling his eyes.

"Go away," Severus said, his voice eerily flat.

Avery laughed. "You found nothing, did you?"

"Oh, I found plenty!" Severus's head shot up, his face suddenly flushed with that passionate anger that she had seen him show before. "But it doesn't matter. It's over..."

"So you can stop following them around and devote yourself to our Death Eater practice now?" Mulciber demanded, not looking like he cared one way or the other what Severus had found.

Dinah's future colleague and boyfriend stared at his two sinister companions for a moment, and then shrugged. "Guess so. Maybe once I become powerful... _then _she can see me for who I truly am."

"Still all about Evans, isn't it?" Avery asked, now his turn to roll his eyes.

"Always."

Dinah sighed as the boys stood and headed towards their rooms together. Always. That word again. Severus's devotion was absolute.

And yet he still wasn't registering Lily's words, which was what she couldn't quite understand. Why did he think he needed to become powerful to impress her? Why did he still think that becoming a Death Eater was a good idea and that it would please her when she had told him in no uncertain terms that it wouldn't?

There were probably a million different reasons, but she sensed that these two horrible boys, Mulciber and Avery, were a large part of it. And yet, she couldn't hold Severus completely innocent. Still, he had been able to change, and that was what counted.

And he was at least right about Potter and his friends. They weren't really so wonderful. Dinah couldn't think what Lily saw in James, and Sirius... Sirius was practically a murderer.

At that horrifying thought, the liquid pulled her back up, out of the bowl, and into the light of Severus's office.

Dinah stood still for a few moments, staring down at the bowl, before finally turning to look at Severus again. Her colleague was standing there, his arms folded in front of him and his face expressionless as he watched and waited for her response. She felt tears stinging her eyes and willed them to go away. This was like the other moment she had come out of the pensieve, watching him and seeing not just the Severus of now, but the Severus from those scenes. All of the things that he'd gone through.

Yet it was different this time. He had asked her to see this, and he wasn't angry with her. He was just waiting.

Finally, she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "He tried to have you killed."

"Yes."

"That's... horrible! Severus, I had no idea! That look on his face, he didn't care! He didn't even think for a moment that what he was doing was wrong. Even you, when your friends suggested you kill James, you didn't want to kill anyone. With your 'Sectumsempra' or whatever it was-"

"Don't talk about that."

"I'm sorry," she reached up and wiped at her eyes, her resolve weakening. But she was able to quell the emotion again. It helped that Severus's expression softened slightly when she had done it. "No... I mean, I understand now... how _could _he?"

"I don't know," Severus shook his head. "He said nothing on the subject afterward, not one word."

"Not even an apology or an admission that it was wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. I don't know if I would have accepted such an apology at the time, the way I was, but perhaps if he had I eventually, after rejoining Dumbledore's cause, would have forgiven it. But he has never said a word on the matter. Perhaps when he was freed from Azkaban and was told very clearly by Dumbledore that I was no longer a Death Eater he may have said something, but there was nothing then either. It was Snivellus again, right from the beginning. Given that, I feel I owe absolutely nothing to that dog and never will."

"Severus," she said softly, staring down at her hands. "I can't... think of him the same way now. I can only see his mocking face, hear him calling you S– S-"she shook her head. "No, I won't say it. I can't say it. Severus." She looked up at him. "Severus."

His face softened as he watched her, and she thought he might even have looked a little sad. "Thank you."

To keep the tears from coming into her eyes again, she chose instead to come forward and put her arms around him. Although they had occasionally held hands or arms, and cuddled while reading, and he had kissed her on Saturday evening, this was the first time she had really hugged him. Barring, of course, her reaction after he had found her in the pensieve the first time.

It was interesting, really. That time she had virtually thrown herself at him, and he had not responded positively at all. This time, he didn't even flinch. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth of his body against hers, wishing that this moment could somehow last forever. She could feel his heart beating against hers, his chest moving as he breathed. And then, after a few moments, his arms moved, wrapped around her body, and held her. He exhaled, almost sounding relieved, and then his head moved to rest against her own.

She was fully enveloped in him now, for the first time, and it was perfect. This was how it should have been before, when she had initially seen his memories, but he hadn't been ready then. It seemed he was ready now to accept the affection and caring of another. There would probably be difficult times ahead, but this was yet another huge step in the right direction.

In the interest of making this moment last as long as possible, she chose not to tell him about herself in the pensieve just yet. Perhaps someday she would mention it, but that was the past and this was now. So she had seen him back then. What bearing did that have on this moment, when they held each other? None that she could see, and so she didn't say anything. She just wanted to be here now, held in Severus Snape's arms, giving him perhaps just a tiny bit of comfort in a world that had seemed aimed against him from perhaps the minute he had been born.

She wanted him to know that he wasn't alone.


	40. Quidditch

CHAPTER FORTY

Quidditch

* * *

Dinah walked with Severus into the Slytherin Quidditch box on Saturday, ignoring the stares of some of the students. But really there was no reason for them to be _too _suspicious about her relationship with Severus. After all, since she wasn't a house head none of them knew what house she had been in when she was a student. Although, she supposed, the fact that she was the Muggle Studies professor was probably enough evidence for most of them that Slytherin was an unlikely choice.

"I could be a Slytherin," she had joked to Severus when they made the plans for this. He had just rolled his eyes at that comment, which had amused her to no end.

Ignoring the looks and whispers of the nosier students, Dinah looked around at the box. She had issues with some of the Slytherin behaviors just like most non-Slytherins, but she also knew that they weren't all like that. Being Slughorn's pet had shown her that when she was at Hogwarts. He was annoying on occasion, but overall he was a good-hearted Slytherin, although wishy-washy when it came to condemning the usual house practices. But it was hard to move away from the stereotypical Slytherin attitude, she was realizing more and more as she examined the responses of Muggle-born Slytherins on her survey.

And she loved the design of Slytherin. The green and silver was calming and beautiful, and the snakes decorating everything made her happy. She walked along the edge of the box, where a green banner stretched with a large silver snake painted along it. She ran her hand across the snake image as she walked past it, admiring how the magic used to create the banner made the individual scales glitter even in the dim, cloudy day. They were such beautiful creatures. That was one of the things she _did _have in common with Slytherins. Appreciation of their mascot.

She was going to like sitting in this box with Severus. The whole theme made her comfortable and happy.

"I hate to interrupt whatever it is you think you're doing, but the game is about to start," Severus droned from behind her.

She flushed and turned around. "I wasn't doing anything! I was just... thinking it's rather sparkly for such a gloomy day."

"Magic. Better than Muggle things, as I am constantly having to remind you. Now come sit."

"All right," she shrugged and followed him down a row that still had a few vacant seats left in the middle. The announcer was just introducing the team members as they flew out onto the field. Ginny Weasley was the new Gryffindor Seeker, taking her boyfriend's place now that he had left Hogwarts for Auror duties. The Slytherin seeker was a half-blood Seventh year, Silvester Tande, from her second class. There was one Muggle-born Slytherin boy on the team, Tobias Vaisey. He was a little tougher than some of the other Muggle-born Slytherins she had encountered, but he was also not much of a trouble maker and occasionally had intelligent comments to contribute in class.

"You're going to cheer for the Slytherins, I presume," Severus said once the game had started. It was more of a statement than a question.

"I'm going to cheer for everybody."

He sighed and shook his head. "Miss 'I love everyone, let's all just get along' strikes again."

"That is not a _bad _thing, Severus," she laughed, then shivered a bit and pulled her cloak more tightly around her. "Horrible weather, really. I had hoped it would be sunny today."

"It reminds me of the match five years ago," Severus said and then paused to clap as the rest of the box cheered when one of the Slytherin's made a goal.

Dinah politely joined in the clapping. Quidditch was a fun sport to watch, but she had never cared much about which house won. Again, probably due to her not developing much loyalty to one house, having been in two. "What happened five years ago?"

"Your friend's dog was on the loose and they had the dementors out searching for him. They interfered on the playing field and put Potter in the infirmary."

"That's horrifying," she shivered again, more from the thought of dementors than from the cold. At the thought of Sirius she turned and looked across the field to the Griffindor section, lifting a pair of binoculars so she could see that far distance. Lucy was watching the game with interest, her gaze seeming to follow Ginny. She was sitting with Professor Flitwick and some students.

Dinah frowned and lowered the binoculars. "I think I'm a bad person."

"Do you always choose such apropos times to discuss your problems with me?" Severus muttered. "Gryffindor just made two goals and the Weasley girl was about an inch away from the snitch before it veered off. As a Slytherin I happen to have a vested interest in this game."

"Because it really makes a difference in the grand scheme of things," she rolled her eyes. "I've just been unable to say anything at all to Lucy ever since you showed me that memory. I want to figure out how to keep my feelings about her separate from my feelings about Sirius so we can stay friends, but I don't know how to do that."

"You'll figure it out," he groaned. "Another goal. Apparently Gryffindor's luck hasn't run out even though Potter has left the school."

Dinah watched in silence for a few moments as the game continued. "Why are there no girls on the Slytherin team? Don't tell me your house is sexist, too."

"I'm trying to watch the game," was Severus's agitated reply.

"And I'm asking a legitimate question."

He sighed and turned to look at her, running that hand through his hair again. "I don't know. The players are the team captain's choice, not mine. They have a strategy that has worked for them. Large, fast males. They overpower the other team and thus do not have to worry as much about planning and execution."

"Which seems to clash with your intelligence, don't you think?"

Severus growled a little. "I have told you, it is not _my _choice. Can you do nothing but judge Slytherin? You cannot change an entire house mentality in one day, in case you haven't realized."

"You need to try harder."

"Now I see why most men complain when they watch sports with women," Severus turned back to the game.

Dinah had to laugh. "All right, all right, I'll shut up. Watch your game," she sighed and settled into her seat, intending to enjoy the sport now and not bother Severus too much. Unless she saw something worth mentioning, of course."

The entire Slytherin section along with Severus groaned when Gryffindor made their twentieth goal of the day, in comparison to Slytherin's eight. "That Vaisey can't keep playing this game as he has been. He's going to lose it for all of us."

"How is it Tobias Vaisey's fault that Gryffindor's team made a goal? He's a chaser not a keeper."

"He's slowing us down. He could have taken the Quaffle from the other team numerous times. Once he has it he always scores but he can never _get _it from them without the help of the more capable, natural team members. And the remainder of our good chasers have graduated."

"Natural, huh?" she pursed her lips. "Does this have something to do with him being the only Muggle-born Slytherin on the Quidditch team?"

"I dislike the boy for plenty of reasons besides that."

"Like what exactly?"

"His first... name," Severus said through gritted teeth.

"His first name? You mean To-" and then it hit her. "Oh no..."

"We're in public," was Severus's only comment, probably in response to the sad tone in which she'd spoken.

She sighed, "I wasn't going to touch you. I was just thinking about it. That's the real reason you dislike Muggles so much, isn't it?"

"A large part of it. That and being a Slytherin, of course."

"Just because Salazar Slytherin hated Muggles doesn't mean all Slytherins have to. And not all Muggles are like he was, Severus. You know they aren't. And by he, I don't mean Salazar Slytherin or this young boy who hasn't done anything to you."

"You're the one who named your frog after him."

"He's a toad and I was going for a theme. And were you even listening to a word I just said?"

"I heard you. Perhaps."

"Perhaps?"

Severus frowned. "Perhaps there are decent Muggles out there. I haven't met any."

"In case you'd forgotten _I _happen to be a-"

"Muggle-born witch," he cut in, looking agitated. "There _is _a difference. Even if your powers were discovered late."

She sighed. "Yes, well. My family are nice Muggles. Most Muggle-born students' families are."

"Yes, like Petunia Dursley," Severus said, his tone sarcastic.

"Who?"

"Lily's sister, did you see the pensieve or not?"

"Don't get snappy. They called her Tunie in your memories and her surname was Evans. And speaking of surnames, you would think if Vaisey's first name bothers you so much you wouldn't choose to go by your own surname. You can't dislike that boy for his first name and yet still go by Professor Snape, can you?"

He sighed. "That's different. It's the only name I've known. Although I have gone by Half-Blood Prince on occasion. Ugh!" he groaned along with the rest of the box as Slytherin's seeker just barely missed the snitch.

"Interesting nickname," Dinah mused. "Actually, I like it. You aren't ashamed of being half-blood."

"It's one better than being Muggle-born."

"You know," Dinah said thoughtfully, "I think that's one of the key differences between you and Voldemort."

"What?" he turned and stared at her, confused.

"I never thought of you as an optimist," she explained. "But Voldemort thought of being half-blood as one worse than being pureblood. The opposite. A 'glass-half-empty' view."

"You may be right..." he almost looked relieved that she drew the comparison, telling him that he was different from his old master.

She smiled, and after a moment he smiled back, just barely. Then they both turned back to the Quidditch game and watched for awhile, until something occurred to Dinah.

"You know, this discussion does bring up an interesting point."

"Another one?" he sounded almost impressed that she'd clung to this subject for so long. Impressed in a sort of frustrated way.

"Yes. It seems that there are two-"

She was drowned out by the loud cheering that erupted throughout the box when Silvester Tande caught the snitch, just barely overtaking Ginny Weasley's hand which had been reaching for it at the same time. Severus stood, clapping vigorously for his team. Like most house heads, he wasn't lying when he said he had a vested interest in this game. Looking across the way through her binoculars, Dinah could see that Minerva looked just as disappointed as her boyfriend looked pleased. She stood and clapped along with the rest of the Slytherins, before they all made their way out of the box.

"Excellent game," Severus said as they headed back into Hogwarts. "We may take our title back from the Gryffindors yet."

"If you ask me, I think one of the other two houses ought to get a chance at winning every now and again," Dinah muttered, remembering from the _Daily Prophet_ that Slytherin had had a long streak of winning followed by Gryffindor once Harry Potter took over the role of Seeker.

He sighed. "You are impossible to sway. Now what is it you were saying before the game ended?"

"You remembered," Dinah said, beaming. "I was just saying that there are two possibilities when it comes to the attitude we always espouse about Muggles being stupid and not understanding wizards."

"Go on," he said, using his key to open up his rooms before they both headed into the living room and sat at their usual places on the couch, facing each other.

"Why is it that we have that common misconception when most of the families of Muggle-borns are nice and interested in our world? Either Muggles are inherently uncreative morons and suspicious of wizarding society-"

"I vote for that option."

"Hush! Either that, _or_ they have every capacity to appreciate our society but simply fall into the pattern of human nature which only appreciates and understands the familiar. This increases as you get older, which I think might be part of the reason why I am more attached to Muggle society than other Muggle-born students ultimately end up. The older you get the harder it is to accept new things. And yet the parents of Muggle-born students, more often than not, can develop at least some appreciation for our world. Not to mention the fact that if all Muggles are inherently uncreative morons then how do they give birth to witches and wizards who love this world?"

"You're settling on the 'Muggles have the capacity to produce wizards' argument again, aren't you?"

"I think it means something. I mean, why do we have Muggle-borns? Or squibs too, for that matter? Magic is just another ability, and I doubt it has any real connections to intelligence, creativity, or open-mindedness."

"Then I suppose I have encountered all the wrong kinds," he said, resigning to her although he still looked bitter.

"Perhaps." She smiled, "I could introduce you to _my _family but it's probably a bit early for that."

"Indeed," he muttered, looking away from her with a little cough of embarrassment.

Dinah giggled and looped her arm into his, scooting closer to him on the couch, "Don't worry, I won't make you. By the way," She rested her head on his shoulder, "Congratulations on your stupid house winning Quidditch today."

He smiled and leaned his head against hers for a short moment. "At least you can appreciate that much."

"Of course." She sighed and looked out at the dungeon room, orange-tinted from the brown stone walls and firelight. Although it was a bit damp and cold down here, she could see a little bit why Severus found it attractive. It was quiet, for one thing, and she felt secure down here. Then again, maybe that was because she was with Severus. "Do you think Lucy knows?"

"Knows what?"

"About what he did," she said quietly. "Does she know that Sirius tried to kill you?"

"I wouldn't know," he said, his voice becoming bitter. "But I could find out."

"No!" she exclaimed, drawing away from him so that she could meet his gaze. "Don't do that. It's not right. And I really don't think she knows. She seemed confused about it when the topic came up in that confrontation, and she has told me before she doesn't know the full story of why you two don't get along."

"Then why did you ask me?" Severus asked, his jaw tense.

"I don't know... I guess I wondered if maybe he's told her since then. Or do you think that he _will _tell her?"

"Although I can see why you might suspect so, let me assure you that I do not know everything," he almost sneered. Luckily, Dinah knew him well enough to realize he wasn't sneering at her so much as he was sneering at the direction the conversation had taken.

"I wonder if I could find out," Dinah thought for a minute, and then sighed. "Great, there I go again. Thinking about talking to her just so I can somehow weasel the information out on whether she knows about it or not. That's not very friendly."

Severus sighed. "Just talk to her. I know you want to maintain that friendship and I don't have a problem with it. I simply ask that you no longer try to 'patch things up' between myself and her canine lover."

"Your terms for Sirius Black are only becoming more and more colorful, aren't they?" she muttered. "If Lucy doesn't know, do you think it would be prudent to tell her about it?"

"I think that will only make thing worse if her pet finds out. Although I think she probably _should _know, so she stops admiring the mutt the way she does. But that is not my business."

Dinah slid her fingers into Severus's. "All right. I'll figure out a way to maintain the friendship and still keep it separate from Sirius. And if Lucy doesn't know about what he did, I won't tell her."

He stared at her for a moment, frowning at first as he considered her statement. Then he nodded and his fingers closed around hers. "All right. You do that."


	41. Gloomy

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Gloomy

* * *

"I can't do this," Dinah turned around to try and walk away from Lucy's door but Severus intercepted her, grabbing her shoulders and turning her around so that she was facing the horrible thing again.

"You have been putting this off for a week and you are continuously moping about it," he said, leaning his head over her shoulder and snarling in her ear. She knew that he was going for angry, but seemed oblivious to the fact that her body was responding with sexy. But she was afraid that telling him that would scare him off. "I have had it with your indecisive nature, Dinah."

"But," she shifted uncomfortably, trying to sort through being nervous, agitated, and turned on all at the same time. The fact that he had chosen this moment to use her name was not helping. "What am I supposed to say?"

"'Hello' would be a nice start."

"Your sarcasm is not helping. It's just gloomy outside again and I don't feel good and it's Friday the 13th and I have grading to do and-"

"_And_," his grip on her shoulders tightened and she wanted to scream at him to let go of her before she spontaneously turned around and tried to seduce him. "If you do not knock on this door soon your friend is going to open it as she should be leaving for Hogsmeade at any moment. Either way, I am not letting you move until you confront this issue. Wouldn't you rather have the dignity of knocking over her opening the door and finding you standing here with your face as red as a beet because you are embarrassed to speak to her after digging yourself into this hole?"

"That is..." she murmured, twitching away from him a bit, "_Not _why my face is turning red, Severus."

That got him to let go.

She sighed. "Finally. You truly are clueless when it comes to romantic matters, aren't you?"

"That is not _my _fault!" he hissed, his own face turning red now as he stood about ten feet away from her. "And either way, if you don't take this opportunity to talk to her you are going to be miserable all weekend, and might I remind you that we promised to do some research for Eugene and Slughorn in the library tomorrow."

"I don't know whose fault it is if not yours," she muttered offhand, causing him to growl behind her. But she knew he was right. So she walked up to the door for the fifth time, took a deep breath, and knocked.

The door opened to reveal a very shocked looking Lucy with a cloth wrapped around one hand. "Dinah!" Lucy exclaimed, and then Dinah ended up shocked as Dora the grey cat bolted out the door and into the hallway. "Dora! Get back here!" Lucy sighed, "She refuses to get in her carry case."

"Uh...yeah," Dinah said, running a nervous hand through her hair and paying little attention as Dora made it halfway to Severus, froze in her tracks, and then turned around and shot back into Lucy's rooms and under the couch. "Godric seems to like his, but he's easy going in general. Um... hi," she tacked on as an idiotic afterthought.

Severus, looking satisfied that the ice had been broken, turned and marched away down the hall.

"Hi," Lucy said, stepping back so she didn't block the doorway, "Um, would you like to come in? I was just packing, but I can put that off for awhile. At least until my hand stops bleeding," she smiled.

"Oh," Dinah laughed, hoping it didn't sound too nervous, and nodded. "Cats. Okay, sure, I'll come in," she walked into the room, wandering over by the couch and looking around for a few moments. After a moment she lowered herself into the couch and started tracing the patterns on the fabric. "How are things in Hogsmeade?"

Lucy grinned, "We have a house. It has no furniture in it other than two beds, but it's all fixed up and painted and everything. And it's ours. He had Remus and Tonks up here for two weeks helping him fix it up so I wouldn't have to on my days off."

"That's nice. Congratulations," Dinah smiled, noticing that Lucy had said 'he' and 'him' but not 'Sirius'. There was definitely an undercurrent of uneasiness here. The best thing she could do was bring it out into the open and just get it out of the way. "Listen, I'm sorry about the past couple of weeks. I've been horribly rude."

Lucy just stared at her for a moment and Dinah was just starting to think she probably shouldn't have come here after all when her friend shrugged. "That's okay. You've been busy."

"No," Dinah shook her head, figuring she might as well just admit the truth; "I've been avoiding you. Not because I didn't want to spend time with you. I did. I just... after what happened on Halloween – the things Severus said - I felt a little funny. And I _was _a little busy at first, with grading and the like. But then I wasn't busy but Severus ended up telling me some things. He told me about how Sirius ... um, made fun of him a lot and mistreated him and I was torn between loyalty to Severus and wanting to maintain our friendship. Then I just kept putting off talking to you, and it sort of ... accumulated. The longer I waited the harder it got to just say something."

"Oh," Lucy said, looking down at her hands, "Yeah, Halloween was…weird. He really wasn't going to do anything, you know. He thought he needed to defend himself and I know I scared him when I jumped in the middle. I know Sirius used to tease…Severus and call him names. Really, I don't let him do that around me, well most of the time. I'll admit there are times when my mind's on other things and I don't correct him. I've told him numerous times that it's not okay and he's not fifteen anymore…"

"Thanks, that helps," Dinah smiled, glad that her suspicions had been right and Lucy almost certainly didn't know about the 'attempted murder' thing. "It's good to know they're both just trying to be defensive in those situations. I don't think either of them will believe that the other is if we told them, though..."

Laughing, she responded, "Actually, I did tell Sirius that. He ignored it. Of course I then said, and I hope you're not offended by this, but I said that Severus says dog as if that's a bad thing to be and suggested that perhaps if Sirius's animagus was a butterfly the two of them might get on better."

Dinah had to laugh as well, although the situation was in actuality much more complex. "I don't' know that dogs are necessarily bad, but I have discovered that I can't change Severus's mind." The mood sobered and she sighed. "But I have to stand by him. So... to get straight to the point I was kind of hoping we could start spending time together again every now and then, but... not really talk about Sirius much? Or, at the very least I hope you don't mind if I kind of try to avoid him. Of course you can do the same with Severus if necessary. I won't talk about my relationship much either."

"I understand and I get you wanting to avoid him, but Dinah…I don't quite know how to explain this. I went through a lot when he…died. I don't think anyone can quite understand. We met and I saw a life. I saw a home, a family, little black-haired kids running around calling me Mummy. I saw fun and happiness, things I didn't really have as child. Then I made a decision and I feel like because of that it all got taken away. It was gone. I know that wasn't my fault but that's how it feels. And I was just starting to move on, to let that go, when I got a miracle and it all came back. I'm terrified that I'm going to turn around one day and it's going to be 'hahah, got you'. There are going to be times, like the night we watched that movie, when I can't not talk about him. I promise I'll try not to gush and just randomly talk about him, but I need to let him do things without me and I'm not going to always be able to handle that."

"Oh," Dinah felt sheepish; "No, that's perfectly understandable. I'm sorry, that came out wrong. I'm not going to stop you from talking about him. I guess I just mean maybe we could try to treat our friendship as something separate and unrelated to our relationships with men. We can talk about them, though."

Lucy smiled, "I think I can handle that. After all my friendship with Tonks is totally separate from her relationship with Remus…well, sort of. I mean I'm kind of friends with him too, so…" Her gaze was caught by Dora peeking out from behind Dinah's legs, "Dinah? Could you do me a favor and try to grab my friend down there? She'll be in heaven once I get her there I'm sure. It's just the actual transportation that's a problem."

"Oh, sure," Dinah moved a bit and leaned over, waiting for the cat to come into a position where she was grabbable. She couldn't help smiling with relief that this had worked out and she had also managed to get it over with. Of course, it seemed Lucy knew Remus a bit. Dinah couldn't help but wonder if the werewolf would tell her about what happened at some point. Well, Lucy's response upon learning it – whenever that would be – was something she couldn't worry about right now.

"Gotcha!" Dinah used her expert animal-catching skills to snag Dora just as the cat took two more steps out from under the couch.

"Thank you! That saves me from spending another hour trying to catch her," Lucy said, taking her cat and placing her in the carry case, securing it shut. "Have you heard when the next Quidditch match is? I know it's Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. The three of us could go. Although," she said, her forehead wrinkling as she thought, "I suppose I should talk to Sirius about how he feels about that. You understand of course?"

"The three of us?" She couldn't mean Severus, could she? After Dinah had implied she would be avoiding Sirius it would be so understanding for Lucy to still want to spend time with her boyfriend. Maybe a little too understanding. Dinah didn't want to feel like a monster. And yet still, it would be nice if Lucy and Severus still got along, being colleagues and all. But maybe she was referring to her friend Tonks or something.

"Yes. Me, you, and Severus. I mean we all live and work in the same place so it would be nice if we got along. Of course, I did promise to try and not remind him of Sirius if he tired not to glare at me all the time. I don't know, maybe just my presence does that," she shrugged, "It was just a thought."

"No, that would be nice," Dinah smiled. "I hope you don't think I'm being rude by saying I want to avoid Sirius somewhat. Especially now that you're trying to get along with Severus. That's all I was worried about."

"It's a weird situation I'll admit but we live and work in the same building, we eat at the same table, we're going to have to socialize at some point. Besides, maybe it will sort of ease the way to them at least being in the same room without threatening to blow each others heads off. Not that I plan on pushing it or anything."

"Okay... let's try it," Dinah said, feeling a little good about this whole thing for the first time in awhile. Maybe eventually Sirius would apologize for what he did and the two _could _get over their differences at least enough that they didn't feel the need to pull out their wands every time the other was present. "I'll ask Severus what he thinks and let you know. And maybe we could do lunch again sometime next week or watch another movie at some point."

"Yes! I promise I won't fall asleep on you next time. And hopefully we can watch something romantic or actiony."

"Action, yes, romance only if you're feeling up to it," Dinah said, hoping her smile was reassuring.

Lucy grinned, embarrassed, "Right. I used to really enjoy romantic stuff. I actually stopped reading romance novels after… I just couldn't handle the girls getting their happily ever after when I didn't get mine."

Dinah sighed and nodded; "I know how that goes. Romantic stuff made me positively grumpy for a while after I broke up with a serious boyfriend from college. But maybe we're both on the right track now."

"I_ really_ hope so. Well," Lucy said, giving the room a once-over, "I don't mean to rush you out but I should get going. He'll worry if I'm too late. It doesn't matter how many times I tell him I'm perfectly safe walking there in the dark and capable of defending myself if need be, he still insists I shouldn't do it."

"Okay, but do be careful. It sounds like it's starting to storm outside."

"Thanks," Lucy said, grabbing up her stuff and walking with Dinah to the door, "I'm going to fly there tonight with the weather being like it is so hopefully it holds off until I'm safe inside."

"Hopefully," they both stepped into the hallway and Lucy closed the door behind them. "Thanks for chatting. I'm sorry it took me so long to come by."

"You're welcome," Lucy said, "I'm glad you came by, even if it took awhile. I was beginning to think I scared you off. Well, I'm sure you have some researching to do so I'll see you Monday I suppose."

"Yes, enjoy your weekend," Dinah smiled and waved as the other professor headed towards the main entrance.

A loud crash of thunder rang through the castle just as Lucy disappeared from sight. Dinah shivered and looked around. The castle corridors seemed darker than usual this late at night, probably due to the storm. It felt even gloomier than it had all week.

Walking towards her room she had to pass a line of windows, and stopped for a moment to look outside. The sky was roiling with thick black clouds, and the trees that decorated the Hogwarts grounds were being tossed about in the wind as though they were made of paper. Hopefully Lucy would be safe and make it to Hogsmeade before any rain started. But with this wind Dinah had to wonder if flying was a good idea after all.

Lightning struck, illuminating the sky, and yet the clouds didn't seem any less dark. Dinah had an uneasy feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. The storm _almost _didn't seem normal. She left the windows and wandered towards her rooms, her pace quickening with each step. She didn't want to be stuck out here in the halls. Her own bed sounded infinitely more inviting. Especially if she could bury herself under the covers with Godric cuddled up against her.

She had nearly made it back when the crying started.

"Tommy?" Dinah asked, taking a turn down the corridor that led to his bathroom. The crying was more strained, more hopeless-sounding than usual, and it echoed mournfully in the dark, empty halls. As she approached the place, however, the crying became more distant rather than closer. And yet, she somehow knew that he was in there. She leaned into the door and asked again. "Tommy?"

"Dinah?" the crying continued, interspersed with flashes of lightning.

"Yes," she said softly, trying the door. It didn't open. "Tommy, is this door locked?"

The crying continued with no response, and then Dinah heard the rain. It began to pound on the roof of the hallway, echoing through the castle. She shivered and tried again. "Tommy? Please let me in."

"I'm scared..."

"Tommy?" the raw fear in the boy's voice caused Dinah's body to react similarly, and she wanted more than ever to go crawl into bed and hide until the storm was over. Or even rush to Severus and hope that he was in the mood for cuddling, comforting, and protecting. Probably three things too many. "Tommy, open this door."

"I'm scared, Dinah..." the voice echoed, drifting away and becoming drowned out by the rain and thunder. "I'm..."

And then she couldn't hear him anymore.

"There's something wrong here," she whispered out loud, her voice a bit unsteady. She was answered by thunder, lightening, and more rain. And then a croaking noise, as she turned around, wand at the ready.

A single chocolate frog was hopping along the hallway.

"There is something _very_ wrong here."


	42. Prophecy

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Prophecy

* * *

Dinah yawned as she headed to the library to meet Severus after dinner on Saturday. They had both been grading pretty intensely during the day and had agreed to meet here later to do their research. But Dinah hadn't been in the mood for grading much, and had not slept well the night before. That storm and fear of what she had heard and seen had kept her awake.

"You don't look well," was the first thing Severus said when she walked up to him at the restricted section.

"Um. Yeah," she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Just had a bad night. Some things happened during that storm that I can't explain. I thought you might have some insights."

"Indulge me," he closed the book with a snap and stuffed it back into the shelf, moving to place an arm on her shoulder and guide her to a nearby table where two books were stacked. They sat down next to each other and he eyed her for a few more moments. "And if you continue to feel like this I can try to brew a potion to help."

She smiled to show her gratitude. The man truly was opening up to her. "Thank you." She looked around the library. A few students milled about but it was mostly empty. It seemed nobody wanted to be out and about today. It wasn't storming outside but the dark clouds were still gathered and showed no signs of disappearing. She turned back to Severus and gave him a summary of what had happened last night.

"I see..." he frowned and continued to regard her. "I also think it warrants suspicion." He sighed. "No normal years after all..."

"I'm sorry."

"Please stop apologizing for things as though you are responsible for them when you aren't. However, I think that if anything further suspicious happens then we have to report this activity to Professor Dumbledore."

"The chocolate frog too?"

"I don't know," he shook his head. "The one you saw yesterday may have no connection to Eugene. The students consume those atrocious candies too, as you well know. And we still can't explain our suspicions about him without bringing up the fact that you spied in his room."

"Ah, yes, that," she muttered, embarrassed. "Ruins everything, doesn't it?"

"Actually it leaves us in the same spot, because if you hadn't spied we would have little to be suspicious about in the first place."

"Yes, but its worse to be suspicious and have no way to do something about it than it is to be clueless."

"Is it?"

"I don't know!"

He smirked; "My, we are easily agitated today, aren't we?"

"I didn't get any sleep last night."

Severus turned and looked out the library windows in the distance, where the dark clouds still hung in what was now the night sky, blocking out all stars and other points of light. "I doubt many people slept well last night. That storm did not feel normal. It felt like dark magic..."

"Really? So it wasn't just me, then?"

"It felt like it did... before the Dark Lord returned, or right before the Dark Mark would begin to react," his gaze shifted to his left arm for a moment, and Dinah thought she saw a tiny flash of nervousness in his eyes. She was reminded again just how much he had gone through the past eighteen years.

She sighed and scooted closer to him, placing a hand on his sleeve over the spot where she knew the faded remains of the Dark Mark laid. "There are other sources of dark magic out there besides Voldemort. I know we'd all like to think that now that he's defeated everything will be perfect, but unfortunately – I guess – that's not true."

"Mm..." he stared for a moment at where her hand lay, and then looked up to meet her eyes. A sort of unspoken understanding passed between them. Dinah knew she could never imagine the agony he had endured, but she also knew that he needed someone to at least try. And he knew that she was trying.

A cold wind blew through the library and chose that moment to extinguish half of the candles in the room. Dinah flinched and felt her fingers clutch Severus's sleeve as they were plunged into darkness. He, of course, had to flinch as well in response, especially since she had just clutched him in the spot where pain usually indicated that he was being summoned by his old master. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be," he muttered, his other hand coming up to her shoulder and pulling her a tiny bit closer. "Are there students still in here?"

"I hadn't seen any recently. They're probably all gone back to their common rooms for the night. We should follow their example and-" she broke off when a loud crash rang through the room. They turned to see a bunch of books knocked from the shelf in the restricted section by a small creature which spun into the room. "Peeves? Is this your doing?"

The poltergeist floated toward them, and she could see beyond him the open door leading from the library into the hallway, where he had come through. But there was something wrong. The little man's face was blank; his eyes hollow as though something had possessed him.

"Stay back," Severus hissed in her ear, standing up from the chair, "This isn't normal. Something is either possessing or controlling him or he's under a spell. Let me determine the cause."

But Dinah didn't listen to her wiser colleague. She found herself standing from the chair, intrigued, and walking closer to Peeves.

"Dinah!" Severus growled, but even his speaking of her name wasn't doing much for her at the moment. She couldn't take her eyes off of the floating man in front of her. There was a weird feeling in the room. It was like she was being pulled, but she was also starting to feel cold... and strangely sad.

For a moment the face of Peeves didn't change, but then a large smile spread across his face and light seemed to come into his eyes again. She was about to ask him what happened when the smile became positively frightening and he raised one finger, pointing at her. Repeating the same, horrible words over – and over – and over again.

"When the Dark Lord's destruction is incomplete, when the Dark Lord's destruction is incomplete, when the Dark Lord's destruction is incomplete..."

"No!" she whimpered, taking a step backward.

"What is he...?" Severus murmured, and she saw him moving behind her, coming closer, wand outstretched.

"When the Dark Lord's destruction is incomplete..."

"Stop, please!" Dinah screamed, covering her ears just as a gust of cold air blew through the room and a second creature flew in.

This one was huge and skeletal, with a robe like thin sheets of gray paper clinging to its figure, draping it in darkness. It flew towards her and she felt Severus's arms grab her shoulders, pulling her back. He came to stand in front of her but the other creature beat him to it, brushing past Peeves and causing the poltergeist to collapse to the ground, apparently unconscious if that was even possible.

In Dinah's torment and agony she did manage to have one coherent thought.

This was a dementor.

She tried to raise her wand in front of her with a shaking hand, the words she was supposed to speak refusing to come to her lips. Severus seemed frozen as well where he stood beside her. She couldn't think through the fear the poltergeist's words had brought to her. The fear and the horrible memories. And the sadness and cold... utter sadness and cold percolating through the entire room.

"_Expec... Expec... Ex..._" she stammered, and then had an image of her snake Patronus, and Severus seeing it, finding out she was a parselmouth. Her wand hand lowered a bit.

Severus seemed to take this moment to recover. "_Expecto Patronum_!" he shouted, and the white doe burst forth from the tip of his wand.

Even in the light of the spell that was supposed to bring happiness, Dinah felt her heart sink. This doe was Lily, and she was, as always, the one thing that could make Severus happy enough to conjure a Patronus. The beautiful creature fighting back the dementor was a symbol of Severus's love for someone that was not her. And he was using it to save her. It was rather ironic. It almost felt cruel.

The dementor didn't know that, however, and although it was something that fed on sadness apparently Severus's thoughts about Lily were stronger than the pain in Dinah's still-throbbing heart. This was all too much – Peeves's words, the dementor, and then the doe. She felt herself fall into a chair and buried her face in her hands as the dementor flew out of the library.

"_Lumos maxima_!" was Severus's next declaration, and a wave of light filled the room, the darkness behind Dinah's closed eyes turning to orange to indicate the change. She couldn't look up, though, especially as she now felt tears coming.

"Dinah!" Severus said, and she could feel him kneeling in front of her.

"No," she whimpered again, drawing away from him, her body trembling from the bitter cold that still moved through her insides.

"What was Peeves saying?" he demanded, his voice an insistent whisper, but not without concern behind it. "Dinah, look at me!"

"NO!" she shouted, a sob catching in her throat. The longer she sat there the more humiliated she felt. Not only was she acting like a coward, she was acting like a child. The contrast between herself and Severus was too much. She was nothing like him. She didn't deserve him.

"What is going _on_?" he forced her hands away from her face so that she could look at him.

"I don't know," she lied, a single tear sliding down her cheek despite her efforts to keep it from doing so. "Why... why was a dementor here?"

He brushed the tear away with a finger. The tiny bit of warmth and the intimacy of the touch just made her want to cry even more. The fact that he actually wanted to comfort her and didn't want her to feel sad was too much after everything that had just happened. If he knew what a horrible person she was he would probably be happy to just let her wallow in her misery. That, more than anything, was probably why she hadn't been able to tell him about herself.

"I don't know," he was saying, gazing at her with more concern in his face than he'd shown yet. "Dementors are attracted to places of despair and dark magic. If that storm was as dark as it seemed it may have simply come here for that reason. Now that hundreds of dementors have been 'released' from Azkaban they make up a larger portion of the outside world. I don't think that was the best choice for removing them... but I had no say in the matter. I'm more concerned about Peeves," he turned to look at the still-unconscious poltergeist on the floor. "The words he said to you..."

"He didn't say anything," Dinah moaned, her body drawing further away from Severus. Now she knew she sounded like an idiot. Severus had heard the words; there was no way she could weasel out of this one now. How could she get him to let the subject drop?

"Are you hurt? Are you safe?"

"Nooo!" Dinah couldn't handle it any more after he asked her that. She pulled her knees up onto the chair and began sobbing, looking away from him and burying her face in her hands again.

"That's it," Severus stood, "There is something _very _wrong here and if you are not going to tell me about it then I'm taking you down to the dungeons and keeping you there until you do. Don't you think I have a right to know? I had to save you from this situation in case you'd forgotten!"

"Stop it, please." _Yes, just keep reminding me how strong you are and what a weakling I am..._

"Come with me," he grabbed her hand and pulled it away from her face, trying to drag her off the chair.

"No," she pulled back, one last escape avenue coming to mind. "We should go see Dumbledore... tell him about this..."

"He's traveling. Meeting at the Ministry this weekend. Come. Now."

"How is it you always know these things?" she whimpered, still resisting.

"I hardly think now is the time for such questions.

"But what about Peeves? Take him to the infirmary..."

"Leave him there. I'm sure he'll recover in time and I doubt Madam Pomfrey would know what to do with him anyway. You are my first concern right now. Do you think I'm going to let you go back to your own rooms in this state? Or stay here in the library where anyone can come in and find you?"

"The dementor..."

"Lily is taking care of the dementor. She'll prowl the halls all night and make sure no more arrive."

"You... you gave it her _name_?" Dinah moaned, now pulling back with all the strength she had. "Let me go! Leave me alone! I don't need you!"

"Stop it," he hissed, tightening his grip on her hand and leaning in close. "You knew about this and I warned you. You can't say that I didn't. You should just be happy that I care enough to want to protect you from yourself. And I do, in case you were wondering. But you have to tell me what happened. _Someone _needs to know and we both need to tell Dumbledore about this incident first thing Monday morning.

She sniffed and wiped at her eyes, though it wasn't doing much good. "Fine. We'll talk to Dumbledore. But I'm going home tonight."

"Not right away you're not," he pulled, and Dinah had the sudden thought that he had been not using all his strength to drag her up until now. Because this current pull had her up from the chair in an instant despite her attempts to resist. And then he was dragging her through the hall and found that she no longer had the strength to argue with him. She let him take her down to the dungeons and sit her on the green couch. He sat next to her and forced her to look at him, his dark eyes boring into hers in a way that made her feel uneasy

"Now," he almost growled, "You are going to tell me what is going on or I am going to find out for myself."

"No," she whispered, terror filling her at the thought of him using legilimency. If he did he would find out _every_thing, not just about the prophecy but about her parselmouth abilities and her cowardice and about how strongly she felt for him. She couldn't have him see those things. "I'll tell you... just give me time."

"Fine," the intensity of his gaze disappeared, and his body relaxed a bit. "Peeves said 'When the Dark Lord's destruction is incomplete...' Those words are horrifying enough on their own, but it also appears that you know something about them. 'When the Dark Lord's destruction is incomplete,'" he repeated.

"Stop saying that!" she sobbed, hiding her face in her hands again, "I can't hear those words; I hate those words!"

"Why?"

"The prophecy!" There. It was out. "My prophecy! The first words..."

"You have a prophecy?" he sounded surprised.

"Yes," she moaned, drying her eyes on her sleeve and forcing herself to look at him again. "And I hate it. It... it's... it..."

"Calm down," he rested a hand on her shoulder, and much as she hated to admit it the move was comforting. "Is that what was bothering you that night in the rain?"

"Um, part of it. Most of it," she sniffled, turning away from him and drawing her knees up to her chin again. It was a bit of an exaggeration, the 'most of it' part, but it was close enough for now, she figured. "It said some things. Ultimately, they ruined my life. Those in combination with being older and... and... no, I couldn't. I couldn't handle it. I'm so pathetic."

"Tell me... the words of the prophecy," his tone was quiet, soothing.

"I can't," she whispered, shutting her eyes and turning further away.

"It might be important."

"Please, no. It can't be important. It's over, it's invalidated. I have to believe that."

"There is a reason Peeves said those words to you. If you think it's invalidated then I'm afraid I have some bad news. Someone made him say those words. Someone knows, and I highly doubt that your prophecy is invalidated in any way. Now, tell me what it said."

Dinah paused and stared at her knees. He wasn't threatening legilimency... yet. And she didn't know if he would again. But her mind flew back to weeks prior, when he had placed his vial of memory in her hands and instructed her to view it. He trusted her. She had to trust him. Even if she was afraid to do so. She took a deep breath and turned to look at him. "All right. I'll tell you."

He nodded, his eyes still non-threatening. Perhaps they were even encouraging. And his hand still hadn't left her shoulder.

"'When..." she began, and then lost it for a moment, closing her eyes and trying to will herself to continue. Instead, tears began to roll down her cheeks again.

"Stop. Here," Severus drew a black Slytherin handkerchief from his robes and stuffed it into her hands. "Take your time, but please tell me."

She looked up into his eyes again, her heart warming a bit. Despite the whole doe named Lily thing, he did care about her. Maybe... just maybe that was enough for now. "Thank you," she used the handkerchief and then continued after another deep breath. "'When the Dark Lord's destruction is incomplete, The truth long invisible to all but one child; Another will come: One with power discovered late in life; Years will bring difficulty and she will resist her destiny; But all that she avoids she will eventually be forced to face."

As Dinah spoke the words aloud for the first time in over fifteen years she started to notice horrible patterns she must have been blocking from her mind. Rather than sounding invalidated, it sounded like it was being played out exactly as planned. She looked at Severus again but couldn't read the expression on his face. He was listening, though. She could tell that much. She sighed and continued. "'She will relive the past, facing darkness yet again; And, meeting the last incarnation of the Dark Lord shall return that darkness to light; She will be the first to bring peace.'"


	43. Comfort

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Comfort

* * *

She waited, watching Severus, her heartbeat quickening. If he didn't say something soon she feared she was going to burst into tears again. Her shoulders were already beginning to tremble. She bit her lip and willed them to stop. "Please... say something."

"Dumbledore knows about this?" was all Severus managed to say.

"Yes, of course he knows!" she moaned, gripping the handkerchief so tightly her knuckles turned white. "He came and... he came and found me when my magic appeared at sixteen. He knew it had to be about me. He told me about it and I – I really didn't mind it at first. I was a little nervous, but I thought..." she broke off as fresh tears sprung into her eyes. "I thought maybe I could do it. But then everyone started making fun of me and talking about me. The prophecy was so hard to interpret. Dumbledore thought it meant I would be the one to destroy Voldemort but the words were so obscure that might not have been the case. And then Harry's prophecy came and it was like it saved me. I didn't have to do it anymore. Maybe... maybe my prophecy was false..."

"The Dark Lord... incomplete..." Severus repeated, and Dinah finally realized what it was she was seeing in his eyes. Fear. He didn't want to have to face his old master again in any way. And yet he _had _been able to do it already, where she had just hid from her apparent destiny.

"But – but don't you see? Harry Potter has already _brought _peace and I haven't done anything yet! So _he _was the first. And I'm sure Voldemort is completely and utterly destroyed, right? So it's invalidated!"

"Does Dumbledore say it's invalidated?"

"He doesn't tell me anything! No one ever tells me anything! I... you have no idea what I went through in school. The students treated me like dirt because I was older and they thought that I was full of myself about the prophecy. Because the words were so obscure half of them even thought I was going to be a Death Eater or something; that the message was backwards. And nobody ever wanted to be my friend. I got so scared. The Sorting Hat didn't even know what to do with me," she whimpered. "It said that my personality was more of a Hufflepuff but if I was going to save the world then I had to be a Gryffindor. They picked on me for that, too."

"I always thought that hat was biased," Severus muttered.

She nodded miserably, wiping more tears from her eyes. "Probably, but I had no choice. They all hated me and treated me different. I was always alone..."

"They can't have treated you like that for only that reason!"

"Yes they could have!" she screamed. There was no way she was telling him about being a parselmouth now. She couldn't see the same look on his face that he had given Harry when the boy had revealed his abilities in the pensieve. No one ever looked at her normally when they found out. She just couldn't bear for Severus to do that as well. The prophecy was enough for him to know now. "You should know; they picked on you for no... no good reason, too," she buried her face in the handkerchief, rocking back and forth on the couch.

"But then I did something horrible. I left. I – I went to the Muggle world and stayed there until this year, until Voldemort was defeated. I sat back and let Harry do everything because I was scared. I'm a horrible coward, Severus. You – you endured so much and yet you stayed and you protected this world and you were strong and amazing and I-" she began to sob again, "I hid from everything. I'm completely worthless! A coward! A pathetic coward! I don't... I don't deserve you at all!" She couldn't talk anymore after that. It was out. And surely now he was going to abandon her for good.

"Stop." Instead, to Dinah's complete surprise, he pulled her into his arms, resting her head on his shoulder and running his fingers through her hair slowly, soothingly. She whimpered and buried her face in the warm skin of his neck.

"Shh. All right. You're all right," he said softly, still stroking her hair, his other arm holding her securely against him. He laid his head against hers as his perhaps a bit greasy and yet also silky and soft black hair brushed against the skin of her face. He didn't say anything more, just held her, and so Dinah closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the moment.

The longer she stayed in his arms the warmer she felt. The exhaustion and stress of the past few days and what she had just gone through finally hit her full force, and she felt herself struggling to stay awake. His embrace was so comforting and she felt so safe and secure. She didn't know how many minutes or hours had passed, all she knew was that she was warm and Severus was holding her. She was sinking into a warm haze of sleepiness and comfort. She had never felt this peaceful and cared for before in her life, not even from Dylan.

After another eternity passed and she was starting to become unaware of even where she was let alone what time it was, she felt Severus move slightly away from her. His fingers left her hair and traced her cheek, forcing her half-focused eyes to look up into his face. "You're falling asleep," he said, his voice soft and warm, and strangely echoey. "We'll talk more tomorrow. You should go back to your rooms for the night."

"No," she whimpered, unable to stop herself as her fingers clutched at his robes and she nuzzled her face more deeply into his neck. "No..." she whispered, willing the warmth to stay with her, trying to drift to sleep again.

He sighed, the motion of his body against her causing her to yawn. "All right. Fine. You'll stay."

"Mm?" she murmured. She wanted to say 'really?' but her lips wouldn't form the word.

He gathered her into his arms and stood from the couch, lifting her up with ease. She flushed, not having expected this. "I can... walk. Where're we... going?"

"I hardly think you can walk when you're nearly asleep and we're going to the bedroom." He carried her through the room and into a back doorway. Dinah wanted to protest again, but she couldn't find her voice. Part of her felt ridiculously childish being carried to bed by him and the other part was loving every minute of it. She managed to open her eyes enough to see where they were headed. The bedroom was large and lit with that orangey dungeon light. An immense, king-sized bed with black sheets and a dark green comforter sat in the middle, and Severus carried her to one side of it, next to a bedside table with an oil lamp on it. He drew back the covers and deposited her into the bed.

"I can sleep on the couch," she murmured, but hoped he said no. This bed was soft. Softer than she might have expected from him. She felt her body curling up into her usual sleeping position. It wasn't quite the fetal position, more like halfway between that and holding her body completely straight.

"It's not comfortable enough," he said, pulling the comforter up over her shoulders, adding more warmth and softness.

"But I don't want you to have to..."

"Who says I'm going to?" she heard his footsteps echo around the bed, coming to the other side. Then he drew back the covers.

"Severus," she opened her eyes, watching him in awe as he came into the bed, the mattress shifting as he did so, and faced her, pulling the covers up over both of them.

"I'm sorry. I can't give you any more than this," he said.

She nodded, understanding what he meant. "It's okay. Thank you."

"Go to sleep."

"Mm," she wanted to watch him for longer, but he probably didn't need her staring at him all night, and she _was _feeling very sleepy. They were both still fully clothed, and she couldn't believe he usually slept in his day robes, but it made sense that he wasn't ready to make this any more intimate than it already was. She wanted to snuggle into his arms again, but since he hadn't offered, she figured it was probably best not to do that either.

Not that she would have had the strength to move anyway, was her last thought as she drifted into sleep.

* * *

Dinah felt warm and rested when she opened her eyes, and then a jolt of shock when she realized where she was. Her eyes popped open wide and she sat up in the large bed, looking around at the orange glow of the dungeon room. Had the lights been off at all last night? She had to wonder. She looked next to her and saw that Severus was gone, his half of the bed made as though he had never been there at all.

There was no good way for her to tell what time it was, as the lighting was much the same down here at all times of day and there was no clock in sight. Yet she figured it had to be morning, given how rested she felt. She laid her head back on the soft black pillow and watched the shadows from the lamplight flicker on the ceiling. The bed was warm and for a moment she didn't want to leave it.

She closed her eyes and thought back to yesterday night and all that had happened. She felt much better now, but there were still hints of uneasiness remaining. She and Severus hadn't really gotten much chance to talk about all she'd said last night. But if what he did do was any indication, at least he was willing to stay with her, or at least stay friends with her if nothing else. She sighed and thought back to how it felt being pressed up against him like that. She wanted more, but knew better than to ask for it. Maybe he'd volunteer that kind of affection again someday, though.

Dinah opened her eyes and turned to his spot on the bed again, looking for some small indication that he had really been there. She stared at his pillow until she was satisfied that she saw a slight indent in it. Yes, they had slept in the same bed that night. Too bad she had been so exhausted and out of it to really indulge in the moment.

She wanted to see him.

Dinah drew back the covers and slipped out of bed, her bare feet hitting the stone floor as she sat on the edge, fingering the smooth green comforter. She shivered at the cold floor and lifted her feet from it for a moment, then listened.

She thought she heard movement in the next room. Perhaps the clinking of plates? She _was_ rather hungry.

Feeling just a tad awkward, she stepped onto the floor again and stood up, heading to the doorway that led out of the bedroom and back to the sitting and dining room area. She took a deep breath at the door and pushed it open. Surely he wouldn't have _forgotten _that she had been there, right?

That was probably a dumb, paranoid thought. He looked up from where he sat at the table when she came in and gave her an awkward half-smile. He gestured to the empty plate across from him. "Good morning. If you're hungry, we can summon this morning's breakfast here."

"Um... yes, thank you," she pulled away the chair in front of the plate and sat down across from him. A breakfast of ham and cheese omelets with sausages and hash browns appeared on their plates, complete with glasses of orange juice and toast with butter and jam. "Sunday breakfast," she said, still feeling a little awkward as she took her slice of toast and spread some strawberry jam on it. "Always a bit more extravagant than usual..."

"Yes..." he said, watching her with what appeared to be a wary eye as he took a sip of orange juice. He put the glass down. "I trust you slept well."

"Very well," she said, feeling her cheeks turning a bit pink as she took a bite of omelet. "Thank you."

"And you're feeling all right?" he sounded even more awkward.

Dinah's cheeks turned from pink to red and she nodded. "I am. I mean...it sort of felt good to get it off my chest. And getting a good night's sleep helped as well. Thank you for listening and... letting me stay here. It helped."

Severus nodded briefly, his own face turning a tiny bit pink for a fleeting moment before he changed the subject. "I checked the library this morning. Put the books back where they belong and Peeves seems to have recovered as he is no longer there. I was able to fix everything before Madam Pince arrived."

"That's good."

There was about an hour of silence as they finished their meal. Dinah had finished eating and was staring down at her plate thinking that she wanted more hash browns when Severus spoke again. "We still have to see Dumbledore tomorrow."

"I know."

"Do you have any idea why Peeves was reciting the first line of your prophecy?"

"No," she shook her head. "I can't think of anything. Unless it's coming true. The part about having to face the things I keep resisting. I've been resisting for years now. I don't want to relive the past and face darkness yet again..."

"Facing darkness is not so hard once you're used to it," he mumbled, looking away from her.

"That's why I was afraid to tell you. I know after all you've been through me being afraid of my stupid prophecy sounds horribly selfish and weak. I can't help but think you won't have any respect for me any more."

"I wouldn't go that far," he said, meeting her eyes. "You have faced different things than me, and our circumstances are different. To a person who has never endured the agony of darkness, something as simple as that prophecy may seem overwhelming. And if you know about it in advance I can see how easy it would be to try to avoid it. I didn't know in advance that I would be thrown into what I was thrown into. I simply was and I responded accordingly. I was never given a chance to hide. Perhaps if I had been, then I would have done just as you did."

"I can't believe that..." it was her turn to look away from him. She also noted that he had quite unashamedly used the word 'agony' to describe the things he'd gone through. She had no right to complain about her own problems when he had suffered so much. And he had endured it all with far more dignity than she endured her barely comparable problems.

He shrugged. "I can't tell you how to feel or what to believe. I'm simply trying to make a point. If you do intend to face this thing through you need to at least _try _to give yourself more credit. Your years in the Muggle world were not useless, were they? You did learn a lot and have subsequently obtained a job where you are at least trying to make a difference?"

Dinah met Severus's gaze and nodded, finding herself fighting back tears again. Despite his disagreement with her views and her affection for the Muggle world, he cared enough to tell her that – basically – he respected what it was she was doing. "I've at least tried to do _something_ useful for this world. That's what I always told myself while I was studying. And... well, I don't know how much consolation it is but I realized last year that staying in the Muggle world was just as dangerous as the wizarding world if not more so once Voldemort had taken everything over."

He shook his head. "I don't need consolation, Dinah. I need you to stop putting yourself down and start thinking about this situation. Yesterday's incident suggests that your prophecy may indeed be coming to fruition. And that means there may be more left over from the Dark Lord's reign. Now, perhaps this is a good time for this to be happening if it has to happen at any rate."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because, as it seems to not be obvious to you, I have had experience in dealing with the Dark Lord and so has Professor Dumbledore. Perhaps that is why we were reborn – perhaps this isn't finished. Unfortunate, but possible. Then again, it may be more of the actions of his remaining followers than a resurgence of the Dark Lord himself. I confess I would prefer that, and your prophecy's wording makes that just as possible as the other option. All I'm saying is that at this stage you have resources to help you which you might not have had if this happened another time."

"You are willing to..." she stared at him, her throat tightening. It was hard to believe this was true. "Help me?" she finished.

"You... are not _alone _in this, Dinah. If that's what you happen to be thinking. You aren't."

"Mm," she agreed, biting her lip and staring back down at her plate, a bit overwhelmed by his statement. "Thank you, Severus... but I don't want to make you have to deal with that again, either."

"As I said before, I'm used to it." He laughed, but there was no amusement in it. "Perhaps I even _like _doing this. Sometimes I wonder..."

"No, you don't," she looked at him. "And it's not the same. If you do this now then everyone will know whose side you are on. And you... won't be alone, either."

He frowned, not meeting her gaze, and stood from the table. "That settled, I believe I would like to do some research on the phenomenon we encountered yesterday."

Dinah had a feeling he was trying to get her to leave, and she had to respect that wish. He had done more for her in the past day than she could have ever imagined, after all, and she would see him tomorrow when they went to speak to Dumbledore. She stood from her own chair. "We should talk to Peeves too, if we can find him."

He nodded and walked over to where she stood, gesturing for her to follow him as he walked through the living room into his office and to the door leading back into the halls. "If you do that I will do the bookwork. And we should meet before breakfast tomorrow in front of the headmaster's office. Six thirty. To guarantee we don't miss the opportunity."

"All right," she turned to face him and gave him a small smile. "Thank you."

He considered her, and then came forward and gathered her into his arms, holding her against him for a short moment. "You're welcome. We can finish our research for Slughorn later this week. I'm sure they will understand." He paused for a moment and drew back from her, meeting her eyes. "You can handle this."

Dinah nodded, allowing herself to reach up and lightly touch his cheek. He flinched a little, but let her do it. She leaned forward and pressed against him for one last, short moment. "I know. Now." She stepped back and gave him another smile, which he returned very vaguely, and then turned and headed back to her rooms for the day.


	44. Questions

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Questions

* * *

Dinah met Severus at the eagle statue early Monday morning. He turned and nodded at her, seeming a bit more subdued than he had been on Saturday. Although, in general, she did find that when she first encountered him after a short break he drifted back into his normal stoic mode and it took awhile for him to re-open to her again.

"I talked to Peeves," she said with a frown, "Yesterday. He kept insisting that I was making up stories and he couldn't remember anything that happened after dinner on Saturday. I think I believe him."

"I would," Severus agreed. "It's unfortunate that we can't get any more information from him, however. I found a number of possession spells that might be the culprit in my research but I don't know that I can pinpoint exactly what was used. Perhaps the headmaster will have an insight." He took her hand and then turned to the statue. "Honeydukes Fudge."

The staircase revealed itself and Dinah showed her gratitude to Severus by tightening her grip on his hand as they walked up the stairs and into Dumbledore's office.

The headmaster was sitting at his desk, looking as awake and alert as he always did. Dinah suddenly wondered if the man ever slept. His eyes widened in mild surprise when he saw the two of them and his gaze shifted to their clasped hands. Dinah was surprised Severus hadn't let go, as he always let go when they came upon students or other professors, even Lucy. But she remembered that he and Dumbledore were actually quite close, and so perhaps it made sense that he didn't mind in this case.

"Severus, Dinah," the headmaster nodded to each of them in turn. "How nice to see the both of you together. To what do I owe this early visit?"

"Problems," Severus said flatly, leading them both up to the desk and releasing Dinah's hand, sitting in one chair while she sat in the other.

"I see," Dumbledore frowned. "Please indulge me."

"There was an incident this weekend relating to this one's prophecy," Severus said, gesturing to Dinah.

Dinah almost laughed. He was going to hold her hand in front of Dumbledore and yet she was still 'this one'. The two seemed rather disconnected for happening in less than a minute from each other.

Dumbledore's solemn expression kept her humor in check, however, as he turned to her. "I see. Well, this is indeed a concern. So you have told Severus about your prophecy then, Dinah?" He asked, and she nodded. Then he cocked his head at her slightly and she knew what he was asking. Did she tell Severus about being a parselmouth as well? She shook her head the tiniest bit in what she hoped was an imperceptible gesture. Dumbledore raised both eyebrows in a short instant, but otherwise didn't comment – either out loud or silently – on that new knowledge.

If Severus had noticed anything he was pretending that he hadn't. He briefly described to Dumbledore what had happened on Saturday with Peeves and the dementor and the storm. He left out Tommy and the chocolate frog, for now.

It was some time after Severus finished his explanation that Dumbledore spoke. The headmaster had folded his hands in front of them and his expression had been an odd mixture of surprise and consideration. Dinah wasn't entirely sure whether he had or hadn't expected to hear this news. If he _had _expected it, she thought with an uneasy shudder, then there was a lot more that she had to think about, and she didn't like where her mind was going.

"I do not know what this means, but it does seem to be a valid possibility that the events of the prophecy are being set into motion," Dumbledore said, his expression now solemn.

"You knew..." Dinah found herself whispering, her worries coming to light. "You thought this might happen and that's why you were so quick to hire me this year."

The headmaster's smile was sympathetic, but he wasn't denying her words. "You applied for the position, Dinah."

"Yes, because I thought-" she winced and looked over at Severus. He was watching her with his eyebrow half-raised, but otherwise didn't make any gesture or comment. She turned back to Dumbledore. "I thought it was time to finally go through with my ambition and I knew there was an opening. I guess I thought it was safe because Voldemort was defeated, I don't know. I had just gotten my Ph.D. and there was no good reason to wait and try to get a Muggle job for a couple of years when the opportunity was so perfect. I guess maybe subconsciously I thought coming back could still set it in motion, but..."

"We knew it was a possibility," Dumbledore said. "We both knew that the words of the prophecy, in some ways, made it _more _likely to occur after Harry did what he needed to do. The Dark Lord's destruction cannot be incomplete until he is apparently destroyed, after all."

"But I didn't let myself think that!" she exclaimed, "Not until just now. Maybe I was hiding from it the whole time, but I didn't. And you knew I didn't think that and just let me continue thinking..." she trailed off, fearing she might become incoherent.

"Let it go," Severus advised. "When Professor Dumbledore does things like this he knows what it is he's doing. It may be unpleasant but you can't stop him. I learned that the long, hard way. As did Potter."

"Mmm," she agreed, biting her lip and turning back to face the headmaster.

"I understand that this is difficult," Dumbledore said. "I apologize if you feel I was misleading you in any way. That was not my intention. I have simply been concerned about the possibility of your prophecy coming into play. Ever since myself and Severus were reborn that night I have been trying to come up with a reason for it. It was obvious from the beginning why Remus, Tonks, Fred, and even Sirius might be reborn, but there was no immediate compelling reason for the two of us. The bulk of my meetings with Severus this year have been on that subject. When you applied for this position the thought occurred to me that perhaps I was still needed because of this matter. I have suggested other possible reasons for Severus's rebirth but he refuses to acknowledge them."

"Because your reasons make no sense," Severus said through gritted teeth. "This one is the most logical. Had you told me about her prophecy beforehand-"

"It was not my place to tell."

"Which I do understand, but it would have saved me the trouble of having to refute your other reasons if I had known that this one was a possibility."

"I am still not sure if this is your reason, Severus, but I will no longer argue. I will simply say this. Even if you are needed in another battle for peace in the wizarding world – which we still cannot be sure of – but even if you are, if it is taken care of and things go back to normal, what then? You will be in the same position you thought you were in this summer."

Severus frowned; "Perhaps I'll get killed again in the battle, permanently this time."

"Please stop," Dinah whispered, trying to keep tears from forming in her eyes at Severus's words. She couldn't even look at him, so instead stared down at her hands. "Don't say things like that any more. Please."

"I'm sorry," he said, his tone offhand.

Dinah made herself turn to face him. He was staring at her, more thoughtful than anything but he also looked a little apologetic.

"I think we can probably end this meeting for the day," Dumbledore said softly, and when Dinah turned back to the headmaster she noticed that his eyes were sad. But he smiled at her. "Try not to worry too much about this yet, Dinah. We shall investigate the matter and keep an eye out for any more suspicious activity. If this prophecy wants to be set in motion, then it will do so with little if any encouragement from us. We simply have to wait for and be aware of the signs. I also think it might do to perform legilimency on Peeves, Severus," he turned his gaze back to the other man.

"Can that be done with a poltergeist?" Severus asked.

"You may be able to extract something, although the response will likely be different from that of a human subject. I don't think it has been done before, but it is worth trying."

"Fine, then. I'll do that today. Is that all?"

"Yes, that is all for now," Dumbledore said, and after Dinah and Severus had stood from their chairs he added, "Dinah, would you please stay a moment. There's something I would like to discuss with you in private."

"Oh. Er... certainly," she agreed, glancing at Severus. Her somewhat-reluctant significant other had turned a questioning eye on the headmaster. Dumbledore simply nodded at Severus, telling him that it was okay.

"All right. Then I'll see you at breakfast," Severus gave Dinah a short nod and left the room.

Dinah stared after him for a few moments before turning back to Dumbledore, a half-formed fear coming to mind. "Headmaster ... you don't think that he would ever try to get himself killed again, do you? Like purposefully put himself in danger or-"

"No," Dumbledore said firmly, gesturing for her to take her seat again, which she did. "Severus does not actually _want _to die, Dinah. He is simply confused."

She sighed. "I know. That was probably a stupid thought. It's just... it bothers me when he says things like that."

"Myself as well," Dumbledore agreed. "I'm afraid he simply doesn't know what to do with himself in a peaceful world. His whole life has been devoted to helping me prepare Harry for the battle with Voldemort. He has risked his life more times than I can count and has endured a great deal. I don't think he ever learned how to simply enjoy life without some major goal to attend to. Which is, I believe, why he is jumping on this idea that his work in the battle against his old master is not yet done."

"Yes," she said, a wave of sadness washing over her. "I can see that."

"Help him, Dinah," Dumbledore's entreaty was straightforward and undisguised. "Because I believe I've reached the limit on all that I can do for him."

Dinah's sadness turned to conviction as she met the headmaster's gaze with a defiant one of her own. "I don't need you to tell me that."

He smiled, his eyes twinkling. "I know."

She sighed, trying to push those thoughts aside for a moment to address whatever Dumbledore had wanted to talk about. "There was something else you wanted to discuss, then?"

Dumbledore shook his head, that knowing smile never leaving his face. "I believe that we are finished here."

Oh. So discussing Severus _was _what he had wanted her to stick around for. She stood, thanked him, and bid him farewell before heading back downstairs.

Her path was clear. She had to work harder from now on at just helping Severus to be happy and enjoy life. Surely there were fun things that they could do together, ways that she could help him discover that he didn't have to be fighting to feel satisfied. It also gave her something to focus on besides the prophecy. They had already made at least some progress, she was sure. Now she wanted to do even better. She would show him happiness no matter what it took.

And she figured a reasonable start would be to pile her plate high with even more food than normal at breakfast in order to amuse him.

* * *

Although she had been pretty successful at amusing him with her eating habits at all three meals today, unfortunately the happy-go-lucky situation had to end after dinner. She had been fully intent on following him down to the dungeons to research some more together but had been waylaid by a third year girl in significant distress. The situation causing it had been fairly intense and now she feared she had something that she needed to confess to Severus.

She entered his office only to find him finishing up what appeared to be an argument with that same Slytherin girl from before, Astoria Greengrass. He sighed and met Dinah's gaze with a short nod, then waved the girl out of the room. She marched past Dinah and stopped for a moment, meeting first her gaze and then Severus's with a raised eyebrow. Maybe that was a Slytherin trait.

Severus cleared his throat and gestured again for her to leave. She nodded at him and then at Dinah and flounced out of the room. He sighed and stood from his desk, gathering a few papers together as he rolled his eyes. "Miss Greengrass has given up trying to get me to send letters to Draco Malfoy. However, she now finds it necessary to grill me on the details of his personality, history, likes and dislikes, and anything else that pops into her head. It's rather frustrating and I have told her that in no uncertain terms." He smiled slightly. "But I suppose we can get back to the matters at hand now?"

"I just took fifty points from Slytherin," she blurted out.

"What?" he demanded, his gaze darkening as he glared at her; "That was _you_? I saw it in the hourglasses in the hall but I couldn't imagine what might have caused it."

"I'm sorry," she shrugged, but found that she wasn't really as sorry as she thought.

"Would you mind telling me _why _you would do such a thing, at least?" he folded his arms and regarded her with a daring expression.

"I had to! Two of your third years were viciously abusing an innocent fox on the school grounds. They found it _sleeping _and still felt it necessary to kick it, bash a rock into its head, and probably kill it if I hadn't intercepted them in time."

Severus's stance relaxed as he listened to her explanation, and then a frown creased his brow. "I see..."

"So you can't tell me they didn't deserve it. Is this a normal Slytherin trait?"

"I don't think so," he glared at her again; "I certainly never did that. Nor have I heard of such a thing happening before. You should consider the person before you consider the house. I thought that was something that you advocated for."

"Well, it- it is," she said, feeling a little flustered all of a sudden. "But now the whole house is going to be penalized for the actions of a couple of rotten individuals. Maybe that's what has happened to Slytherin house forever, and that's why it has such a bad reputation. I don't know," she frowned, "Sometimes I think separating into houses at _all _is a bad idea. It doesn't foster any kind of understanding between students."

"Your idealism is, as usual, highly touching," he said in a tone full of sarcasm; "Would you mind enlightening me on the identities of these students, at least?"

"Septimus Peakes and Sean Cuffe, I believe," she said, glaring back at him for his near-mocking comment.

His frown deepened. "Peakes is a bit of a troublemaker. I know at least he always looked up to Draco Malfoy and friends and now Joseph Cantrell is looking up to _him_."

"You know abusing animals is an early sign of psychopathic and homicidal tendencies."

He smirked; "Learned that in your Muggle classes, did you?"

"Well, it makes _sense_," she retorted.

Severus sighed. "I will keep a closer eye on those two, Septimus specifically. If they continue with this behavior I might have _you _to blame if Slytherin does not win the house cup this year."

"You might," she agreed, her lips pursed, unashamed to admit it.

"That settled, are you still interested in doing this last bit of potions research before we meet with Slughorn again or aren't you?"

"I suppose," she agreed, relaxing in her own stance and smiling a little. "So you aren't _too _angry with me then. I'm glad."

"I've started to realize that being angry with you requires effort," he said, almost smiling. "Effort which I think might be better devoted to finishing what we said we were going to finish."

"I agree completely." Dinah followed him into the living area and they settled in to their usual places on the couch. She was glad when he put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. She smiled and closed her eyes for a minute, then opened them again and asked a question. "Did you use legilimency on Peeves?"

"During my mid-afternoon break, yes," he turned to look at her, a frown on his face. "I was going to tell you but forgot in the midst of our previous exchange. I saw something suspicious but I can't quite explain it."

"What was it?"

"He was floating around near Slughorn's office. I think the door might have opened, but Peeves was looking out the window at the storm. Anyway, I heard it click. Then there was a flash of light and that's all that I got."

"Something in Slughorn's office opened the door and attacked Peeves?" That didn't sound good. Didn't sound good at all.

"I can't say for certain. The flash may have been lightning and the door opening an unrelated coincidence. But it does present cause for suspicion."

"Yes," Dinah agreed, staring at the potions book in her hands but not really seeing the words on the open page. "It does indeed."


	45. Threats

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Threats

* * *

Dinah knocked on Lucy's door late Tuesday evening, hoping that her friend would answer. She had been conspicuously absent at all three meals today and Severus had said he hadn't seen her around either. When Dinah heard some students out on the grounds whispering to each other that Lucy hadn't shown up for classes that day, she really started to worry.

Something was definitely up.

"Come in," a loud voice croaked. Dinah wasn't entirely sure that it sounded like Lucy, but she tried the door. It opened and she stepped into the main room.

It was quite dark inside, and Dinah had hints of a slightly sour smell as she walked across the carpeted floor. "Lucy? It's Dinah. Are you here?"

"In bed," the voice called back, and was followed by the sound of vomiting.

Dinah winced, now guessing what the sour smell was from. Obviously Lucy was very sick. Hopefully, it was nothing contagious. She walked to the open bedroom door and peered in. Her friend looked up from a waste bin with a miserable expression. "Should I get Madam Pomfrey?" Dinah asked.

"Oh, god no," Lucy protested, looking oddly disturbed at the idea. She gently laid herself back in the bed, "I'm not sick. I just…hit my head really hard is all."

"And you're throwing up because of that?" Dinah frowned, concerned. "You could have a concussion. What happened?"

Lucy paused, her eyes closed. "Um, I'm not sure. I think I tripped and hit my head last night. My memory's a bit fuzzy."

"Then you _have _to talk to Madam Pomfrey!" Dinah insisted. "This could be serious. Oh, and that reminds me, does Sirius know? Have you told him?" She disliked the man, yes, but she could tell that he cared for Lucy. If her friend wasn't going to see Madam Pomfrey at least she had to tell her boyfriend about what had happened.

"Shhh. I have a slight headache," she smiled a little. "Dinah, I've slept all day. You're the only person I've seen today. So no, he doesn't know."

"Well... tell him," Dinah found her arms folding across her chest. "Or tell Madam Pomfrey. If you desperately need me to _I _could even send an owl to Sirius. But do something. I'm not cut out to take care of this and I have no idea what to do to check if it's serious or not. But a concussion isn't something that you can just ignore and hope that it goes away."

"Yes, Mother. I will tell Sirius. I promise" Lucy mumbled, sounding defiant. "Really. I've got nothing against Madam Pomfrey. There just no way I could explain this to her."

Dinah sighed. There was no real need for Lucy to have an attitude about the whole thing. It was times like this that Dinah realized how much older than her friend she really was. "Well, you seem to be feeling good enough to be sarcastic, anyway. I don't know why you need to explain it to Madam Pomfrey. If you can't remember, you can't remember. But I guess it's Sirius's job to either force you to talk to her or not. Either way, there's still the matter of your classes. What are you going to do? The students were muttering in the halls that you didn't show up."

Lucy took a deep breath, wincing at the pain it seemed to cause. Was there something wrong with her abdomen, too? "I'll be there tomorrow. You're right, I am feeling slightly better. My head is still pounding but I don't feel like throwing up now. I won't be at my best I'm sure, but I'll be there. Thanks for coming to check on me. I don't mean to seem ungrateful."

"That's all right," Dinah let her stance relax. A disturbing thought came to mind. Lucy getting injured and not remembering what caused it sounded a lot like what had happened to Peeves. Was whatever was after her trying to get at her friends now, too? It was just as likely an explanation as anything, Dinah feared. Yet there was no way to find out, as she was pretty sure suggesting for Severus to perform legilimency on Lucy would not float well especially as Dinah had been the one who wanted to keep their boyfriends out of their friendship. Instead she asked: "Do you need anything?"

"Um, I'm kind of hungry but I'm not sure I should be eating much right now. Thanks though. This isn't the first time I've gotten myself all beat up like this. Comes with the job description. And in case you were wondering Sirius is pretty good at healing."

"Okay," Dinah said, remembering that Lucy had been an Auror for awhile. That still didn't make her any less uneasy about what had caused this. "Well, take care of yourself, then. I hope to see you at breakfast tomorrow. If I were you I'd have Sirius come here tonight rather than waiting for tomorrow. You shouldn't be alone."

"I've got Dora," Lucy grinned, "Um, before I forget I talked to Sirius about the Quidditch thing."

"Oh," Dinah smiled, remembering that they had talked about sitting together during the next game, Severus included. "Is he all right with it?"

"Yes. I mean he's not thrilled and he'd prefer that I not get too friendly with Severus but he says he won't be one of those boyfriends who tells me who I can and can't hang around."

She nodded, feeling a little guilty. "That's nice. For what it's worth Severus has never explicitly ordered me to stay away from Sirius, either. It's just... different in this case. I can't tell you why, but since Sirius is the one who was always cruel to Severus in the beginning..." she trailed off, not wanting to reveal too much.

"I never actually thought he did. Tell you to stay away from Sirius, that is. I trust you have your reasons for your decision. Personally I don't think either one of them was entirely innocent, but that's neither here nor there at the moment. I'm sorry, I've been terribly rude. Do you want to sit? There's a chair right over there," she pointed to a chair next to the bed.

"Thanks. But, well, I did have a lot of grading to do..." she admitted. "I mean, if you really need the company I can bring it here. I still think you should have Sirius come over tonight, though."

"I'll be okay. Go ahead and do you're grading; snuggle with your boyfriend, whatever. If I need him I promise to call for Sirius."

"All right," she smiled a little, thinking that it would be nice to cuddle up with Severus on the couch and do potions or ghost research. Unfortunately, they both had grading to do so had decided to spend this night apart. There was still tomorrow, though. "I'll mention Quidditch to Severus and we'll plan to go together Friday after next. We can sit in one of the Ravenclaw sections."

"Okay. We can sit wherever, but Ravenclaw will be nice. Thanks again for checking on me. I'll see you at breakfast."

Dinah smiled and nodded; "Get some rest. Hope you feel better."

"I will," Lucy waved.

Dinah nodded, closing the bedroom door behind her and heading through the living room back out into the hallway. On her way back to her own rooms she took a detour and stopped in front of Tommy's lavatory. She tried the door, but again it didn't open.

That was odd, she thought. She didn't hear crying or anything coming from inside, but imagined that the door should only be locked if there was someone inside to lock it. "Tommy?" she called, just for good measure.

No answer.

"Odd," she muttered aloud, leaving the door behind and heading to her rooms. The weather outside wasn't especially sunny, but was otherwise fine. So it couldn't have been just the storm that had caused the door-locked Tommy situation before.

Dinah changed out of her robes and put on a Muggle jumper and slacks, feeling like being cozy tonight while she graded. It was also a good night to just let her animals roam around. Then again, perhaps she wanted that so much because she was getting used to spending evenings with Severus and was feeling kind of lonely. She removed Helga from her cage and let her crawl around on her shoulders, then took Salazar out and set him on the couch. Godric hopped up onto the sofa and lay down and Salazar jumped onto his head. It was odd how well the two got along.

Then again, Godric got along with pretty much everyone.

Dinah went to the window and called Rowena in from the owlery. She hadn't had much chance to associate with her pet bird since coming to Hogwarts. Once the room was filled with animal company, Dinah took a stack of parchments her students had written on the pros and cons of Muggle vs. magical transportation methods and settled into a plush armchair in a corner by the window.

It was interesting, she thought, that Andrew Speasy and Mae Yates's papers were right on top of each other. The students had come up and placed their papers on her desk yesterday, and those two had gone up together. It seemed like they were doing okay. They didn't really talk to each other much in class, but Mae got frustrated when Wortham and Lee mocked Speasy and called him Sneezy and did her best to glare at the two boys. As far as Cantrell was concerned, he was still egging Speasy on with the typical Slytherin, anti-Muggle attitude, but Speasy seemed to be listening to him less and less as the year went on.

The situation really did parallel Severus's school life in an almost eerie way.

She sighed and looked over the papers. As usual, Speasy's logic was somewhat convoluted or misguided but he did make at least a few reasonable points. Mae's work was genius as usual. Yes, she was Muggle-born, but there were plenty of other Muggle-borns in the class and their papers weren't as well-thought out.

Dinah finished grading those papers and set them aside in order to address Joseph Cantrell's monstrosity. After about two minutes she had to put the jumble of confused and prejudiced ideas down and focus on something else. As Helga crawled around on her head, Rowena circled overhead, and the cat and toad associated on the couch an idea occurred to her.

It would be risky, but maybe if she was very careful about it she could use her parseltongue skills to get to the bottom of some of these mysterious happenings at Hogwarts. Of course, she would have to seek out and talk to the local adders only when she knew nobody was watching. And she couldn't let her spies go into Hogwarts for fear of a repeat of what happened when she was a first year. But surely Eugene came outside sometimes, and any others who might be involved in what was going on.

The more she thought about it, it seemed like there might be a suspicious person roaming around Hogwarts. Perhaps it was the same person that had both possessed Peeves and potentially also attacked Lucy. _Maybe _it was even the person who was making all the noises in Eugene's room!

And if she found anything out via a snake she could tell Dumbledore without worrying about him knowing she had been spying in Slughorn's inner rooms.

She sighed and sat back in the chair, watching her owl circle the ceiling as her thoughts drifted back to Speasy and Mae's papers, and the parallels between their situation and Severus's when he was in school.

It was a concern, she thought, that Severus might be trying to live vicariously through Speasy. His comments to the boy not to screw things up had at least been indicative of that. Yet although thus far Speasy's relationship with Mae, not to mention Cantrell, Wortham, and Lee, seemed reminiscent of Severus's time at Hogwarts, there was no way to be sure it was really as similar as it seemed on the surface. If Severus got too many ideas into his head he might just wind up disappointed all over again.

It was hard to think of the normally stoic, serious, no-nonsense, and even somewhat brooding Professor Severus Snape getting a bunch of wild ideas about how another person's life should go, but Dinah sensed that deep down something like that was going on. Then again, that _did _sound like something the young Severus would do. The two versions of her boyfriend seemed almost like different people sometimes. The young Severus as she'd seen him in the pensieve was excitable, impulsive, maybe even a little bit hot-headed, and very passionate about his studies as well as his friendship with Lily. But if this thing with Speasy and Mae was any indication, the traits of the young Severus were still buried deep within his full-grown counterpart.

Dinah wondered if maybe he needed to find those parts of himself and bring them to light again. At least it would probably help him to loosen up and have fun again, which was one of her major goals anyway since talking to Dumbledore.

Dinah sighed and turned back to Joseph Cantrell's paper. In everything she was facing right now, it seemed, she had her work cut out for her.

* * *

"Good morning," Dinah smiled at Severus when she met him for breakfast the next morning.

"Mm. Good morning," he almost smiled back and gave her a slight nod.

"Something happened yesterday," she said under her breath as they sat down, Severus in his own seat and Dinah next to him in what was usually Hagrid's. "I think you should know about it. It might have something to do with the... um..." she swallowed. It was still hard to accept and think about this. "Prophecy," she finished.

"What happened?" he asked, regarding her with a concerned frown.

"Remember how Lucy wasn't at meals yesterday? Well, I heard some students saying she didn't show up for class either. So I went to see what was up and it seems she has a concussion and possibly some kind of abdominal injury. But she can't remember what happened."

"I see," his frown deepened. "You think she was attacked?"

"I don't know, but it seems likely. Peeves doesn't remember what happened to him either."

"I can't use legilimency on Lucy without her permission. She likely knows that I have the ability because Black knows about it. We could ask her to let us but that would mean we have to reveal the prophecy issue and I don't think you want that."

"No," she admitted with a sigh, and then something occurred to her and she flashed him a little smile. "Hey. You just called her Lucy."

"I did?" he flushed and cleared his throat, looking embarrassed. "Well, I suppose it's only because I hear you calling her that all the time."

She laughed. "Probably. It's still nice, though. Look, there she is," she gestured across the room to where Lucy had just come in. She looked tired, but at least she had come to breakfast. "I'm glad she made it out of her rooms today."

"Hmm. Yes..." Severus considered Lucy for a moment, and then turned back to his food. After he had taken a bite of eggs he turned back to Dinah. "We can keep an eye on her at least. And maybe she'll remember something eventually."

"Hopefully. Oh, and by the way, I told Lucy we'd all go to the next Quidditch match together if that's all right with you. We did agree to keep our friendship separate from our um... romantic relationships, but she seems to want at least the three of us to get along, since we're colleagues. It's very nice of her and makes me feel a little guilty for trying to avoid Sirius so much, but... well, there's not much I can do. I'd still like it if we all went together."

"I suppose I see no issue with that."

"Great! And I also said we'd sit in the Ravenclaw section."

"Fine. Either way, my house is not being represented. And Ravenclaw is slightly better than Hufflepuff."

She rolled her eyes; "Let me see if I've got this right. The best house is Slytherin, followed by Ravenclaw, then Hufflepuff, and then Gryffindor?"

Severus snorted. "If you can even call Gryffindor a house, then yes."

"And you see nothing wrong with this rating system of yours?"

"Personal opinion. I am fully entitled to it."

"And Dumbledore's comment in the pensieve?" she smiled a little. "You know, the one about sorting too soon?"

He growled and stood from the table. "Don't talk about that."

"Oops," she frowned. He used his 'don't talk about that' declaration often, she was noticing. "Sorry. That really bothers you, doesn't it?"

"Dumbledore continuously says things that I don't like. I try to forget that he's usually right about them." He still looked frustrated, but sat back down.

"Yes," she thought back to her prophecy, "I know what it's like."

"I know you do," he considered her for a moment, and she had to smile. He was starting to see that they had a lot of experiences in common. As a matter of fact, so was she. And perhaps eventually she would even be able to tell him that she was a parselmouth.

It seemed Dumbledore was really right about everything after all.


	46. Lily

A/N: So the question of Snape's virginity comes up in this chapter. I wanted it to be most realistic, so I looked on internet sites, forums, and speculations and such and have discovered that most serious discussions of Snape have come to the conclusion that he has probably never been with a woman. Shocking as it seems in some ways for a 38-year old male, I also think that that makes the most sense. Unless something happened with Lily, which I doubt, I believe he would very sincerely have been devoted enough to her to never be involved with anyone else. Going with the books, there's more evidence in the Voldemort/Harry confrontation chapter of DH when Voldemort says that he simply desired Lily and that there were other women who would have been better for him, but Harry shoots that notion down after what he saw in the memories. I have a feeling Snape never listened to those suggestions from his former master. I think he would see it as a betrayal of Lily, so that's what I'm going with in this fanfic.

Of course, _eventually _Dinah shall have to change all of this ;)

* * *

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

Lily

* * *

"So glad you were able to make it!" Slughorn welcomed Dinah and Severus into the potions room on Thursday evening with wide-spread arms and an excited expression; "Wait until you hear all the progress we've been making."

"Yes, it is good you could come," Eugene beamed at them and walked over. "The transition of the potion to the rats has proven highly successful. Now that we can keep them in young form for at least two weeks I want to start seriously consider how to switch to human testing."

Severus frowned and exchanged a glance with Dinah before replying. "The mechanics of the change will be complex enough, but how do you intend to get through all the ethical dilemmas involved?"

"I will seek out volunteers," Eugene said firmly. "Surely there are those who want to help. I have put a request out in _Potions Weekly_. We'll see if anyone responds. At least some people might be all right with the earlier stages before the potion is made permanent."

Dinah shrugged. "I suppose it's worth a shot."

"When I have human test subjects I can start attempting the second important factor that I want to add to the potion..." he trailed off.

"What factor is that?" Slughorn asked, and Dinah and Severus exchanged glances again. Slughorn didn't know about this either?

Eugene smiled. "I want to see if I can get the potion to return the taker to the time in their lives that they most need to relive."

Severus and Slughorn just stared, and Dinah took a few contemplative moments to consider this. Finally, Severus spoke. "The addition of such a factor... that changes the entire nature of the potion."

"It might," Eugene admitted, still smiling.

"You would have to add psychological co-factors, include ingredients that work with, effect, or can read the mind and soul," Slughorn said. "But why is that necessary? Isn't it enough to simply youthen people?"

"At first, yes. But people of all ages will be taking this potion assuming it is successfully produced. We need to find some sort of equalizing factor, so the age people return to is not arbitrary. We can't have it send people back, say, twenty years because that does little for people that are ninety years old. Then there would also be issues were someone under twenty to accidentally take the potion."

"I highly doubt you need to worry about that," Severus said; "Almost certainly the potion would just not work on them or would return them to a simple starting infant form."

"Likely so, but no one needs to be turned into an infant. That would add many levels of complication."

"Can't you simply design the potion so that different concentrations of some key ingredient affect the number of years that people 'de-age'?" Dinah asked. "Like you adjusted the pomegranate concentration for potion effect length?"

"Yes, but that doesn't guard for accidents and overdoses."

"I suppose you're right."

Severus nodded; "You make your point. Still, this will be difficult. Perhaps it would be better to design it so that everyone returns to the same initial age. For instance, twenty. But that would also be difficult."

"We shall see when we begin human testing and determine what age they are being returned to," Eugene said. "It is hard to compare when we have thus far used only rats and toads."

"These are all impressive goals, my boy," Slughorn said, looking unsure, an expression Dinah had never expected to see on her old potions master's face. "But you need to proceed with caution."

"I know." There was a knock on the door and Eugene smiled. "Ah, I think my delivery has arrived."

"Delivery?" Dinah asked as Eugene walked over to the door and Slughorn rolled his eyes for some reason. "Of potion ingredients?"

"Oh, no," Slughorn shook his head. "Wait until you see this."

They watched Eugene go to the door and accept a large box from a friendly-looking delivery witch. Apparently the box was too huge and heavy to be carried by an owl. He carried it back in and set it on a table stacked with various books. He waved his wand at it and it opened to reveal three cases of chocolate frogs, stacked one on top of the other.

"What on Earth?" Dinah muttered, turning and exchanging a third, surprised glance with Severus. This was certainly illuminating.

"I told you, I am a fan," he said, opening one of the packages and tossing the wrapping into a nearby rubbish bin before munching on the squirming frog.

Dinah leaned over and looked in the bin, noting that the wizard card had Elladora Ketteridge, discoverer of gillyweed, on it. She suddenly wondered if the woman was somehow related to Lucy. Her friend's last name was Ketteridge and her cat's name was Elladora, after all.

But she had more important things to worry about as a good idea occurred to her. She met Eugene's gaze with a pointed stare and said as lightly as she could manage: "If you like them so much then why are they always running around loose? I saw one in the hallway during the evening a few weeks prior." She felt Severus touch her arm and looked to meet his gaze, where he gave her an almost imperceptible nod of approval. She beamed, feeling good that she had gotten him to praise her investigation skills.

Eugene seemed unperturbed, however. He just shrugged. "Sometimes they get away. They're awfully fast, you know." He took a second frog and opened the packaging, this time taking the wizard card out and placing it face-up on the table before tossing the rest of the wrapper aside and eating the frog.

The card was of Dumbledore.

* * *

Dinah took a deep breath and inhaled the cool November air. It was a clear day, and fairly warm in comparison to how it had been recently. That, combined with the fact that it was a Hogsmeade Saturday made it the perfect time for her to try to find some snakes and ask them to spy for her. She had already talked to one adder about it and it had promised to be on the lookout for Slughorn, Eugene, dementors, or anything else odd or unusual. Unfortunately, since it was winter it would only be on warm days like this when the snakes came out of hibernation and could look around. But it was better than nothing.

Dinah had just stumbled upon another snake sunning itself on a rock and was about to approach it when Severus came up behind her. "Dinah?"

She jumped, frightening the snake away from its perch, and turned to face him. "Severus! You didn't go to Hogsmeade, either?"

"I usually don't," he frowned. "What were you doing?"

"Nothing! Just wandering around outside, enjoying the nice weather," she said, hoping he hadn't seen the snake on the rock.

"I see." If he had noticed it, he wasn't saying anything. "Eugene and Slughorn don't seem to have gone either. I had hoped we might be able to... look in the window or something."

"Oh, sneaky," she grinned.

He sighed, "Well, it was a thought. Er... if you aren't busy, we could walk around together."

"I'd like that," she smiled, surprised at his clear desire for this. She walked over to him and they started walking, passing a few first and second years, but most of the students weren't outside. There really wasn't much to do out here in the winter, after all, besides walk around. "It's nice and quiet on Hogsmeade days."

"Exactly why I prefer to stay at Hogwarts."

"Hmm," she agreed, looking around them as they turned a corner. She spied two young boys practicing Quidditch moves in a low part of the grounds. She leaned in closer and sighed. "Wortham and Lee."

Severus scowled; "There was an incident with them in my class yesterday. With Miss Yates."

"Oh..." she agreed. Should she ask what it was about or not?

It didn't matter because he was going to tell her. "They were nagging her about why she spends time with Mr. Speasy. They wouldn't drop it, and thus I took twenty points from Gryffindor."

"What about Ravenclaw?"

"I didn't take any points. She was defending her choice quite well."

"But you didn't give her any points either, right? You could occasionally give points to other houses, you know. Even if you refuse to give points to Gryffindor, what's wrong with Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw on occasion? The other house heads take points from their house and give points to others. I just ... don't understand why Dumbledore sits back and lets you continue with your biased practices."

"I suspect it's something about building students' character by letting them face unfairness in society," Severus said, sounding almost bored.

She frowned. "Maybe. But it's still not right. And you just admitted that your behaviors are unfair."

"They function quite well for me. And I call on Gryffindors in class now. What more do you want from me?"

"I'm not going to push you any more. But please think about it." She winced as Lee fell off his broom. "He's trying too many difficult moves. Losing at tryouts really affected him."

Severus snorted. "I don't know why he was surprised. First years almost never make the team."

"I think since Harry Potter did they've been more inspired to try, though – what? Don't snarl at me! You honestly still hate Harry Potter that much?"

"These students are just like him," he turned his snarl towards the two Gryffindor first years with a nod of his head; "Following in Potter's arrogant Gryffindor footsteps just like he followed in his father's. It's disgusting. _That _is what I hate, more than the person himself."

"But he's not like his father, according to the pensieve and according to everything I've heard. Yes, from what I've seen I think James was an awful git, too, but..."

"That's just what she said," Severus said quietly, turning and walking away from the boys. "But she changed her mind rather quickly."

Dinah hurried to keep up with Severus and took his arm. "I'm not going to turn on you. I promise," she said softly, causing him to shrug. She sighed and continued; "But everyone says that Harry's true nature was more like his mother's. Like Lily's. If you loved her so much how can you hate him if he's so much like her?"

He stopped walking just as they approached one of the castle walls and turned to face her, his gaze haunted. "Can you not think of the reason?"

She paused and stared into his eyes, letting her arm slide down his and then let go, dropping it to her side. Slowly, it came to her. "Because... he represents the fact that she chose someone else other than you?"

"Excellent," he smirked.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "But... the last thing you ever wanted to see was still his eyes."

"_Her _eyes. And it was all I had then." He sighed and sat down against the wall. "It's all I have now. Unless..." his gaze drifted to the direction from whence they'd come. The place where Lee and Wortham were presumably still practicing Quidditch moves.

Dinah sighed and sat down next to him, registering in a surprised instant that this was the very same place they'd sat when she had asked him to try being in a relationship with her. A relationship which had made so much progress and yet, she feared, might still be doomed. "You... are trying to live vicariously through Speasy and Mae, aren't you?"

Severus snorted and looked away from her. "And if I am? You can't deny the parallels."

"No. I can't, but... we can't be sure it will go the way you want it to, anyway, even if you try to influence it. Maybe they just aren't right for each other. And even if they are, it's still not exactly the same. If it works out between the two of them, will it really fix everything you've gone through? I just don't want you to get hurt."

"Too late for that. I've been hurt more times than you can even imagine."

"Severus," she placed a hand on his shoulder. He flinched and still refused to meet her gaze, but didn't push her away.

"If this even gives me a bit of consolation, then..." he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Never mind. You wouldn't understand."

"Try me. Please."

"Perhaps if I keep an eye on the situation I can guarantee that Speasy never calls her 'Mudblood'. If it works out for them and he doesn't follow Cantrell or Peakes or any of the other Death Eater-like Slytherins... he'll have done the one thing I couldn't do until it was too late. If he could just see fit to _understand _that Miss Yates doesn't want him to be that way..."

"Ah. I see. In the pensieve you continued to think that Lily would be impressed if you became a Death Eater, even though she rather blatantly stated that she hated everything about them. I confess; I never understood why you didn't get the message."

"You think that _I _understand why, looking back?" he turned on her, his face almost as passionate as it got when he was angry as a child. "I don't know what I was doing. What I was thinking. I want to blame Avery and Mulciber but I don't know if that's right. _I _was the one who ignored everything she said. And then I..." he sighed and looked away again resting his forehead in his hand. "I was responsible for her death."

"Because of the prophecy," she sighed, her hand still on his shoulder. "But you atoned, Severus. You atoned many, many times over."

"Did I?" he turned to face her, his eyes searching but she didn't know what for. "Maybe that's why I think it would have been better had I died back there." She bit her lip and he shook his head. "Please hear me out. I didn't actually think I was going to die. Oh, like any soldier in a war, I acknowledged the possibility, but I was fairly certain I would give Potter the information as requested and he would be able to – hopefully – defeat the Dark Lord. I didn't see much beyond that; didn't think about what a life of peace would mean. I was focused on my mission and believed it had a good chance of being successful."

"Yes," she agreed. "I can understand that."

"But then the Dark Lord sent Nagini at me. I had a feeling things might be going that way as he built up to it, but I didn't really realize I was going to die until that instant the snake sunk her fangs into me. And then Potter came and I had to give him his information in memory form. There wasn't much time to think after that. It was strangely peaceful in those last few moments, because I had a thought that maybe somehow... I would be able to see her again. That was suddenly my last hope. At least I might be redeemed or receive her forgiveness." He snorted. "Imagine my surprise when I awoke a few hours later, very much alive and in a world where I no longer had purpose. And still without Lily."

She sighed, thinking on all of that for what felt like a very long time. When he framed it that way she could do nothing but feel for him. Perhaps it was only his guilt for indirectly leading to Lily's death that prevented him from getting over her, but it was likely more than that. She had been his only friend for years, and he had betrayed her. And he was still left with the gigantic hole that when she had died their friendship had still been broken. How could she begrudge him his feelings for her?

"It was only a few moments, but I had resigned myself to death. Now I'm alive with no mission and I can do nothing but wonder."

"Wonder?"

Severus looked at Dinah, his face more vulnerable than she had perhaps ever seen. He looked almost like the boy from the pensieve. "Do you think that she still... hates me?"

"Oh, Severus," she said softly, moving her arm so it was around him as he allowed his head to rest on her shoulder. She began moving her hand through his hair, amazed that he was letting her do this. It was the first time she had really done so, and she realized that although maybe it _was _a little bit greasy it was also very soft. "No," she insisted. "She doesn't hate you. Wherever Lily is she must know what you did for her son. That you've done so much from everyone, and how much you truly care about her."

"Hmm," he responded, his voice flat and noncommittal.

"So that's what you've been going through all this time?" she rested her head against his, still stroking his hair, feeling the warmth of their bodies pressed up against each other as they looked out at the empty Hogwarts grounds. There were no students around to see them. It was just them, together. Was she getting through to him? "I know how hard it must be. But you have to believe that that old magic was right." She smiled a little. "I know what it's like to try and pretend that things like that aren't true, to avoid them. But I know now that... somehow I have to fulfill this prophecy. You showed me that. And you also... I'm sure that there is a reason you're alive now. And it's more than just helping with another battle. You have _so _much still to offer this world. Somehow, Lily must know that, too."

"Perhaps. But she will still... always... have chosen Potter," he closed his eyes. "That's something that I'll never be able to change. I live my life always with that knowledge. And then I wonder if it could have been different had I just listened to her in the beginning. Even if she's somehow forgiven me, I still..."

"That doesn't mean," Dinah began, slowly, her fingers moving to caress his cheek, and then of their own accord continuing, tracing his warm skin as she felt a flush rising in her cheeks, and not simply from the cold. "That you don't deserve a chance to try again for happiness. Lily would want you to be happy, I'm sure. You could try to move on..." her fingers slid down his neck toward his shoulders.

He tensed and as swift as lightning drew away from her shoulder, grabbing her hand in his, as he moved his face up to mere inches from hers. Cliché as it sounded, Dinah could describe the look in his dark eyes as nothing less than smoldering.

She felt her throat go tight and dry. She couldn't breathe. He moved closer, his face almost flushed, his lips reaching for hers.

And then he stopped and flinched, drawing back in another quick movement, almost like a tic. "No. I can't."

"But... why?" she breathed when words came back.

He gritted his teeth as he stared at her, and it seemed like he was fighting back something that he probably shouldn't be trying to fight. "If I kiss you now... I'm going to want more."

"And that's a bad thing?" she found herself asking, perhaps against her better judgment.

Severus growled a little under his breath, and turned away, looking out at the grounds again. "Never mind. Just let it go."

"We can go inside," she murmured, her mouth again going off on her when she should probably shut it. But he had lit a flame inside of her and it didn't want to go out just yet. "The castle is practically empty."

"Stop," his voice was firm and he turned further away from her. "Please. I'm sorry. I just... _can't_."

"You mean you won't," she said softly.

"It would be like a betrayal."

And then it hit Dinah. "Wait a minute. Severus. You've been devoted only to Lily since you met each other as children, haven't you?"

"Yes," his response was flat.

"But the two of you... you and Lily never-"

"No," he snorted. "Unfortunately, we never even came close."

"But surely you must have- with others- during your Death Eater years or your adult years or- surely you must have at least-"

"No."

"_Never_?"

"Never."

"But _how_? I mean... you are male, aren't you? Your devotion to Lily is _that_ strong? Even now... couldn't we simply... try to change..." she trailed off, as he was scowling out at the Hogwarts grounds. She sighed. "I'm sorry. I guess I just don't understand."

"No one has ever understood. You aren't so unusual."

"Mm," she almost whimpered, looking away from him and staring down at her hands. She knew he had wanted it just a moment ago, he had even admitted as much. Yet he had forced himself to resist it with almost disturbing success. The way he was acting now she wouldn't have figured he had been turned on at all just seconds prior. But if he viewed sexual relations with any other women as a betrayal of Lily... how was their relationship _ever _going to progress? She just couldn't compete with Harry Potter's dead mother.

But maybe if she just gave it some time... maybe...

"Well, it's getting chilly. We should return to our rooms." Severus stood, his motion abrupt and startling Dinah out of her reverie.

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

"Don't worry about it," he responded, his voice sharp.

"Um... we're still on for Quidditch next week?" she knew she sounded awkward. She felt awkward after all that had just happened.

"Hmph," he rolled his eyes. "Yes. We are. Unless you've changed your mind."

"No," she stared down at her hands again, still not standing up. "I just thought maybe after all this you wouldn't want to..."

"No," he repeated, shaking his head as she looked back up at him. "You're a part of my life now. Up to and until you decide you no longer want to be because I've driven you away with my lack of relationship progress. I don't believe that that has happened yet."

Dinah just stared at him. What was she supposed to make of those words? 'You're a part of my life now' was normally a very sweet, lovely thing to say to a person. But how was she supposed to take it with all that other rot tacked onto the end?

She didn't come to any conclusion, and he held his hand out for her to take. She sighed and placed her hand in his, the normal warmth less comforting than usual. Once Severus had helped her up he brushed a strand of his own hair away from his face. That tiny movement caused a flush to rise in her cheeks again. He was so attractive and in such a unique way. And she had been so utterly close to kissing him again, and probably even more, before he had forced it all to halt.

Dinah played those moments over and over in her head again, thoughtfully, as she followed the now silent, stiff Severus back into Hogwarts. No matter what he said there was still the potential for more progress. She definitely wasn't going to give up on him yet.


	47. Bonding

A/N: Slightly filler chapter. These are going to pop up every now and again due to this fanfic's "co-story" nature with CommanderValeria's "Don't Leave Me." Thanks everyone for all your nice reviews so far! ^_^

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

Bonding

* * *

The next week with Severus had been fairly generic. Some of their usual cuddling on the couch and he held her hand once or twice, but no more kissing and no more mention of what had happened last Saturday. He had also seemed to revert back to a more stoic version of himself than he had been lately, which was disappointing. But at least he was still spending time with her.

"It's odd," Severus said slowly as they put away some books they had been reading, getting ready to go out into his office from the living room and meet Lucy to head to the Quidditch match. "Hogwarts has been fairly peaceful the past week. Nothing strange has happened since the potential incident with Professor Ketteridge."

She laughed. "Here's a thought. Maybe Eugene's chocolate frogs are like sedatives and when he has enough of them whatever he's hiding is under control."

Severus rolled his eyes; "Don't be asinine. Let's go and meet your friend before we're late for the game. She should be almost here by now."

"Yes, yes," she smiled and they headed into his office, closing the door to his private quarters behind them.

Just as they entered the office they heard Lucy's knock on the door. Severus marched up to it with Dinah at his heels and turned the knob, pulling the door back with a flat; "Hello."

"You could at least _smile_, you know," Dinah chided him, causing him to roll his eyes as she turned her own smile to Lucy standing on the other side. "Hi. Ready to go?"

"Um, yeah," Lucy said, gesturing behind her, "You didn't hear anyone else out here, did you? Like someone that shouldn't be here?"

"No," Dinah frowned and exchanged a glance with Severus. Did this have something to do with her being potentially attacked before? "What do you mean?"

"I," Lucy shook her head, "I thought I heard Bella. I must have had a dream about her last night that I don't remember or something. Don't worry about it. It's just me I'm sure. It just…sounded very real this time."

"Bella?" Dinah asked.

"Bellatrix Lestrange," Severus growled, staring at Lucy. Dinah knew that name, at least. The Death Eater woman who had killed Sirius and was always worrying Lucy. "Forget what I said about Hogwarts being peaceful," he was saying. "Have you heard this before?"

Lucy shook her head emphatically, "No. Not like that at least. I mean I've had dreams…about her," she sighed, "but nothing like this. This sounded very real and very present. I swear it came from over there," she pointed to a spot further down the hall, the opposite direction from which she'd come.

Dinah bit her lip and sighed. That area was directly underneath Tommy's bathroom.

"What?" Severus asked her, touching her arm and gazing at her with some concern.

She smiled. It was the most intimate gesture she'd received from him in awhile. "Nothing. I'll tell you later. It's probably irrelevant, anyway." She turned to the curious-looking Lucy. "Hopefully it was just your imagination. But if anything else weird happens let us know. We've... noticed some other odd happenings around Hogwarts lately. Nothing major, but it might be relevant."

Okay," Lucy nodded, "You ready to go then?"

"Sure, let's go." The three of them headed silently through the halls toward the main entrance. When they finally stepped outside Dinah was surprised to see that the weather had gotten dark and windy. She frowned. "It wasn't like this outside this morning. Perhaps we should have brought thicker robes." That wasn't her biggest concern, though. The last time the weather had been like this she had been attacked by a dementor.

"A Dark Storm," Lucy muttered. "Looks like I'm stuck here. For tonight at least."

"It's probably better to be safe than sorry," Dinah agreed, and then smiled. "Maybe we can watch another film. Want to?"

Lucy grinned. "Sure, yeah, that sounds nice. Thanks for asking. I mean, unless you had other plans," she added, glancing at Severus.

"No, please watch your ridiculous Muggle film and leave me well out of it." Severus said. Dinah felt only a slight twinge of disappointment at his quickness at answering the question. While it was true that he had had grading to do and didn't have time to associate tonight he could at least have looked a bit more disappointed... or something. "We should head to the Quidditch pitch. The game is about to start," he finished.

A sudden gust of wind blew at them, nearly knocking Lucy over. "Whoa! It's a good thing I didn't bring an umbrella. It'd be long gone by now. If I'd have known it was going to be rainy I'd have dug out my Ravenclaw rain gear, at least then I wouldn't be _as_ soaked so soon."

Dinah had to laugh as the three of them began hurrying toward the pitch. She pulled her robe's hood over her head and gestured at Lucy, who was wearing a Ravenclaw-themed scarf and gloves. "I notice you donned all of your Ravenclaw getup for the game. You must have a strong house loyalty."

"Yeah," Lucy said, speaking a little louder than normal to be heard over the storm, "That and Tonks and I have always had a bit of a friendly rivalry going on when it comes to the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff game." She led the party inside one of the Ravenclaw towers, getting them out of the rain for a few moments. "Phew," she said, shaking her hair out, "We'll get a few moments respite from the rain anyway. I hope hot cocoa's on the menu tonight."

"That sounds good," Dinah said, drawing her robe more closely around her.

Severus, on the other hand, frowned. "Why is it that you're fine with her house loyalty but are always getting angry about mine?"

She shot him a smile. "House loyalty and bias are two different things, Severus."

Lucy grinned impishly, "And I'm not biased. Why just the other day I gave Slytherin points. Of course I was also sorely tempted to take them and more away due to another student's attitude."

"Hm," Severus made his noncommittal noise. "Even if you did, it's likely you won't be able to make a dent in the fifty points Dinah insisted on taking a couple of weeks ago."

"For good reason," Dinah glared at him.

"I didn't say it wasn't," he admitted with a sigh. "Still, fifty is a lot of points..."

"Yes, well," Lucy said climbing the stairs, "what would you have had her do? Torturing anything it not an act to be tolerated and only taking ten or fifteen points wasn't going to get that point across."

"I suppose it can't be helped," Severus admitted grudgingly.

"I see you heard about the incident," Dinah said. "You have Septimus and Jania in your class, I know." They emerged into the light just as the players were flying onto the field with the announcement of their names.

"Yep. I gave Jania and Hufflepuff ten points for bravery," she looked around the pitch, "I'm surprised they didn't cancel the match today with the way this storm's blowing about. It's not going to ease up anytime soon."

"They didn't cancel the last match, they won't cancel this one," Severus said.

"Oh, cocoa!" Dinah summoned a cup over from the place where many were brewing and wrapped her hands around it. It was nice and warm. "This isn't so bad."

"The storm wasn't this bad during the last match. It got worse later," Lucy insisted, summoning her own cup of cocoa, "This storm isn't natural." She shuffled along, finding the three of them seats.

"You noticed it, too," Dinah said, sighing and staring down at where little swirls of steam floated up from her cup after they had sat down, she in-between Lucy and Severus. "I don't know, it seemed pretty peaceful this past week. I hope this doesn't last."

"Me too," Lucy murmured. "Oh, look!" she said pointing out on to the pitch, "There's Nia! She's in one of my classes, talks about Quidditch all the time. Oh, this brings back a lot of fun memories. I once tried out for the team you know," she said, taking a sip of the cocoa.

"Really?" Dinah asked, smiling. "That's nice. I never tried out myself. Maybe I would have wanted to, given different circumstances, but..." she shrugged and took a sip of her own cocoa. "You didn't make the team? Or did you?"

Lucy shook her head, "No. I wasn't good enough. It's just as well I suppose. Gave me more time to study and I think it's probably more fun to be a spectator than a player. Less pressure."

"I've always thought so," Severus said, and Dinah was surprised – but pleased - that he had joined in the conversation as he watched the players move back and forth. "Miss Rackam does seem to have talent. She should be worthy competition in the Ravenclaw-Slytherin game."

"I didn't realize you were a fan of the sport, Professor. Does it extend to professional teams as well, or is it just the Slytherins?" Lucy said, grinning.

"My focus lies on my own house," he said; "But I do appreciate the game and follow the professional teams to a certain extent. And you?" he turned to her with his classic smirk, but hopefully Lucy would realize that it wasn't an unfriendly gesture when coming from him. He looked her up and down. "You do seem to have a monopoly on the Ravenclaw memorabilia today."

"It's all original. My house robes are stuck in London, which is one of the reasons I'm not wearing them. Personally, I tend to vacillate between the Kenmare Kestrels and Puddlemere United. I haven't been paying too much attention the last couple years with everything that's been going on, but I'm hoping we get the World Cup again. If we do I'm going to try and get tickets. I think…well never mind." She frowned and looked back out onto the field. Dinah had a feeling she had been about to say something about Sirius.

"Hmm," there was a pause, and Dinah noticed Severus frowning as well. But after a moment of awkward silence he spoke again. "Yes, I suppose that is something the... two of you would probably enjoy."

Dinah smiled and hugged herself, partly because she was cold but partly from happiness. It seemed that maybe they could all get along after all. Even if it took some time. So now it was her turn to be just a little bit more open. "It sounds like you'll have fun."

Lucy jumped up, cheering when Ravenclaw scored. When she returned to her seat she looked at Dinah, responding, "I hope so. Things have been good lately but I think it'll be nice to go out and have fun. It's probably a long shot though after what happened the last time we hosted the World Cup."

"I don't know if they can hold that against us, though," Dinah said, shivering as a gust of wind blew past them and involuntarily scooting closer to Severus. It was warmer in his presence.

"They shouldn't, but when politics, tourism, and money get involved things get a bit complicated," she set her cocoa on the floor so she could adjust her scarf so it covered her ears, "So, what other sorts of things do you enjoy, P—Severus?"

"Hm," he responded, glancing at Lucy for a quick moment with his eyebrow raised, surprised at her use of his first name. But, he didn't seem bothered by it as he turned back and watched Hufflepuff's seeker narrowly miss the snitch. "I enjoy what you would expect. Research. Mainly potions and the Dark Arts."

"Clearly not Muggle films," Dinah teased, scooting closer yet again.

Lucy laughed, "I enjoy doing research myself. For instance did you know that both Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard were Muggle-borns and cousins? Anne was openly accused of being a witch but I've only read a couple fictions that posited that Katherine might have been as well. We can be sure Anne didn't attend Hogwarts since it's well documented she was in France most of her young life but I think she would have been in Slytherin. She was very ambitious."

"You seem at least to know your subject. I confess it would be interesting if there was a way to prove that theory of yours," Severus said, and then turned to Dinah. "Are you trying to tell me that you're cold?"

She flushed; "Er actually I wasn't trying to tell you anything, but I _am _cold. It's not so cold next to you, though."

"Here," he removed his scarf and wrapped it around her neck. "You didn't bring a scarf. Sometimes you don't think at all, do you?"

She smiled, feeling warmer than ever now. "I guess I'm an idiot."

"Please keep in mind that those were your words and not mine."

"What about you?"

"Unlike you, I wear more layers."

_Too many layers_, she couldn't help but think, but she just smiled and turned back to the game. One step at a time, after all.

Lucy sighed, watching the two of them. "I am going to need a nice warm bath and plenty of blankets when we get back in. Of course with all this rain I don't think anything could keep me warm."

"A bath and blankets sounds lovely," Dinah agreed. "Oh! Look, Ravenclaw is approaching the snitch!"

"Yes!" Lucy screeched, jumping up and spilling her cocoa when the seeker caught the snitch and Ravenclaw won the game. Dinah covered her mouth to stifle a giggle, and even Severus nearly smiled. Lucy was getting as excited as the surrounding students, perhaps more so. When her friend sat back down she blushed; "Sorry."

"No, don't be," Dinah smiled. "It was very entertaining. Shall we go back now? We can pick a movie and Severus can get to his grading."

"Sure," Lucy smiled, "Are you sure you don't want to join us though? I'm sure Dinah could pick out a manly film if that's your concern."

"I have grading to do," he replied as they walked out of the stands amongst the shuffle of chattering students. "And it is not the content of the film that I dislike, it is the film itself. The utter concept of Muggle technology being used at Hogwarts is appalling."

"Best to just let it go," Dinah advised with a smile. "He's rather hostile towards Muggle things."

Lucy shrugged, "Can't say I didn't try. I'm afraid your DADA professor over there got a different first impression of me from being in the Order together. I was different then."

"I'm not sure what you mean," Severus said as they hurried into the warmth of the castle, stopping a moment in the entrance hall as students filtered past. He regarded Lucy with a raised eyebrow. "You were younger then. And if you have changed since, well..." he left it hanging, an odd question in his eyes as he watched Lucy.

Lucy smiled, a grateful expression on her face that Dinah didn't quite understand. "Exactly. I'm well aware young, giggly girls are not your thing. Well, I wasn't as bad as others. I've always been on the mature side. Though I do have my moments. I.." she hesitated a moment, "I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds when I say I know what it's like to be completely changed by someone. If that magic hadn't…well, there wouldn't have been anyone else. So, in some small way I guess I'm trying to say I understand about…her."

Dinah muffled a tiny gasp, surprised at where the conversation had gone. She watched Severus's expression, remembering their talk a week ago, how unusually vulnerable he had been. How deeply he felt for Lily. And then Lucy's words... 'there wouldn't have been anyone else.' She didn't think Lucy had really thought about the implication, but to Dinah they were frightening. Was she fighting a futile battle? He cared for her, she could tell, but would it never be more than what it was now? Did she feel strongly enough for him to keep fighting for his affection even when odds were that she would _never _be good enough?

Severus's expression didn't change much as he watched Lucy, but his eyes weren't as harsh as they normally were. He sighed. "I see."

"Probably not completely, but then I'd rather not confess all in the middle of an entry way full of students. She turned to Dinah, "Why don't I go shower and change real quick and meet you in your rooms?"

"Okay, that sounds good," she bid Lucy a temporary farewell and walked the rest of the way to her rooms with Severus. He stepped inside for a few moments, so they were no longer in view of the students that were milling by in the hallway. She turned to face him, removing his warm, black scarf from around her neck and placing it into his hands. "Thank you. That helped."

"Mm," he agreed, still frowning, probably from the conversation with Lucy.

"Um... it was very nice of Lucy, to say those things about Lily."

"Yes," Severus didn't meet her gaze. "I suppose so. I don't think she knows about what her dog did to me, at any rate."

"I don't think so either," she came forward and put her arms around him, resting he head against his chest for a moment after his reflexive flinch followed by relaxation. "I hate to think of what will happen when she finds out, though."

"That's not our place," he said, softly, running a hesitant hand through her ponytail before changing the subject. "Next time bring a scarf."

"I will," she drew away with a smile. "Thank you."

"Enjoy your evening," he grimaced, "I suppose."

"You, too."

"Grading first year Gryffindor papers. Of course, that's always enjoyable," his grimace turned to a scowl.

She laughed. "Don't fail Wortham and Lee just because you hate them."

"We'll see," he turned and walked from the room.

Dinah sighed and closed her door. Well, she wasn't giving up on the man yet. Maybe it was a stubborn, stupid move, but the warmness that she felt when in his arms was too precious to lose without a fight.


	48. Riddle

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

Riddle

* * *

Dinah sighed and put her last graded fourth year's essay on top of the 'finished' pile. She yawned and leaned back in her desk chair, glancing idly at her laptop but deciding that she was too exhausted to mess with surveys today. Being Muggle Studies professor this year was a _lot _more work than she had expected.

She glanced out the window on the other side of the room. It was pitch black outside, the many clouds of the day blocking out all stars and even the moon. It had been less windy and cold than yesterday, but that feeling of gloominess still prevailed over Hogwarts. And yet nothing ever seemed to go beyond that point. It was like her prophecy was teasing her – toying with her. Giving her little hints that something might happen and then pulling back and being quiet again for weeks at a time.

It was terribly unnerving.

She stood from her desk and walked over to draw the blinds on the classroom window. It had been easier to concentrate when working in this room than it had been trying to work in her own rooms, and so she had come here to guarantee she got things done. After watching a nice film with Lucy yesterday she had been constantly tempted to watch more.

Perhaps she was finally going through Muggle-world withdrawal.

She grabbed her laptop and put it in its case, slinging it over her shoulder and heading out of the classroom, closing and locking the door behind her. She was halfway back to her rooms when the familiar crying started.

She looked around at the dark hall. This time there was no storm, and she didn't feel as frightened as she had felt before. She did, on the other hand, feel a strange twinge of sadness with loneliness and hopelessness mixed in in almost imperceptible quantities. But it wasn't the same as the feeling from the dementor, so she worried less about that than she did about Tommy.

Perhaps tonight she could get back into the bathroom.

Instead of knocking, this time she tried the door straight away. It opened and when she stepped into the eerie, dark lavatory she called the ghost boy's name.

"Dinah?" Tommy sniffled, "I'm scared again."

"I'm here," she made her voice as soothing as she could, and headed to the usual stall. The boy was there as always, looking up at her with those vulnerable, lonely dark eyes. She knelt in front of him. "What's happening?"

"I don't know," he whispered. "It's always dark now. It might happen again. I don't want it to happen again."

"Don't want what to happen again?"

"The things," he shuddered and cringed away from her. In his fear he seemed to shrink, and she suddenly worried that he would disappear on her again.

"Wait, don't go," she placed a hand on his shoulder, noting again that he was solid and utterly tangible. Professor Binns's suggestions from weeks ago came back to her and she took a deep breath, trying to look encouraging. "Tommy... do you know what you are?"

"I..." he looked up at her, but it wasn't without understanding. He shrugged a little. "I'm not sure. I just know that I'm always here. Always, always here... waiting, hoping the things don't happen again."

"What things are you talking about?"

"The things I used to do," his voice was so soft she could barely hear him.

"Tommy, please..." she reached up and smoothed his hair, then rested her hand back on his shoulder. He was so small, and so lonely. He needed something, she just didn't know what or if she could give it to him. "It's just me. You can tell me. Why are you here?"

"It started because of the things."

"What things?" she asked again, hoping that this time he would enlighten her.

"It's why..." he sniffled and wiped at his eyes again. "It's why I don't have any friends."

"Who are you, Tommy?" she kept her voice soft, encouraging.

"I don't know. They told me that my Mum loved me. That's what they said. But she died. So I don't know for sure. I never really knew..."

"Who told you?"

"The people at the orphanage."

"Orphanage?" Dinah felt an odd uneasiness in her chest, but she couldn't think what it would be from.

"I grew up there," he sniffled, his voice oddly distant and echoey in the large room. "I wanted to make friends. I really did, but every time I tried bad things would happen. I would do things to them," he whimpered and drew back from her again. "Bad things. Horrible things. But I didn't do them on purpose. And then I would say I was sorry but it didn't matter any more. So I stopped saying sorry."

"Um..." Dinah felt her breath start to quicken, her heart fluttering faster. She was starting to get a very, very bad feeling about this, and she was not letting her mind fully hone in on the vague idea floating around in it.

"But I really wanted friends," he moaned, and although his words frightened her look on his face was sincere and she believed him. "I really did. But I couldn't do it. I don't know why I did the bad things. Maybe it was because of my Mum's family... the people at the orphanage... they said they were bad. They were bad but Mum still loved me and named me after my Dad... but I didn't know who he was."

"Tommy, stop. Slow down. Why... what...?" she swallowed, trying to hide her own nervousness.

But Tommy didn't seem aware of it. His voice grew quieter as he continued. "They thought I didn't want friends after that. They thought I was hopeless. They said so all the time. The only ones that talked to me were the snakes."

A huge thump in the hallway outside caused Dinah to jump and draw in a sharp breath. Tommy's words pierced her like a knife, and now she thought she heard whispering. Unintelligible, sinister whispering of many voices that she couldn't quite place, floating all around her, like what parseltongue might have sounded like to those who didn't understand it. She turned back to the boy, his dark hair and eyes revealing something different to her now. Something she didn't want to believe. "Tommy!"

"The things are coming again," he whispered. "They always do. The bad things. I can't stop them. Not even now," he gave a little sob and then his voice got even lower. "I gave up at the orphanage. But then... then that man came and told me I was special. That I was magical. I thought if I came to Hogwarts I could try again and make friends. But it happened again. I did bad things even though I didn't mean to."

"Then one day...," he continued, as the odd whisperings continued to float around the room, getting softer and softer as Tommy went on. "I came to this room. They were being mean to me. I tried to say I'm sorry... just one more time, but they didn't believe me." He sighed, staring down at his hands. "And then I decided to give up for real. I thought... that instead of having friends, it would be better if they were afraid of me. I could control them. I had that thought and did a bad thing... and then it all stopped."

"It stopped?" Dinah whispered, her heart now thundering so fast in her chest that she thought it would explode, her breathing ragged and uneven. She knew now, unequivocally, what it was that had been frightening her.

Tommy.

Tom.

"After that I was just always here. I don't know how much time passed. Every time I opened my eyes I was in this bathroom, crying because I didn't have any friends. I wanted friends again, though, so maybe it's okay. And I thought that I stopped doing bad things, so maybe it's good that I'm here. But now I can't have any friends. Now I'm truly alone. And I think the bad things are coming back. I hear them in the storm. They're coming back for me, Dinah... Help me... Please..." his words faded into nothing and he disappeared from sight along with the whispering noises that had been filling the lavatory.

Now she sat in silence.

But not for long. She gasped and stood up, a deep, primal fear rushing through her body. She ran from the boy's lavatory, down the stairs to the dungeons and the only place she could think of to go.

"Severus!" she pounded on his office door, knowing her voice was loud and desperate and that he was probably asleep by now but needing to see his face and not be alone tonight. "Severus! Please!"

She heard footsteps coming toward her but didn't stop pounding her fists on the door and calling his name until the door opened, revealing him in his nighttime robes with a fairly grouchy, sleepy expression. "Do you know what time it is?"

"I'm sorry, but..." she moaned, wringing her hands in front of her and casting nervous glances back into the hallway behind her, suddenly worried that she was being followed. "Something happened."

He finally seemed to register the expression on her face and his eyes showed some concern. He drew the door back further and took her arm, pulling her inside. "Come in." He shut the door and faced her. "What? What just happened?"

"I saw Tommy again, but he's not who you think he is. It's him. It's the prophecy!"

"What?" Severus shook his head to clear it, staring at her. "What is the prophecy? Speak comprehensibly or I can't help you."

"It all makes sense now," she shook her head, not resisting as he led her into the sitting room and sat her on the green couch in her usual spot. Instead of sitting next to her, he sat on the coffee table and faced her, waiting. She met his eyes and continued, everything falling into place. "'The truth long invisible to all but one child.' That was Myrtle. She was the only one who could see Tommy for ages. And then... and then I came in."

"Myrtle? Tommy? What do they have to do with your prophecy?"

"Everything," she whispered, sitting on her hands to stop their trembling. "I asked him who he was like Professor Binns told me to. And he told me. He told me how he was raised in an orphanage and then later came to Hogwarts. He told me that he wanted friends, but that every time he tried to make friends he ended up doing involuntary bad things to them. He told me that he never knew his father but his Mum named him after him. His mother died and the people at the orphanage said that she came from a bad family. He told me that once he was here at Hogwarts he gave up on having friends and decided that it was better to try and control them. He told me that he talked to snakes."

At each sentence she spoke Severus's eyes traveled more and more along the pathway from confusion to horrified understanding. By the time she finished his eyes were almost on fire with a combination of fear and determination. He stood abruptly. "I'm sending an owl to Dumbledore telling him about all of this. Right now."

"All right," she murmured, drawing her knees up to her chest. "He's not here again?"

"No," Severus frowned, grabbing a quill and parchment from a desk and summoning a large black owl in through a trap door in the ceiling which must have led outside somehow. "Unfortunately, it seems he is never here on the weekends when these things decide to happen."

"Mm," she agreed, resting her head on her knees and closing her eyes, trying to let the sounds of Severus's writing sooth her nervous thoughts, but it did little good. The prophecy was really coming true. It was all horrifyingly clear now. All these things that had been happening around Hogwarts, and the very fact that she had found Tommy this year. It was sending her down that path right from the beginning. And she still had no idea what to make of what she had just heard or what she was supposed to do.

"It's done," she heard Severus say, his voice close and then the couch shifting as he sunk into it next to her. "Hopefully we receive a reply tomorrow. As early as is possible."

"Yes," she looked up at him; "What am I supposed to do now?"

He sighed, brushing his hair away from his face and leaning back in the couch. "If Tommy is the Dark Lord then we likely have to defeat him in some way."

"No!" She wasn't sure where her outburst had come from, but she couldn't take it back now.

Severus scowled at her; "'_No?_'"

She shook her head. "It's not Tommy's fault. If he _is_ Voldemort, he's not an evil version. I don't know what he is, but it's these other things that are bad. The voices, the whispering, the storm, the dementor. The bad things."

"What is this nonsense you're spouting?"

"The..." she shuddered and pulled her legs closer. "I heard things in the background. They scared Tommy, too. He says he's been there ever since his first year at Hogwarts, and that he _does _want friends again now. He's not a normal incarnation of Voldemort. Whatever he is, he isn't completely evil. It's the other part that's evil. The part floating around and filling the weather with dark energy and summoning dementors."

"_All _parts of the Dark Lord are evil, Dinah. This boy is tricking you."

"I don't believe it."

"You think I don't know about the Dark Lord? I served under him for more than half of my life." He drew back his sleeve and held the faded Dark Mark in her face, much like he had done with Minister Fudge in the penseive. She drew away from it and he nodded. "You see? You understand the gravity of what I've been through, or you at least pretend to. I'm telling you now... he is deceitful and evil and will do whatever necessary to prevent you from fulfilling the prophecy leading to his final defeat."

"No."

"Stop saying 'no'! I am _telling _you this for your own good. And you are not going anywhere near that Tommy again as long as I am here at Hogwarts," he took her shoulders and forced her to look in his eyes. "Do you understand me?"

Dinah bit her lip and stared into Severus's eyes, surprised at what she saw there. A protective look. He wanted to protect her. But she didn't need protection.

She drew back from him. "I can't agree to that. He needs me. The prophecy says so. I need to do this. We need to investigate more and find out what Tommy actually _is_ so that we can help him."

"The Dark Lord does not need helping," Severus snarled, his face almost livid.

"Stop calling him the Dark Lord! He's not your master anymore. You aren't bound to him."

"I cannot call him anything else," Severus murmured. "It's ingrained in me. And it seems that he is still around in some form after all."

"Tommy's different."

"You're wrong."

"It's this other part of Voldemort that's evil. That darkness surrounding Hogwarts. What possessed Peeves and probably what attacked Lucy. Not Tommy."

Severus shook his head. "You're blinded by the Dark Lord. Even if the parts are separate, destroying one almost certainly means destroying the other. You asked me to help you in this and I am telling you that you cannot allow yourself to get attached to the Dark Lord! He took my life for eighteen years and I am _not _about to let him take yours as well! Prophecy or no prophecy!"

Dinah stared, letting her shoulders relax as she looked into the determined eyes of her colleague and reluctant significant other. He was saying this because he cared. How could she begrudge him that? "Severus..." she laid a hand on his arm, over the still half-revealed Dark Mark, causing him to flinch and then relax. "I understand. But I promise you. I'm _not _going to let Voldemort take me over. You taught me that I have to take responsibility for the prophecy and that's all I'm doing. Let's just talk to Dumbledore about this. I won't seek out Tommy anymore until then, but I _am _going to continue to try to decipher his nature. Don't you see? I owe him that much."

Severus shook his head, muttering under his breath in an incredulous tone. "You _owe _the Dark Lord..."

"It's not like that."

"Then what _is _it like, Dinah?" He sighed, running a frustrated hand through his hair again.

"I'm sure this is just a necessary step in the prophecy. What we need to worry about is this darkness. I _know _that at least that is a problem. That's what's frightening me so much."

"I think your 'Tommy' frightened you more than you're letting on."

Dinah frowned. "Maybe... but it's not his fault. I still believe that, now that I'm thinking more clearly. Still, I have to go back to my rooms now, and I think that darkness is still around. I know it's a lot to ask, since you're already ready for bed, but... would you walk back with me?"

He shook his head; "No."

"No?" it was her turn to repeat the word, and she was afraid that she looked as sad and hurt as she felt.

"You are not going back to your rooms tonight. I'm not leaving you alone with the weather like this and your darkness or whatever you call it floating around and some incarnation of the Dark Lord after you. You're staying here."

She felt a warm flush rising in her cheeks. "I'm staying here? All weekend?"

"All weekend."

"Thank you," she let out a breath of air, unaware that she had even been holding it, and felt her whole body relax. Honestly, the idea of going back to her rooms hadn't sounded attractive to her at all, but she hadn't thought for a moment that she could stay here again. The last time had been because she was half asleep and clingy and hadn't been fully conscious that she was begging him to let her stay. This time was different. She could have gone back, although she didn't want to. But he was going to save her from that.

"Hm, well," he stood, holding a hand out for her. "It's getting late and there is really nothing left we can talk about tonight. You need to sleep."

"All right," she took his hand and stood from the couch. "I suppose I should let you make up the couch."

Severus rolled his eyes, "I don't believe that's necessary."

"Really?" she felt flustered. "Um, well... but really, last time I hadn't intended on making you... I mean I was just half asleep and vulnerable. But I feel okay now. The couch is fine. Don't feel obligated that you have to-"

"I hardly think it's an obligation. It's happened once and so what difference does it make if it happens again? As long as you, again, suspend any of your expectations for something more than just sleeping."

She sighed, running a hand through her own hair, pulling the hair tie out of it and letting it fall loose around her shoulders. "That's the hard part. But I suppose I can handle it."

"Good. Then I am going to sleep and so are you. Come," he marched off towards the bedroom and she had no choice but to follow.

She climbed into her 'side' of the bed at the same time as he climbed into his, and she felt a sudden déjà vu to the times when she used to do this with Dylan. Yet, in those cases, her next move had always been to crawl over to his side and curl up against him to sleep or to do more than sleep. She couldn't really cuddle up to Severus without an invitation, although she would like to. And he, of course, had made it clear that doing more than sleep was still out of the question. She sighed and stared at him, almost wishing for a short minute that she could be Lily Potter instead of herself. But that was dumb. She wanted him to see her for her, and was going to continue to fight to make that happen.

"Um... good night," she said, and then groaned inwardly. _Some fighting spirit there, Dinah._

"Good night," he replied in monotone, closing his eyes.

She closed her eyes, too, but didn't fall asleep right away; instead periodically cracked her lids open to see what he was doing. He didn't move much at all save for a few small shifts, and then eventually his body relaxed and she could tell that he had fallen asleep.

Dinah then allowed her eyes to fully open and watched him for a bit, a small smile forming on her lips. He looked very peaceful, his face relaxed in sleep, his breathing even, and she could see hints of that looser, more comfortable person she had seen in the pensieve and during their talk on the grounds last week where he had allowed himself to show some vulnerability. It was almost as though, at rest, he merged with his younger self a bit.

She continued to smile and reached across, placing her hand over his, running her fingers across the skin of the back of it, feeling its smoothness and warmth. He didn't wake up, just stayed there in his peaceful state.

"Good night, Severus," she whispered. "I'll make you see me someday. That's a promise."


	49. Sunday

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Sunday

* * *

Dinah was aware that she slept very, very late the next morning. It wasn't her usual habit at all. Normally, she was able to get up at six or seven o'clock in the morning quite easily, but today she felt like staying in bed. Sure, she opened her eyes a few times and thought about getting up, especially after Severus had gotten up sometime in-between the first time she had opened her eyes and the second, but her body never moved. Instead she lay and listened to the sounds of him moving around in the next room, felt the warmth and softness of his huge green and black Slytherin bed and covers enveloping her, and stared at the dent in the spot where he'd slept until the combination of it all put her to sleep again.

She had no idea what time it was when he finally came in with an amused smirk on his face, but he told her right away. "You do realize that you've slept until noon, correct?"

Dinah flushed. "Oh, is it that late?" She sat up and brushed a strand of hair out of her face, tucking it behind her shoulder and shyly meeting his gaze. He was fully dressed already. She must have slept through that somehow. "I'm sorry, I don't usually sleep as long as this."

He shrugged, coming over to sit next to her. "It's all right, I suppose. Unusual, but then you are known to occasionally be that way," he smiled slightly.

She laughed. "I still like that you think so."

"Well, I do. So I suppose I must be pleasing you." He regarded her with a concerned frown. "How are you feeling now?"

"Fine," she laid her head on his shoulder, her fingers tracing one of the buttons on his frock coat; "Thanks to you."

"Yes, well," he cleared his throat and stood, looking embarrassed. "You should really eat something, don't you think? The weather is nicer today, but I still don't want you to be alone. I'll summon lunch here."

"Okay. Can we at least go back to my room and get my nighttime robes and feed my pets?"

"After lunch we'll go."

"Thanks," she got up from the bed and followed him into the dining room, then ran a hand through her hair and realized it was rather disheveled. "Oh, I'm sorry. Can I use your restroom at least? I must look a fright."

"You look fine," he regarded her with a frown. "But yes. It's through that hall."

She followed his finger through a hallway off the living room into a small lavatory, and smiled when she saw the mirror. It was a shiny black stone lined with little silver Slytherin snakes. She traced one with her finger, admiring its graceful beauty, before turning her attention to herself.

Staring in the mirror, she saw that her hair was more disheveled than she had expected and she had giant bags under her eyes from sleeping so long. She sighed and grabbed a brush from next to the sink. It was full of greasy black hairs but she didn't really care as she began to tear it through her dark blonde hair. "I look fine, indeed," she grumbled, but then smiled a little. Maybe he really did think so. If so, that was very sweet of him.

She took her hair tie from her robes and pulled her hair half back instead of all the way. She usually liked it back because it was easier to manage and got in her face less, but not always. Sometimes she preferred it loose. Plus, loose was more conducive to males running their fingers through it, which she loved and hoped Severus would do again. His touch was always so gentle... and warm.

She splashed some cold water on her face, hoping it would at least do some good in minimizing her sleepy look, then dried it with a soft black towel and headed back into the dining room, sitting across from Severus in front of a plate of roast beef sandwiches and buttered peas. They ate in relative silence before heading back up to her rooms together. When they made it to her door she heard an agonized meowing from the other side.

Severus groaned and took a step back. "Do I need to be prepared for attack?"

Dinah had to laugh. "I think if you handled Voldemort, dementors, and dark wizards then you can certainly handle one little cat."

"Hardly little," he snorted as she opened the door and Godric rushed out, first rubbing against Dinah's legs but then spying Severus and instantly shifting gears, running around her colleague's robes in ever-shrinking circles. Once again, she needed to use her expert animal-catching skills to snag him before Severus had a chance to come up with a complaint.

"Silly," she stroked her cat's fur and kissed the top of his head; "Leave Severus alone. He doesn't want to play with you." She walked into the room followed by Severus and then closed the door behind them before setting Godric down on a chair. She turned to Severus with a teasing smile. "Come with me into the bedroom. We'll lock the door behind us before he notices you again." He regarded her with a raised eyebrow and an exceedingly suspicious look and she had to laugh. "Don't get any funny ideas. I'm not going to ravish you; I just need to get my things. You can always stay out here with your best buddy, though."

"Let's go to the bedroom," he muttered, following her into it. She went to her dresser and pulled out some fresh robes for tomorrow as well as a pair for today and placed one of them on the bed. "Have a seat. Either on the bed or the chair. I'm going to go change and shower." She left and headed to her own bathroom, grateful to be able to take care of her look more thoroughly with all of her things available. It didn't take her long to shower, put on fresh robes, and re-fix her hair and makeup. For good measure, she put on a pair of hoop earrings before walking back out to meet Severus. She mimicked his usual smirk and raised eyebrow. "The chair. I should have guessed."

He just frowned at her and didn't respond to that comment. "Are you ready to go back now?"

"I just need nighttime robes and to feed the animals." She went to her dresser and pulled out some blue nighttime robes, then lifted up a pair of cozy purple pajamas from next to it and showed them to Severus, causing him to scowl. She grinned. "I usually prefer Muggle pajamas, just so you know. But I'm nice enough not to bring them back to your place tonight."

"I'm grateful," he muttered through nearly gritted teeth.

"But they're nice, though, see?" She took his hand and made him touch them, then rested her cheek against the soft material, nuzzling it back and forth and making sure her hair brushed against his hand while doing so. "They're very soft and cozy. More so than they usually make nighttime robes out to be."

Severus flushed and drew his hand back, clearing this throat again and shrugging. "Whatever you say."

She grinned. "See? You do like me."

"I never said I didn't."

"It doesn't have to be... um, love or anything," she said softly, the word igniting more questions in the back of her mind than she had expected it to. "And you don't have to betray Lily. People are always... you know, just because they like another person. I'm not trying to pressure you, I just... I'm saying I think I would enjoy it. I hope you would as well."

"Um... listen, Dinah," he said, slowly, his face turning redder and she knew that she was at least turning him on a tiny bit. She secretly kind of enjoyed flustering him, as it was such an unusual reaction, and so even if he said no - which he was probably going to - she had to at least think that this had been worth it. "That's... flattering," he continued. "But I can't. It may not seem like a betrayal to you, but that's what it is to me. I don't expect you to understand."

"So you're saying never?"

"I don't know what I'm saying. I'm saying not now. That's all I _can _say right now."

"It's not... me, is it?" the timid question left her lips before she had a chance to stop it.

"No," his response was so instant and certain that it made her blush. "It is _not _you. If there was no..." he winced and looked away; "Lily then I would say yes right away. I think probably any man would."

"Wow..." she felt her face turn redder, not having expected quite that much from him. "That's, um... thanks."

"Can we go back to the dungeons now?" his strained tone almost made Dinah laugh, but she resisted.

"All right, all right." She threw some toiletries into a bag with her day and nighttime robes and fed Salazar and Helga before leading him out of the bedroom to a living room where Godric awaited.

Severus sighed as her cat started running around and batting at his robes again, knelt down and regarded the animal for a short moment, and then shrugged and scratched him on the head. Godric took that moment to bat at his hands and he pushed him away, but Godric came back. They continued like that for a couple moments before Severus laughed and stood up, facing the very pleased and surprised Dinah. "It seems your pet has inherited your unusualness."

She smiled. "Thank you. And thank you for humoring him. You're really... such a nice person, Severus. I don't know if anyone has told you that before."

He flushed. "Feed your cat."

"Okay," she fed Godric, informed him that she wouldn't be back until tomorrow even though he couldn't understand her, amusing Severus again, and they left her rooms.

When they made it back to the dungeons that same large black owl was waiting for them. "Good," Severus walked up and took the letter, read it and then handed it to Dinah. "We are to meet Dumbledore at six o'clock tomorrow morning, sharp. If the meeting lasts longer than that we will cancel our classes. I'm glad to see he realizes the gravity of the situation."

"Yes," she sighed and put the letter down, leaning back on the couch. "I wonder what he thinks... I hope he understands that Tommy isn't the evil one."

"We're not getting into that again," Severus's declaration was firm as he sat down next to her. "Shall we research? Look at potion ingredients?"

"Um, could we do something more fun than that? I noticed you have a wizards chess set. Do you play?"

He regarded her for a moment and shrugged; "I suppose we can do that. I have played with Dumbledore on occasion during the slower moments of the past few years."

She nodded and offered him an encouraging smile. She was starting to think that Dumbledore had truly been his only real friend since Lily. "Let's. Although I'm sure you'll beat me. It's no secret that you're much smarter than I am or indeed than pretty much anyone in this school is, save maybe Dumbledore."

"There's no need for flattery," he muttered, placing the set on the dining table and summoning her over to join him, him taking the black pieces and her the white, which wasn't unexpected. "You are very intelligent."

"Thanks," she smiled shyly and tucked her hair behind her shoulder before making her first move, picking a random pawn and asking it to move two spaces ahead.

"You didn't think at all about that move, did you?" Severus smirked. "Contrary to popular belief there are pawns that shouldn't be moved right away. You had plenty of better choices."

"Oh, sure, tell me I'm intelligent and then revel in revealing my stupid chess choices," she teased. "This is going to be so much fun."

"That was a fair warning," he said, smiling lightly and making own move. It wasn't long before he had three of her pawns and a knight and she had only one pawn of his.

She took a long time to consider her next move, trying as hard as she could to think about exactly what would happen with each possible choice, where that would put her pieces in relation to his, what it would do a few moves down the line. When she was finally certain she had come up with something brilliant she moved another pawn.

Severus rolled his eyes, had one of his bishops move, and said; "Check."

"Argh!" she grasped her hair with her hands, "I didn't even see that! I thought I had everything figured out! I was going to move that pawn and then you were going to take it but next move I was going to- and now I can't because I completely missed-"

He laughed, and she flushed and smiled at him. He truly seemed to be enjoying himself, which made it all worth it. "Don't worry, these are all common beginner mistakes."

"Beginner!" she retorted, a mischievous gleam in her eyes; "Oh, you are going to regret saying that." She had her king move out of check.

"Am I?" he used his bishop to take another of her pieces.

She had to laugh and they continued their game. He won, of course, and then they settled down for more research because he refused to accept her rematch demand until after dinner. Still, despite her loss and near humiliation she had been able to do something light and fun with him, and that was the best thing of all.

* * *

"Five games, how is it that you won all five games we've played today?" Dinah demanded, walking back into the bedroom after their changing into her nighttime robes in the bathroom.

Severus chuckled. "I don't know; you came rather close the fourth time."

"If by 'close' you mean I took one more piece of yours than I did the other four times, then I think you need to change your definition." She frowned. "You don't really think I'm stupid, do you?"

He smiled, and there was more affection in it than she'd seen yet. "No. You aren't stupid. If you were stupid I wouldn't continue to associate with you. Now, go to sleep. We have to meet Dumbledore very early in the morning and I know you're more worried about this than you're letting on."

"Okay," she marched forward and planted an impromptu kiss on his cheek, her boldest initiation of affection yet. She smiled and moved back to look at him. "Thank you for playing with me."

Severus just stared at her, looking a little embarrassed and shocked at her move. Finally, he nodded. "Good night."

She climbed into bed across from him and let herself scoot closer than she usually did, meeting his gaze with a smile. "Good night."


	50. Harry

CHAPTER FIFTY

Harry

* * *

Dinah and Severus walked into Dumbledore's office early the next morning to find that, despite the grim nature of the visit, the headmaster's eyes were twinkling more than ever. It might have had something to do with the boy who was sitting across from him, looking at Dinah and Severus with a curious expression through a pair of glasses, traces of a lightning-shaped scar nearly hidden beneath his brown bangs.

"Dinah, Severus, so glad that you are both here," Dumbledore said with a smile. "As you can see, I've taken the liberty of having another join our meeting today."

"Potter," Severus sneered, his entire body tensing.

"Professor Snape," the look Harry gave her companion, however, was oddly admiring, but he spoke in a casual, somewhat apprehensive tone.

"Harry, this is Professor Dinah Samson, our new Muggle Studies professor whom I have told you about," Dumbledore made the introduction.

"Nice to meet you," Harry stood to shake her hand, "Ginny has told me a bit about you, and Sirius and Lucy have mentioned you, of course."

"Very nice to meet you, too," Dinah nodded, a bit flustered at finally meeting the boy. But he did seem to be a truly nice, down to Earth individual as Lucy had said. Severus, on the other hand, was clearly uncomfortable and not pleased at all.

"I thought the nature of our meeting was such that Harry should be present," Dumbledore said, his attitude finally returning to proper solemnity. "He knows about Voldemort and is a successful Auror."

"Yes... I think that's probably a good idea," Dinah agreed, sitting down in the middle seat. Severus shot her a grateful look before sitting in the third chair, scooting it so that it was rather far away from Harry but, to his credit, turning it so that he could face everyone in the group. Dinah impulsively moved her chair closer to Severus's and turned it as well, eliciting another curious look from the Potter boy.

"Dinah, I have not done this myself because I wanted you to be present," Dumbledore said, "but I am afraid I cannot ask your permission. I must insist that you tell Harry the words of your prophecy."

"Um... okay," she said softly, not wanting to say the words again so soon after she had told them to Severus the first time, but not having much choice. "'When the Dark Lord's destruction is incomplete, The truth long invisible to all but one child; Another will come: One with power discovered late in life; Years will bring difficulty and she will resist her destiny; But all that she avoids she will eventually be forced to face. She will relive the past, facing darkness yet again; And, meeting the last incarnation of the Dark Lord shall return that darkness to light; She will be the first to bring peace.'"

Harry sighed after she had finished. "I see. So then he's _not _gone," he looked at Dumbledore; "But how is that possible, Professor?"

"Do not be too upset, Harry," Dumbledore said. "I was not sure if this was the case and it does nothing to belittle all that you have done to save our world. I did not tell you of Dinah's prophecy because I myself was unsure how or if it would play out. But recent events suggest that it is starting."

"But _how _can Voldemort's destruction be incomplete?" Harry demanded, not looking very reassured by he headmaster's words. "I took care of every Horcrux."

"Horcrux?" Dinah asked. "That's a part of his soul, correct?"

"A form of dark magic," Severus said in a low voice. "If a certain incantation is performed when committing a cold-blooded murder, the user can split his soul and hide a piece in an object. If the main body is killed the soul still survives until the Horcrux is also destroyed. The Dark Lord made seven."

"Yes, I recall it from the pensieve..." A sudden thought occurred to her. "Headmaster, do you think Tommy could be a Horcrux?"

"That is impossible," Dumbledore shook his head; "If so then we would have seen something different at King's Cross and Harry would have been incapable of defeating Lord Voldemort."

"King's Cross?"

Harry sighed. "When I thought I was... dead, and I suppose the headmaster thought the same, our souls or minds or... whichever, connected somehow. We were in some form of King's Cross Station and we talked. We saw what would become of Voldemort if he didn't feel remorse. It was... frightening."

"Remorse?"

"The only thing that can return all Horcruxes back to one soul," Dumbledore said, his tone solemn. "The pain and agony of truly appreciating and regretting the things you have done is overwhelming enough to kill a person. I do not know if it has happened or not in history, nor do I know how often Horcruxes were ever actually created by wizards. I do know that Voldemort was incapable of showing remorse, so as far as we know he should currently be occupying the form we saw in King's Cross."

"What form?"

Harry shuddered. "It looked like a child. A child with flushed skin, a flayed baby, moaning and only half human, screaming and writhing in distress and completely incapable of being helped by anyone or anything..."

"It is unfortunate," Dumbledore added softly.

Dinah bit her lip, recalling the fear she had seen in Tommy's eyes, thinking about her young friend. "That's awful. I can't let that happen to Tommy."

"I do not know what the connection to him might be," Dumbledore said. "You need to tell us now, I think, everything you know about the mysterious Tommy. Severus only gave us the bare minimum of details in his letter."

"Of course." She briefly went over her experiences with Tommy, from when she'd first met him to her thoughts about him as some kind of 'ghost', to what happened on Saturday night.

"That story matches Tom Riddle's, without a doubt," Dumbledore said with a sigh. "Now what we must do is discover what the nature of this specific form of him is."

"And the voices? The darkness that has been surrounding Hogwarts? The 'bad things'?"

"Those as well," the headmaster sighed again. "Two immediate possibilities come to mind. Perhaps the form we saw was not what became of Voldemort. Perhaps after his death he reverted to this unusual ghost-like creature, but that is doubtful."

Dinah shook her head. "Tommy says he's been there since he was a first year. And Myrtle has seen him since she died."

"That may be only what he thinks. Myrtle may also be being deceived. Which leads me to the next possibility, although it is not one that I can explain. Perhaps the evil of Voldemort was so strong that even with Harry's destruction he did not completely disappear from our world. He may even have chosen to become a ghost, but as you've said Tommy is not quite ghost-like. Perhaps he is instead that powerful darkness you mention, and Tommy is something that darkness created to trick you into helping him somehow. That is what Severus believed and what he wrote in the letter."

Dinah sighed and looked at Severus, "That's all you wrote? You're making Tommy seem evil again?"

"It is the only reasonable possibility and the only one I'm willing to entertain. The Dark Lord is not good and not innocent. How can I make you see that? Even the headmaster has said that from the first time he met Tom Riddle he was a dark boy who didn't want friends."

"That was a lie," Dinah whispered. "He did want friends, he just hid it."

"No," Severus shook his head, looking at her with concern in his gaze. "Don't you see? That's what he wants you to believe. I'm not letting you get hurt or distracted from your prophecy by this elaborate deception. That's why I'm involved in this and probably why I was reborn. To keep you from going about this the wrong way and to help you finish this. I won't let your life become what mine was, bound to the Dark Lord without escape."

"Severus..." she couldn't help but be touched by his words and placed a hand on his arm, eliciting a gasp from Harry.

"Wait, wait, wait, _wait_ just one moment here!" the boy exclaimed, as Dumbledore's eyes began to twinkle again, a momentary break from the solemnity of the meeting. "You're Professor Snape's _girlfriend_?"

Dinah flushed and Severus looked embarrassed, but he didn't remove his arm and instead slid his fingers into hers, probably figuring it didn't matter since Harry had come to the correct conclusion. "Well... sort of," she admitted.

"But you love my mother," Harry protested, and Dinah couldn't tell if he wanted Severus to love his mother or if it was just more of a generic statement explaining his disbelief at the fact that they were together.

"I love your mother," Severus growled, and then gestured to Dinah. "She and I are simply... involved."

Dinah wanted to point out that when the word 'involved' was used and didn't imply love it normally implied sex, but held her tongue.

"Well... okay, then," Harry still seemed awkward about it, but let it go.

"Dinah," Dumbledore said, "I think before we go any further you should take us down to this bathroom of yours where you have been seeing Tommy. Perhaps we will find something useful."

"Yes," she agreed, letting go of Severus's hand and standing from her chair. "That will probably helpful. " She was glad to be going down there with a group this time and not by herself. Actually Severus alone would probably have been enough, except that he was always being hostile towards Tommy, which she didn't like.

She led the group in an odd procession down towards the area of the school where her classroom and rooms were, but the student population in the area dwindled as she approached the hall leading to the boys' lavatory. "That's odd," she said, slowing down and peering into the hallway, which was darker than usual. "It looks different. And there are usually very few students in the area when I come here." She smiled a little. "That's how I managed not to look awkward going in the boys' lavatory, I guess."

Her three companions, however, did not look so amused. Harry and Severus looked confused and Dumbledore looked very serious and surprised.

"Dinah," the headmaster began, slowly, pointing one finger down the dark hallway; "Is _this _the hallway where your boys' lavatory is located?"

"Um... yes. Why?"

He lowered his hand, his expression solemn. "Show it to us."

"Of course," she hurried down the hall toward the room, but it got darker and darker as she continued, and she was unable to shake the feeling that something wasn't right. When she came to an abrupt halt a moment later she knew why.

Instead of the usual door in the wall she found a plethora of stones and wooden rubble piled up against the wall, beyond which she could barely make out the lines of a door that had once been in use and a faded sign with the word "boys" painted on it. Additional wooden boors criss-crossed what little doorframe she could still see, making it inaccessible. She felt her fingers reaching for the half-broken knob and twisted, pushing in. The door didn't budge. "But this is impossible! I could get in! There was a real lavatory here!"

"This lavatory was destroyed in Tom Riddle's first year here as a student," Dumbledore said.

Dinah drew in a breath, her heartbeat quickening, and stared at the headmaster. Severus took a few protective steps closer to her and Harry turned an incredulous look on Dumbledore.

Dumbledore nodded. "It was his first dangerous act while here at Hogwarts. He followed some boys in here one day. They were taunting him, as far as I know. He caused a tremendous explosion and the room collapsed. We were lucky that we managed to save the two boys. Their injuries were severe. I probably should have given Tom a stronger punishment, but he insisted it had been an accident. The toilet has been closed and inaccessible ever since."

"That's what Tommy said," Dinah said quietly; "He said he was in here and gave up once and for all on making friends, did something bad, and that's when he became a... whatever he is."

"You suggest that this part of Voldemort split off at that time? I have never heard of such magic. The only thing he could have done was make a Horcrux, and since the boys were injured but not killed, that is not a possibility. Your Tommy may _think _that's the last thing that happened to him, but odds are at best he is simply not remembering the rest."

"Perhaps," she agreed, but she didn't quite believe her words.

"And at worst and most likely he is trying to manipulate you," Severus had to add. Dinah opened her mouth to retort something, but found she couldn't think of anything to say.

"From that point on he became more manipulative than ever," Dumbledore continued. "It was then that he transformed from an antisocial boy who apparently didn't want friends to a charismatic, powerful boy who got his fellow students to worship him. He was an ideal student. Even I couldn't see how dark and evil he truly was he was after that. Any further acts he committed he disguised well. He researched the Chamber of Secrets and used the basilisk to commit his first real murder of Myrtle and make his first Horcrux years later. But unfortunately, at the time those actions were attributed to Hagrid and his pet Acromantula."

"But I just don't understand," Dinah whispered; "I've been in here. Every time I've talked to Tommy it's been here."

"There is an odd magic at work if you were able to enter here and see it as a normal lavatory," Dumbledore said slowly.

"You believe me, don't you?" she asked, watching as Dumbledore and Harry exchanged a furtive, uncertain glance.

"I believe that you believe you have been in there, through some form of magic we cannot yet explain," Dumbledore said.

"I have _actually _been in here!" she exclaimed. "I don't know if its form has changed or there is some strange magic at work or not, but when I come here alone it's a normal lavatory. When I tried to open the door now and it didn't budge, that's the same that it felt like on the days when the door seemed locked and I couldn't reach Tommy. Come to think of it, I've ... only come down here on my own when I heard the crying or when it was dark or stormy out. This place is re-forming itself to its old image for me, somehow. But when I come here with other people it looks like this."

"But can you find us Tommy?" Harry asked. "Because we Aurors can't do anything to help unless we can find the source of the dark magic. From what I see here, there is nothing going on."

"It never stays," she murmured, "I'll see him and then he'll disappear for weeks before I see him again. Every time I think I'm about to figure something out things go back to normal before I can obtain the answers that I'm looking for. That's still happening now."

"I understand your frustration, Dinah," Dumbledore said. "But there is currently nothing that we can do."

"Then we're back to square one? Keeping an eye out for more mysterious happenings and not being proactive in any way?" She couldn't hide the strain in her voice.

"I don't know," Harry said. "You've at least got some idea of what's going on, and now the Aurors are aware of the situation. We can all keep an eye out for things."

"Thank you, but that's not that reassuring. Unless..." an idea occurred to her, "I can ask Myrtle! After all, if she's seen Tommy then she must have been to this lavatory too, right? He says this is the only place where he can be."

"Harry?" Dumbledore turned a teasing gaze to the young Auror. "Would you like to interview Moaning Myrtle for us?"

"No, thank you," Harry's response was instantaneous. He almost looked embarrassed. "I don't think Ginny would like it much."

"Ah," Dinah smiled. "Myrtle's incessant flirting strikes again, does it?"

"Unfortunately," Harry adjusted his glasses and turned back to Dumbledore. "Is that all, then? Do you need to have an Auror stationed at Hogwarts, because that can be requested, as you know."

"No, I think that Dinah and Severus will be able to handle things for now," the headmaster smiled. "But I will inform you if you are needed."

"All right," he agreed, and the group started walking out of the hallway again, Dinah taking a couple of nervous glances backward until Severus grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Enough," he hissed. "It will do you no good. We've already seen what it is. It will only change back to the other form if that boy tries to summon you to him again."

Dinah stared into his eyes, feeling very good for the first time today. "You mean you believe-"

"Harry!" a surprised voice exclaimed, and Severus immediately dropped Dinah's arm as they all turned to see its source.

Hermione, Ginny, and Luna had been walking down the hall, either to or from breakfast, and all three looked surprised to see him there, Ginny quite happily so.

"Ginny," Harry smiled. "Hermione, Luna."

"What are you doing here?" Ginny asked.

"I asked him to come," Dumbledore said with a knowing smile at both members of the couple. "There were some events at Hogwarts which the four of us needed to discuss, and we had an early meeting. But I am happy to say we are finished now and I am going to return to my office for a late breakfast. Since you are here, Harry, I presume you shall be making the best of things?" he winked.

"Uh, I'll try to, Sir," Harry replied, flustered, and Dumbledore left them all to return to his office after requesting that Dinah report anything useful from Myrtle to him if she discovered it.

"So..." Ginny began. "I don't have class right away this morning. Take a walk?"

Harry walked up to her and took her arm, smiling. "A walk. And there's always the Room of Requirement."

She smiled back; "Sounds like a plan to me."

Hermione and Luna giggled before continuing on to breakfast, and Severus rolled his eyes before turning Dinah around and guiding them away from the young lovebirds.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"As far away from Potter as possible," he responded. "Actually, back to your rooms. You have pets to feed and classes start in nearly a half hour. And I need to talk to you alone."

"Okay," they ended up back at her rooms and she let them both in, closing the door behind them so that they were out of view of the students wandering by.

"You're right. Something is trying to prevent you from discovering the truth, because you only receive bits and pieces of information at a time," Severus said. "I don't like this at all."

"But you actually believe me?" she asked softly. "About what's happening with the lavatory? You don't think it's all an elaborate illusion or my imagination?"

"I believe you."

"Severus..."

He reached up to lightly touch her cheek, his gaze softened. "Don't worry too much about what Potter and the headmaster think on that issue. If this is your prophecy then it _will _be put into motion. That's why you must be extremely careful, especially if there are any more dark and stormy days and you hear that boy again. If you do, tell me right away."

"I will," she felt her cheeks turn pink, closing her eyes and enjoying the feel of his fingers against her skin. "Thank you."

She felt warmth on her face and opened her eyes just in time to see him leaning toward her, as if in slow motion. She held her breath and said nothing, not wanting to ruin this or drive it away. His lips landed on hers and he kissed her for the second time. She made a soft noise and moved closer to him, slipping her arms around his waist, but not wanting to close her eyes, too enthralled she was in looking at his face as he kissed her. His own eyes were closed and he held it for a few moments, their lips lingering together. She wanted to let her lips part and add intimacy to the kiss but thought better of it, not wanting to scare him away. This was enough for now, she thought, as she let him finish.

Although it lingered a bit more, and was much longer than their first kiss, still it was over too soon. He drew gently away from her face, opening his eyes and meeting her gaze. "You have to eat and go to class. I need to set up my class."

"You should eat, too." _Oh, yes, way to go, Dinah. What a stupid irrelevant comment to make after he just kissed you for the second time. Brilliant._

He chuckled, and with her arms still around him she felt the warm rumbling throughout his body. It made her want to crawl back into bed and cuddle in his arms, not eat and go to class. "I can survive without food for longer than you can," he replied.

"Er...yes," she still didn't want to let go of him.

"I really do need to go."

"I'm sorry!" she flushed and dropped her hands, taking a giant step back. Actually, she probably overdid it a bit, because he laughed at her again.

"Feed your cat before it attacks me," he gestured to Godric, who was creeping up to Severus with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "I have assignments to collect today so there will be quite a bit of grading tonight, but perhaps we can research more on Tuesday. Or if you really want to you can attempt to beat me at wizard's chess again."

She chuckled, "'Attempt' is probably the right word. But that sounds lovely." She paused. "Thank you so much, Severus. Really. For... everything."

"I will see you at lunch," he replied, but gave her a small smile before leaving the room.

Dinah had to laugh again, as if her cat had been running just a tiny bit faster he would have crashed comically headfirst into the shutting door like in some Muggle cartoon. She leaned over and scratched his head before lifting him up and collapsing onto a chair, burying her face in his fur to hide a squeal of excitement she must have been holding in. "He kissed me again, Godric. I feel almost like a lovestruck teenager." At her words the questions that had started poking at the back of her mind returned, and she sighed, her previous zest tempered. She stroked the cat's head absently for a few moments. "It's strange..." she said, to him and also to herself. "I wonder, Godric. Do you think that I... love him?"

The question refused to be answered, though, and so she went into the kitchen to prepare herself a quick breakfast with the wondering, lingering thoughts still plaguing her mind.


	51. Friends

A/N: Thank you again so much for everyone's continuing reviews! I really appreciate your thoughts and comments and I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story! :)

* * *

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

Friends

* * *

"_There _you are!" Dinah exclaimed, pulling a grey cat out from underneath her bed, Godric following his girlfriend out with his tail twitching. "Have you really been here this whole time, Dora? How did you manage to hide from me when I was even _looking _for you? Godric, really, if I end up with kittens after this..." she scolded her male cat, marching toward her door with Dora. She had heard that Lucy's cat was missing and had been keeping an eye out for her the past couple of days, but had not imagined that Godric had her stashed in her rooms this entire time.

She closed her door behind her, locking Godric inside, and headed down to Lucy's rooms, knocking on the door.

"Dora!" Lucy said when she opened the door to find Dinah holding her missing cat. "Where have you been?"

"Hiding in my room with Godric and somehow escaping my notice this whole time," Dinah said with a slight smirk. "Sorry about that. I _was _looking for her but those two are apparently very good at being incognito."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "It seems I've been a bad influence on you missy. Thanks for bringing her back. Did you want to come in?"

"Sure," Dinah smiled. "I'm free tonight. Severus has grading and I don't, so..." she stepped inside. "How have you been?"

"Not bad, dealing with Septimus is always interesting. We celebrated Sirius's birthday yesterday, it's today, so that was fun and there've been no strange occurrences since the last Quidditch match as far as I know so all is well." Lucy closed the door behind Dinah and ushered Dora into the bedroom.

She sighed, sitting down on the sofa. At least Lucy hadn't had to deal with strange occurrences. Dinah, not so much. "That's good. Maybe things will get better around here now." Fat chance.

"How've you been the last couple days? I noticed Severus sticking pretty close." Lucy sank down on the other end of the sofa, closing her book and picking up her hot cocoa.

Dinah smiled. "Whenever he can. Not that I'm complaining. I even got kissed on Monday, which was glorious. It's just with all the weird things happening lately... and that ghost boy Tommy I might have mentioned before... I think he's worried about me."

"Mmmm," Lucy said, sipping her drink, "Not to bypass the kiss or anything but I remember you asking about a Tommy and you've been looking up ghosts I know. I didn't realize they were one in the same."

"Yes..." she didn't want to say too much on the subject. It wasn't that she didn't trust Lucy, but she still didn't want the whole world knowing about her prophecy unless absolutely necessary. She had had to tell two new people in a very short time already and that was stressing her out enough at the moment. "It turned out that Tommy was an unusual sort of ghost-like creature, that's why we never had him in any of our classes. But, I don't know... after a little bit of research and some incidents it seems that some dark magic might be involved. But I don't know much beyond that. Dumbledore knows, though, and Harry, so we're keeping an eye out for things."

"That probably explains those Dark Storms we've been having I suppose. So, you finally met Harry huh? What'd you think? Oh!" she said, setting her cup on the end table, "I'm sorry, do you want some cocoa or something? I should have offered sooner."

"Cocoa would be nice, thanks. Harry seems very nice." She laughed, "Of course, Severus doesn't think so. I think he was scowling the entire time."

Lucy grinned, summoning up the drink for her friend, "Harry's great. We get along, which is good because that_ might_ have been a deal breaker for Sirius. Anyway, is there anything in particular you want to do? I'm afraid I don't have much more than books here. I tend to spend my evenings reading or grading, especially since it's gotten colder out and I can read by the fire."

"We could play a game or something, if you have it. Severus and I enjoyed some wizard's chess on Sunday. Of course, he did nothing but beat me over and over again, but it was a lot of fun nonetheless. Or I could bring another movie over."

"Movie!" Lucy shouted, "Sorry. You probably find them rather uninteresting at this point or something, but I find them completely fascinating."

She had to laugh again. "Okay, movie it is. Comedy, action, romance, drama, some combination of those? You pick."

"Hmmmm, How about some sort of romance? I seem to be in a romantic mood," she held up the book she'd been reading, entitled _Seduced._

Dinah stared at the picture on the cover. It was interesting how much wizarding and Muggle romance novels had in common. The characters on the front looked like oversexed, overamplified versions of humans, the woman perfectly shaped and voluptuous and the man with probably the largest, shiniest chest she had ever seen, bared beneath his spread robes for all to see. They both wore sensual expressions and their hair was wind-swept. She had to resist rolling her eyes and sighed. "Okay. But what with all the unresolved sexual tension in my life lately I think it's _my _turn to not be in the romance mood. So just bear with me if I keep groaning during the movie."

Lucy grinned, looking at the cover herself, "Well, you can pick something else if you'd like. I'm not picky. They really do exaggerate the people on these covers don't they? I suppose they're just proving the adage 'don't judge a book by its cover'. For instance the guy in this one is supposed to have blond hair and on the cover it's clearly black. It bugs me when they do things like that."

"I bet I can find something with some romance in it that's not objectionable to either of us. I'll be right back." She headed to her rooms to find something they both would like.

* * *

"Umm, nice movie, huh?" Dinah asked, yawning. She looked over at Lucy but her friend seemed to have fallen asleep again. Then again, Dinah felt like she was falling asleep herself. Which made little sense since the movie was an action-comedy-romance which was fairly fast-paced and she had always enjoyed, but something about the early darkness of December and the stress of the week seemed to be sending her into sleepy land. She struggled to stay awake, making her eyes as wide as they could go, fidgeting, and trying to focus on the plot, but her lids just kept trying to close...

The movie started to fade and it sounded kind of echoey. Everything got sort of warm as she moved to lie sideways on the couch. She'd just rest her eyes for a tiny... little... bit...

...

It was dark. There was no movie. Maybe the tape ran its course and stopped? Dinah didn't want to open her eyes to find out; she was too cozy curled up on this soft couch. There were some rustling noises and a click, but she tried to shut it out. Sleep was coming back...

She felt fingers in her hair, stroking. That was unusual. She wasn't in the dungeons this time; she was fairly certain. In her half-asleep state she was reminded more of Dylan than Severus. She felt someone's presence near her head, and loose hair falling over her face, and her body woke up instantly. She snapped to attention and opened her eyes. "Severus?" A piercing shriek left her mouth when she realized that that was _not _who it was. She jumped and moved, slamming into the back of the couch just as her hands flew up to cover her mouth. Utterly horrified, she stared at the shocked expression on Sirius Black's face and could think of absolutely nothing to say.

"Dinah?" Sirius asked, confused, "Sorry. I thought this was Lucy's room. I must have gotten turned around."

"Dinah?" Lucy said, echoing Sirius. "Everything okay?" Obviously she didn't sense any danger since she hadn't moved from her end of the couch.

"Um... um... I'm sorry," Dinah stammered. "I didn't mean to... Um, yeah..." she tried to back up more but the couch and the wall were in her way.

"Just a simple case of mistaken identity, Lu. Sorry again, Dinah," he said, going over to the bedroom door and letting Dora out.

"Sirius?" Lucy's head rose up from the blankets she'd been wrapped in. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I know how much you like traditions and traditionally I like to see my girlfriend on my birthday."

Dinah sighed, finally relaxing a little bit as she watched the two of them. It had been quite startling and really she thought Sirius was taking it rather lightly, but if he wasn't as freaked out by it as she had been what was she supposed to do? It _had _just been an honest mistake after all. She settled more comfortably into the couch. "What time is it?"

"Only about 11:30. Sorry again, Dinah. I didn't mean to freak you out…or almost kiss you." Dinah hid a shudder, grateful that it hadn't gone that far. Not that Sirius wasn't attractive or anything, but that would have been way too weird. He wandered over toward where Lucy was sitting on the couch, Dora pawing at his feet, before he noticed the telly and VCR on the coffee table. "What were you two doing with those?"

"Watching a Muggle movie," in her shock and sleepiness Dinah realized that she was forgetting to give Sirius the cold shoulder. But she wasn't quite sure she had the strength for it right now.

"They're great!" Lucy enthused, "Sort of like a mix between a play and a painting. Wait," she held up a hand, "you almost kissed Dinah?"

"It was dark in here I thought she was you," he defended himself. "I stopped when I noticed the blonde hair."

"You know traditionally you stop kissing other girls when you've got a girlfriend."

"He didn't _want _to kiss me!" Dinah was a bit surprised at Lucy's jealous attitude. "He said it was just a mistake."

Lucy just raised an eyebrow at him.

He leaned over to kiss her but she turned her head so that he caught her cheek instead of her lips. "You're not really mad at me are you?"

She didn't answer him, just leaned over and picked up Dora, holding her in her lap.

"Really Lucy, can't he make a mistake? He just said he didn't do it on purpose. How was he to know I'd be sleeping here? It's not like I _asked _him to try and kiss me." She hadn't really meant to start defending Sirius, but Lucy's attitude was bugging her. She stood up. "I guess I should probably leave."

Lucy sighed, "No, Dinah it's fine. It was an honest mistake I suppose." She let go of her cat and Dora leapt back down to wind herself around Sirius's legs. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"It's okay," Sirius said, kissing her.

"Well, uh..." Dinah sat back down, but still felt funny. "Are you sure I shouldn't just leave? It is late after all and I'm sure you two want to celebrate alone."

Sirius grinned, making Dinah realize what she had essentially implied. Well, it probably wasn't a wrong implication, after all.

"I mean you don't have to leave," Lucy said, "If you want to its fine."

"Thanks," she smiled. "But there's not really anything left to do, is there? I mean, unless you want to try and finish the movie from wherever we managed to leave off last."

Lucy laughed, "Why don't we save it for another time. We'd probably have to start it over anyway. I don't really remember what was going on. If you're lucky maybe you'll catch Severus before he goes to bed. Don't make that face!" Lucy scolded her boyfriend.

"Well, unfortunately that's probably out of the question," Dinah said with a slightly bitter smile, hating to prove Sirius right about this but really there was no way she was going to intrude upon Severus's rooms at 11:30 at night. She could only come on to the man so much at a time without driving him away. And he was probably still recovering from Sunday's pajama incident.

"Um, well, I know you don't want to stay most likely, but you're welcome to. I don't want you to feel like I'm kicking you out," Lucy said, glancing at Sirius.

"No, that's okay," Dinah stood. "It really is late, but you two have fun. Um... Happy Birthday," she added as an afterthought, again not overjoyed at being nice to Sirius but it_ was_ the man's birthday and there was no need to be rude. Besides, after the slight effort Severus had made with Lucy at the Quidditch match, mentioning Sirius – albeit vaguely – without any snarky comments, maybe there was hope for the group of them yet. Maybe Sirius even did feel bad about what he did, but just hadn't said anything.

"Thanks," Sirius said, "Enjoy the rest of your night. And thanks for looking after Lu for me. I've heard she can get pretty…intense sometimes."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Really, I don't think I'm that bad."

"No problem," Dinah just smiled, not commenting on any of that so as not to say the wrong thing. "Good night."

"Night," Lucy said, moving to stand next to Sirius. "I'll see you tomorrow probably."

"Okay, see you then," Dinah gave a little wave before heading out the door. She hurried back to her rooms, not liking to be out in the dark halls alone after what had been happening lately. When she made it into her own bed for the night she couldn't help thinking that Sirius wasn't really such a bad guy after all. And yet... he did still do those horrible things.

She sighed, not knowing quite what to think anymore, and went to sleep.


	52. Hogsmeade

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

Hogsmeade

* * *

"Myrtle!" Dinah exclaimed when she stumbled upon the ghost girl in her lavatory on Saturday. "Finally! I've been trying to get a hold of you for days now. Where have you been?"

"Oh, hiding, swimming through the pipes, thinking about death, wondering what you've done to my friend _again_ this time," Myrtle said, starting off in a conversational tone which slowly transformed into a whimpering accusation.

"I haven't done anything to him, he's the one doing things to me," Dinah said, her tone quiet, not feeling like fighting with her old friend at the moment. "That's why I need to talk to you. You said you've been seeing him ever since the day you died, right?"

"What's it to you?" Myrtle sniffled. "You don't care that he's my friend at all, you just want to steal him from me."

"You know that's not true," Dinah said. "Besides, don't you want to help him?"

"He doesn't need help, he has me! Until you took him away, that is."

"I don't have time for this. Where do you usually see him at?"

"Oh, of _course _nobody has time for poor Moaning Myrtle. Why should I tell _you_ anything?"

"Because I'm asking you nicely?" Dinah tried that angle. "Please, Myrtle? It could be very, very important."

She snorted. "Fine, then. I see him in the old lavatory. The door is locked and nobody uses it anymore, but he likes the last toilet. The plumbing doesn't work, though. Pity, really. I would _so _liked to have sat in the pipes for awhile in his special spot."

"Yes! Thank you _so _much!" Dinah was afraid she appeared too enthused at the ghost's words, because Myrtle raised an eyebrow at her.

"I don't know why he appeared to you in other bathrooms but never came to them to visit _me_."

"He didn't. I saw him in the old lavatory, too."

"Impossible! No living person can get in there!"

"Myrtle..." Dinah paused, not sure if she should mention this. After all, it probably wasn't a good thing for Myrtle to know that her good friend of nearly sixty years was very closely connected to if not the same person as the one who had caused her death. "Do you know what that bathroom is?"

"No, why? Is there something special about it?"

"Nothing," Dinah shook her head and turned on her heel. "Thank you."

"Wait a minute!"

"Yes?" she turned back around.

"He's not coming back, is he?" Myrtle looked sincerely sad this time, and Dinah couldn't help but feel for her.

"I don't know, Myrtle."

"You've changed, Dinah."

"I'm a lot... older now," she sighed, knowing that it was true. Her relationship with Myrtle had, naturally, changed as she had aged and the ghost had not. "Please believe me; I'm not trying to destroy your friendship with Tommy. There is just more to this whole thing than meets the eye. Everything I'm doing now is something that I have to do."

"Fine. But tell him that I really was his friend, okay?"

"I will, Myrtle," Dinah smiled, "If I see him again, I'll tell him." She turned and left the lavatory, heading now toward the Potions room where she and Severus had promised to meet Slughorn and Eugene for the first time in awhile. With all the Tommy stuff that had been happening lately she hadn't been thinking much on the things she had seen and heard in Eugene's room or the chocolate frogs. Those seemed completely unrelated and she was starting to think that maybe they were innocent after all.

"I have volunteers!" Eugene greeted them with abundant enthusiasm. "My advertisement in _Potions Weekly _has been answered many times over. I am meeting with many of them before the holidays begin."

"I see," Severus considered him. "Then the human testing portion is going forth as planned?"

"Everything is falling well into place it seems," Slughorn agreed, beaming in the same way he did when he discovered a student with a particularly strong talent or flashy family history. "Thank you both so much for your assistance up until this point. I believe Eugene and the volunteers can take it from here now, but if you come up with any brilliant ideas, please let us know."

"Do you think you're close to finishing it?" Dinah asked Eugene.

"I may be," he agreed, pleased. "At least well on my way there. But we couldn't have gotten functionally past the frog point if not for the both of your help."

"Indeed. Well," Severus shrugged, "If you do not _need _us then I assume I can go back to grading?"

"Of course, of course," Slughorn said, waving him off. "We just wanted to share the good news with you two, since you've been following our study with such interest. Please drop by any time if you're curious about our progress."

"We will," Dinah agreed; "Thanks."

"What do you make of that?" Severus asked her as they walked back through the halls toward the other side of the castle where their rooms were.

Considering his intelligence and his propensity for beating her at wizard's chess, she was flattered that he was asking her opinion on the issue. "I'm happy for Eugene, I suppose. But I still have an odd feeling about this potion."

"Indeed," he repeated. "Also, we haven't heard a word about progress on a reversal spell or potion, which Eugene should need if he intends to make the youthening potion permanent except for reversal. I find it hard to believe that his volunteers will want to go through with the later phases of the study once they're aware of its potential permanence."

"I don't know," she frowned, thinking back to her talk with Myrtle about age. "I think some people might be just fine with the idea of permanently youthening themselves, even if the potion _is _still experimental." Thankfully, she wasn't one of those people.

"Perhaps you are right," he agreed, frowning.

"So..." she said, a thought occurring to her as they walked through the Great Hall. It was warm in here, and all the holiday decorations had been put up. The huge, lit-up Christmas tree in the center gave the whole room a peaceful, comfortable glow. "Now that we don't have any more potions research or really any ghost research either, I guess..."

He turned to look at her. "There's still wizard's chess, I suppose. And if you have grading to do, you can do it in the dungeons with me. Similarly, if you're reading or any other activity that has nothing to do with Muggles then you're welcome to do so in the dungeons."

"Really?" she asked, pleasantly surprised.

"I told you that you're a part of my life now."

She smiled.

"Besides," he continued, looking away from her; probably embarrassed. "I prefer to keep an eye on you after all of the dark things that have been happening lately."

"Right," she agreed, subdued again as they walked out of the Great Hall. The windows lining the hallway they emerged into revealed a light snow falling outside. "That reminds me, I finally talked to Myrtle. She confirmed my suspicious. She's been there when she talked to him, but according to her it's an old lavatory in disrepair and nobody can enter it."

But the lavatory looked new the times that you were in it?"

"Yes."

"Then some magic is involved. And the culprit is most likely your Tommy."

Dinah frowned. "Please, let's not get into that again. Let's just wait and see what happens next." They stopped at her door and she turned to face him. "There's grading I can do now. May I... join you?"

"Please."

She smiled. "Then I will."

* * *

Dinah walked towards Hogsmeade Village at Severus's side, thinking that this was almost like a "date" and how exciting that was. It was the first time they had gone anywhere together outside of Hogwarts. Granted, it was only because Severus had to purchase some items at Dervish and Banges and was unopposed to her tagging along, but she was going to make the most of it anyway. He had said they might stop for lunch and drinks at the Three Broomsticks before going back to Hogwarts.

"Isn't it beautiful out?" she asked, attempting to make conversation as they entered the village limits. "I love when it snows and then is sunny the next day, before anyone can do much to wreck the pristine image of freshly fallen snow."

"It's pleasant enough," Severus consented in his usual monotone. But that was fine. Dinah didn't expect to get much more out of him anyway. It was just nice that they were going together.

At least it seemed nice, but as she watched Severus's face instead of where she was going she noticed a glare forming. Finally following his gaze she noticed who it was directed at. They made it to the front door of Dervish and Banges only to run smack into Lucy and Sirius. There was a sort of awkward moment as both couples stopped and stared at each other. Lucy almost smiled, but her nervous gaze kept floating to Severus, and Dinah feared that she was doing the same thing, only with Sirius. The two men glared at each other for what felt like hours.

Finally, Severus scowled and turned away from Sirius, marching pointedly into Dervish and Banges. He stopped when he made it in the doorway and turned back to Dinah. "Are you coming?"

"Um... you go ahead and get what you need to. I'll be out here. I should at least say hi to Lucy..." she trailed off, hoping it didn't sound like she wanted to spend time with Sirius. But she couldn't leave their interaction as it was. It was too odd to just run into each other like this and not say anything.

"Do as you like." He continued into the store.

"Um, sorry about that," Dinah turned back to Lucy and Sirius with an awkward expression. "I forgot you two are here during the weekends."

"It's okay," Lucy said. Sirius stood silent at her side. "Actually, if you come here on the weekends the likelihood of you catching us outside the house is pretty slim," her cheeks turned a bright shade of pink, and Dinah was fairly certain that it wasn't from the cold.

"Right, yeah..." she shrugged. "Well, Severus had a few things to pick up and then we were thinking of going to the Three Broomsticks. I'd ask you to join us, but well... you know. I don't know that it would go over well. Um, how are you, Sirius?" Since she was standing with the man she was going to at least be polite.

"Not bad," he responded, "We were going to head on over to the Three Broomsticks as well. Rosmerta's been asking about Lu. Thinks I've been keeping her locked away or something, but we can just as easily go for dinner."

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "That'd be fine. We don't want a repeat of what happened before Halloween after all."

"Yeah, thanks. Sorry if it's too much trouble," Dinah smiled. "I was just kind of glad to get out of Hogwarts with him for once. It's kind of our first 'date'... or well, it is in my head anyway."

Lucy grinned, "Its fine. First dates are fun," she hugged Sirius's arm, "We've never had an 'official' first date really."

"Sure we did," Sirius countered, "What about that night we had dinner together a couple weeks after Dumbledore brought you to Grimmauld Place?"

"Yeah, I don't think you can count that as a date since you didn't ask me to dinner and it included most of my relatives, along with half the Order."

"Oh, but I did arrange for you to sit next to me and there was definite flirting going on under the table."

"I still don't think that's a date," Lucy said, rolling her eyes.

Dinah had to smile. They were really a cute couple; "Doesn't sound like one. But you could always make point to have one now. You can dress up and go to Madam Puddifoot's or something." She laughed. "Not that you would necessarily want to."

Lucy blushed at the mention of Madam Puddifoot's, causing Dinah to wonder if they had actually gone to the place before. From what she recalled, and why she had joked about it, it was a fairly over-the-top spot that only lovesick teenagers frequented. "That sounds nice, maybe not Madam Puddifoot's though," Lucy was saying, looking at Sirius. "We could dress up and you could make me a nice, romantic, candle-lit dinner at home. We could slow dance in the kitchen, while cleaning up. Oh, I can just picture it."

Sirius cast Lucy an indulgent smile, "Okay, but it'll have to be another time. Rosmerta has refused to feed me again until I show her evidence you're still alive."

"That sounds romantic," Dinah sighed, longing a bit for those simple pleasures herself. Somehow, she just couldn't picture Severus slow-dancing in the kitchen, though. A corner of her mouth turned up in a smile at that somewhat amusing thought.

"Ooh, and what's that look for? Has something been going on that you haven't had a chance to tell me about?" Lucy asked.

She laughed. "Oh no, no hidden meaning there. I was just thinking that I _can't _really picture Severus on that sort of a 'date'."

"See," Sirius murmured in a low tone he probably only intended for Lucy to hear; "I told you he didn't know how to properly romance a woman."

"I can see your point," Dinah said, turning to Sirius with a frown. He met her gaze instantly, looking embarrassed that she had heard him. But she was going to try to get through to him a bit. "But you have to understand something about Severus. He's just chooses to do things a different way sometimes; it's part of his personality, and I wouldn't be with him if I didn't like him for who he is. Sure, sometimes I wish he would be more romantic, but that can come in time, and meantime I still enjoy his company. He has good qualities. Just because he doesn't do things the exact same way you do doesn't make his way wrong or bad. Surely you and I are both adult enough to admit that different people can have different personalities and that that's okay."

"I suppose you may have a point," Sirius said through clenched teeth.

"Of course she does," Lucy confirmed, "It's not like you and I always do things in the conventional manner. After all, you knew me for less than a day before you let me use your shower just so you could picture me naked in there the next time you…showered."

Dinah giggled. "Actually, that might just be a male thing. But yes, I'm glad you at least understand a little bit. Oh... there's Severus," she turned to see her own boyfriend walking up to her with a bag and a sour expression.

Severus gave Lucy a curt nod, still ignoring Sirius, and then addressed Dinah. "Are you finished here? Because I still have grading to do and so if you want lunch we should have it now."

Lucy smiled at them, "Enjoy your lunch. I'll see you both tomorrow."

"Okay. You two enjoy your dinner," she waved and then followed Severus in the opposite direction, towards the Three Broomsticks. When they were out of Lucy and Sirius's earshot she said; "Thanks for not starting anything back there."

"It was rather difficult, but I figured it was best for all parties if I didn't," he almost growled. "Did you have a nice conversation with Lucy and the dog?"

"Um... sort of. I still don't love Sirius but he's nice to Lucy. Maybe he's not so bad, at least in some ways." It probably would be bad to tell Severus he had almost kissed her a few nights previous, though.

"If you insist," Severus didn't sound convinced in the least.

"I'm not saying I approve of what he did to you, and that I don't still get an image of him heartlessly sending you down that path to get killed whenever I see his face. I do, and I hate it. But... I guess I'm just hoping people can change, and maybe somewhere he really regrets that event."

"And the teasing? Tormenting? Other generally rotten behavior common to self-centered Gryffindors?"

"I hope that, too," she said softly, sliding her arm into his.

He stopped walking for a moment, looking around to see if anyone was in the vicinity, but Dinah had made sure that there wasn't, knowing that it would have been uncomfortable for him if she initiated physical contact in too public of a place. He sighed. "Thank you. Now, lunch? Because I'd prefer not to eat during rush hours and seeing as it is nearing noon..."

"All right, let's go." She let go of his arm and followed him to the Three Broomsticks, thinking back on her conversation with Sirius. Despite the fact that she had sincerely meant everything she said, still she hoped that Severus would be willing to do more romantic things in public fairly soon.


	53. Holidays

A/N: The song I mention is Dumbledore's theme from Movie 6 (I do not own it, obviously). It's sad and pretty and there's this deleted scene on the DVD when it plays and they show Severus thinking about what he has to "do" to Dumbledore and looking thoughtful/apprehensive/sad. I guess they deleted the scene because it was kind of a spoiler, but it was awesome! If you can find it anywhere, go watch it!

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

Holidays

* * *

"So, that's all I know," Dinah finished telling Dumbledore about her meeting with Myrtle during her lunch hour on Thursday. He had been travelling again, and this was their first opportunity to meet.

"I see," Dumbledore said. "I do apologize if I seemed reluctant to believe you previously. But this further evidence does suggest that that is the only bathroom he can be found in. Still, it does not much change where we are right now. Unfortunately, it seems your prophecy does not want to unfold all at once."

"Unfortunately is the word, all right," she agreed, almost grumbling about it. This whole thing was causing much more stress in her life than she had ever bargained for when taking this job.

"Meantime, I was hoping you might be able to give me a status report on those surveys of yours."

She sighed. Another source of stress. "Um... yes, well, that's..." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled knowingly and she sighed again. "I'm sorry; I seem to be a little behind on that front."

"I've noticed."

"Well, I didn't really mean to be," she defended, staring down at her twiddling thumbs. "It's just... well, I think that I initially came up with the idea because of Severus. It sort of gave me something to keep him interested and to keep our debates going. But now that we're in a relationship of sorts it doesn't seem like such a priority."

"I see," Dumbledore said. "And I do understand, but I also think that you have an academic interest in the information as well."

"I do," she insisted, looking back at him. He was smiling, so she felt a little less uncomfortable about the situation. "I guess what with everything else that has been going on it's simply sunk a little lower on my to-do list. But I'll try to finish them within the next couple of months. I'll devote more time to them now, I promise."

"That is all I can ask," he smiled. "I suppose that is all for our meeting now, unless there is anything more you want to talk about. Things are going well with Severus, I assume?"

"Yes, very. Not perfect, but we have been doing more things together lately that aren't work related now that Slughorn and Eugene don't need us for potion research. We've been just relaxing and doing our grading and other things together in the same room, and sometimes we play wizards' chess. He seems to enjoy it."

"Excellent. Thank you very much, Dinah. This should be good for both of you."

"I hope so." She bid Dumbledore farewell and headed down the spiral staircase into the hallway, running into Severus on his way back to the dungeons, probably from lunch. She smiled. "Even now that we're in a relationship we're always still running into each other, aren't we?"

He nearly smiled back. "Well, we do live and work in the same general area of the castle. How did your meeting with the headmaster go?"

"All right. He believes me now, too, so I feel better."

"Good," he placed a hand on her back, sliding it down to rest on her waist, since students usually didn't occupy this hall near Dumbledore's office as much as they did other halls.

Dinah felt her face flare up at the lightness of the touch. She loved it when he initiated physical contact instead of her. "I have a break now."

"Indeed? Well, I do as well. If you insist upon it we can play a short game of wizards' chess. I confess that last time you got a bit too close for comfort."

She had to laugh. "I don't know what you mean. If too close for comfort is what I did last time then you have a bigger ego than I thought. But I'd love to try and mess with it some more."

He actually did smile this time, briefly. "We shall see, I suppose."

They made it about halfway toward the stairs leading down to the dungeons when they ran into Lucy, coming from lunch.

"Oh! Hi!" she said, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear and looking flightier than usual. "I actually just wanted to talk to... you..." she said to Dinah, a slightly apprehensive expression on her face when her eyes floated to Severus for a second.

"Oh? What about?"

Lucy's eyes dropped to Severus's hand resting on Dinah's waist, her expression awkward. "Well, I was thinking…do you have any plans the first few days over the break?"

"Well, I was going to go back to London one of those days," Dinah said, as Severus noticed Lucy's look and dropped his hand. "But I hadn't decided quite when yet. I was thinking about sticking around here for a bit, maybe, but with no specific plans on what to do or anything. Why?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to come spend a couple days at Grimmuald Place with us? Severus too, of course," she added, blushing. "It's okay if you don't want to. I just thought it might be fun..."

"Oh..." Dinah said, afraid her own tone was awkward. She had a feeling that Lucy hadn't really intended to include Severus in that but was forced to now that she'd found them together. She did want to go visit Lucy, and it would be nice if Severus and Sirius got a chance to at least try to be civil toward one another but she didn't think there was even a possibility. "Yes, it does sound fun," she said, afraid her face looked entirely too disappointed as Severus watched her respond. "I'd like to, but... I really don't think that it would be..."

"That would be fine," Severus said suddenly.

"_What_?" Dinah couldn't stop the word from leaving her mouth as she turned an incredulous glance on her boyfriend.

"Thank you for the invitation. We'll go. That is, as long as you realize it is to visit you and not ... him. You'll accept that I won't be particularly conversational were... _he _is concerned," Severus finished, looking at Lucy.

"Yes, yes of course," Lucy said, wringing her hands together. "He'll probably return the gesture I'm sure. I," she blushed, "I hope you don't think this is some sort of attempt to get the two of you on more civil terms. I know enough to keep my nose out of that particular issue. I really just thought it would be nice to spend a few days together outside of work, especially during the holidays."

"No, that's nice," Dinah replied, her smile still awkward. "Um... sure. What day were you thinking, then? The Saturday after classes end?"

"Yeah, that'd be great. If it works for you two that is. Oh, this will be fun!" her excitement temporarily overriding her apparent trepidation. "Well," she said, checking the time, "I should probably go prepare for my first years."

"Okay. We can decide on times and everything when it gets closer, I guess. Thank you for the invitation," she mirrored Severus's earlier words as they bid farewell to Lucy. When her friend was safely out of sight and they had made it to the steps leading into the dungeons she turned to Severus. "Did that really happen? Did you _seriously _just say yes to her invitation?"

"Yes," he frowned, turning to her. "Is that a problem? You looked so disappointed when you were saying no that I thought a yes was in order."

"No, that's... of course it's not a problem, I just... _never _in a million years expected..." she trailed off as they walked downstairs and into his office.

"I have no problem with your friend Lucy. It is simply her pet dog that I dislike. And as we have seen in Hogsmeade recently I seem to be capable of simply ignoring him," the corner of his mouth turned up in a half-smile, half-smirk. "Who'd have thought?"

"Not me," she smiled as they settled down to the wizards' chessboard at his desk, not going into the living area since they didn't have too long before they both had to get back to classes. "But thank you. I just hope it manages to go well..."

"That remains to be seen," he moved a pawn and Dinah frowned, starting to feel like a pawn herself in the confusing number of interactions between Severus and Sirius Black that seemed to occur without her input and were confusing her to no end.

* * *

Lightning flashed outside of her window, causing Dinah to jump again in her chair while she painstakingly tried to analyze a portion of her Muggle-born surveys. But she just couldn't concentrate. There weren't supposed to be lightning storms in the middle of December.

She stared out the window at the buckets of snow pouring down from the darkened sky. Night would fall soon, and then she feared it would be utterly black.

She had to put down her laptop and stand up, pacing the room. Well, despite her talk with Dumbledore the surveys _still _weren't going to get done any time soon. She hated being so far behind schedule, but she just couldn't work under these conditions.

She made sure Godric's food dish was full and the toad and rat were fed before leaving her room and closing the door. While it was still light – or close enough to it - outside she was going to go to the Great Hall where there would at least be more people around.

Unfortunately, the room wasn't as full as she had hoped. Still, there were a few students studying at the tables and Professor Flitwick was conducting a choir practice onstage, which at least provided some background music and distraction from the storm. The song, however, was sad. She recognized it as 'In Noctem', one of Dumbledore's favorites. It seemed oddly fitting with this dark storm, and now she was beginning to fear it might amplify it rather than distract her from it. She shuddered as thoughts of the prophecy came back to her, and briefly wondered if she walked down to that boys' lavatory she might find Tommy. Yet she had promised Severus not to seek him out anymore.

As if reading her thoughts, the dark silhouette of Severus's robes appeared in front of her and he sat down at the table across from her. "What are you doing in here? Dinner isn't for over an hour yet."

"I could ask you the same thing," she smiled, folding her hands in front of her. "I was trying to get work done but I just couldn't with this storm. So I came in here because there would be more people around."

"I don't know why Flitwick chose this song," Severus muttered, looking agitated.

"It can feel gloomy, I agree. But it's still lovely," she sighed, looking at the enchanted sky which hadn't been altered. The snowy thunderstorm still raged and the sky was darkening as night approached.

"I can't stay here. Shall we take an early dinner in the dungeons?" Severus asked abruptly, surprising Dinah.

"Of course, thank you," she smiled, standing up and following him from the room. He seemed to relax when they made it out of earshot of the music. "Can you work in this storm?" she asked when they sat down at the dining room table together and summoned up some beef casserole and potatoes. She dug into the warm meal. Comfort food was nice in this weather.

"Not easily," he admitted after taking a bite of his own. "I was told by Dumbledore that you haven't gotten very far on your surveys."

"What is this, the survey police?" she tried to hide a jump as lightning struck again. "No, I haven't, but there have been a lot of distractions lately."

"I'm not judging you, I was simply asking," Severus replied. "I agree with the distraction point, at any rate. I confess I'm expecting some connection to your prophecy to surface again in this weather."

"I know," she sighed, staring down at her plate as an idea came to her. "Um... Severus?"

"Yes?"

"Can I..." she looked up into his concerned gaze, "stay here tonight? Please? I mean, if the weather stays like this? I'm scared, and I'm afraid if I'm alone I'll be tempted to go find Tommy again and I know I told you I wouldn't and so..."

"Of course," he said, frowning, standing and coming over to her chair, surprising her yet again as he put both hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "I would have suggested the same thing. I don't want you alone in weather like this. But there's no need to be afraid, if you're here with me. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"Severus," she stood and hugged him, surprising him and causing him to flinch as usual, but then he returned the embrace. Lightning flashed outside, but here in the warmth of his arms it finally felt a little less distant. She was safe here, she knew that much. At least with Severus she was safe.

* * *

The storm hadn't slowed in the least by the time Dinah and Severus were ready for bed. In fact, it seemed to have picked up quite a bit. She put her nighttime robes on next to the bed, Severus having gone to change in the restroom this time. She drew back the covers and climbed in, sitting against the headboard and pulling the blankets up to her chin as she listened to the thunder outside, wondering just how much snow they were going to have tomorrow.

Then the whispering started. She closed her eyes, trying to shut it out. It sounded like parseltongue, the way people who didn't have the ability supposedly heard it. That was unnerving enough, but now she knew that these evil sounds were connected to what Tommy had called the 'bad things'. The sounds came from some form of Voldemort.

And then without warning the noises stopped. Dinah opened her eyes to see that Severus had walked into the room and was considering her with a thoughtful expression. It seemed that he hadn't lied. With him around none of the bad things stayed. Of course, that brought up the question of whether he had been reborn to help her with the prophecy... or to just help _her_?

She flushed and looked away at that thought. It was still too early for those kinds of assumptions. After all, she still wasn't sure if she loved him or not. Still, she had a feeling she might...

"What?" he asked suddenly, startling her. "What just happened?"

"Um, nothing," she forced herself to look back at him with a smile. "I was just a little nervous, that's all."

"Hmm," he climbed into the bed next to her, not looking like he fully believed her but not pressing the issue either. "Well, stop. Nothing can come down here. There are wards."

"Really?"

"I'm the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, I defend my quarters as a matter of principle alone.

"I see," she agreed, scooting down so her head rested on the pillow and turning to face him. It was encouraging, and yet she'd still been able to hear the voices, so she wasn't entirely convinced. "Thank you for letting me stay."

"Whatever," he looked a little embarrassed as he watched her. "It hardly matters at this point."

"Really? It doesn't matter to you at all?"

"Er... that's not what I meant," he looked more embarrassed, not meeting her gaze as he slid a distracted hand through his hair.

She smiled, scooting closer to him than she ever had before and placing her hand in his. "I know. It's all right."

Severus consented to look at her again, and slid the fingers of his free hand through her hair for a short moment, his thumb lingering on her cheek for the briefest amount of time before he pulled his hand back to his side. "Go to sleep."

"I will," she closed her eyes, squeezing his hand, and he didn't draw away. "Good night, Severus."

"Good night."


	54. Connections

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

Connections

* * *

Dinah opened her eyes for the first time to see that Severus was still next to her, asleep in fact. Somehow in the middle of the night she'd shifted down on the bed and he'd shifted up, and though they weren't in direct physical contact they were quite close to each other, his hair hovering over and brushing against her face with the lightest touch, and their arms curled as though they had been holding onto each other and had only recently drawn away. Unfortunately, she had no way of knowing if they had indeed been in each others' arms at all.

She moved a bit so she could see his face and watch him sleep. Again, he looked so much more open than he did when awake. He was actually rather beautiful, she couldn't help but think. She reached up and trailed a finger through his hair, lightly brushing his cheek, wishing she could do this when he was awake. He shifted a little and she drew back just before he opened his eyes, his face hardening instantly into its more stoic, awake state. Still, his disheveled hair and the position of his body left him looking more unguarded than usual.

He glanced down at how close their bodies were, made a noncommittal 'Hm' noise, and moved back, pulling the covers off of himself and standing from the bed. "It seems the storm has died down."

"Oh," she looked up at the ceiling, although she couldn't see anything there anyway, and listened. "Yes, I guess it has. It's probably stopped entirely by now. Guess I can go back to my own rooms now, huh?"

"I suppose," he said again, and she couldn't tell from his words or from his tone whether he regretted that or not. He pulled a pair of day robes from the closet and left the room, presumably for the lavatory, leaving the closet door hanging open.

Dinah peered across into it and had to giggle. He had about twenty of the exact same robes lined up. No wonder he always seemed to be wearing the same thing.

She waited for him to come back for about twenty minutes, just watching the flame from the oil lamp's dancing patterns of light on the ceiling, and he came back freshly showered and dressed. She had noticed from the other times she'd stayed here that right after he did so, his hair looked less greasy than usual. But after no more than an hour or two its usual look returned. Well, it wasn't his fault. Clearly genetics were not in his hair's favor.

She took her own clothes and went into the lavatory to shower herself, her mind drifting back to a comment made by Lucy at Hogsmeade last weekend and she had to laugh. They had both been naked in this shower at separate times. How... naughty.

Dinah giggled again at the thought as she stepped out of the shower and dried her hair on a towel. It was so silly, really, but it was kind of tempting to think about anyway. That was probably the closest she'd get to him nude for awhile now. Then again, they had made at least _some _progress last night on the cuddling while sleeping front, if you could call hand holding cuddling.

When she was dressed and her hair fixed up she came back into the living area to see that Severus had moved to the green couch and was focused on a calendar in front of him, staring at it with a rather intense focus. She sat down next to him; "What are you doing?"

"Looking at the date for our trip to your friend's place," he said without looking up. "I didn't think about it at the time. She said Grimmauld Place, correct?"

"Yes, that's their place in London .I've seen the outside of it. Rather gloomy looking."

He sighed, still not looking at her, "You should have seen the inside as well."

"I should have?" she frowned. "I can't think of when. I went there but Sirius met us outside to go for lunch and... what?" she added as he turned to face her for the first time, his eyes holding an odd look, not unlike that they had held when she had talked to him about Lily on the grounds a while back.

"I haven't been there in over a year. It used to be the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix."

"Oh, right. Lucy might have mentioned that once or twice before, in passing."

"The place was sharply guarded against me last year, but I managed to get into it before the wards were put up. I took some things from Black's bedroom. You should have seen it in the pensieve."

Dinah thought back on it, and a wave of pain crashed into her heart. That scene, in a room covered in old, childish sports and girl posters, where Severus had knelt down before a photo of Lily and a note signed by her. Crying. "Oh... that scene. _That _place," she murmured, looking down at her lap and fiddling with her robes. "I didn't know. So I guess you don't want to go, then?"

"I didn't say that," he said, his tone quiet as he reached into his robes and pulled two things out, holding them out so that she could look at them. "Here."

She swallowed and leaned over his hands, staring at the items. It was the picture of Lily, flame-haired and smiling. Young and beautiful, next to a tear where there should have been more picture holding her husband and son. But Severus hadn't wanted that. "You carry them with you?"

"Always."

Always. She hated that word, always. Because he _always _said it when he was talking about Lily, and it seemed ready and waiting to crush her hopes every time she started to think that she and Severus were really going somewhere.

She tried to ignore the pain and looked at the note, at its words about Gellert Grindelwald. "Um... who was friends with Gellert Grindelwald?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Severus sighed. "Dumbledore, at least according to Bathilda Bagshot. I haven't asked him for confirmation. If so, it was a long time ago."

"But didn't he _defeat _Grindelwald?"

"Yes. As I said, I haven't asked for any clarification on the issue. I only know what I saw in the rest of the letter."

"Oh..." she had run out of subject-changing ideas, and Severus just didn't seem to want to put the items down.

He pulled them away from her, holding them in his lap and staring at them for what felt like hours. Dinah felt frozen in place as he watched. He glanced at the letter from time to time, on her writing and her 'love', but his gaze was focused mostly on her image. On the picture of her, smiling, apparently at him now that he had destroyed the rest of the picture. The look in his eyes changed as he stared at it, his thoughts unreadable. They grew sad, reminiscent, lonely. Finally, Severus closed his eyes. She'd never seen such pain on his face. Only that time in the pensive. "Leave," he said.

"Leave?" she almost whimpered, placing a hand on his arm.

He flinched and pulled away. "Leave. Now. _Please_."

She swallowed back tears, realizing that she was no longer wanted. It was just him and Lily now, his whole world, and she was in the way. But what could she do? She stood, watching his face. He still hadn't opened his eyes, and seemed to be holding his breath. It was as though he was simply waiting for her to be gone.

Dinah sighed. She would go, but she wasn't going to let him think he was still alone. She owed him that much at least. She leaned over him, placing a soft kiss on his temple and sliding her hand once, lightly, through his still freshly-washed black hair. He flinched again and drew away from her touch, inhaling sharply. Still, she made sure her voice showed no hurt, only understanding. "Okay. I'm going." Maybe if he knew that she was respecting his feelings, letting him do whatever it was he had to do, then he would see how much she truly cared for him.

It was all she could hope for as she left him there on the couch, leaving the dungeons and closing his office door behind her, only wiping the tears from her eyes when she was safely out in the hallway.

* * *

Dinah sighed and tried to finish her grading on Wednesday before lunch. This was the _last _batch before the holidays, thank goodness. But she had been so busy trying to finish up that she had had virtually no chance to talk to Severus since the incident on Sunday. He had been at some meals, but was mostly silent and left early. Granted, he probably had a ton of grading to finish as well, given that break was nearly here, but she couldn't help but think he was avoiding her nonetheless. And as for the holiday trip to visit Lucy, she had no clue whatsoever if it was even still on.

Given his behaviors, she wasn't sure she wanted it to be, if he was going to have such a hard time being in that place, near that room. Then again, she could just go alone, she supposed.

She sighed again, setting the last paper aside. She didn't know what to think on that anymore. At least grading was done and she could go to lunch. First-year papers and general stress made her hungrier than usual.

She had just piled her plate with more pasta than Hagrid and Professor Vector combined when Severus walked in, took one look at her plate, and laughed, shocking the two colleagues nearby. "Are you quite sure you have enough there?" he asked, leaning over her plate and pointing to her food.

Dinah flushed and smiled at him, feeling a little hopeful for the first time in a couple of days. "Oh, I think so. After all, I can get more if I really need to."

"Indeed," he chuckled, "More. Well, at least the house elves will have little food to dispose of after today. That should please Granger, I would assume."

"It should," she agreed. "Um, Severus, about Saturday..." she caught him just as he was turning to go back to his own seat.

He turned back to her; "What about it? We will apparate over just before dinner, I think, unless Lucy objects."

"It's still on?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" he frowned, a slight hint of warning in his gaze, telling her that she probably shouldn't mention what had happened before.

She took the hint. After all, if he was acting normal again, maybe it was better to just let that moment go and try to forget about it. "All right, then we can double check with Lucy on Friday and finalize the plans?"

"Sounds reasonable. Now, please, start eating or else you won't be finished by the time your classes restart."

She laughed and went back to her food as he took his seat. Maybe it was okay after all. At least, she'd try to hope so. Still, she had a feeling his issues with Lily were going to be harder to get past than she had ever thought possible.

* * *

"I love the holidays, don't you?" Dinah almost felt like skipping to dinner alongside Severus on Friday. The school was full of festive decorations and the Christmas spirit, students were done with classes, and it was almost time to go spend Christmas with her friends and boyfriend and then traditionally with her family. To top it all off, there had been no more dark storms or gloomy days since the last time, and Severus had stayed normal since Wednesday.

Of course, normal meant stoic and grouchy but she was used to that. He shrugged. "They have their merits. At least they are a break from grading and misbehaving Gryffindor students."

"We'll have fun at Lucy's," she said, making her voice encouraging. She didn't say 'Lucy and Sirius's', of course, to keep up the positive image in his head. Dinah hadn't asked him, but she had a feeling that he probably spent all his Christmases alone, and she was happy to be changing that this year.

"Perhaps," he was noncommittal, but she was used to that, too. They walked over to Lucy's chair, not having had a chance to talk to her about times yet, since she had seemed busy with grading as well.

"Hello," Lucy said when they reached her chair.

"Hi," Dinah said; "We just wanted to double check with you that we're still on for Saturday and look at times. We were thinking of apparating over just before dinner, if that works for you. Or if you don't want to make something we can come after dinner."

"Oh, sure before dinner's fine. I'm excited. I get to play at being an adult and host people for a get-together," she grinned. It didn't take long for her smile to die away though, "Would you like to sit? The next couple chairs are empty and it's rather lonely at this end of the table."

"Sure," Dinah smiled and gestured for Severus to sit down as well, and she took Slughorn's usual seat while he took the next one down. "How have you been?" She took a turkey leg and some vegetables and mashed potatoes.

"Um, well, good mostly. Actually I wanted to talk to you but I've been so busy with last minute grading…You remember that storm last weekend? Well, I—I heard her again and you asked me to tell you if I did," she looked down, playing with the mashed potatoes she'd placed on her plate while they'd talked.

Dinah sighed. It seemed the dark storms wouldn't leave her alone no matter what happened.

"Where were you when you allegedly heard the voice of Bellatrix Lestrange?" Severus asked slowly, pouring gravy over his potatoes.

"In Hogsmeade. At the Three Broomsticks. And I didn't _allegedly_ hear anything. I did hear her," she stared pointedly at Severus.

"At Hogsmeade!" Dinah's head shot up from her plate. "Not at Hogwarts?"

"Not here, no," Lucy said shaking her head, "It was Saturday evening. We…he wanted to go out for dinner. The storm hadn't been too bad at the house. We could still see where we were going, but by the time we got to Rosmerta's…well it was bad enough that she wasn't letting people leave."

"So it seems the intensity of the storms increase with proximity to Hogwarts," Severus mused. "Then, at the very least, they should not follow us all the way to London."

"I hope not," Dinah shuddered. "But what about Bellatrix Lestrange?"

"Bellatrix was extremely close to the Dark Lord," Severus said. "Rather, she was more obsessed with him than anything. He did not care about it but on her side it was absolute. Her devotion to him is what made her as dark as she was. That, in combination with the insanity she obtained from Azkaban, of course. Though, if you ask me she was quite unstable even before that."

"She loved him," Lucy whispered. "If she had nothing else good in her she knew how to love. She was horrible and crazy, but she loved him and I think in her own way she loved Draco too. I didn't know her. I don't know what she was like before Azkaban…I want nothing to do with her and I don't wish her well at all, but she won't leave me alone."

"Even if you are hearing her voice, it might not actually be her," Severus said. "There may be other magic involved. On the other hand, if her devotion managed to connect her to the Dark Lord in ways that we don't understand, then..." he left it hanging, staring at Dinah.

She nodded. He was talking about the dark energy floating around Hogwarts and its connection to whatever incarnation of Voldemort still existed, waiting for her prophecy. But she couldn't tell Lucy that. So what could they come up with to tell her instead?

Lucy munched on a carrot. "You don't have to believe me. I expect most people wouldn't. I know hearing voices isn't generally regarded as a good sign. But I really do think it's her," she shrugged, "Maybe I'm wrong though. I don't know if I'd rather be wrong or right. Either way it's not good."

"No, it's not good," Severus admitted. "But, as with everything that has been happening lately, we still have nothing tangible to go on or any course of action that can be taken. However, if you think of something, please feel free to mention it."

Lucy grinned, "I can think of a few things to say. None of them helpful and all of them libel to get my mouth washed out with soap," she sighed, "I know there's nothing to be done about it now. It's just so terribly frustrating to just sit on our hands and wait."

"Wow, you know, you are so right Lucy," Dinah sighed. "Right now I think that's the story of my life."

* * *

"Do you think there's any truth to it?" Dinah asked Severus as he walked her back to her room after dinner. "Do you think that Bellatrix Lestrange is also involved in this somehow?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "If so, it is as I said through magic that we don't fully understand. But she did forge a connection with him, even if it was one-sided. For all I know she could have become some sort of ghost upon her death. She had the choice just as we all do. Or there could be more to it than that."

"But there's no way of knowing," she sighed.

"No, there isn't. But I fear there will be more prophecy related things to contend with once we return from the holidays. Therefore, for the sanity of all involved I think we should at least try to put it out of our minds for the time being. I think you will be safe in London, at least."

"I hope so. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yes."

"You're still sure you want to do this? I mean with Sirius and everything."

"I think it will be fine, as long as he behaves properly."

She sighed; "That's the question, isn't it? You will both be thinking the same thing the entire time. Just waiting for the other to say one thing to set you off. But I still want to go. I don't know why, but I still want to."

"We want what we want," Severus shrugged, leaning over and kissing her cheek briefly, the first time he had done so. "Good night."

She smiled; "Good night."

* * *

A/N: Wow, so I just realized that I keep ending chapters with Dinah and Severus saying "good night" to each other. Lol. Well, hopefully it doesn't get too annoying.

A/N – 2: IMPORTANT! So, I hope everyone is really enjoying the story so far. My next two chapters will be about Dinah and Severus's first Christmas together and as a holiday treat I plan to post them on Christmas Eve and Day, so there will be a short hiatus between chapters in this main file. HOWEVER, I am going to post another story, which you can access from my main page, called "Christmas at Grimmauld Place". This story is co-written with CommanderValeria, who you may remember from my other Author's Notes (or if you have been reading her story, which I encourage) is writing a co-story called "Don't Leave Me" featuring Lucy and Sirius. "Christmas at Grimmauld Place" is a shorter, fifteen chapter tale which we have written in which Dinah and Severus go and visit Lucy and Sirius at Grimmauld Place over the days before the holiday. I definitely encourage you to read this one as it contains many important developments in the relationship between Dinah and Severus. Of course, I will make sure that anything crucial is still explained in the main file for those of you who choose not to read the "short story", but I hope you will at least check it out. I will be releasing the chapters of "Christmas at Grimmauld Place" fairly regularly between now and Christmas, so please read and enjoy! :)


	55. Christmas Part 1

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

Christmas (Part 1)

* * *

"So you're going out to lunch with this boyfriend of yours..." Dinah's mother began for about the fourth time that morning as the two washed dishes together at the sink.

"Yes, Mother," Dinah sighed, drying off a flower-rimmed dinner plate, "I've told you about him."

"Not much," she replied, "I know you're thirty-eight years old, dear, but I'm still your mother and I find your secrecy about this man somewhat suspicious."

"He's just the quiet type, that's all," Dinah set the dish aside and grabbed another, "There's not much to tell, at least not at this point. Plus, he's one of my coworkers. I doubt Hogwarts would hire someone _dangerous _as a professor to teach young students, don't you?"

She shrugged, "I heard the stories from last year."

"That was last year, when Voldemort had control of the school and Dumbledore was ... in limbo or something, I guess. The magical world is at peace now and you know Dumbledore wouldn't let anything bad happen to the students. Besides, I don't think you really suspect I would get involved with someone like that." She knew she was leaving out a whole boatload of information about Severus and what had happened last year, but she had a feeling her mother wouldn't want to know all of that right now.

"I suppose that's true," Dahlia admitted, then held up a pot, "This spot doesn't want to come off. Do you mind?"

"No, of course not," Dinah pulled her wand out of her pocket and waved it at the pot, and the spot of caked-on food disappeared.

"Thanks," she smiled, "It's probably lazy of me. I could have gotten it off if I worked at it, but the other option is so much faster and I want everything to be ready on time for when our guests arrive this evening."

Dinah smiled, "I know how it is."

"But as you were saying, I do trust your judgment. It's just that it all seems strange. Meeting for lunch in some obscure place in London on Christmas Day. Where are you going again?"

"We're meeting at The Leaky Cauldron. It just reopened and they're serving lunch until around two-o'clock before they close for the holiday. I'd like to see how the restoration of Diagon Alley is coming along."

"And you're sure you want to do this _today_?"

She nodded, "Severus has spent the last few Christmases alone. I don't think it's right to let that happen again." Actually, it was more like the last eighteen Christmases, but Dahlia didn't need to know all about Severus's issues right now either.

"Well, that's very nice of you," Dahlia sighed, "You must truly care about him."

"I do," Dinah frowned, "But it's further along on my side than his right now." Then again, he had seemed to make quite a bit of progress during their recent trip to visit Lucy and Sirius at Grimmauld Place. Over the course of their time there they had kissed on the lips four more times, bringing that grand total to six. They had even gotten close to making love to each other before memories of Lily had forced him to stop. That part was unfortunate, but it had led to a nice make-up, so she couldn't really complain. And the trip had also helped him improve his social skills, it seemed, at least with Lucy.

"How are the dishes coming?" Dinah's father came into the room. "I guess we're talking about the mysterious Severus Snape again. By the way, Mildred called, they're leaving home now so should be here a little later than four."

"Okay," Dinah finished drying the last dish and turned around, "I should probably get going."

"Well, give this man our best although we've never met him. I trust that will eventually change," Ed said.

She nodded, "Well, I hope so. Someday. Either way, I should be back by two o'clock so I'll have plenty of time to help make dinner before the relatives show up."

Her father laughed, "You realize that your Aunt Mildred will have about a million questions to ask you about your new flame."

"She always does," Dinah shared in his laughter. "But she might be disappointed this time around. She _loved _Dylan, though."

"I think _she _wanted to date him," Dahlia said, then gave Dinah a quick hug, "Well, enjoy your lunch. Let us know how it goes."

"I will," she agreed, inwardly hoping that it would go well. She walked to the center of the kitchen, summoned her winter robes to herself and then apparated away.

She landed in front of the Leaky Cauldron in London, on the Muggle side. They had agreed to meet here at noon, but Severus was nowhere to be found. She wrapped her robes around herself, over the top of her Muggle clothes, not having felt like fully changing clothes. He didn't mind Muggle clothes on her quite so much after the trip to visit Lucy and Sirius, when they had all needed to don non-wizard garb to visit a Muggle bookstore and show her friend. Her watch told her 11:55, so she leaned against the side of the building where some of the warmth from the inside came through. A light snow began to fall.

She didn't have to wait long. Soon a dark figure apparated into view in the snow up the street a bit. Dinah smiled, a bit of warm happiness igniting in her chest. It hadn't been that long since she'd last seen him but she had missed his company. She stepped away from the side of the building and walked forward to meet him.

He did that thing where the corners of his mouth turned up for about two short seconds in a smile and then fell again, "Dinah."

"Severus." She wasn't really sure which of them moved first, or if they both moved at the same time, but they walked up and hugged each other in greeting, Dinah resting her head on his shoulder, enjoying the warmth she had been missing for the past few days. His arms tightened around her for a moment and his lips kissed her hair. The move was so unexpected and so sweet that she felt a flush rising in her cheeks. When they let go and faced each other his face was stoic again. But his actions had indicated that he was feeling a lot more than his expression seemed to indicate. She smiled; "How have you been?"

"Well. And you?"

She nodded, "Well as well. That sounds silly." She laughed, "I've been enjoying my time with family. Glad to get away for a little bit though."

"Indeed," he frowned, "Spending too much time in the Muggle world is likely bad for your health."

Dinah had to laugh, and rolled her eyes, "Of course you would say that. You never change. Should we go in and get a table, then?"

"Yes, I suppose."

They headed into the pub. It wasn't very busy. After all, it was Christmas day and most people were with their families. The inside of the Leaky Cauldron looked the same as ever, for the most part, although it appeared to have been freshly cleaned and the floor replaced with fresh wood. Probably all necessary actions after the Death Eaters had taken over last year. There were only two tables occupied, one with two men eating fish and chips and talking in loud voices, and another with a young couple that appeared around the age where they may have just left Hogwarts in the past few years or so. The rest of the pub was empty.

Well, it _was _Christmas Day.

A young hostess walked up to greet them, carrying menus. "Good afternoon and Merry Christmas. Would you like to sit at the bar or a table?"

"A table," Severus said, and at his voice the witch seemed to flinch and notice him for the first time.

She clutched the menus tighter; "Professor Snape. Certainly, um... right this way," she gestured for them to follow her into the pub and shot them an odd look, probably never having expected to see Severus with a girl.

"You know her?" Dinah asked when the hostess had seated them and scurried away.

He shrugged, "She was likely in one of my classes at some point. Her face may be familiar but I can't tell you more than that."

She chuckled, "You must have frightened, damaged ex-students floating around all over the place, I suppose."

Severus frowned, "I'm not sure I like the way you word that."

Dinah laughed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. Should we order drinks? I think I want eggnog, it being Christmas and all."

"With or without the rum?" he asked, raising a characteristic eyebrow.

She smiled, realizing just how much she had missed his snarky behavior. "With, of course. Again, it's Christmas, might as well go all out. What are you going to have?"

"Probably firewhiskey, followed by water," he said, and she had to smile again. It was the same thing that he had ordered at Hogsmeade when they had went to The Three Broomsticks together shortly before the holidays. He didn't have more than one, though, and continued with water afterwards. She was beginning to think that he was rather set in his ways about things, and she had missed that too.

"Okay," she smiled at him, and he smiled back vaguely. She didn't really know what to say, was just happy to be here. So very happy to be here. If only she could find the words to tell him that.

"Um, do you two want to order now?" the waitress came back, still looking nervous. "What would you like to drink?"

They ordered their firewhiskey and eggnog and she went away again before Dinah turned back to the menu. "How about food? It looks like their special is a hot turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy. That sounds good, kind of Christmassy."

"Indeed," he stared at the menu; "I suppose that's a good idea."

"I think so. Unless... well, I guess I should read all the other descriptions just in case..."

"Are you ready to order food?" the waitress showed back up, placing their drinks in front of them.

"Not quite. Could I have just a few more moments?" Dinah asked. The waitress complied and wandered off to clean up the table that the two men had just vacated. Dinah perused the menu for awhile, sipping her drink as they both sat in silence. She was just starting to read the descriptions of the desserts, just so she had some idea about them in advance, of course, when Severus spoke again, abruptly.

"I wanted to see you."

Dinah choked on her eggnog and nearly spit some out as she turned to stare at him, lowering the menu and wondering if she had really just heard him speak those words.

"That wasn't something you ever expected to hear me say, was it?" he asked, looking amused.

"No..." she managed to whisper, staring at him, "Never..." She moved to wipe her mouth with a napkin just to be safe.

"Well, it's true. I've thought about it..." he looked away, staring around at the room as he continued talking; "Ever since we left Grimmauld Place. These last few days without you, I realized... I had gotten used to having you around. It was unusual to go that long and not see you."

"Severus. I..." she began, still not believing this was actually happening. But it was. It seemed that fighting with him at Grimmauld Place had truly been a blessing in disguise. He was so much more affectionate after they had made up, and yet even she hadn't expected this much from him so soon. She had already admitted to herself that she was in love with him, and so hearing his words now, it was almost overwhelming. "I feel the same way," she finally managed to say as he looked back at her. "I missed you the past few days. I'm so happy to be here right now, and I hate to think that we have to go another week after this without seeing each other. I wanted to see you too. I always, always want to see you," she was afraid her voice was getting a little emotional as she confessed all of this to him.

Severus reached across the table and took her hand into his, smiling at her. Really smiling at her, his eyes full of affection. She smiled back and squeezed his hand, never wanting to let go. He didn't even flinch. He hadn't done the flinching thing at all since Grimmauld Place, actually.

They just sat there smiling at each other and she thought her heart might burst with joy. She had no idea how long it had been when the waitress came back over to the table, pausing when she saw what they were doing. But Severus still didn't let go as he turned to look at the young witch.

_He's not letting go! He's not letting go!_ Her internal monologue came back, triumphant and overjoyed.

"Um..." the witch shook her head after another moment of staring. "Would you both like to order now?"

"Yes, I think we'll both have the special," Severus said, turning to Dinah. "Unless you wanted something else, that is."

"N-no..." she managed to stammer, turning to look at the waitress. "Special... good..."

"Okay," the waitress left, still looking a little put-off by everything that she had seen.

Severus chuckled, prompting Dinah to turn back to face him. "Your eloquence is impressive today. 'Special good'? If I didn't know otherwise I might start to doubt your intelligence and change my mind about spending time with you."

Dinah tried to laugh, but the noise wouldn't come out. "Sorry, I just... don't know what to say."

"That's fine," his fingers tightened around hers as he considered her; "I don't mind just looking at you either."

Dinah stared at him, surprised her heart hadn't left her chest with how fast it was fluttering. "I don't... believe this..." she managed to choke out.

Her companion stared at her for not more than a split second before he started laughing, dropping her hand and taking a sip of his drink. "I'm sorry. Your reactions are most amusing."

"Sorry," she whispered, folding her hands on the table in front of her and squeezing them together, closing her eyes for a moment and smiling. "I'm just surprised. But pleasantly so."

"Hmm," he regarded her for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face, and then nodded. "I'm glad. Our dinner," he looked up as the waitress came back, placing the hot turkey sandwiches in front of them.


	56. Christmas Part 2

A/N: Happy Holidays, everyone! :)

* * *

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

Christmas (Part 2)

* * *

Dinah was almost glad to have something else to focus on for a moment as she dug into her food. After all, she needed to start breathing normally again after all of that. Really, it hadn't been that much, but for Severus it was phenomenal. To admit that she meant something to him, although perhaps not in so many words... and then the comment about just looking at her had clinched it. No, he definitely hadn't said _that_. That had only been her imagination.

Before she knew it, half of her food was gone.

"And you were looking at the dessert menu?" Severus asked, his eyebrow raised.

Dinah flushed when she realized he probably hadn't taken more than two bites. "Guess I'm hungry. Well, getting ready for Christmas dinner, trying to think of how I'm going to answer my aunt's probing questions when she arrives... it can take a lot out of you."

"Do you... spend the entire time with your family?" The question was an odd one. Or maybe it was his hesitant tone that had made it odd. She wondered if maybe it was because he'd never really had a family to spend the holidays with.

"Just the past three days and tomorrow," she said, shaking her head. "Then I'm going back to my own place for the rest of the time. I'll probably take that time to visit with old friends from university. They think I'm in New Zealand for the rest of the year," she rolled her eyes. "So now I have to make up all sorts of stories. I need time for that."

"I see. Well, it's better than the alternative."

"Sometimes I wonder..."

"You don't seriously mean to imply that you think our worlds should merge?"

"No," she sighed. "Sometimes I want to think it but my logical side always comes in, reminding myself that it would never really work. On the other hand, I sometimes think it would be easier to just tell more people. I suppose we might get better ideas of the potential impact if I ever finish analyzing my surveys."

"Perhaps," Severus stared at her. "You are truly an incurable idealist, aren't you?"

"I can't help it," she smiled a bit. "I know I go overboard sometimes, but I've seen so much oppression in the world, both in my own time as a student and in my sociological and anthropological studies. I know part of it is human nature, but I still don't see why people can't just try to understand and care for each other more. Everyone would be so much happier that way. And I guess I want people to be happy."

"I've noticed;" he paused. "Is everyone's happiness worth the same to you?"

"Hm?" Another odd question, she thought, as she considered him. "Well, I... I guess so, in a way. I mean, kind of. Ideally, everyone would be happy, but... if I had to choose only one other person, I'd want it to be you. You've been through so much and you deserve happiness."

"I see," he met her gaze and sighed, his expression hard to read. "Happiness is not always the easiest thing for certain people to obtain, you know."

"I know," she said softly.

"I often wonder if true happiness even exists, sometimes."

"Yeah," she sighed. "I've wondered that too."

"You take on a lot, wanting so much for others to find happiness. It's an admirable quality, that kind of selflessness, and not one that comes easily to most people. Most people are so wrapped up in themselves that they can't see the thoughts or desires of others. That's the world I've always seen."

"But it's all connected. I think of what would make me happy, and realize that other people feel the same way and are worth just as much. It's the same as 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you', really. I just realize that we're not all that different from each other."

"To still feel that way after the things people have put you through is impressive. You have the capacity for extreme empathy." He smirked; "You would _not _do well as a Death Eater."

She had to laugh a little as she finished her sandwich. "No, probably not."

"On the other hand, you make an ideal Hufflepuff."

"I always wonder that," she shrugged. "But the hat insisted on putting me in Gryffindor too. So I'm never quite sure..."

"The hat likes Gryffindor. That means nothing," Severus said firmly, causing Dinah to wonder if it would bother him that much if she turned out to be a Gryffindor.

"Okay, maybe..." she shrugged, letting that part go. She looked up as the waitress came over asking if they wanted any dessert. Severus declined as Dinah picked up the menu again, pinpointing her choice. "I'll have a pumpkin pasty with three scoops of vanilla ice cream. Thanks." The waitress left.

"Three scoops of ice cream," Severus muttered, his shaking head in his hand. "You must have the metabolism of a golden snidget."

Dinah grinned. "Are you trying to tell me that despite my egregious eating habits, I'm still thin and pretty?"

He looked up at her. "I have mentioned it already on various occasions. I don't see why I must consistently do so."

"Generally, because it's a nice thing and something men are supposed to say often to their girlfriends," she smiled.

"Is that so?"

She laughed; "It's okay, I'm used to you."

"What should I make of that?"

"Whatever you want to make of it. Oh, dessert!" she grinned up at the waitress as she placed the fluffy pastry in front of her and dug in.

"Your family is not going to be annoyed that you're eating such a large lunch?" Severus asked with his eyebrow raised.

"Oh no, they're used to me. I'll still eat plenty of the Christmas goose and trimmings." A question came to mind but she wasn't sure if she should ask it or not. Severus seemed to be in a very good mood today, so probably now was as good a time as any. "Um... Severus? What happened to your parents? Can I ask you that?"

He looked away from her for a moment; his expression subdued as he folded his napkin and placed it in front of him, setting his fork down on it so that it was equidistant from all sides. "My... 'father' died of unknown causes. In my opinion he drank himself to death. My mother died in the first wizarding war about a year later. I do not know how. The Dark Lord said it was not through his direct action," he shrugged. "Whether I believe that, I don't know."

"I'm so sorry."

"It was a long time ago."

"I know, but still..." she sighed and finished the last of her dessert, followed by a final sip of eggnog. "So many people died in those wars. Muggles, wizards, some people even just... disappeared. It really makes me think of how much tragedy could have been avoided if people did just learn how care about and understand each other."

He just looked at her. "I've never met anyone quite like you, Dinah."

She smiled a little. "Is that a good thing?"

"I think so," Severus nodded. "We should go. You need to get back to your family." He withdrew a number of Galleons and placed them on the table.

"Oh, let me cover my half," she dug in her robes for her own money.

"That's not necessary."

"But I ordered all that dessert," she protested, suddenly feeling guilty for it.

"Don't worry about it. You..." he paused and stood, extending his hand for hers; "have done enough."

She took his hand, a little confused, and let him lead her out of the restaurant onto the snowy street. A few inches had fallen in the time they had been in the restaurant and it made the whole street white and lovely while soft flurries still fell around them. "What do you mean?"

"I mean the least I could do is cover the price of the meal. After all, you're the one who arranged this;" he paused, his eyes searching in hers, their expression sincere. "Thank you. I hadn't realized how nice it would be to spend Christmas... not alone for once."

"Oh," she flushed a little, not just from the cold, and smiled. "You're so welcome. I'm so glad we were able to do this. I love spending time with my family, but it gets a little lonely... being alone, you know. Since Dylan I've never really had anybody to share the holidays with in the romantic capacity. I know it's not the same, but thank you just as much for agreeing to this."

He considered her, and then smiled a little. "I notice you're wearing Muggle clothes under your robes today."

She laughed. "Yes. I'm lazy. I didn't think you'd mind after Grimmauld Place and the bookstore. You'd better still have the clothes I bought for you, too. Someday I'm going to make you wear that white shirt."

Severus smirked. "We'll see about that." He reached up and fingered the silver coiled snake necklace that he had bought for her while at Grimmauld Place and she flushed more deeply at his touch. His fingers were warm in the cold air. "And this... it fits you, and I don't know why. You aren't a Slytherin."

"I could be," she teased, causing him to chuckle. That was progress. Last time she had said it he had only rolled his eyes. She placed her hand over his arm, coiling her fingers around it. "I love it. It's the best gift I've ever gotten." It was true. She had tried hiding her admiration of the Slytherin snake motifs from him but he had noticed her. It made the necklace only more meaningful because it showed that he had always been paying attention.

He snorted; "Flattery."

"It's not flattery," she laughed, but knew he was only embarrassed. "Happy Christmas, Severus."

Severus watched her for a moment and then his features curved into a small smile. "Happy Christmas, Dinah."

They leaned towards each other, the snow flurries swirling around them and the weather starting to chill Dinah. But the closer their faces got, the warmer the general ambience was around her. It was like slow motion, as they inched forward, bit by bit, almost taking turns. She had never come this close to initiating a kiss on the lips with him before. It had always been him, on his own time, but she knew that this was what they were going for now and so she didn't mind making her own motions. She wasn't sure who made the final move, but their lips finally met.

The kiss drew on, his lips soft and warm and sure as he slid his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him, surrounding her with warmth. She wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders, pulling his head closer as their lips parted. There might have been people walking by, she didn't know and she didn't care. This kiss was different from all the others. He was enjoying it, she knew, just as much as she was, letting it drag on until she didn't know how much time had passed. Finally, he pulled back, his face nearly as flushed as hers.

"Severus," she managed to squeak out.

He laughed a little, taking her scarf into his hands and tightening it around her neck. "You never dress warm enough."

"You're warm. That's all that matters."

He looked a little embarrassed again, but smiled. "I'll see you back at Hogwarts."

"Yes. Thank you."

"No," he shook his head, his expression sincere. "It is I who should be thanking you." He took a few steps back and apparated away.

Dinah stared at the spot where he'd disappeared for what felt like ages, not registering the cold around her. The only thought her internal monologue managed to come up with before she apparated back to her parents' home was: _Well, I guess I'll have some stuff to tell Aunt Mildred after all!_

* * *

"Dinah!" as expected, her father's sister attacked Dinah the minute she walked in the door, bowling her over with a hug as her more subdued husband and son followed in after her.

"Aunt Mildred," Dinah said, noting the roll of her parents' eyes out of the corners of her own as she humored her aunt. "How was your trip?"

"Oh, just dreadful as usual, but that's not important," she grabbed Dinah's hands and sat her firmly on the couch. "I hear there's a new flame in your life! You must tell me _all _about him!"

Dinah sighed, "I will, but would you mind if I said hello to Uncle Winston and Larry first?"

"Oh, I suppose," Mildred sighed.

"Thank you," Dinah laughed and stood, allowing her parents to greet her aunt as she went over and hugged her uncle and cousin.

"Sorry about Mum," Cousin Larry rolled his eyes, handing his coat off to Dahlia as she came over to take them into the bedroom. "It's all she would talk about on the way here. You haven't told us _anything _about this bloke at all, and so she had nothing but speculation to go on. If I hear one more theory about what he looks like I think I'm going to move out."

"It would be about time," Uncle Winston rolled his eyes, and they all settled down in the main room for small talk before dinner.

"Now, as I was saying, _please_ tell me about this new boyfriend of yours. Your father only told me his name. It's Seveurs, right?"

"_Severus_," Dinah corrected with a chuckle at the exaggerated way in which her aunt hand chosen to pronounce 'Seveurs'. "He's not French."

"Oh, how unfortunate," Mildred's expression held so much disappointment Dinah had to force herself not to laugh. Her father, on the other hand, couldn't hold it in. "Oh, hush Ed!" Mildred chastised her brother. "I didn't make fun of you about your girlfriend 'Florencia' back in secondary school."

"Enough about Florencia," Dahlia cut in, agitated; "Dinah, do tell your aunt about Severus before she drags us all into the past."

"All right, all right," Dinah added, noting her mother's bitterness at her father's old flame. "Well, what do you want to know?"

"Oh, don't make me ask all the questions. I should think you would want to tell us everything right away if you like him so much. You did spend Christmas with him, correct? You must like him very much."

"Yes," she couldn't hide her flush at that; "Very much."

"Is he handsome?" Mildred added, positively batting her eyes at Dinah as Uncle Winston and Larry suppressed groans.

Dinah flushed again, only increasing her aunt's attention, but she couldn't help it as she thought about Severus. "Yes. Not conventionally so, really, but I think he's very handsome."

"Not conventionally?"

"That usually means he's ugly," Larry said in undertone.

"He is not!" Dinah shouted, her face flaring up in anger this time. "He's beautiful!" She got along with her cousin for the most part, but he didn't always exhibit the proper social restraint when making random comments. He was the closest to a sibling she'd ever had so they tended to bicker a bit, too.

"Uh, sorry," Larry sunk down in his chair.

"Wow," Mildred sighed; "You must really, _really _like him to come to his defense so fast like that." Her expression turned positively giddy. "Hair color? Eye color?"

"Um, he has black hair, shoulder-length. It's... soft..." she drifted into thoughts of Severus for a moment, only managing to pull herself out of it when she saw her aunt's expression. "Um, and his eyes are very dark brown, almost black."

"Oh, so he's tall, _dark_, and handsome," Mildred gushed.

"I guess so. I mean, he's tall enough." The conversation was starting to get awkward.

"He's one of _you_, right?"

"I should hope so; he teaches at Hogwarts."

"Is he strong? Powerful? Magical?"

"He's all those things. He's rather amazing actually, but..." she had to end this conversation. "Listen, there are some issues still around with us. I lo- I like him very much, but we haven't gotten that far in the relationship yet and-" she broke off and sighed, cursing herself inwardly for almost saying 'love', because it was clear from the expressions on their faces that _everyone _had figured it out.

She sighed again, her internal monologue subdued. _Well, so much for ending this conversation._


	57. Return

CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

Return

* * *

Dinah walked back into Hogwarts on Sunday afternoon, and the sky was already darkening with roiling clouds. She sighed as she stared up at them, hoping against hope that another dark storm wasn't brewing. It had been so peaceful over the holidays and she was _not _looking forward to getting back into all of the prophecy issues.

On the other hand, she _was _looking forward to seeing Severus again. She had managed to not mention the word 'love' when she told her Muggle friends about him in the later days of the holiday, thereby avoiding the fiasco that had occurred when she'd let it slip to her family. Of course, her relatives had been fine with the whole thing, it being her decision, but it had caused the conversation to drag _on _and _on _and _on _until she couldn't stand it anymore.

She'd better be careful she didn't let it slip to _Severus _that she loved him. She did not think he was ready for that at all, no matter how intensely he'd kissed her at Christmas.

Dinah returned her pets to her rooms and unpacked her things quickly, then headed down to the dungeons, her heartbeat quickening the closer she got. They hadn't really said they would meet anywhere upon returning, but it made sense to go visit him. Then again, she hadn't actually been in his rooms since that day he had showed her the Lily things and made her leave.

She bit her lip and pushed that out of her mind, instead trying to focus on the kiss over the holidays. They had kissed seven times now, but she'd probably have to stop counting pretty soon, if she was lucky. With that hopeful thought, she knocked on his office door.

It opened in a few short moments, and he stood facing her again. She felt her face flush as she looked at him. His dark hair and eyes which she'd had to tell her aunt about, his unconventional attractiveness staring her in the face and making her throat tight. She had truly missed him.

"Dinah," he smiled, but there was a trace of uneasiness in it, she thought, as he pulled the door back and invited her in.

"Hi," she smiled as he pulled her into a gentle embrace, lightly kissing her temple and letting his arms linger around her for a short moment. When he finally let go and stepped back, she asked; "How was the rest of your break?"

"It was... well," he said, slowly, leading her into the living area. "And yours?"

"Fine. It was nice to see family and friends but I'm glad to be back at Hogwarts. I missed you," she added as a hopeful afterthought.

He ran a hand through his hair, still looking a bit agitated, and nodded. "I missed you, too. Holiday was productive, though. I have a very good outline of my classes for the rest of the year, and was able to do some general potions research. It also gave me a chance to do... some more thinking."

"More thinking?" she frowned, hoping that it didn't mean anything bad. "About what?"

"Nothing. It's fine. Please sit down," he gestured to her spot on the couch.

Dinah frowned and sat, thinking that he was acting unusual. Hopefully, it was nothing she'd done. Her worries about that were alleviated slightly when he sat down next to her and pulled her into his arms, tilting her chin up so that he could kiss her lips. "Wow..." she breathed when he broke it, curling up against his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Slughorn and Eugene have made quite a few advances on the human testing front, it seems," Severus said in his usual monotone, a sharp contrast to the fact that his fingers were now stroking her hair, although absently.

She closed her eyes, not wanting this moment to end, and tried to make her body remember every single sensation, from her arms wrapped around his firm, solid waist and the silky feeling of his frock coat, to his robes wrapping around her and his fingers as they ran through her hair, lightly massaging her scalp. "I see. Is it permanent yet?"

"I do not quite know. Eugene said he started outlining plans for a reversal potion, but it didn't sound like he'd gotten very far. Hopefully then it's not permanent yet."

"Mmm," she murmured, feeling sleepy.

"Did you see the dark clouds outside?"

"Yes," she frowned, opening her eyes and moving her head so that she could look at him, but not lifting it from his shoulder. His hand stopped stroking her hair and his dark eyes met hers. She saw slight concern in them. "Do you think anything bad will happen?"

"You tell me. I confess I was slightly more comfortable with you away from Hogwarts, but I suppose that what has to be done has to be done."

"I might not be able to finish this if you don't let me go and find Tommy again," she said quietly.

Severus growled a little. "Point taken. But I don't like it. Perhaps instead we can do research on the matter? Surely there are books on dark magic that could give us insight to what might be going on. I have looked through everything at Spinner's End but found nothing of use. What remains are my books here and the books in the library."

"Okay, I guess." She sighed. "This could take forever."

"Better research than blindly putting yourself in danger."

"I'm not doing anything blindly. I trust Tommy. I don't know why, but I do. It's just a feeling I get."

"Sometimes you are too idealistic for your own good." He stood from the couch, leaving her embrace, and walked over to a bookshelf, perusing the titles and pulling a few out every so often. He carried a pile over and set it on the coffee table. We'll start with these. Just skim them, but let me know if anything pops out at you."

"Okay," she took a rather old book from the top and opened it. He sat back down and she leaned against him, back in their usual, less intimate but still comfortable position. By the time of the Return Feast a couple of hours later they had found nothing useful in three books. "Are you sure it will be easy to locate the information we need?" she had to ask as they entered the Great Hall, which was filling to the brim with all students, faculty, and staff.

"Likely not, but I don't think we should give up until we've searched all available references," he said, stopping at their chairs.

Dinah had a sudden thought and turned shyly to Hagrid and Professor Vector. "Do you two think... since it's the Return Feast and all, we could adjust our chairs like we did at Halloween? I mean, you two move over so I can sit by Severus?"

Professor Vector chuckled and nodded. "Certainly. I'm glad to see you two are still getting on so well," she moved a seat down and Hagrid followed.

"I hope that was okay," Dinah said, turning to Severus.

He had that awkward look on his face again, but he nodded. "Fine. Let's just eat."

"Sure," she sat next to him and piled her plate with roast and her bowl with salad.

Severus laughed a little next to her. "I can safely say that I did miss this," he pointed to her food.

Dinah blushed. "Yes, well, you know I do it just to amuse you. Oh, look!" she pointed across the way, where Lucy sat, skimming the tables with her gaze and munching on salad. "Lucy's glowing. I hope Sirius was able to propose to her over the holiday like he'd planned!" She had run in on Sirius at Grimmauld Place over the holiday while he had been looking at the emerald family ring he intended to give to Lucy as an engagement ring.

Severus snorted; "Lovely." He and Sirius had managed to be civil during the trip, almost entirely ignoring each other, but she knew her boyfriend still had a lot of hostility toward his old nemesis. Not that she could blame him. Her thoughts on Sirius had softened a bit over the holiday, especially since Lucy had said he regretted certain unknown things from his past. But she was still a little uneasy about the man, especially since he seemed to think his making fun of Severus had been justified even if the attempted murder hadn't been. Still, she hoped his feelings for and relationship with Lucy could make him change his ways and eventually apologize to Severus for everything. It was a long shot, but still a hope.

* * *

Dinah's classes had started off rather nicely, and all the students seemed to be in a good mood after the holiday. Even Wortham, Lee, Speasy, and Cantrell didn't misbehave as much as usual. She wondered how long that would last as she walked to lunch. She was one of the first people there and had first pick of the pieces of chicken in the serving bowl, grabbing three drumsticks before anyone else could as those were her favorite.

She had just added her vegetables to her plate when Lucy plopped down next to her in Professor Vector's seat and chirped an enthusiastic, "Hi."

Dinah laughed, "Hi." Well, it was pretty clear by Lucy's mood that she had been successfully proposed to. "How was the rest of your break?"

"Well, Ron and Harry caught us... organizing our clothes, but other than that it was good. Really good. How was yours?"

Dinah had to laugh again at the organizing their clothes bit. She had come up with that eloquent excuse at Grimmauld Place when it looked like she and Severus were finally going to be intimate for the first time. Of course, it hadn't worked out in the least, but she had become rather attached to the odd metaphor. "Mine was good. Lots of time spent with family and Severus and I managed to have lunch together in the afternoon on Christmas. Unfortunately, however, my clothes are still unorganized."

Lucy grinned. "How sad. Sirius and I actually escaped London a couple days early and went to Hogsmeade House; that's what we've taken to calling it."

"Cute name," Dinah said, and then her smile widened as she tilted her head towards where Lucy's hand rested on the table; "Nice ring."

Lucy's face turned a bright shade of pink. "Thanks. It's a…well…he gave me a wand case." That was a reference to the fact that Sirius had hid the ring in a wand case he had given her as a 'bad gift' a few months prior.

"I know," Dinah said, and then covered her mouth as her face mimicked the color of Lucy's, "Oops. I wasn't supposed to say that." She removed her hand, unable to hide the huge grin on her face, "So now that the cat's out of the bag I guess a congratulations is in order."

"Thanks! I've been grinning like this for two days. It's getting ridiculous, but I don't care. I'm so hap—wait how do you know? Not that I mind you knowing," Lucy hastened to add.

"Oh, well," Dinah still felt a little embarrased, "When we were over at your place at Christmas I kind of walked in on Sirius with the ring. It was rather cute, actually - he asked me if I thought you would be happy about it - I told him I was certain you would be. He was so nervous, though."

Lucy smiled and shook her head, "He should have known. Silly boy," she grabbed a piece of chicken and nibbled on it. "I love him. I really do."

Dinah smiled, "I know." She was debating whether or not to mention to Lucy that she loved Severus when she spotted her boyfriend coming into the room and walking towards his seat.

"Good morning," he nodded at Dinah and then his gaze shifted to Lucy and he raised an eyebrow, "Lucy. What brings you to Professor Vector's seat this morning?"

Dinah smiled at Severus and pointed at Lucy's hand, "We have marriage confirmation."

Severus snorted, "I see."

Lucy turned away from Dinah to look at the other professor, "What?"

"Be nice," Dinah said through gritted teeth. He couldn't insult Sirius in front of Lucy right now, it wouldn't be right.

He frowned, "I'm sorry. I simply know of no other way to express my enthusiasm on the matter. Oh, but congratulations to you Lucy. I have no objections to_ you_ being happy."

Lucy laughed. It seemed nothing was able to dampen her mood for now; "It's okay. I suspect if our situations were reversed Sirius would be saying the same thing to Dinah. Not that…oh dear I do have a way of sticking my foot in my mouth don't I?"

Dinah flushed and Severus took a suddenly very deep interest in his food, mirroring Dinah's usual zeal. "Let's, um..." Dinah cleared her throat, "Leave the 'what if's for another time."

"Sorry," Lucy apologized, "I didn't mean to make things weird. I just meant that I understand why…well not really since Sirius won't tell me what happened between you two but, well, I get it."

"Indeed," Severus muttered, continuing to address his food without looking at them again.

Dinah smiled and rolled her eyes at him before turning back to Lucy, "Just ignore him. Actually, things are going really well. You know, I think that Lily incident at your place might actually have been a blessing in disguise," she added in undertone. "He's been much more attentive and affectionate since then."

Lucy smiled, "That's good. So, am I okay to sit here or do you think Professor Vector will be coming to lunch?"

"If she hasn't shown up by now she probably won't," Dinah said. "Hagrid, too. You should take his seat, Severus."

"If I must," Severus moved over one seat, but smiled a little at her while doing so.

"Um," Lucy said, looking a bit uncomfortable to be sitting in-between the two of them. "Why don't you and I switch places, Dinah? Then you and Severus can sit next to each other without me in the middle."

"Oh, of course," Dinah happily switched places with Lucy, flashing a smile at Severus as she settled in next to him, and then an idea came to her. "You know, the next Quidditch match is coming up on Friday," she addressed her friend; "Did you want to go together again? Although, it's Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin and I think we have to sit in the Slytherin stands. See?" she stuck her snake necklace out at Lucy and grinned. "I even match."

Lucy laughed, "I saw that at Christmas, remember? But sure, yeah, we can go together if you two don't mind me tagging along. I don't have a problem representing my house in the enemies' territory. I mean that all in good fun, of course," she added in case it hadn't been clear.

"Yes, but the Slytherins are not quite so fun-loving as you are, I'm afraid," Severus frowned at Lucy. "I don't mind, but you might get some glares. That's a fair warning."

"Not even if I make the concession of wearing some Slytherin colors?" she asked, grinning and flashing her ring at him. "Truthfully though, I'm used to it. Especially at Quidditch games. Tonks and I…well we made quite a pair."

Severus turned his frown to the ring. "I can't say how the students will respond. There would be no problem if you didn't wear all your Ravenclaw memorabilia. But it's your decision. You're welcome to join us, regardless of how you are dressed."

"I don't have a problem with your house or any glares and booing I might receive. Just as long as they don't pummel me with rocks," Lucy gasped and her hand came up to cover her mouth, eyes wide in disbelief.

Dinah just stared at her for a moment, not registering what she was talking about, and exchanged a glance with Severus.

"To exactly what are you referring?" he growled. "I know my students are sometimes intolerant and some can have Death Eater tendencies but I highly doubt they would choose to pummel _rocks _at one of their professors. If you are going to be so judgmental then even Dinah should have something to say about-"

"Oh my gosh!" Dinah shrieked, the whole thing suddenly making horrifying sense as it all came together in her mind.

Severus turned his glare on her; "What? I was still talking. So you do disapprove of your friend's apparent Slytherin prejudice, I hope?"

Dinah ignored him. "Lucy, that was _you_?" Her friend had revealed over the holidays that she took on the form of a fox as an unregistered animagus, complementing Sirius's dog form. Dinah hadn't made the connection right away, but now she had the realization that the fox which had been abused by the third-year Slytherin Septimus Peaks was almost certainly Lucy.

Lucy slowly nodded. "Yes," she whispered, "I'm sorry. That day you came to my room to check on me I couldn't tell you. I couldn't think well enough to come up with anything other than I couldn't remember. I know not going to Madam Pomfrey and telling her that didn't make sense but like I said my mind wasn't working properly and all I could comprehend was that she couldn't know about me. Not that. It's all still a little hazy I'm afraid."

"Oh my..." Dinah put her head in her hand. "This changes everything. Lucy, I'm _so _sorry. To think that was you! I mean, it's horrible nonetheless but imagine if the students _knew _that it was really you! Are you sure you're okay? Exactly what did they do to you? It was unprovoked, right? You were just sleeping?"

"Hush, Dinah," Severus said, his tone quiet as he stuck a hand in front of her. She bit her lip and complied, grateful that he'd interrupted as she'd started babbling. He turned to Lucy; "Septimus Peaks did that to _you_? You were a direct witness and recipient of this... abuse?"

Lucy closed her eyes. Sometimes she really wished she didn't babble on like she did. "Yes, he did and yes, I was," she told Severus. To Dinah she said, "I was just sleeping. Had I been using all my senses he never would have caught me. I'm really okay," she tried to assure her friend; "It seems my…guard dog is more concerned with my well-being than I am at times. That Wednesday he had me straight up to Madam Pomfrey."

"I'm glad," Dinah frowned and turned to Severus. "You realize what this means, don't you? Lucy wasn't attacked!"

"Um, I don't know about you but I consider getting kicked and hit with rocks attacked. I had at least two cracked ribs and a rather nice concussion because of it." Lucy looked confused.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Dinah said, clarifying. "I meant you weren't attacked by some mysterious unknown. Severus and I were thinking it... had a connection to the dark magic floating around lately, because you apparently couldn't remember anything."

"Ah," Lucy said, "No, as far as I know it had nothing to do with that." She glanced up at the cloudy sky in the Hall. The clouds hadn't disappeared since yesterday, but so far all was still quiet.

Dinah looked up at it as well. "Yeah, it's ominous, isn't it? I hope nothing happens again."

"Lucy," Severus said suddenly. "I'm sorry if I am in any way responsible for the behavior of a student such as Mr. Peaks. Slytherin does _not _condone animal abuse nor the formation of Death Eaters, and will not as long as I am its Head of House. If Peaks does anything further that is suggestive of such behavior you can trust that he will be punished appropriately." He turned his firm expression back to his plate and stabbed at some food.

"Severus?" Lucy said, quietly, "I didn't really think they did and I don't think you had anything to do with it. I'd say a good deal of the blame should land with his parents but then some people just aren't nice. I do appreciate you saying that though."

"Fine," he replied flatly.

"Severus," Dinah smiled and put a hand on his arm. He turned to look at her and nodded almost imperceptibly, then tilted his head in the direction of the student body. She looked out at the hall. None of them seemed to be looking at them, but she let go of his arm. It was still too soon for public displays of affection, it seemed, at least in front of the students. Not that she really blamed him for that. She still worried about the things the students might say about them if they knew.

Lucy sighed, wishing Sirius could be there so she could do something as simple as put her hand on his arm. "That must be nice. Well," she said, "not all Slytherins are bad. I mean Tad Smyth is a smart, if somewhat self-conscious kid. Then there's those two," she nodded toward Derwent Lympsham and Agrona Huntingdon, "They're cute together."

Dinah looked over at the two Slytherins Lucy was referring to. They were both in her sixth years class, making up some of the rare few Slytherins that took her classes in elective years. Agrona had her arm looped into Derwent's and was trying to feed him a carrot from her fork while he laughed and pretended he wasn't hungry. She had to smile. "They _are _rather cute." Severus just rolled his eyes and returned to eating.

Lucy laughed at Severus's reaction, "Well, maybe it's a woman thing. I've got office hours next," she said, finishing up the last of her chicken, "which gives me an hour to be all girly and stare at my new jewelry. Unless a certain cousin of mine decides she just has to have help with the reading I assigned."

"Good luck with that," Dinah said, but was more focused on the odd expression Severus had turned to her just about the time that Lucy had said 'it's a woman thing'. She couldn't read his expression well, but it seemed to be considering something very important. "What?"

"Nothing. Lunch is almost over; as I recall, you have a rather full schedule today."

"Yes, my afternoon is swamped. I have classes straight through until dinner. And after dinner I have my post-holiday meeting with Dumbledore. Can I come down to the dungeons after that?"

"You don't need to ask, simply come," he stood. "Now, we all have work to get to."

"Yes, well, I can almost guarantee I'll get nothing done but I should at least make the attempt. I guess I'll see you two Friday, if not before. Should I meet you in the dungeons again or would you rather come to me this time?" She stood, mirroring Severus's actions and moving over to the side so that Dinah and Severus might pass ahead of her.

"We can meet you this time, I think," Dinah said, and bid farewell to Lucy and Severus as they all parted to go their separate ways and continue their first work day back at Hogwarts.


	58. Birthday

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

Birthday

* * *

Dinah marched down to the dungeons with a huge smile on her face after her meeting with Dumbledore, armed with exciting new information. Severus's office door was open, so she simply walked in and sat down at his desk across from him. "Why didn't you tell me your birthday was Saturday?"

Severus just stared at her. "How did you-" he broke off and growled. "Dumbledore."

"Yes, the man is just full of useful information," she giggled. "We should do something! Oh, and I need some kind of a birthday list so I can decided what to get for you. You are _so _hard to buy for."

Severus stood from his desk. "I really don't think any of that is necessary. I have not celebrated my birthday for years and see no reason to start doing so now. It's just another day."

"No it's not, how can you say that?" she stood and followed him into the living room, closing the office door behind them as he turned to regard her with a frown. She suddenly thought of something that might cheer him up. "Ha! You're going to be forty before I am!" she pointed a finger at him.

"This is my thirty-ninth year, not my fortieth," he said simply, staring at her as though she'd gone mad.

"You'll still be forty before I am," she grinned.

"Why are you in such a pleasant mood?"

"I don't know. I'm a naturally happy person?" she joked, and then frowned when she noticed that odd look in his eyes again.

He turned away from her; "I don't need gifts."

"But Severus," she came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to turn and look back at her. "I got you something at Christmas; I have to get you something now. There's no good reason not to. It's your birthday."

"I have said before..." he began through gritted teeth, and then gestured to her spot on the couch. "Sit." She obeyed and he sat next to her, staring at her with that funny expression still on his face. "Please don't go through the trouble. I don't need anything more from you. You've... given me enough. Too much, probably..."

"Severus," she laid her head on his shoulder; "What do you mean, too much?" she was starting to get concerned.

He sighed. "Nothing. If you insist on doing something together for my birthday I can't stop you, but don't bother with gifts."

Dinah shook her head. "I can't do that. Come on; just make a list for me? I really want to get you something nice and I can't just give you another gift card to Flourish and Blotts."

"I don't see why not."

"Be_cause_," she sighed, always having to spell these normal social interaction concepts out for him. "I just got that for you. There's virtually no thought behind getting somebody the same thing twice in a row. Plus, it's only been a few weeks, so that's even worse. Besides, I want to get you something tangible now, not just a piece of paper. Something you really want. Please make a list for me?"

Severus growled again. "Fine. But I warn you, it will be nothing but a long list of books and potion ingredients. There's nothing that I really need, after all, which I cannot buy on my own."

"Books and potion ingredients are fine. It's better than a piece of paper. Especially if that's what you really want." She smiled and latched onto his arm; "Wow, this is exciting. Don't worry; this is going to be so much fun. Now, what should we do on Saturday...?"

In a sudden move he took her face into both of his hands, kissed her, and then glared into her eyes. "Stop being so happy!"

"Why?" she blinked at him. That was a very strange request.

"Because," his voice was still rather fierce, "You don't _understand_... there is more to this than- you're just going to become-" he snarled and pulled away. "Never mind."

"Severus," Dinah sat up straight and leaned across to him, putting her hand over his, her concern fully ignited now; "What is it?"

"Nothing," he sighed, turning back around and smiling at her, but it was strained. "I'm sorry. The first day back was stressful. Incompetent students... didn't study over break at all. I should probably fail each and every one of them, but I have a feeling that if I did you'd have something not so nice to say about it."

"Perhaps," she laughed. "My students behaved wonderfully today, I don't know what's wrong with yours."

"All perspective, I suppose," he frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're softer on the students than I am."

"Clearly. Although I'd word it as you're _harder _on the students than _I _am."

He shrugged.

"Oh well," she smiled. "I guess that's how relationships have to be sometimes. We can't agree on everything or have everything in common, right?"

Severus sighed and stared at her for awhile before nodding. That thing was still there in his eyes that she couldn't quite explain. It almost looked... uncomfortable. "I suppose. Now, let's try to research. The sky is still dark, you know."

"I know," she took a Dark Arts book and opened it to a random page. "But we could play a game of wizard's chess a little later, couldn't we? I'd still like to try to beat you, after all."

Instead of teasing her about that like he usually did he just continued to stare at her. "Maybe later," he said, stroking her cheek with his thumb and leaning across, kissing her with a tenderness he'd never shown before.

_Is this number nine, I think? _She asked herself as she closed her eyes and melted into the kiss. _Ten, maybe? I don't know... I think I'm finally losing count..._

"Later's good," she managed to murmur when he finally broke it.

"Mm," he agreed, picking up a book and opening it upside down.

* * *

"Do you have a list for me?" Dinah poked her head through the door leading from his office to the living area on Wednesday after dinner, a sneaky grin on her face.

Severus sighed, his back to her as he sat at the dining room table. It looked like he had his head in his hands. He looked up and met her gaze with that strained smile she had been seeing more and more often every time she was with him, and her face fell. That, in combination with the fact that he had been kissing her so often she had now officially lost all reasonable count of how many there were, was starting to make her very, very uneasy.

"Is everything okay?" she asked softly, coming over to stand by his side.

"Fine," he growled, and Dinah couldn't help but think he seemed more agitated than usual lately, too, which was odd in combination with the affection. She was starting to wonder if he was getting some kind of late-onset bipolar disorder.

"Well, I'm not trying to push you. It's just, your birthday is almost here and-"

"If you must know, yes, I completed a list for you," he stood abruptly from the chair and marched into the living room, pulling a piece of parchment out of a desk and shoving it into her hands. "Is that satisfactory?"

"I think so," she perused the list; "But all of these potions ingredients are so generic. Isn't there some kind of rare ingredient that you want?"

"There is no need for you to spend that much money on me."

"But I _have _money, Severus. If I did spend it on you it would be because I want to- Mm!" she broke off as he kissed her, more startled this time than enjoying it. She pulled back a bit sooner than normal. "Severus, this is getting a little strange. What's with you lately?"

"Nothing," he gave her his generic answer. "I'm sorry. I thought you liked this."

"Well – I _do_, it's just it's always so random lately. And you seem like you're thinking a lot... about things you won't tell me about."

"We've only been back four days. It's the beginning of the second half of the year. I have a lot to think about," he turned a complete turn away from her and there were a few moments of silence before his voice came back, quietly. "There are things that _you _should be thinking about as well."

"What do you mean?" she walked around him so that she was facing him again. "The prophecy? But I'm doing everything you've asked me to do. I'm researching, avoiding Tommy." She frowned; "Actually, it's starting to seem like it's _your _prophecy and not mine."

"I'm sorry you feel that way. I'm only trying to help you, Dinah."

"I know," she sighed.

"But if you feel it absolutely necessary to seek out Tommy, at least let me come with you when you do so."

"I will," she reached across to him, sliding her hands down his arms and coming to take his hands into hers. "Thank you."

Severus stared at their hands for a moment before squeezing hers, then letting go, moving his hands instead to wrap around her shoulders, pulling her against him in a tight embrace and resting his head against her own.

"Severus?" she said; her arms around his waist and her head resting against his chest. She noticed that his heartbeat seemed faster than normal. "Even if I go to that bathroom, I will likely find nothing. We should wait and go next time there's a dark storm. I think it would be better to know if other people can see what I see during one of those times. That might give us more insight."

"Yes, that's very reasonable," his arms tightened around her and he leaned into her hair; she could feel the movement of his lips as he spoke, and yet he sounded distracted. "Then you feel that another dark storm will definitely come to Hogwarts?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it," she closed her eyes, fear of the prophecy coming back to her again, although faded from how strong it used to be. "It's only a matter of time."


	59. Game

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

Game

* * *

Dinah apparated back to just outside of Hogwarts on Friday morning, brushing snow off of herself and carrying a bag from an obscure bookstore in Knockturn Alley where she had managed to finally find one of the things on Severus's list. It seemed to be the rarest and most unique of the Dark Arts books, so she hadn't minded going into the slightly dodgy area to purchase it. After all, she was an adult, the most people could do was stare at her for not being one of the 'regulars', but it wasn't against the law for a non-regular to visit there on occasion, especially when looking for rare dark items.

Of course, the book wasn't really dark itself, just a treatise on some of the darkest dark arts from a defensive viewpoint. She had no worries about Severus's alliances. He was a good person, of that she was unequivocally certain.

Not only that, but the affection he had been showing her lately was giving her hope that he might be getting over Lily and finally moving to her. It was a long shot, but what was she supposed to think when he smiled at her and kissed her so often? The only thing that was worrying her now, really, was this odd distracted behavior he had been showing from time to time. But that could have been from anything.

Still, she thought as she walked back into Hogwarts, it might be a little early to get her hopes up. And she definitely couldn't tell him that she loved him. She would wait for him to tell her the same before she tried such a thing.

Dinah chided herself for thinking of that. Admitting to herself that she was in love with Severus was not an easy thing – it caused her to start getting her hopes up every time he did something remotely affectionate. And she had to remind herself that even when he kissed her and smiled at her now, there was still some reluctance behind it. He was moving slowly, and she _had _to accept that. Plus, it hadn't gone beyond kissing since Grimmauld Place.

She sighed. Sexual frustrations should be her least point of concern now. But she was a mature woman; it wasn't like she could help it. She was in love with him and therefore she wanted him. Simple as that.

Dinah forced herself to stop these trains of thought and dropped the book off in her rooms. She would wrap it later this evening. It was a good thing classes were cancelled for the Quidditch match today so that she had a chance to get the gift on time.

She headed to Lucy's rooms where she had told Severus she'd meet him. When she approached the door he was just coming from the other side. The absence of students in the hall allowed him to come and kiss her in greeting. "What were you doing this morning that you couldn't be at breakfast and we had to meet here?"

"Oh, nothing. Just had some work to do is all," she smiled as he slipped an arm around her waist, and reached up to knock on the door.

Lucy pulled open the door, her eyes once again dropping down to where their bodies touched with a curious expression. It didn't last too long, however, before she looked at them and smiled. "Hi! Sorry, I'm almost ready. Just got to figure out what to do with this," she held up the emerald ring.

"Um... I don't know. Polish it?" Dinah laughed, not sure what Lucy was talking about. "Although it's beautiful and sparkly enough already – what?" she added, as Severus was giving her that funny look again. It almost looked... guilty.

"Nothing," he turned back to Lucy. "I take it your gloves won't fit over it?"

Lucy laughed at Dinah's obliviousness and turned to Severus, "No, the stone sticks up too much and the gloves are too thick for it to go over them."

Lucy laughed, probably at Dinah's obliviousness, and turned to Severus, "No, the stone sticks up too much and the gloves are too thick for it to go over them."

"I see. Well, can't you simply find a safe place for-" he growled and looked down at his feet, where Lucy's grey cat was now rubbing against his legs.

Dinah laughed. Dora, who had seemed frightened of Severus during the entire first half of their year at Hogwarts, had over the Christmas holidays decided that she wanted to be his friend. Unlike Godric, however, she wanted to cuddle more so than she wanted to play. "That's so cute."

"Would you mind removing this problem?" Severus asked Lucy through gritted teeth.

"Sorry," she said, picking up her cat. "You missy are going to get yourself in trouble," she told Dora before putting her in the bedroom and shutting the door. "And, no I can't just find a safe place for it. I want to keep it with me."

"Well, that excludes most of your options then," Severus muttered.

"I have an idea!" Dinah was anxious to make up for her denseness earlier. "Could you get a chain or string and wear it around your neck?"

"Oh, yes! Thank you. I'll be right back," she ran back to her room, and Dora raced out to cuddle with Severus again the second Lucy opened the door. "Sorry, she's quick," Lucy called, leaving the door open.

Severus sighed as Dinah knelt down and picked up Dora, cuddling the cat against her chest. "Thank you," he mumbled. "I don't understand why I am suddenly so attractive to the Hogwarts cat population."

"It's a mystery," Dinah grinned, stroking Dora's soft fur.

Lucy came back wearing the ring around a gold chain on her neck. "There we go. All set."

"Nice," Dinah nodded at the piece of jewelry and then at Dora. "What would you like me to do with this one?"

"Take her down to the dungeons," Lucy laughed at the look on Severus's face at her comment. "No, really you can just stick her in the bedroom and close the door. Otherwise she'll be out here cuddling Severus again."

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" Dinah joked, causing Severus to roll his eyes. She placed that cat in the bedroom and closed the door. "All right; let's get going. I made sure to dress appropriately this time."

Lucy grinned, following the couple out of her rooms and closing the door behind her, "You know dressing inappropriately for the current weather conditions is sometime beneficial."

Dinah laughed. "Not when your significant other is vehemently opposed to public displays of affection, it's not." As if to emphasize her comment, Severus began looking around, making sure no students had heard her say 'significant other'. "Oh please, stop, I have more discretion that that," she gave him a playful swat on the arm when she knew no students could see.

"I gave you a scarf last time; what more do you want?" he stared at her.

"Oh, I could think of a few things but I think I'd get in trouble if I said them out loud," Lucy grinned, ducking when Dinah swatted at her. "Well, if you want my opinion, an arm around the shoulders never goes amiss."

Dinah tried not to let her face get too red and instead resorted to more teasing; "Or sharing your robes. They're large and flowing enough, you know," she fingered the material of Severus's robes with what she hoped was a flirtatious smile; she wasn't quite sure if she pulled it off with the still-lingering embarrassment from Lucy's suggestive comment.  
"You've made your point," Severus snatched his robe from her. "And you know that if the students found out it would be no end of humiliation for the both of us. Myself, especially."

"I thought you didn't care what they said about you?"

"Maybe I care more than I like to admit," he said quietly, only causing Dinah to want to hug him even more. Yet, she knew she couldn't handle the students making fun of him either. "Now enough talk of this; we're approaching the Quidditch pitch," Severus said.

Lucy couldn't help but say, "Just one more thing. The students caught one of their new professors engaging in a pretty intense snogging session upon their arrival to Hogwarts last term. I've heard no teasing. Well, none that didn't come from Ginny or Hermione that is."

"Really?" Severus snorted as they climbed into the Quidditch stands. "As I understand it no one has ever called _your _boyfriend a greasy git. He has always been quite happily on the other end of the teasing spectrum, as I'm sure he will be pleased to tell you."

"He's right, Lucy," Dinah said softly as they slid into some seats. "We just won't overdo it for now."

"Well," Lucy said, looking like she felt bad, "there is that. I wasn't trying to say you should do something similar and I wasn't referring to him either."

"You weren't?" Dinah tried to lighten the mood. "Then who else were you snogging at the beginning of last term?"

Lucy laughed, "Oh, you know, his French cousin, Pierre."

Dinah giggled. "That's _so _funny, Lucy. It reminds me of something my aunt said at Christmas. Somewhere along the line she got the impression that my mysterious..." she looked at the Slytherin students surrounding them, some already glaring at Lucy's Ravenclaw robes; "friend's name was _Seveurs_."

"That's too funny! Well, I feel conspicuous. Nothing but my own fault I suppose. There goes the quaffle," she said, pointing out the start of the game.

"Excellent, Slytherin has taken it," Severus said, settling into his seat as the stands cheered.

"The weather is so nice today," Dinah said, looking up at where the sun beat down on them. "A nice contrast from the last two games, isn't it?"

"Yes. It makes things so much happier when the weather is nice like this; at least it seems like it. Oh!" she said, ignoring the pitch since Slytherin had just scored, "Did I tell you Professor Slughorn more or less asked if I was going to be quitting next year? And that was after he asked Minerva what I'd become engaged in over break."

Dinah had to laugh; and shook her head while Severus continued to be absorbed in the game. "That man can be very... oh, I don't even know sometimes. Imagine thinking that you would be quitting. I mean, certainly some women do but I don't think in this day and age that should be an instant assumption. If I was getting married and someone suggested that to me I would be pretty insulted."

"Eh," Lucy shrugged, "I've gotten kind of used to him saying things without thinking. Apparently I should be overjoyed at the thought of becoming a part of the illustrious Black family…even if the ring is not quite as elaborate as one would think. Sometimes he can be rather amusing. Especially when he realizes he's said something off-putting."

"Oh no, he's harmless really," Dinah agreed. "But he does often say things without thinking." She covered her ears as the Ravenclaws took the quaffle and scored, sending a loud groan through the surrounding stands at the same time as Lucy leapt from her seat, shrieking and clapping with joy.

Dinah exchanged an uneasy glance with Severus as the group of Slytherins around them all stopped groaning and turned to stare point-blank at Lucy. Her friend noticed and flushed, sitting down with a little cough of embarrassment.

"What the-?" a cocky student's voice complained. "Professor Ketteridge, you _can't _cheer for Ravenclaw if you're sitting in the Slytherin stands!"

Dinah could register nothing beyond that comment, not even who had spoken it, before Severus stood abruptly in his seat and turned the most potent death glare she'd ever seen on the student.

"Mr. Peaks, we do _not _speak that way to our professors for _any _reason," he snarled, causing Septimus Peaks to shrink back in his seat.

"I didn't even say anything! She just can't come in here and-" the fox-abusing student began to protest.

"How dare you!" Severus was nearly shouting at the boy. "Do I not make myself clear? There is no excuse for your behavior and you have no authority to make judgments on anyone until you are an adult of age in the wizarding world. Your opinions are irrelevant and your behavior is, again, inexcusable. Five points from Slytherin!"

It was now time for the stands to turn their shocked glares on Severus.

"Professor Snape!" Astoria Greengrass squealed. "You can't – you have _never _even once taken-"

"My comments apply to you as well, Miss Greengrass," he said, his quiet voice harsh; "Your petty student rivalries do not and shall not extend to your professors. We treat adults with respect no matter their house affiliation. Know your place!" He sat back down and no one could argue with him after that.

Dinah just stared at him.

"Um, ah," Lucy finally spoke, sounding a little flustered as she looked at Severus. "Thank you."

"Hm," Severus's response was noncommittal and the anger still hadn't left his face. "That was not done for you. Those words were a long time coming for Peaks. After the incident you spoke of on Monday, I simply decided that now was the most opportune moment to do something about it."

"Still, I appreciate it. It's not often someone comes to my defense like that. Good catch!" she yelled, trying to bring the focus back to the game.

Dinah finally found her voice and looked up at the sky. "You know, it's getting so warm out with the sun beating down on me... I think I'm going to remove my outer robe," she tactfully took off the robe that functioned as a winter coat and placed it so it was lying across hers and Severus's laps, causing him to shoot a raised eyebrow at her. "Wait for it," she smiled, hiding her hand under the robe and taking his. "How's that for incognito?"

"If you freeze to death I am not being held responsible," Severus muttered, squeezing her hand underneath the robes.

"I don't think that's possible," she smiled. "You were amazing back there, by the way."

He shrugged. "I did what I had to do."

Lucy grinned, "What are you two doing over there?" she asked quietly, hoping the students didn't overhear.

"Why nothing whatsoever, why do you ask?" Dinah flashed her friend an innocent smile, but made sure the robe didn't fully cover Severus's lap anymore as a quick afterthought.

Lucy's face turned red. She shook her head. "Dinah, even I'm not that bold."

"Um," Dinah's face turned redder than Lucy's and she turned a glance on Severus, who was staring at her with that raised eyebrow again and a completely unreadable expression. She shrunk down in her seat a little and turned back to Lucy; "I know that's not what you meant but I still thought it might be safe... you never know what people might think..."

"In that case we shouldn't be doing this at _all_," Severus said under his breath, almost growling.

"Oh, fine," she let go of his hand and put the robe back around her shoulders with a shrug. "It was fun while it lasted."

"Sorry, didn't mean to put a damper on your fun," Lucy said. "Oh! Come on! That wasn't fair!" she shouted at the pitch after two Slytherin chasers knocked one of the Ravenclaw beaters off his broom.

"Really? I didn't notice anything unfair about – ow!" Severus snarled, turning to Dinah after she swatted his upper arm.

"I didn't hit you that hard," she glared at him. "No cheating."

He sighed; "I have said that I am not responsible for what the players do."

"Well, stop turning a blind eye to it. Slytherin didn't cheat this much when Slughorn was Head of House."

Lucy bit her lip, looking worried that she was responsible for their little argument. "He looks like he's all right. Oh!" she said when the snitch flew in front of her face for a few seconds and fluttered away again.

"Wow," Dinah said, "I don't think I've ever seen one so close to the stands before – oh, Slytherin is after it!" she leaned forward in her seat just as Severus did the same, muttering instructions to the player under his breath. If Slytherin won this game it would put them at two winnings, giving them a good shot at the Quidditch Cup. But soon the Ravenclaw seeker dove in after him, making it an intense head-to-head race.

"I wonder if it would have counted if I caught it," Lucy said, watching the seekers race for the snitch. The two players went behind one of the towers and came back out the other side, one clearly happier than the other, "I think he got it! Ravenclaw won!" Once again she jumped up and down, cheering for her team and ignoring the glares and boos that came her way.


	60. Affection

CHAPTER SIXTY

Affection

* * *

Severus growled and stood up. "Infernal seeker. Does he have any idea how much this will hurt our chances at the Quidditch Cup? I will not tolerate incompetency in my play... ers... um, let's just go back into Hogwarts," he trailed off as Dinah glared at him again.

She turned to Lucy. "Congratulations. Ravenclaw played an excellent game."

Lucy giggled. "Thanks. Slytherin played well too, for the most part. You two have any place for this afternoon? I've just been banned from Hogsmeade until the evening. We're going on a date," she told Dinah, blushing.

"Would you like my robe?" Dinah teased, holding it out to Lucy.

"No, thanks," she could feel herself grinning again, "I don't think we're going out and even if we do it won't be the first time he's had to walk close behind me."

"This is horrifying," Severus groaned. "Are we done yet?"

"Oh, all right. You know you secretly enjoy this conversation, right?" Dinah asked him, glad to not be arguing any more.

He stared at her, that strange look coming into his eyes again, and he seemed to be considering something, but she couldn't tell what or what kind of conclusion he had come to. He sighed. "Let's just go back."

"All right," she repeated as they made their way out of the stands. "In all seriousness Lucy, that sounds like it will be a lot of fun. Is it that romantic date you mentioned before Christmas? With the dancing and candlelight and such?"

Lucy blushed again. "I think so, but I don't know for sure. It's a secret. Mmmm," she sighed, "It's almost like being sixteen again or something. Does he like me? He touched my hand; did he mean to touch my hand? It's okay," Lucy said, seeing Dinah's expression, "You can laugh. I know I'm a nut."

"I'm not laughing, I'm smiling," Dinah said with a chuckle. "Okay, I laughed a little, but only because you mentioned it. No, I think that's nice. Sometimes those simple pleasures are just lovely. I mean..." she trailed off, thinking that she had been sort of stuck in those simple pleasures for awhile now and was ready to move on to bigger and better things. She looked up at the sunny sky, changing the subject. "It really is _such _a nice day. It was snowing in London, but here it's-"

"London?" Severus turned a confused look on her. "What were you doing in London?"

"Oh!" she gasped and covered her mouth, flushing. How had she let that slip out? Sometimes she seriously considered purchasing a muzzle for herself. "Nothing. I just meant... I heard it from somewhere..."

"Well, I'm curious now too. What's with the mentioning of London? Not raiding Grimmauld Place were you, hmmm?"

"No, I... just went to pick up a few things. It's not against the law. I'm an adult. I have an apparition license. I can do what I want whenever I want to. No more third degree," she marched ahead of both of them, thinking that that probably hadn't been the best way to handle the situation.

They were far enough behind the group of students that Severus was able to grab her hand when he caught up with her, forcing her to turn around. "What were you doing in London? Does this have something to do with..." he raised an eyebrow and left it hanging. Hopefully he meant the prophecy and didn't suspect that she had gone there for his birthday. Then again, this whole thing was probably ridiculous. She had asked him for the list, after all. Well, either way she was going to maintain the secrecy. It was more fun that way.

"No, it has nothing to do with that. I... went to Flourish and Blotts to look for more research materials, that's all. But I found nothing of use."

"I could have told you that, and how does that _not _have to do with-"

"In answer to your question, Lucy, we were just going to catch up on grading and lesson plans tonight so that we can spend the weekend together for Severus's birthday." She ignored Severus's audible groan at her mention of the birthday plans.

"Fun! Mine's in a week and a half. The twentieth. I'm not angling for anything, in case it sounded like it, by the way. Well, I suppose I could do some grading and plan a few lessons. Of course, if you'd rather be by yourselves that's fine too. I don't want to force myself on you."

"Oh, well Happy Early Birthday! You can join us tonight. Why don't we all do it in my place now – _now _what?" she demanded, as Severus was glaring at her again.

"_Must _you tell the whole world?"

"I hardly think Lucy constitutes the whole world," she rolled her eyes. "Do you think we could do it in my rooms this time? That way Lucy doesn't have to come all the way down to the dungeons."

"Whatever. But we are seriously grading – no girl chat and in the name of everything sacred would you please keep that stupid robe out of it?" He snatched the robe she was still holding in her hands and wrapped it around her shoulders for her.

She flushed, clutching the robe around her; the gesture was surprisingly sweet despite the sincere frustration in his words. "Okay."

Lucy giggled, "I suppose we can lay off the girly talk if you insist. So, Severus, you're going to be, what, thirty-nine? I bet you two can't guess how old I'll be. Really, I'm practically an old lady," she said, teasingly, stepping into Hogwarts."

"Um," Dinah began, embarrassed as they all convened on the door to her rooms; "Well, I know I'm quite a few years older than you. What does that make me? Don't hold us in suspense;" she had to laugh at that because Severus's look as she opened her door with the key suggested that he was in anything _but _suspense. "How old are you going to be?"

"Twenty-six. It's kind of funny because I received a letter from Aunt Molly a couple days ago telling me she always knew I'd end up with 'an older man'. I don't really think of him as older though, or any of you really."

"Wow..." Dinah stared at Lucy once they were inside; her friend's words doing nothing to prevent her from feeling her age. "You are... _so _young. I mean, well no offense. It's not that I think you're childish or anything and I do appreciate your thinking that we aren't old, but... honestly the truth of the matter..." she sighed, her gaze shifting to the sparkling ring around Lucy's neck for a moment. She should have gotten one of those a long, long time ago. "I must really be an old lady."

"Don't be ridiculous," Severus's voice was quite strained next to her. She looked over at him. He was glancing between her and the Lucy – or maybe her and the ring, and then wandered over to the couch and sat down, resting his head in his hands and shaking his head. "You still have time."

Dinah walked over to him, sitting down and curling into his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his waist and hoping that she could somehow provide a little comfort from whatever was stressing him out all of a sudden. "Time for what?"

He pulled back so he could look at her as she lifted her head from his shoulder. His eyes almost looked a little sad as he traced her cheek with a finger and gave her a brief kiss. "Still time for... things."

She stared into his eyes, not knowing what to say and very confused, but also not wanting to let go of him right now. She sensed that would be a bad idea.

Lucy carefully backed up, looking like she felt out of place, "Um, I'm just going to go grab my grading and I'll be right back." Before she exited the room she said, "Just so you know I've been calling myself an old lady since I was four…" and rushed out before they could respond.

Dinah sighed and stared after her. "I guess we should have backed off while she was here."

"Perhaps," her boyfriend's voice was flat and uninterested.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly, turning to look at him again.

Severus snorted. "What an absolutely irrelevant question. It is _you _who is not thinking. You're the one who..." he sighed and extracted himself from her embrace to stand from the couch. "Never mind. I should get my own grading materials if we are going to be staying here tonight. You should prepare as well. Get out what you need. I'll be back." He left the room after Lucy without another word.

Dinah didn't have to wait long with her mixed-up thoughts before Lucy returned, carrying a lapdesk and some parchments in one hand and her grey cat in the other. She put Dora on the ground. Godric immediately ran up and the two cats began to sniff each other.

Lucy laughed, "See now Dora, isn't that worth being shut up in the bedroom?"

Dinah watched the animals with a slightly crooked smile. "Well, we'll see. I wonder if I should cast a protection spell for good measure. Do those work on non-human animals?"

"I've no idea! Well, it can't hurt," she drew her wand and cast the spell. "If it's going to do anything that'll take care of it. I, um, didn't say anything I shouldn't have before did I?" she asked, settling into a chair, "My mouth sometimes runs away with me you know."

"No, it's okay," Dinah smiled. "It wasn't you. I don't know what's up with Severus lately. He keeps giving me funny looks at the oddest times and I know _something _is bothering him but I just can't figure out what."

"Hmmm. Well, when Sirius does that generally he's up to something or he's interested in…organizing clothes. Have you tried asking him what's up?" Lucy glanced over at the cats, who were now chasing each other around the room and sighed, "Dora, I told you to behave."

"She's fine," Dinah waved the cats off with a laugh, and then turned serious again. "I've asked him numerous times but he won't answer me. I don't think he would be so stressed out about something he was going to surprise me with. As for the organizing clothes bit, the only thing I can think of is that he wants to but is still worried about betraying Lily. I guess that could be it," she sighed and put her head in her hand. "I'm _still _fighting a losing battle, aren't I?"

Lucy shrugged, "I don't think so." She hesitated, glancing at the door as though worried Severus would walk back in, and then seemed to decide to continue. "Okay, confession time, and quickly before Severus gets back. You remember what I told you about Gawain? I didn't quite tell you everything. Um, it was after Sirius was killed and…I was just starting to get back to being…a person. I think I told you Gawain and I saw each other a couple times then? It was a little more than that actually. He kissed me. The first time I cried. I was sad and confused and it wasn't right. It wasn't him and by him I mean Sirius. The second time, I thought maybe I could do this because Gawain was…he was safe and familiar and he wasn't going to hurt me. I didn't realize at the time he couldn't hurt me because I didn't care about him.

"It's hard, letting that go. It takes time. I think him wanting to be with you is a good sign. It's like he's trying. He's kissed you; he had to willingly make that choice. He cares about you. Maybe he's afraid of hurting you. I don't know. I just…" she shrugged again.

Dinah paused and considered Lucy's words. She hadn't realized her friend had tried to get back together with her old boyfriend during Sirius's 'death'. The situations did have some parallels and Lucy made some good points. "Maybe..." she admitted. "I don't want to get my hopes up, but you are right that those kisses had to be his decision. It must be hard, dealing with feelings for two people at once. I guess I could be a little more understanding?"

"Everything will out in time. It's not always easy and can be incredibly frustrating but you'll get there."

Dinah smiled. "Thanks. Thanks for telling me that."

Lucy grinned back, "You're welcome. Letting someone you love go is hard. It takes time and the person you move on to has to be something pretty special to be worth the effort." Lucy whipped her head around, following her cat's beeline to the door.

Severus stepped inside to one cat batting at his robes and another rubbing against his legs. Accosted all at once, he could do nothing but stand there and roll his eyes at no one in particular.

"Oh, here," Dinah laughed and stood, running forward and grabbing the cats. "Lucy, do you mind if I shut them in the bedroom with some food and water for the duration? Otherwise Severus is not going to be able to get any grading done." She struggled to hold Godric as he pawed at Severus and Dora as she squirmed to escape.

Lucy laughed, "No, not at all. It's funny. She used to be terrified of him. Don't know what's gotten into her. Maybe Godric had a talk with her."

"Maybe," Dinah dumped the cats into the bedroom and shut the door, coming back to stand by Severus's side. She took his arm; "Or maybe it's like they say. Animals can really tell if you're a good person or not. I think they must trust you, Severus."

"Indeed," he scoffed, not looking like he cared much either way; "Well, shall we begin? Unless you intend to continue doing this tomorrow instead of 'celebrating'."

Lucy looked at the stack she had to grade and sighed, "I'm not going to get all this done before I have to leave, but I can always finish up tomorrow. My fault for not giving them a maximum length."

Severus snorted; "What kind of genius students do you have? I get nothing but inferior imbeciles who write the bare minimum."

"I think I'm in the middle," Dinah said, before Severus could start complaining about his students again, and the three of them sat down for a night of social grading.

An hour or so later, Lucy rolled up the parchment she was reading and stretched, "Well, I need to get going. Do you want me to take Dora with me or is she fine to stay for the weekend? I don't mind either way."

"Sure, she can stay," Dinah said. "You used the protection spell after all. How long did you make it last?"

Lucy opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by Severus's incredulous, "You used a protection spell on a _cat_?"

"Yeah," Dinah tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and turned to look at him, grinning and hunching a little in embarrassment; "Does that... not work?"

He stared at her for a minute before bursting into laughter. Dinah had to smile. She loved it when he _really _laughed and at least he had lightened up a bit. "I don't believe that is especially productive. But I think I can come up with a variation if you're that opposed to kittens."

"I like kittens, I just don't need them right this minute," Dinah said. "You can really just come up with something?"

Severus shrugged; "I have invented a fair number of spells in my time."

Lucy grinned, "I'm impressed. Well, thanks for watching Dora. I'll be back Sunday night if you get sick of her. See you later. And Severus? Happy Birthday." She waved, shutting the door behind her.

Dinah smiled. "That was nice of her."

"Yes, I..." he ran his hand through his hair in a distracted manner; "suppose it was."

Dinah leaned against him and perused a fourth year's paper as he put an arm around her. "Severus. I hope you know that this means a lot to me. I mean, just sitting here with you, grading papers together. It's nice."

"Mm," he ran a strand of her hair through his fingers. "Again, you don't know what you want."

"Yes I do."

"We'll see." He planted a soft kiss in her hair and then went back to grading his papers, and Dinah just decided to let it go for now. She would be patient.

As Lucy had said, it would all pay off in the end.


	61. Truth

A/N: Mild angst warning label here. Next chapter will be a bit worse, but that's as bad as it's going to get I think, so don't worry _too _much :D

* * *

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

Truth

* * *

Dinah stood in front of her mirror before dinner on Saturday. They had finished grading during the day in their own rooms as she had insisted, because she needed to wrap the present and prepare. She stared at her reflection, thinking back to the conversation with Lucy yesterday and their discussion of age. For some reason, all of the lines on her face seemed to stand out more than usual, despite her strategic application of makeup.

Of course, thirty eight or even thirty nine wasn't really _that _old. Sure, it had seemed ancient when her parents turned that age but now... it was different. Now sixty, seventy seemed old, even fifty a little bit, but not forty. And yet there was no denying... she had been alive for quite a long time and there were still so many things she hadn't done. Try as she might not to be, she was jealous of Lucy's sparkly ring.

But, she thought as she ran a final comb through her loose hair, she was still pretty, right? Severus had said so on multiple occasions, although probably less often than most men would say it to their girlfriend. But this was Severus. She loved him for who he was, and she was going to be patient.

Patient. Right. She pursed her lips and sighed as she realized that she had put on fairly loose robes and was wearing rather fancy undergarments for being 'patient'.

But that was the beauty of undergarments, right? If they were going to be seen they would be seen, but if they weren't then no one would be the wiser anyway. Yep, that was true. She would just keep telling herself that.

She adjusted the snake necklace over what she hoped was just the right amount of cleavage and put in silver earrings that matched it, then grabbed the wrapped present and carried it into the living area, sitting on the couch, summoning up dinner and candles at the kitchen table, and requesting that food be sent on Hogwarts' fine china and silver instead of the normal plates. Now all that was left was to wait for Severus.

She didn't have to wait long. His sharp, telltale knock on her door indicated his presence and she got up to answer it, revealing him standing there with a sour, grumpy expression. Well, it wasn't exactly a secret that he wasn't super enthused about celebrating his birthday. Yet, he managed to give her one of those quick smiles before stepping inside.

"Hi," she leaned forward and kissed his lips, perhaps her first full initiation of the action, and stepped back with a smile. "Thanks for agreeing to have the celebration in my rooms. We haven't really done a lot in here yet, so I thought it would be nice."

His expression not much changed, he said; "Just as long as you keep your cat locked in the bedroom with his... 'friend'."

"Already taken care of," she smiled. "Happy Birthday."

Severus shrugged; "Thank you, I suppose." He nodded in the direction of the candlelit table. "Trying to steal all of Lucy's ideas, I take it?"

Dinah flushed. "No. It just seemed like a good idea." She summoned the present over with her wand and handed it to him. "Here."

He took it reluctantly, turning the box over in his hands with his brow furrowed into a frown. "Thank you." He opened the wrapping to reveal the book she had purchased for him. "Hmm..."

"Um... I got the vintage edition because I thought you might like it better," she said with a small smile.

Severus looked up at her, his smile uneasy. "Thank you. But that was unnecessary. It was likely too expensive, and where were you even able to find it?"

"Knockturn Alley."

His frown deepened into a near-glare. "Ah, so that's what you were doing in London yesterday. Dinah, I _don't _like you going into Knockturn Alley alone. What were you thinking?"

She suddenly felt agitated. "Thinking that I'm an adult of thirty-eight, almost thirty-nine years and perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much. It's not like the people there are _dangerous_. Well, not most of them anyway. And I was fine!"

"There are _Death Eaters in_ Knockturn Alley, and some of them might know who you are," he said through gritted teeth.

"Even if they know _of _me I doubt they know what I look like," she retorted, not sure why tears were starting to sting the backs of her eyes. Was she spending too much time around Lucy? "I know I told you I'm a coward and I'm probably incompetent at solving this prophecy but I still think I can do something as simple as going into a store and purchasing a book for the man I – the man I'm involved with. Besides, I was _fine_!"

Severus just stared at her, looking unsure of what to do for a minute. Then his gaze softened and he stroked her cheek; "I'm sorry. You aren't incompetent or a coward. I only didn't want you to put yourself in danger. I can't... I mean, I've already told you that I don't want you getting involved with the Dark Lord like I was. But I suppose I should stop fighting it, what with the prophecy..."

"No, I'm sorry," she swiped at her eyes. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I should be grateful that you care. But I do wish you would give me a little more credit sometimes."

"I'm sorry. It was never my intention not to. Besides, you don't need to worry about that. It's actually the other way around."

Now she was confused. "What?"

"Never mind. Let's go eat something."

"Okay..." There he was, keeping some secret from her again. But she had decided to be patient. She was going to be patient. She followed him over to the table and they sat down, revealing grilled salmon with rice and vegetables under their plate covers. She laughed. "It seems even the house elves know that it's a fancy dinner night."

"I highly doubt that. It's a coincidence," Severus grumbled, cutting his fish.

"I know it is," she continued to laugh. "I was just joking."

"Mm..."

Dinah sighed. "Listen, I know you aren't extremely happy about this birthday thing, but can't we at least have more fun with it? I'm not going to give you any more gifts and I won't even say Happy Birthday anymore if you really don't want me to. But I just want to enjoy our night together."

Severus put down his fork and watched her for a moment before speaking, slowly. "I'm sorry. But I've never really celebrated my birthday, as I told you. In fact, the only other person who insisted on doing so was... her."

"Oh," Dinah flushed, digging into her fish and taking a bite that was rather large and probably unladylike. She hadn't even thought of that. How stupid could she get? When she had finally chewed and swallowed she looked back up at him; "I'm sorry. I hadn't thought... I mean I suppose it's obvious now that you say it. But what about your family?"

He snorted; "Oh, my mother managed to give me a quick Happy Birthday each year, along with a hasty explanation that there were no gifts because it was too expensive and would make _him _mad."

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, feeling very small all of a sudden. "I'm a horrible person, aren't I?"

"Stop putting yourself down!" he slammed his hands on the table and moved as if to stand from it, before thinking better of it and settling in again, moving his rice around with his fork and not meeting her gaze. "You don't understand _anything_."

His words were more hurtful than she would have expected. She stared at him, wondering if she looked like a recently-kicked puppy. "I'm sorry. I'm trying to understand. But you won't tell me... please tell me what it is that I need to understand so that I can under_stand_. I want to understand."

Severus shook his head. "It's not that simple."

"Try me?"

"No. Eat your dinner."

Although she might have tried, she couldn't ignore his sharp command. They finished the rest of their salmon and apple cobbler dessert in an uneasy silence. When the plates had been magically returned to the kitchens, Dinah stood and picked up the candles, moving them without looking at Severus to the small table in front of the window. She was going to turn around and ask him if he wanted to come over and sit with her in one of the two chairs on either side when she felt his arms come around her from behind, his embrace tight and warm. "Severus?"

"I'm sorry," he whispered against her ear; his voice strained.

"Oh..." she flushed, her stance relaxing as though she was melting and she leaned into him, lifting so she could place her arms over his and clutch him as tightly as possible. "Severus, don't. It's not your fault. It's... mine, somehow. _I'm _the one who should be sorry."

"No," he murmured, the strain not leaving his voice. "You are so wrong. You have no idea how wrong you truly are."

"What do you mean?"

"Forget it," he let go of her, walking around so that he was facing her. His eyes were on fire as he took her face into both of his hands; "I didn't thank you for this. It means a lot, even though I can't express it very well."

"You did thank me," she managed to whisper as his lips came closer.

"Not the way I should have," his mouth came down onto hers and she made a little noise, wrapping her arms around his neck. The kiss didn't end, but become fiercer, his arms clutching first her shoulders and then her waist, pulling her to him, his tongue entering into her mouth, searching.

She moaned and clutched him more tightly, her fingers grasping his hair, hopefully not pulling. But if she was, he didn't make mention of it, simply held her more tightly, intensifying the kiss. Dinah's body responded then, almost all at once. Like a spontaneous combustion, she couldn't help but think as her fingers traveled from his hair to his neck, searching for the buttons on his frock coat, trying to find them. She wanted to see more of him, to remove the tight, binding clothes he was always wearing.

He seemed to be traveling down the same path, as his fingers moved up, grazing her breasts, sliding underneath the snake necklace and moving to undo the first few buttons on her robe just as she felt him against her for the second time, the first having been at Grimmauld Place over Christmas, before thoughts of Lily had ended it.

Almost the instant that the thought crossed her mind she began to think that it was like a curse. Severus's hands slowed on her robes, causing her to incredulously wonder if he could do legilimency without looking into her eyes. He was thinking of Lily again.

He growled and shook his head, pulling her to him by the robes and kissing her with more ferocity than he had yet, fighting it. Maybe he would win this time?

In an instant she knew she was wrong. He stopped in one abrupt movement, pulling back at the same time as he shoved her away from him, stepping backwards and turning his face away from her. His self-control was almost inhuman, leaving no evidence when she looked at him of what he had been doing only moments ago. There was nothing but utter, painful silence in the room for what felt like hours... or years.

Dinah tried to fight the tears, maintaining her success for the moment. And yet she could think of nothing to say.

"I can't," Severus finally spoke in a harsh whisper, closing his eyes and turning further away from her. "I tried, but I can't. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she managed to squeak out. "Maybe another... time?"

"No, you don't understand!" he was almost shouting, his face livid as he turned towards her and grabbed her shoulders, shaking them and forcing her to look into his eyes. "This is all wrong!"

"But..." she stepped back, trying unsuccessfully to hide the hurt. "I can be patient."

"This isn't about that. Stop trying so hard to do the right thing. I have warned you countless times but you would not listen. So here's the truth. It's not you, it's not her, it's _me_, Dinah. I can't move on."

"But-" she tried to ignore his last words; "I know it's hard. Lucy says... says it takes a long time to get over another person. I mean, it took me two years to fully get over Dylan and realize that we were wrong for each other. I mean not saying that you and Lily were wrong for each other. I mean, I just..." she trailed off, her eyes swimming with tears that she refused to let fall.

That didn't stop Severus from noticing it, and he shut his eyes, his face revealing just as much pain as it had in that scene in the pensieve and that moment in the dungeons when he had been looking at Lily's picture. "No. You still don't understand. You probably never will. I can't do this," he turned and began to walk away.

"No, please," Dinah whimpered, her fingers reaching out without her control, grasping his robes and holding him there like a small child might. "Don't..." she whispered, "Don't end this like at Grimmauld Place. Don't leave, please."

He stood silently for a long time, and then exhaled, his breath the tiniest bit uneven. He turned back to her, taking her shoulders into his hands and staring into her eyes, his own eyes still full of pain. "It was after that time at Grimmauld Place... I felt so bad for hurting you, so I've been trying. I bought that necklace, I've been more affectionate. I have tried."

"Oh," she whispered, taking a step back, certain things becoming painfully clear. "I see. So... you've only been being so sweet to me out of pity..."

"_No_," he growled, following her and taking her shoulders again, forcing her to look at him. "It's not like that. I do... _want _you, Dinah. I'm not denying that."

"I know you do," she whispered. "It was rather obvious both times. And yet..." she tried again to fight back the tears. "I'm not Lily. I realize that now. It's all been a lie, hasn't it? You love her so much... I should have seen it more clearly. You did warn me, after all. And thinking back to the pensieve... to those moments of the two of you together as children, on the grass, talking about Hogwarts, in school. They were the only times you were truly happy, weren't they? I can never replace her. You look at me and yet you can only see... _her_."

"No, no, no!" he snarled, running a frustrated hand through his hair again, pacing back and forth for a moment. She'd never seen him in such obvious distress. She was surprised he hadn't pulled his hair out with the force with which he was grasping it. Finally he whirled back on her. "You _still _do not understand! It is _much _more complicated than that!"

"But- but I-"

"Come here!" he grasped her shoulders again, facing her, his dark eyes boring into hers with a gleam she had never seen in them before. It was intense, unnerving, almost... prying.

And then it hit her and she struggled to escape him, closing her eyes and turning away; "No! Stop, don't!"

"Look at me, Dinah!"

His order was so strong; it was as though her body was incapable of resisting. Her eyes opened and met his again as they bored into her, searching for her secrets, his face determined to know them. She tried once more not to meet his gaze; "Please..."

"You have seen everything of mine," he growled, "You have _no _right to complain or resist."

She couldn't help but whimper, but she knew that he was right. She was helpless to resist, anyway. And so she instead decided to devote all of her energy to hiding the fact that she was a parselmouth from him. She had had no training in Occlumency, but perhaps she was strong-willed enough to do at least that much. She watched his dark, probing eyes and tried to block all thoughts of snakes from her mind.

It turned out she didn't even have to try. Those thoughts did not come. Instead, try as she might, she couldn't keep herself from thinking about Severus. About everything they had gone through together, her hopes and dreams and wishes. Each of his kisses; how she'd kept track of them in her mind. Every touch, every smile, every time her heart skipped a beat when he looked at her. How beautiful and wonderful he was, how much she cared for him. All of those thoughts swam around in her head and all she could see was his face, both in front of her and swirling in her mind.

And then his eyes. The longer he watched the more they changed. What began as a fierce determination slowly changed as his eyes widened in surprise, and then in shock. Then they took on a different look as a soft shine came over them. A shine of realization. His pupils trembled in a split instant and then he pulled away from her, closing his eyes for a short moment to break the connection off. He opened them again and that same look was in his eyes, fitting well in his stunned face. "You love me," he murmured.

Dinah could no longer stop the tears that began to roll down her cheeks. "Yes."


	62. Indefinitely

A/N: Giant angst warning label. I promise this is the worst its going to get. Some sad stuff down the line still, but not as intense.

* * *

CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

Indefinitely

* * *

Severus stared at her, shook his head in a quick, horrified gesture, and spoke again. "No... what have I..." he took a step back, his eyes never leaving her face, strain and distress spreading over his features. "What have I done? Dinah, what – no!" he shouted, turning around and facing the window. "How could I do that to you? Why didn't you stop me?"

"I couldn't..." she murmured. "I tried... you told me not to. I never learned Occlumency..."

"Oh, no," he almost moaned, dropping his head into his hands, clutching his hair again as he rested his elbows on the table. "What have I done to you? Your deepest thoughts - how could I? I'm so sorry, Dinah. I should never have known that. How – how can you love me?" he ended in another shout, changing the subject to what he'd seen in her eyes.

"I'm sorry." Why was she apologizing about it? "I can't help it."

"Stop it!" he exclaimed, causing her to jump. That look of intense pain came over him and he covered his face with one hand. "Stop saying you're sorry! This is it... _this _is what you don't understand. I can't take it any more. This has to stop. _I _am the one who should be sorry. Dinah, I'm so sorry," he lifted his head just as tears fell from his eyes.

"Severus," Dinah whimpered, her hands moving to take one of his arms. "No, don't... please. What...? I didn't mean to-"

"IT IS NOT YOU!" he screamed, spinning around, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to look into his face. She wanted to hold him like she had tried to in the pensieve. Stop the pain. But she couldn't move. "Stop blaming yourself, _now_. Let me tell you what it is you don't understand," for all that was happening, his voice was surprisingly steady. "You are getting your hopes up for something that will never be. All I am doing is hurting you. You shouldn't _be _with me, Dinah. I can not give you what you need nor what you deserve."

"I... what?" she whispered, staring at him, her heart pounding in her chest, fighting back more tears. Everything had seemed so simple and perfect when she had talked to Lucy yesterday. But Lucy had been wrong. This was deeper and more complex than she had ever imagined.

"I will never get over Lily," he said softly. "I am telling you this right now. It is a fact. I love her. I have loved her my entire life and I will never stop loving her."

"But... in time..." Dinah found herself protesting.

"No! There is no 'time' factor involved here, Dinah!" He shook his head, the pain in his expression intensifying. "I am going to continue hurting you for the rest of your life if you stay with me. You say that you do not deserve me, but in fact it is I who does not deserve _you_. I've seen the way you look at Lucy's ring. You have to understand that I can _never _give you that!"

"'Never' is such a-"

"But it is the truth," his words held so much conviction that Dinah began crying again. "I'm sorry," he whispered, taking her face into his hands. "I'm hurting you again. Don't you see? It's all that I can do. I can't stand it. Please don't."

"I could be saying the same thing to you," she whispered with a sad smile, reaching into her robes and removing her handkerchief. She reached up and used it to wipe the tears from his cheeks.

But he seemed less focused on the fact that he was crying than he was on the words that he was saying. "I am not important," he said quietly. "I can do nothing but hurt and destroy the people I care about. And I _do _care about you, Dinah. That's why this is so difficult for me. I can never love you. You should not be with me."

"But- but I _want _to be," she whimpered, wiping her eyes with the handkerchief.

He shook his head. "Dinah. You deserve your own sparkling ring from someone who can see only you. I can't do that."

"Oh, Severus," she whimpered, his words hurting more than she had ever imagined words could hurt, but not wanting to show him that as she buried her face in her hands.

"You see, then," he said, his voice quiet. He took her face into his hands and tilted her chin up so that she had to look at him. "I am telling you this for your own good. You should leave. You still have time to live the life of happiness you deserve. I am holding you back from that. If you stay with me I can never advance beyond the point where we are at now. You will get nothing more than what I have already been able to give you."

"I see..." she grasped at anything in his words, anything she could hold onto to tell her that might not be true. "But if you care this much, then-"

He sighed, shutting his eyes as another wave of pain seemed to wash over him. "Don't you see? I have cared about you for a long time now, although I may not have realized it. And I have _tried _to give you what you deserve, but I can no longer lie to myself or to you. This is it, Dinah. Stay if you want to, but I have to tell you that you would be better off if you just left me."

"Do you..." she asked, dabbing at her eyes with the handkerchief yet again, staring up at him, afraid for the answer to the question she was about to ask; "_want _me to leave you?"

"_No_!" his tone was so insistent and held so much conviction that it caused Dinah to blush even through her flood of tears. "I need you. You are all that I have."

"Oh, Severus," her hands came up to cover her mouth. His words lit a tiny fire of conviction in her heart as she stared at him. Despite everything that had just happened, what she had learned over Christmas at Grimmauld Place was the truth. She loved him, and she couldn't leave him. Even if their relationship never progressed, she could not deny those feelings. He needed her. "Then I'll stay."

"You shouldn't," he looked away. "I may say those words, but I am selfish. I want to be with you even though I will only hurt you. That is why I have to ask you to leave. To do what is best for you. I can't do this to you any more."

She laughed a little. "But it's my choice, Severus. I... I can't leave you like this," she reached over and took his hands. "Maybe you're right and this will never move any further, but I still believe in you. Even if right now I'm only a cheap Lily replacement-"

"Do not say that! It's not that simple."

"I'm sorry;" she sniffled; "That's not what I meant. I just meant... well, you say I'm all you have. But if by some impossible miracle Lily were to show up right now, you would simply... forget about me?"

"Oh, Dinah," he almost moaned, bringing his hand to his face again and looking away. "You see... you do think that I only want to hurt you. I would always remain your... friend, in the instance of such a situation. But why entertain such asinine possibilities? Lily is gone... I live an empty life devoted to someone who never loved me anyway, but I know nothing else. Yet I still, somehow, deserve to have you by my side? Why? I don't understand it."

"I will always stay by your side," she whispered, and knew that it was true.

"Why?" he repeated, staring at her. "Why do you insist on this even now? Why would you want to stay with me even though you are condemning yourself to a life of pain and of dreams that will never come true?"

Dinah looked into his sad, lonely, haunted eyes, and her answer was simple; "Because I love you."

The words seemed to hurt him more than help him. He looked away from her. "A love that I do not deserve."

"That's not true."

"But," he turned to look at her, his gaze searching. "You can't really mean that you want to live like this. Giving up your future just for me? Your chances of marriage and a family? That's why I said you still have time yesterday. You have the chance of being the only person in some lucky man's life. Some man who is better than me," he added quietly.

"But you're the one I want," she took his hand again. "It's okay," she whispered. "I can live my life like this. I enjoy the time we spend together. Cuddling with you, kissing you, being with you. I can handle this. That's enough."

"Really?" He shook his head. "You're lying to yourself."

"No," she wiped her eyes again, trying to stop the shaking in her voice. "Really. I can handle this. After all, I am simply continuing in the same manner as I have for most of my life. I had one lover for a number of years, but that's it. Four years out of thirty-eight isn't really that much. I can survive without it. And I love you..." she choked on the words and broke off for a minute before continuing. "I can't leave you. I'll never leave you. I promise."

"I am... so sorry," he whispered, leaning over and kissing her, his fingers moving into her hair, stroking gently, drawing more tears out of her eyes as she clutched at his robes, never wanting him to let go as long as she lived.

"No," she stroked his cheek when he drew away; "It's all right. It's not your fault."

"Yes it is. It is _all _my fault." He took the handkerchief from her fingers and wiped her tears away for her, his own eyes still shimmering, but his control maintained.

He wasn't going to let his pain and sadness go any time soon, Dinah could tell. But what could she do for him?

"Um..." she smiled. " I know it's kind of dumb, but this conversation has taken a lot out of us. I was hoping we could order a cake from the kitchen? Can we? Have a birthday cake? Please?"

He sighed. "Whatever you want."

"I'm sorry," she stuffed the handkerchief back into her robes and swiped at her eyes one final time for good measure. "That was... a lot to take in."

"I told you it would be."

"Will you stay tonight? Please? I know I can't expect more from you and I don't. But I don't want to leave you alone. _I _don't want to be alone."

Severus closed his eyes for a moment; "Fine. I'll stay. I'm not even opposed to cuddling in bed any more. It's the least – the most – that I can offer you."

"What can I do for you?"

"Nothing," he whispered. "Nothing short of what you are already doing. Staying with me. Although that hurts, too. I don't want you to leave but I don't want you to stay, because you will only be in pain. I never thought I could be such an illogical person."

"I'm sorry."

"It's worse when you apologize. Don't," he took her into his arms for a moment, and then drew back, forcing a strained smile onto his face. "Although I don't really suppose I have a right to ask you not to hurt me. Cake, then?"

"Sure," she looked down; afraid that there was nothing she could say anymore to make this better. They were stuck in this position.

Indefinitely.

* * *

"Are you sure there's nothing else you'd like to do?" Dinah asked quietly, after they finished an uneasy round of cake and ice cream in relative silence and returned to her bedroom; "Wizards chess or-"

"No," he whispered, staring out her bedroom window after they had separately changed into their nighttime robes in her bathroom; "If we are going to stay here and sleep we should just do so now. Before I change my mind."

"Oh," she murmured, staring down at her feet, wringing her hands; "If you don't want to..."

"I don't like this. I don't know if we've done the right thing."

"It was my decision," she took a deep breath and walked up to him, stroking his arm, making him look at her. She forced a smile. "It's okay. I want you to stay."

Severus shook his head. "But I can do nothing good for you. There is no answer in this situation. Either way, everything is wrong."

"It's been okay up until now," she found herself fighting back more tears. "Can't we just... pretend this never happened? Keep going on as we have been?"

He snorted. "Living a lie. You know I've been thinking about this ever since Christmas. It isn't as though 'going on as we have been' means that I will forget about it."

"Christmas;" she sighed. "Everything seemed so... _good _then. Especially at the Leaky Cauldron."

"I know," he turned sharply away from her, climbing into his side of the bed. Godric and Dora jumped up and started crawling on him. He glared at them and Dinah was afraid he was going to start screaming at them.

She hurried over and grabbed both cats. "Go away, both of you. Severus doesn't want you. I don't want you either!" She unceremoniously dumped them out into the main room, transported their food outside, and slammed the door, wiping a stray tear from her cheek as she did so. She took a deep breath and then turned back around, shooting Severus a strained smile. "There. Now they won't bother us."

He looked away. "I'm even making you cruel to your cats now. I'm sorry. I'm destroying everything, as usual. I shouldn't have been reborn. I am doing nothing for anybody."

"Stop it," she climbed into the bed, taking his head and cradling it against her shoulder, stroking his hair. "I know it hurts, Severus. I know."

He sighed and half turned towards her, his arms wrapping around her waist as she held him. "You can't even imagine."

"Please... has me coming into your life really been such a bad thing?"

"I knew where I stood without you. There was nothing to cause pain except the memory of her, and I was used to that. Now there's somebody else for me to hurt;" he drew away from her, and then gave her lips a distracted kiss. "But now that I have you, I don't know what I could do without you." He shook his head, dismissing the thought. "Just sleep. I can't think about this anymore."

"Okay," she sighed, wrapping her arms around his waist, lying down next to him and resting her head against his shoulder. "Good night."

"Good night," his voice was strange.

She looked up to see that tears had fallen from his eyes again, rolling down the side of his nose. He wasn't even wiping them away, just laid there, his eyes closed and his breathing uneven.

"Shh," she whispered, brushing one away. He just lay there, though, helpless to fight his agony. It was as though he had given up. She bit her lip and suppressed a whimper. "Severus. Please."

"It doesn't matter," he said simply, dismissing himself as unimportant as usual.

She buried her face in his chest to hide her own tears. She couldn't let him see that he was causing her pain again. He didn't seem capable of handling it. Was there absolutely nothing she could do for him? "At least sleep," she said softly. "Just sleep. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

She felt his arms tighten around her, but she couldn't look up at him anymore. Finally his breathing slowed and she knew he was asleep. She wasn't done crying though, it seemed, and she let herself do so openly now that he couldn't hear her anymore.

This whole thing had turned from what she thought was a progressing relationship to one at a potentially infinite standstill. One characterized by pain and guilt from both parties. But she knew that at this point it would only hurt worse if she left him. Then again, she didn't know if anything could hurt more than tonight. Maybe if she just vanished into nothingness it would hurt less.

But she had to stay with him. She loved him and they needed each other. No matter how hard it was; it was all that she could do now.

She belonged with Severus no matter what.

* * *

Dinah woke up the next morning to a pounding headache and an empty bed. The place where Severus had slept was still visible as a dent in the mattress, and she was laying half in that spot. She whimpered and pulled the covers over her head. Last night hadn't gotten any better, after the more tears from both parties and finally falling into a fitful sleep in each others' arms. She had to wonder if today could possibly be any better than yesterday.

She forced herself to get up from the bed and went over to the mirror, running a comb through her hair but not bothering to get dressed yet. It wasn't like it mattered anymore.

She walked into the kitchen to find Severus at the table, sitting in front of a plate, watching as the two cats wandered around at his feet. He looked up at her and forced an uneasy smile; "I had breakfast summoned here."

"Yeah," she ran a nervous finger through her hair, coming over and sitting down next to him in the seat with the other plate. "Thanks."

He sighed, taking a few bites of food, and they ate in silence for a moment before he put his fork down and looked at her. "Dinah?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry... about yesterday."

"No, I'm sorry." She held up a hand when it looked like he was about to protest; "Please let me. I'm only saying I'm sorry I didn't realize the problem sooner. I'm afraid I can be horribly dense sometimes. I never intended to be clingy or make you think I was too hopeful or... oh, I don't know. I'm just sorry it got this way."

"It would have gotten this way anyway," he said, his face expressionless. "And don't change. I like you as you are."

"Thank you..." she trailed off, tracing the rim of her glass of orange juice with a distracted finger. "So what's next?"

"I don't know. What _is _next?"

"Classes still start on Monday," she said, unable to think of anything else.

"Indeed. Life _does _go on, doesn't it?"

"Yes. And there's still research, and the prophecy. I guess not much has changed, really."

Severus sighed again and turned to look at her. "Dinah, I'm going to ask you this once more, and please think very carefully. Are you ... _absolutely certain_ ... that you want to continue this? Do you really want to stay in a relationship which is doomed to never progress further and remain at the status quo... indefinitely?"

Dinah sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, giving herself one last chance to change her mind. But that wasn't necessary. She opened her eyes again. "Yes."

"Then I guess that's all there is to say," he finished the last of his drink and stood from the table. "I really should get going. I have more lesson plans that I would like to attend to. Of course, if you come across anything relating to the prophecy please let me know. And if you want to do further research in the dungeons next week then-" he broke off and sighed as Dinah came up and put her arms around him from behind.

She laid her head against his back, feeling him breathe, unsure why she had grabbed him like this but now not wanting to let go. She closed her eyes. "Thank you... for not making me leave."

There was a long moment of silence, but Severus finally answered, simply with; "You're welcome. Thank you for not leaving."

"You're welcome."


	63. Aftermath

CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

Recovery

* * *

"Good morning," Dinah said to Severus on Monday as she sat down to breakfast.

He gave her a vague smile; "Good morning."

She sat down to her meal of a ham and cheese omelet and a half grapefruit, not piling as much onto her plate as usual. She hadn't been in much of an eating mood lately, after all. But hopefully once the week got going things would be better.

Not likely. By the end of breakfast, once Hagrid and Professor Vector had left their chairs, Professor Slughorn, who had been chatting in a very animated way with Lucy during the meal, came waltzing over to their side of the table and plopped down in-between them. "Dinah, Severus."

"What?" Severus asked in monotone, raising his eyebrow at Slughorn.

"I've come to invite you to a little get-together I'm planning to have this coming Saturday. Oh, nothing like the reunion – just student members of the Slug Club as well as most of the faculty. I usually hold my annual Christmas party but this year there wasn't much time what with Eugene and his human test subjects. I'd also love to update the both of you on the project if you come. Only thing is..." he frowned. "I'm inviting Black again. Sending an owl to him this afternoon, in fact. Professor Ketteridge assures me that he'll come, but I'd really like it if you were able to make it this time, Severus – oh, there goes Filius. I really must catch him for an invite. Please think about it," he stood from the table and disappeared as quickly as he'd come.

Dinah stared after him; "Well, that was... interesting."

"Indeed," Severus frowned. "Well, I assume you'll be going to the party then?"

"You won't be?" she asked.

"Black is there-"

"You two were fine over Christmas at Grimmauld Place!" Dinah had to protest. "Oh, well not glorious - after all I don't think you really spoke to each other once, but... I'm sure you can handle being at the same party together after that."

"Perhaps," he folded his napkin and tossed it aside, defeating the purpose of the folding in Dinah's opinion.

"Please come with me? I'd like to have a date this time – it's not as fun otherwise. And besides, we have Eugene's potion to learn about. You want to hear more about that, don't you?"

Severus sighed. "I suppose I'll go with you. I still have no intention of associating with Lucy's boyfriend, however."

"I didn't expect you to. Thanks," she smiled.

He smiled back, more genuinely this time. "All right. Now, you should get to class. I'll meet you in the dungeons this evening to go through the remainder of my Dark Arts books? Once we're finished with them, we can switch to the library."

"Yes," her smile widened. "That sounds pleasant enough."

* * *

Dinah was on her way out of her rooms after dinner that evening to head to the dungeons when a knock sounded on her door. She opened it to reveal Lucy standing there. "Oh, hi," she smiled. "Come to pick up Dora?"

Lucy smiled, "Yes, if we can manage to tear her away from Godric that is. Did you have a good weekend? Was she any trouble?" she asked stepping inside when Dinah motioned her in.

"Um," Dinah tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and lifted Dora up from the floor, handing the cat to Lucy. "Dora was fine. I'm afraid she might have been giving me the cold shoulder a little bit yesterday after I got mad at the two of them for bugging Severus, but it was nice to have her here. She was good company."

Lucy giggled a bit, scratching under her cat's chin, "She can be rather moody, but she's mostly good to have around. She didn't leave you any…presents did she? She will do that sometimes if she's really upset. She hasn't done that in a long time though so I'm hoping she grew out of it."

"Uh, no I had no problems," Dinah laughed.

"Good. Now, you've told me how Dora's weekend was but you haven't said a word about yours yet. I brought this with me," she said taking out a present she'd bought for Severus yesterday, "It's just a quill. Excellent for taking notes though and I thought you might pass it on to Severus for me. You'll probably see him before I will."

"Oh," Dinah stared at the small package, not sure how much of what happened over the weekend she wanted to divulge to her friend. "Well, I'm going down there right now. You could walk with me and give it to him yourself if you'd like."

"That's okay," she said, setting the package on the table, "I've got a book calling my name. You're avoiding the question by the way." Dora squirmed around, looking tired of being held if they weren't going to be going anywhere.

Dinah sighed and sat in one of the chairs; "I'm sorry. This weekend was just weird. You know all the advice you gave me on Friday after Quidditch? Well, I guess it doesn't quite apply to my relationship with Severus as much as I hoped it would."

"Advice? Oh, you mean what I told you about Gawain?" she settled into another chair, letting Dora go; "I kind of rushed that a bit since I knew Severus was coming back soon."

"That's okay, it doesn't matter. Everything you said made perfect sense... for two completely different people."

"But, the thing with me was I didn't want to move on. I tried with Gawain because I saw how it made Aunt Molly worry less, not because I had any real desire to. He kissed me, not the other way around, and those kisses felt like little betrayals. I know that probably doesn't make anything better…"

"It's okay," Dinah repeated, flashing Lucy a smile. "Maybe it's more similar, after all. Severus essentially told me... that he _will not _get over Lily." She shrugged; "It's okay, I've accepted it. We're just going to maintain the status quo... probably forever."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I know I said there wouldn't have been anyone else but the truth is I don't really know that. It felt that way at the time. It hadn't even been a year when Gawain and I…you know. I wasn't ready, it was too soon and he wasn't the right guy. I've actually talked with Tonks about this and I think if she and Remus had never been involved he could have been someone I would have been able to move on with. Not because he was one of Sirius's best friends but because we're pretty similar people. It might have been a much less exciting life that I was living but I would have been perfectly happy in the quiet, bookish existence we'd had." She paused, not sure that her words were any help at all; she was just going on instinct.

"Um... thanks," Dinah said, Lucy's speech causing tears to spring to her eyes again. She had thought she was done with this, but apparently not quite. She looked away and wiped her eyes, forcing herself to calm down. "I'm not really sure this is helping. I just have to get used to it is all. I mean, I think somewhere I haven't completely given up on him but I don't want to get my hopes up either. I have to at least acknowledge the possibility that he'll never love me, if I'm going to honestly stay with him."

"I'm sorry," she said, sympathetically. "There's probably nothing I can say to make it better. Just don't give up hope, I'd say. I mean he's not completely indifferent to you. He's hung on to his feelings for Lily for a long time. I'm guessing it's not only hard to let them go, but scary too, especially if he thinks that's all he's had to live for. And if I get obnoxious with the engagement and such, just tell me. I don't want you to feel like I'm shoving it your face or anything."

"Thanks," Dinah said with a grateful smile. "It's not you so much, really. But I appreciate the gesture." She sighed. "I guess there just aren't really any answers to be had right now."

"Probably not, but sometimes even just talking about it helps. I'm here if you need anything." She yawned, "Sorry. I guess I haven't quite made up for the sleep I lost out on Friday."

Dinah raised an eyebrow at Lucy, mimicking Severus.

Lucy blushed, "Sorry! And I even just said something about doing that too."

She couldn't help but laugh. "It's okay. Actually, it's rather funny. I needed something amusing today."

"Glad I could help," Lucy said, smiling. "If you want amusing you should have been in my sixth year class today. Astoria Greengrass compared _Moving Mountains_, the book we started on, to Draco Malfoy's sixth year. It was inventive I must say."

"Wow, that girl is obsessed," Dinah stood up with another laugh. "She's been nagging Severus about Draco this entire year. Annoying him to no end, I'm afraid."

Lucy laughed, standing and going over to grab Dora from the couch next to Godric, "I can imagine. Happily for me she hasn't figured out he's related to Sirius yet. It's only a matter of time I suppose."

"Uh oh," Dinah grinned as they walked to the door, heading out into the hall as she shut it behind her. "Well, best of luck to you with that. And thanks again. I guess I'll see you at Slughorn's party if not before. Severus has agreed to come this time, so you might want to just warn Sirius in advance."

"Oh, right, I forgot all about that. My memory must be slipping," she grinned. "Yeah, I'll let him know. Thanks for telling me. Have a good night," Lucy said, carrying Dora back to her rooms.

Dinah separated from Lucy at the steps leading down to the dungeons and headed to Severus's room with Lucy's gift package. The door was locked and so she had to knock. It opened quickly, revealing Severus with his usual stoic expression.

"Come in," he stepped aside and she followed him through the office and into the main room.

She sat down on the green couch with a sigh. It seemed like their relationship went in this pattern. They would progress and then he would have some kind of relapse and go back to his usual flat behavior for awhile. Only this time, she didn't know what to expect. Hopefully he would still kiss her and stuff, at the very least.

He sat down next to her and noticed the package in her hands. He raised a fairly unpleased-looking eyebrow and asked; "What is that?"

"It's from Lucy," she dumped it into his hands; "A small present. Happy Birthday."

Severus turned the gift over and stared at it. "I told you you shouldn't have told the whole world."

"Again, just Lucy. And I didn't tell her to get you a gift; that was her own choice. It's nothing big, and it was a nice gesture. Just open it." She grabbed one of the last Dark Arts books and opened it to a random page, glaring down at the words.

"I'm sorry. It wasn't my intention to frustrate you," Severus opened the gift. "Ah, you're right. It wasn't anything too extravagant. But it will be useful." He stood to take the quill over to one of his desks.

"That's your answer to everything," she grumbled.

"Stop," he sat back down next to her, turned her face toward him and kissed her. "I will thank Lucy later. Does that make you feel better?" he smoothed her hair.

"Yes," she smiled. "Sorry, It's just... Lucy and I were talking and I got a little agitated, I guess. I'm fine. I'm glad we're going to Slughorn's party together."

"Do you really think that this is-"

"Stop," she held a firm hand in front of his lips to shut him up. "I'm staying. You're just going to have to get used to me." She smiled.

He chuckled. "Fine. You are rather easy to get used to, at least." He picked up the book she had given him for his birthday and showed it to her. "This book that you purchased has a chapter on Horcruxes."

"Really? But we established that Tommy _can't _be a Horcrux, right?"

"Right," he frowned down at the book. "But there still might be information to be found if we study the concept of Horcruxes. There may be other things that can happen when Horcruxes are made; some kind of connection to it that we haven't noticed yet."

She nodded. "I suppose so. Horcruxes are awful things, aren't they?"

"Hm, indeed. But those who choose to make them don't care about such things. Like the Dark Lord... like Tommy."

"Tommy's okay," Dinah insisted, not letting that go as she leaned against Severus, back in their initial reading position. He put a somewhat hesitant arm around her waist and opened the book to the Horcrux chapter. "He's just lonely and needs help," she added.

Severus shook his head. "You won't let this go, will you?"

"No," she responded honestly. "Besides... what about those who make Horcruxes and are ultimately able to feel the horror of what they've done? That remorse that brings them back together often at the expense of their life? That's... utterly horrifying."

"I don't even know if that has happened historically. The historical record of those who have made Horcruxes is... sparse."

"Really? Who _has _made them? I mean, besides Voldemort."

There as a long pause, and finally Severus admitted; "I don't know."

She lifted her head to look at him again. "You don't know at all?"

"No," he frowned. "I don't. I don't know who does. That is, perhaps, something we should be researching. This book may have something as may the library. Perhaps if we know what happened to _other _individuals..."

"Yes. Hopefully we can find that information. I just... hope that Tommy doesn't have to go through that kind of pain. He's gone through enough already."

Severus shook his head. "You want Tommy to be 'happy', don't you?"

Dinah winced at the words and Severus seemed to notice. She rested her hand on his knee and leaned back into him as his arm moved to her shoulder, squeezing. She closed her eyes; "Yes. I do. But ... I'm starting to wonder if you're right. I don't know if there really is such a thing as true happiness anymore."

"I know," he said quietly, turning back to his book. "I don't know either."


	64. Cards

CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

Cards

* * *

"Welcome, welcome!" Slughorn hurried up to greet Dinah and Severus Saturday evening when they walked into his second get-together of the year. "So glad you could make it this time Severus! So, _so _glad you could make it!"

"Yes," Severus grumbled, looking around the room. Dinah followed his gaze. It seemed about half the people had showed up by now. Hermione and Ginny were here, along with Luna who had been recently inducted only because had done so much in the exploits of the previous year, helping in the war and everything. There was definitely no family reason – Slughorn didn't exactly think of _The Quibbler _as a famous publication.

Minerva was chatting with Professor Sprout, and Flitwick and Trelawny were also present, along with a few more Slug Club students. Everyone else had yet to arrive.

"Well, well, don't let me keep you. Eugene is finishing up some potion details in his rooms, but he will be out soon. Meantime, please go to the buffet table and have something to eat. I must greet whoever comes in next."

Dinah nodded and she and Severus wandered over to the food table. She grabbed a plate and piled it to the brim with various assorted biscuits.

"Our appetite is back, I see," Severus raised an eyebrow.

"Yep," she took a huge bite of the top-most biscuit. "Did you see the clouds today before we left? I have an uneasy feeling about this."

"Indeed. A dark storm might be brewing, but it's too early to tell yet. I suppose the safest place we can be is here, though."

"Maybe..." she agreed, finishing one biscuit and moving to the next. "Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Chocolate frogs," she whispered, pointing to one of the snacks provided. A pile of the creatures, the spell apparently wasted since they were not moving, rested on a central platter. Severus met her gaze and frowned. She shuddered as a low rumble of thunder ran through the building, suggesting storm build-up. "The strange things here... they might be connected, remember?"

"Professor Samson?"

Dinah yelped and grabbed on to Severus's arm, startled by someone speaking her name right next to her. Severus cleared his throat and gave her a look and she quickly let go of him, turning to the source of the voice and exhaling. It was only Hermione and she sort of knew about their relationship already. "Oh... hello."

"Sorry to startle you, Professor Samson," she gave Severus an uneasy nod. "Professor Snape."

"Miss Granger," Severus muttered, then rolled his eyes and focused instead on the cup of firewhiskey he had just summoned over to himself.

"Enjoying the party?" Dinah asked.

"Yes. I was wondering if you thought this would be a good time to do something about the house elf issue."

"House... elf... issue. Infernal student, always trying to-" Severus shut up when Dinah elbowed him.

Hermione raised both eyebrows at the interaction, and then continued; "Yes, well I thought I could set up a table somewhere and encourage all of the guests to put their dirty dishes there. They do that at Muggle parties. That way the house elves don't have to wander around waiting to take everyone's finished dishes; they can all be gathered in one place. Is that a small enough gesture to start off with?"

Dinah smiled, proud that the student had taken her advice and was going about things slowly now; "I think so. That's a lovely idea, actually. Not too much, and I think you could get the guests to do that. Of course, you'll have to talk to Slughorn about it. It's his party."

"Yes," Hermione smiled. "Would you put in a good word for me if I need you to? He likes you."

"Oh, I think he likes you too, otherwise you wouldn't be here," Dinah grinned. "But of course I will. Let me know if you need me."

"I will, thanks," she hurried off.

Dinah turned to Severus, who was staring at her with an odd expression on his face. "What?"

"Nothing," he took a drink. "You're just so..."

"Nice? Friendly? Personable? I like to think so," she grinned and he rolled his eyes. That seemed to be his behavior pattern of choice today. "Oh look, there's Lucy!"

"And her infernal puppy," Severus sneered, finishing the last of his firewhiskey in one gulp.

"Please don't choose this party as your first to get drunk at," she took the cup from him. "You can handle this, we did it at Christmas."

"I'm moving to water, and Christmas was different." He summoned a cup of water.

"How so?" But she didn't get a chance to hear his answer as Lucy and Sirius came up to them.

Lucy had just finished whispering something ot Sirius – probably an order to be nice – when she addressed them. "Dinah. Severus. How are you?" she asked, grabbing a plate and filling it with snacks.

"I'm well, thanks," Dinah smiled.

"Well enough," Severus muttered, keeping his gaze locked away from Sirius. "Uh... thank you for the quill, by the way."

"You're welcome," Lucy said, grinning.

"What quill?" Sirius asked, staring pointedly at her.

"Just never you mind. It has nothing to do with you. Here eat this," she said, shoving a couple green olives in his mouth.

"Oh!" he said, spitting them out into his hand, "Lucy! Those are gross."

"Mmm. I know," she said, grinning mischievously and grabbing a napkin for him to use.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Dinah grabbed a bunch of green olives and devoured them. "They're delicious."

"_You _would probably find anything delicious," Severus said, taking one of the green olives from her and eating it. "Still, green olives are not disagreeable."

"Yes, they are Sni—Snape," Sirius said, nearly saying Snivellus and throwing one of the offensive pieces of food at him.

"Sirius Ly—!" Lucy smacked him with her free hand, "That is not nice! In fact it's downright rude and childish!" She was sure her face was beet red with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry about that," she said to the other couple.

Dinah feared her face was turning as red as Lucy's as she glared at Sirius. She had thought maybe he was getting a little better over Christmas, but apparently she had been wrong. Severus had done absolutely _nothing _to warrant having food thrown at him. Just like he had never done anything to them in the past before Sirius sent him to get killed by a werewolf. "Lucy, _you _have nothing to apologize for," Dinah said, turning away from Sirius.

"Black..." Severus snarled, staring down at the olive at his feet, his hand reaching for his wand.

"Don't," Dinah grabbed his arm just long enough to get him to stop. "It's not worth it." She turned to Lucy. "Just so you know, I have no problem with you not liking green olives. Different people have different tastes. And that's _okay_. Let's go, Severus, I think Eugene just came in and I want us to talk to him." She marched away and Severus followed her over to the potions assistant.

"Dinah, Severus," Eugene smiled. "So nice to see you both here and together again. You simply _must _hear about my potion!"

"I would love to hear about your potion, Eugene," Dinah smiled, glad that they were away from Sirius for the moment. "Slughorn has said the human testing has gone well."

"_Extremely _well! And even more so over the past few weeks!" Eugene was positively glowing with excitement. "In fact, I- oh, Horace, you're back!"

"Of course, m'boy!" Slughorn threw an arm around Eugene's shoulders, his flushed face revealing that he had been enjoying his beverages so far at the party. "Telling them about your potion, are you? Excellent, excellent concoction. Although, I must confess, your secrecy is starting to unnerve me..."

"Secrecy?" Severus raised an eyebrow.

Eugene flushed. "I don't know to what you are referring, Horace. I have told you that I prefer to conduct human testing in private only because-"

"Yes, yes, very well. Minerva! How are things with you?" Professor Slughorn was off again, trotting across the room to where Hermione was talking to Minerva in front of a table where dirty plates were beginning to collect.

"Yes, well, I am sure you will learn all about the potion in due time," Eugene flashed them an awkward smile. "However, I think at the moment I shall get some food. Nice to see you both," he was gone almost as quickly as Slughorn.

"And the suspicious behavior begins again," Dinah sighed.

"So it would seem," Severus murmured. "Is there any good reason for Eugene to conduct his human testing in private?"

"Unless he was hiding something?" Dinah asked. "I can't think of anything. I mean, I suppose there might be some ethical or privacy contract but..."

"If he is successfully turning humans younger," Severus began. "Why is it that few if any people have heard or witnessed this? His test subjects at least should have been seen around the school in young form, correct?"

"I don't know. It's strange." She jumped as another roll of thunder rang through the room. "The storm is getting worse."

"Your frog," Severus gestured to the floor and Dinah gasped when she saw where he was pointing. Another, single chocolate frog hopped out from the back hall.

Dinah stared at it for a long time, and then made a decision. "I'm going back in there."

"What?" Severus turned her around so that she could look at him. "No! That's a terrible move. We do not know what's back there and Slughorn-"

"Slughorn is drunk and Eugene is occupied with avoiding us. If I go back there and you stay here and guard the hallway then no one should be able to follow me until I've found the source of that frog."

He groaned. "Not only are you suggesting venturing into Slughorn's private rooms again, you are also suggesting that I do _not _accompany you?"

"Please, Severus. We have to figure _something _out and now that there is a chance to do something proactive you have to let me do it. Don't make me keep waiting and waiting for things to happen. I can't continue like this."

Severus stared at her and then finally sighed. "Very well. But the moment something happens you must either come back here or warn me."

"I'll shoot sparks from my wand back through the hallway if I need you. But perhaps nothing will happen."

"I hope for your sake that that is the case," he frowned, looked around at the room to determine that nobody was paying any attention to them, and then leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Be careful."

"I will," she whispered in return, smiling, and then stepped back from him, turned around, and headed into the dark hallway leading to Slughorn's private rooms.

The small, dark area provided a momentary relief from the noise of both the party and the storm as she continued down the hall. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. The quiet was still eerie, and she was suddenly not at all sure that she should be doing this. But someone or something had released a chocolate frog from back in these rooms, and she was going to find out what was going on with all of this.

Then again, she thought as she passed the lavatory she had used months previously in this same area, Eugene hadn't been at the party for fifteen full minutes yet. The frog could have been released by him. It was possible.

Dinah stopped and listened as an odd sound caught her ears. She strained to hear more, and then through the darkness she made out a low, haunting melody.

Someone was humming.

The tune seemed to be calling her.

Dinah took a few slow, hesitant steps forward, the tune increasing in volume. The melody, she suddenly realized, was sad. It made her think of what she had been going through lately... It made her think of loneliness. The voice felt for a moment like a kindred spirit.

Eugene's door was open again, and that's where the voice was coming from. She thought of Tommy, but realized that the voice was too mature for the young boy.

There _was _somebody else back here.

One of Eugene's human testing subjects? At that thought, she quickened her pace, but the moment she began to do so the voice began to fade. It grew more distant as she stepped through Eugene's open door into his room.

The window was open again, revealing swirling dark clouds, lightning, and snow flurries. The melody was now little more than a distant echo, and yet it still rung in her ears.

Dinah looked down at her feet to see a loose wizard card fluttering on the floor in the cold wind from the window. She knelt down and picked it up.

Dumbledore.

She frowned and dropped it, taking a few more steps towards the desk by the window where she had seen the half-drunk potions before. This time there was one single glass on it, drained but for the tiniest bit of red liquid remaining in the bottom. Another wizard card lay upside down in her path, and she turned it over with her foot.

Dumbledore again.

Dinah's frown deepened and she stepped up to the table. A box of half-opened chocolate frog containers sat on one side of the nearly empty glass. On the other side of it, closest to the window, was a pile of wizard cards. She lifted the pile began to flip through them.

Every single card was of Dumbledore.

It seemed that _someone_ was 'collecting' Dumbledore cards. But what on Earth could that mean?

The melody slowly died away in the howling winds as Dinah considered the question. She was still searching for answers when the whispering began again. She shivered and took a step back, her hand entering into her robes and fingering her wand as the whispers got louder. She should send for Severus. She should. But her hand wasn't moving anymore.

The whispers made her want the melody back. Sad though it was, it was better than this – horrible whispering, bad things coming. The dark storm outside. The wind... Cold... Biting...

"When the Dark Lord's destruction is incomplete."

Dinah covered her mouth to suppress a squeal at the words. The whispering had changed from incoherency to a distant murmuring of words. The words of her prophecy. They were reciting the whole thing now, getting louder and louder. She couldn't even tell where they were coming from. They seemed to be everywhere, even to be a part of her.

"Please, stop!" she moaned as the prophecy boomed in her ears, over and over again. She turned and started running, back out of the room and through the hallway and to where the party was. She vaguely registered that it was dark in the room as though the lights had gone out.

But it was light enough. She could see where she had to go.

"Severus!" she exclaimed, grabbing the front of his robes just as soon as the light came back into the room.

It seemed everyone had heard her and they all turned to look at her. She flushed and dropped his robes, but everyone quickly resumed their own discussions, talking to each other about what had just happened, making sure everyone was okay. She exhaled, glad that none of this had gotten out of hand, and then finally registered that the words of her prophecy were no longer pounding in her ears.

Everything seemed back to normal.

"What happened?" Severus put his hand on her back and started to guide her from the room toward the exit, apparently not caring that people were noticing that slight bit of physical contact.

"I don't know," she murmured after they had left the rooms. "What about the party?"

"It will die down soon anyway. We need to get you out of there."

"But the hallway... Tommy," she flinched and grabbed onto him when lightning flashed out the nearby windows.

"You're all right," he said softly, putting an arm around her waist and holding her against him. "If you insist upon it, we can go look at that bathroom. But together and only for a moment."

"Okay," she breathed a few times, letting him release her and walking together with him to that mysterious part of the school with the ruined bathroom from Tom Riddle's first year at Hogwarts. But they found nothing.

Dinah sighed, resting her head against the door. "I guess we can go back to the dungeons."

"Come," Severus took her hand and led her down to where she felt safe again; to where the whispering bad things could not get her.

"What happened?" he repeated when they were seated comfortably on the couch.

She told him everything.

Severus sighed, his hand in his hair; "That's enough. We can't hold back any more."

"What do you mean?"

"We're going to tell Dumbledore about everything you have discovered with regards to Eugene, the potion, and the frogs. It can't be helped. Now we know there is likely a connection to your prophecy, however faint."

"It didn't sound faint today," she whispered, leaning over on the couch, wanting to cover her ears again just for good measure as she recalled the thundering prophecy.

"Who was speaking the words?"

"I don't know. It sounded like a hiss. It was incoherent. It could have been anyone, old or young, male or female. It was more the words than it was the person saying them." She stood. "We should talk to Dumbledore _now_."

"No," he grabbed her hand and pulled her back down to the couch.

"Why 'no'?" she knew her voice was strained.

"He's not here," Severus said, his voice quiet.

Dinah just stared at him. "What? _Again_?"

He sighed. "Yes. The pattern continues. He is never here when events relating to your prophecy occur. Not only that, they all seem to occur on the weekend. Saturdays, specifically."

"Do you think that means something?"

"I don't know," his hands slid through his hair again, almost pulling, and he leaned back in the couch. "I have no idea one way or the other."

Dinah sighed, resting against him, her touch seeming to relax him a bit, for which she was grateful. "Then we'll just wait out the storm, stay here through the weekend, and talk to him on Monday. That is, if I can stay."

"We have already established that you can stay," Severus said. "And, I suppose, that waiting is the only thing we can do right now."


	65. Youth

A/N: Short chapter.

CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE

Youth

* * *

"You wouldn't think it stormed at _all_, save for all this snow," Dinah said as she and Severus walked upstairs to her rooms the next morning, passing by windows which revealed a sunny day and a world covered in thick layers of white, like the popular Christmas song.

"It doesn't change the fact that it did," Severus muttered, waiting for her to enter into her rooms and feed her animals.

Dinah did so and then rested her elbows on the window sill; the weather outside so beautiful it was making her happy. It was hard to believe the last time someone had been over here staring out the window it had been last weekend during the horrible incident with Severus. She was probably this happy both because of the bright weather and because she and Severus had spent a rather normal night last night, cuddling in each others arms in bed and not talking about the prophecy or the state of their relationship. Of course they hadn't really talked about much of anything and she still entertained no real thoughts that Severus had changed his mind, but it was nice that they were capable of being normal again after all of that.

Maybe living her life like this wasn't so bad after all. Maybe.

"You know what we should do?" she asked suddenly, whirling around to face Severus again.

"What?" he asked, playing some sort of batting game with Godric, waving his hand at him as the cat waved his paws back.

Dinah smiled, liking how they fought back and forth and how Severus had finally opened up to her cat. "Well, I know it sounds silly, but it's sort of a family tradition of mine and today would be just perfect for it."

"For what?" Severus raised and eyebrow at her.

She flushed a little. "A winter picnic."

"A _what_?"

"It's really quite fun! On warm, sunny winter days you get some warm food and some hot cocoa and you go outside and eat. We could go by the lake! I bet it's freshly frozen!"

Severus sighed and shook his head. "Do all of your 'fun' activities revolve around food?"

She giggled. "Wizards' chess doesn't involve food."

"Point taken," he stood from the couch. "Well, I suppose it can be done. It's not as though there is anything else to do while we wait for Dumbledore to return, save more library research."

"I don't feel like doing any more dark arts stuff until we talk to Dumbledore," she admitted, walking up and taking his arm. "Come on, let's go ask the house elves to make us something and we can go. Hermione probably won't like it, but..." she shrugged.

"All right," Severus agreed. "It can't hurt to humor this whim of yours."

She smiled and they left her rooms together.

* * *

"You really put a blanket down on the _snow_?" Severus demanded when they had made it to the lake and Dinah given him the instructions to do so.

"Yes," she laughed. "You're not very good at winter picnics, are you?"

"Who is? Your family is as unusual as you are."

"Thank you." Nothing could damper Dinah's spirits today as she and Severus spread the blue blanket out on the white snow and put their food and drinks onto it. She sat down on the blanket and leaned back, looking up into the sunny sky for a moment. "It's so nice out. So _unbelievably _nice out."

"You've said so."

"I know, but it's amazing!" She looked out at the lake, crystal clear and frozen under the snow. "Isn't the lake beautiful?"

"It's reasonable, yes."

She laughed at his noncommittal response. "Thanks for joining me."

He chuckled. "Well, at the very least, this is a _new _experience. New and interesting."

"So glad you think so," she lifted her glass of cocoa and held it out toward him. "Cheers?"

Severus smiled, lifting his glass to hers. "I suppose."

She smiled back, flushed, and turned away to take a sip of her cocoa. Maybe she really _could_ live like this. She smiled as the warm drink traveled down her throat. This was the best part of a winter picnic, the first sip of cocoa. Making her feel cozy... actually somewhat tingly.

Actually rather nauseous.

"Ugh!" she moaned, grasping her stomach and leaning over on the blanket, closing her eyes and facing away from Severus, waiting and hoping this horrible feeling left her body before she vomited all over the crisp white snow.

"What is this?" he demanded, his voice strained as well. "Something in our drinks?"

"You feel it, too?" she moaned again as another strange wave ran through her, and then passed quickly into oblivion, leaving her there to catch her breath and wonder what in the world had just happened. Staring down at her hand clutching her stomach, she noticed that something was off. It looked... whiter than usual, the veins conspicuously absent.

She shook her head to clear it of that strange anomaly, turned to look at Severus... and screamed.

She was staring into the stunned face of someone who should not have been there. Not Severus, but a young, gangly boy wearing his robes. "Who..." she lifted a trembling finger and pointed, that little part of her mind noting somewhere that both her scream and her voice felt slightly higher-pitched than usual; "Who are you?"

"D-Dinah?" the boy stammered, his face mirroring the shock and distress she knew was on hers. "No, who are – who are _you_?"

Dinah felt her eyes widen so far she feared they might pop out of her sockets. This boy was familiar.

He was the one from the pensieve.

"What is _happening_?" she found herself screaming. Her emotions felt more volatile than usual, even with the bizarre things she was seeing, and she didn't know why. "This isn't real! This is a dream! Severus, you're – you're-"

"I'm what? You- _you _are the one who is-"

"Look at yourself!" she screamed, her hands clawing at her hair, unable to turn off this wave of panic that was flying through her. What could possibly have happened to cause this?

Severus took one look at her face and scrambled over to the lake, moving snow aside and staring at his reflection in the ice for what seemed like hours. Finally, he scrambled back in the snow, pushing the blanket in on itself, causing his cup of cocoa to spill over and melt into the blue cloth. "No! No! No!"

"Severus, you-"

"It's you, too!" he shouted, his turn to point. He wasn't acting the way he usually did, that was certain. He was acting like the boy in the pensieve. He was _looking _like the boy in the pensieve.

"What...?" she wasn't registering his words.

"Look at _your_self!" he demanded, scrambling toward the other side of the lake, by her, and brushing away more snow before grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to look down into the ice.

Dinah just stared at her reflection. If Severus had stared for hours then she must have stared for years. She was wearing her robes, but they were smaller – _she _was smaller. Gone were the lines in her face, the veins in her still-shaking hands. Her mouth hung open, the lips pink and fresh, her face rounder than it was, less angled, the bones less defined. Her eyelashes were longer, her skin smoother, her hair brighter...

She looked like she had looked at the age of sixteen.

"Oh, no..." she murmured, sitting back and sharing a stunned look with Severus before turning back to the ice to check again if she was dreaming.

That girl was still there, staring back at her.

She opened her mouth, a million things spinning through her head at once, but her mouth was only able to form two murmured, shocked words:

"Eugene's potion."


	66. Slap

CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

Slap

* * *

"This is impossible," Severus moaned, wringing his hands, shock and – surprisingly - what looked like fear on his face. He stood and began to pace. "This is im_possible_! How did we take Eugene's potion?" He spun on Dinah, his face begging for answers that she couldn't give. "_How_?"

"Um..." was the next word her mouth formed. Although she had initially experienced the adrenaline or hormonal rush at her transformation, now she felt like she was in shock, and she could say nothing else.

"Well? Come up with something! We were just going on your stupid winter picnic – we asked the house elves – the _house elves_! It's them!" he collapsed down next to her and grabbed her shoulders. "They did it! When we were waiting for our drinks they slipped the potion in!"

"But... how...?" Dinah continued to stare at him. She lifted one finger and reached out, unable to stop herself from poking his cheek, seeing if he was real.

"Don't touch me!" Severus shouted, shoving her hand away and standing up again. "Stay away from me! This isn't real! This is a lie! Don't you understand? I _can't _be in this body!"

"Well – but – I-" Dinah suddenly found her words and stood up to look him squarely in the eye. "Do you think I like being in _this _body? Well, do you? Everything horrible in my life happened at this age! The prophecy and the... and the other thing... and no friends," she whimpered, wringing her hands as it all came to her. "I don't want this, either."

"But we're stuck in it!" he shouted, starting to pace again; "_Why_?"

"Wait..." Dinah muttered, shock reforming on her face as something came back to her. "The potion. Eugene was talking about it before Christmas. He wanted it to send us back to the point in our lives we most needed to relive."

Severus stopped and stared at her for a long time, realization forming on his face. "That is impossible," he growled, finally seeming a little more like the normal Severus. "Why this time? Why would we possibly need to relive-?" he broke off and shook his head.

"Wait, we're not thinking this through," Dinah said, her stomach tying in knots as the full implication of what was going on came to her. "This is ... really happening. We're really... _really _standing here as... as..."

"Teenagers!" Severus finished, throwing up his hands, pacing again. "Anything but this! I'll take anything! _Anything _else!"

"Severus, we have to do something! What can we do?" she came forward and grabbed his arm. It felt different, but the warmth was still there.

"I don't know..." he sighed and turned to look at her, and she could tell he was trying to calm down and frame his thoughts logically. "We have to... think about this. What do we know about the potion?"

"Um, we know it's at the human testing point now," she broke off with a cold laugh at the absurdity of it. "Never mind, that was stupid. We know... well, we know that Eugene was very happy with how it had progressed and we know that he wanted it to be... permanent..." the word hit her and she felt panic flood through her body again. Her hands came up to her head and she sunk onto the blanket, tears stinging her eyes. "No! It's impossible! It _can't _be permanent!"

"Oh, no, no, no," she hear Severus moan, saw his shadow as he paced a few more times, and then felt him kneel in front of her and place his hands on her shoulders again. But she still couldn't look up when he continued talking. "Dinah, what does permanent mean?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" she closed her eyes and pressed her head forward against his shoulder, but still didn't look up.

"I mean..." he began, slowly, his hands absently pulling their bodies closer together. "I mean are we going to still age normally or are we just stuck like this forever?"

"Ohh," she moaned, clutching at his robes, that new possibility even more horrifying. "I don't know, I just don't even know. It's too early for those kinds of questions."

"Too early?" he let go of her and sat back in the snow. "What do you mean? What else can we do now but ask questions? What did... I mean, did he have an antidote?"

Dinah finally looked at him. "_You _said that he had plans but it didn't look like it had gotten that far yet."

"Oh. Yes..." Severus frowned, looking very distracted. "I did, didn't I?"

"I even feel different," she whispered. "My emotions are flying all over the place. I want to scream, or cry, or throw something, but I don't know which one. I think this is affecting more than just our bodies. Our brains or our hormones... they must be affected, too."

"Please, not this," Severus murmured, still looking more shocked than anything. "Why... _who _would do this? Eugene?"

"I can't believe that," she whispered, hugging herself. "He... I mean, he likes us, doesn't he? Why would he do this to us without asking? Maybe nobody did this. Maybe it was just an accident."

"How can it be an _accident_?" Severus demanded, standing up again. "Nobody _spilled _this in our cocoa, the house elves wouldn't let that happen, not normally! _Somebody _put it in there, somebody did this on purpose! If not Eugene, then who else?"

"I don't know," she whimpered, clutching her head again. "I just know we have to tell somebody. Dumbledore-"

"Gone this weekend, remember? I told you that!"

"Oh, now you choose to remember the things you've told me!" she glared at him and he glared back. After a moment, she sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just... so confused..."

"I know. Me too... we just have to... oh, I don't even know," he started pacing again.

Dinah turned a miserable stare down at the snow, hating how it felt in this body. Sure, she felt more energized, just from this short moment. It was odd, really, how you didn't notice how your body slowed down as you aged, because it all plodded along at a normal pace. But instantly transforming to a teenager made her realize just how much she _had _slowed down as an adult. But she didn't care if she felt energized. She also felt childish and completely out of control of her emotions as well as her body. Plus, of course, this was the age where her life had taken its most negative turn.

But, she had to remember, it was for Severus, too...

"I'm not going back to Hogwarts," Severus said suddenly, causing Dinah to look up again. He was standing there with his fists clenched and in a firm, stiff position, staring straight ahead, his near-black eyes shining with conviction in the sunlight.

"Ever?" the stupid question left Dinah's lips before she could stop it.

Severus groaned and rolled his eyes. "Not 'never', just not today! Not until Dumbledore gets back. I'm not even _trying _to confront Eugene today, in this body. And I'm not being surrounded by young students who will only look at me and... and..." he growled and broke off, collapsing back down to the snow.

"Severus," she whispered, her distress not so strong that she didn't notice his. She crawled over and gave him a quick hug. "Okay, we won't go back. Not today. My pets can survive that long."

"Dinah, what are we going to do?" he demanded, his eyes pleading. "We have classes to teach! Lives to lead! We can't just... _transfer _them to this state."

"We need some advice..." she murmured. "Because I don't have all the answers."

"Advice," he snorted. "Advice from who?"

* * *

"I don't think we should do this," Severus muttered, scuffing his feet on the pebbled ground in front of them and not looking up at Lucy and Sirius's small house in Hogsmeade.

"We need to talk to _somebody _about this," Dinah insisted, as nervous as he was but determined not to show it. "With Dumbledore gone this weekend he can't help us. And like you I'm not inclined to start wandering around Hogwarts grounds looking like this until we can get some perspective on the whole thing. And for that I want to talk to a friend."

"Fine," he hung back, "Then let's just get this over with."

She shot him what she hoped was a reassuring smile, "I know you're uncomfortable in this form. I am too. But at least Lucy will be supportive, I'm sure."

"It's not _Lucy _I'm worried about."

Dinah frowned, nodded, and then turned and knocked on the door. After a moment she heard footsteps on the other side.

"Yes?" Lucy opened the door and stared down at them, an odd look on her face. Probably, she thought they looked familiar but was also certain she didn't know them. Couldn't know them. "May I help you?"

"Lucy..." Dinah realized she was twiddling her thumbs and then shoved her hands behind her back to stop it.

"Do I know you? Are you students? This isn't a Hogsmeade weekend. And you two shouldn't be here on a Sunday anyway"

"Look at me. You definitely know me," Dinah said softly, "Severus and I drank a potion by accident. Eugene Wilkins's Youthening Potion."

"D-" Lucy's eyes widened as large as saucers, "_Dinah_?"

She nodded miserably, "Yes."

"But how- what did – how could-?" Lucy sputtered, "That potion got into the wrong hands? How did you drink it without knowing? What could-"

"It's a long story," Severus cut in, and Lucy's shocked gaze shifted to him. Dinah hadn't thought it was possible for her friend to look more surprised and confused, but she did.

"Severus! Is that – _really _– you?"

"Yes, it is, now could we come in, please, I don't like standing around out here looking like a scruffy pubescent teenager," he snapped.

"Oh!" she jumped and stood aside, "Yes, please, come in. How can – I mean what can we do for you?"

"I just needed to talk to someone about this problem," Dinah said softly, taking Severus's hand and pulling them both into the cozy main room. They took seats on the sofa and Lucy sat in the chair opposite, just staring at them for what felt like an eternity. "Um, so yeah this is what happened," Dinah said awkwardly. "I even feel different. That potion is strong."

"Mmhm," Lucy said distractedly, continuing to stare.

Severus sighed and Dinah turned to look at him. It was still strange to see him like this. He looked so uncomfortable and awkward in his young body, and more insecure than she had ever seen him before. It made sense, knowing his past. Knowing her own past. She was insecure too. This had probably been the worst stage of their lives to send them back to. How ironically things tended to work out.

"I know we look strange, so please stop staring," Severus said, sounding less snappy now and more resigned.

"Oh," Lucy flushed, rivaling her hair in redness, "I'm sorry. It's just that you both look so – different. How long will this last? How did it happen?"

Dinah shrugged, "Someone put it in our drinks, I guess. I don't even know who. We were actually trying to have a picnic by the lake and so nobody was around us when we drank it. I can't imagine Eugene would do such a thing though."

"Is it permanent?"

She shrugged helplessly, "I don't know. Obviously there must be a way to make a reversal potion. But whether it will wear off on its own, and when, is questionable. Eugene wanted it to be strong – _wanted _it to be irreversible except by counter potion. I don't know if he's succeeded at that yet."

"But you have classes to teach! You can't just... I mean, would you explain to the school and teach them like that?"

"Please, no," Severus mouthed, and Dinah reached over to squeeze his hand, her own heartbeat quickening at the horror of the suggestion.

"That's why we wanted some external advice," she explained, "or at least some... thoughts?"

"Hmm," Lucy frowned and shifted in her seat, "I mean... I don't know. This really is a dilemma."

"Don't we know it," Severus grumbled.

"Lu? Who was at the door?" Sirius's voice came from the back of the house.

Lucy sighed and stood up, "All right, you two wait here. I'm going to go prepare him for this before I let him in."

They nodded and she left the room. They heard voices in the hall that they couldn't quite make out, followed by Sirius's loud exclamation of "You're kidding!" Then they talked in muffled voices some more before Lucy appeared back in the entrance to the back hall, Sirius behind her and hidden from view.

"No way!" Sirius burst into laughter when Lucy finally stood aside to let him into the room. Dinah felt her face flush and her heartbeat quicken when she saw how he was acting. She turned to Severus, who looked ready to bolt. He didn't deserve this. Didn't deserve it at all.

She stood from the couch and walked up to stand in front of Sirius, "This is no laughing matter," she said firmly, "We don't want to be in these forms and we need help to reverse this or at least figure out what to do until it can be reversed. Please take this seriously."

"But- but this is too funny!" He pointed rather rudely at Severus before announcing, "Just like when we were kids, huh? It's _Snivellus_!"

Dinah couldn't be sure what thoughts were running through her head in the split seconds that followed. All she could see was her hand flying through the air and slapping Sirius hard across the face.

"Dinah!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, Lucy," Dinah turned a momentary glance on her friend, "But I'm not going to sit back and accept this any more. I _can't _accept it any more. He has to learn that he can't treat people this way," she turned back to Sirius, who stood there stunned with his hand up against his cheek, and her fury exploded, "Don't you _ever_ call him that again!"

"Dinah..." Severus said quietly, but she didn't get a chance to turn and look at his expression, all her rage and focus was concentrated on the man in front of her.

"I've had it!" she shouted, her hands clenching into fists. Behind Sirius's current face, his cheek now reddening in the spot where she had slapped him, she saw the mocking face of the student from the pensieve. Saw him laughing at Severus with his friends, calling him names, treating him like dirt, and then... "You and your group always treated him like dirt. And why? For what reason? He never did _anything _to you! Yes, he eventually became a Death Eater and he did call you names sometimes, but he never actually _did _anything to you worthy of the torment you and your stupid friend James gave him!

"He actually tried to _avoid _you if you recall! But James and your arrogant little group of friends chased him down every time! And for _no reason_! Even so, James at least had some virtue. But you... he never did anything to you and yet you..._you_..."

Sirius's expression, simply stunned until now, changed to one of desperation. He held his hands out in front of him, silently begging her not to say this in front of Lucy.

But she didn't care anymore.

"You sent him to _die_!"

"What?" Lucy breathed, looking from Dinah back to Severus, her expression so confused that under normal circumstances, perhaps Dinah would have felt sorry for her. But she could think of no one but Severus now. And besides, Lucy needed to know.

"You were about to have him killed! _Killed _and for no reason at all! How... how on Earth can you justify something like that? He didn't even deserve the normal torment that you gave him and you were so easily willing to just let him go and get killed by-" she broke off for a moment, and then her fists clenched tighter, her nails digging into her palms, her body hot and burning with anger, "As far as I'm concerned, you _are _a crazy murderer. I don't care what the press says. You're no different than the rest of your disgusting family."

"Please..." Sirius actually tried to speak.

"No!" she shouted, unshed tears stinging her eyes, "No, I won't listen to this any more! You may say you regret that part but if you don't regret the rest of your unnecessary torture you might as well not regret trying to kill him either. Severus regrets _everything _from his past! He's a better person than you'll ever be! Until you learn to treat other _human beings_ with the respect they deserve I won't have anything to do with you!"

The entire room was silent.

"I'm done," Dinah shook her head, her clenched fists still trembling with anger, "I'm just done." She grabbed Severus's arm, "Come on Severus, we're leaving!" Ignoring Lucy's stunned look and Sirius's shocked, pained expression, Dinah stormed out of the house with Severus in tow.


	67. Fear

A/N: Hi everybody, I just wanted to give a really big thanks to all my readers and reviewers. Upon publication of the last chapter I've finally reached the milestone of 100 reviews, so thank you everybody soooo much! :) I've been trying to respond directly to at least one review by everybody who reviews the story, at least those with profiles on the website. I apologize if there is anybody I have missed; just know that I really appreciate your thoughts and encouragement. For those of you without profiles on the website, I can't respond directly but rest assured I am really grateful and your reviews and comments mean a lot to me! Thanks again!

So for those of you who were curious about Sirius's reaction to the slap in the last chapter, you can read all about it in chapter 32 of CommanderValeria's "Don't Leave Me". Like many of you stated, I also like Sirius but I think he definitely deserved some comeuppance for what he did to Severus in the past. And I think Dinah's feelings for him are a lot less affectionate than mine – lol.

Also, for those who are interested, there are a couple scenes in "Don't Leave Me" where Dinah and/or Severus are featured that are not described in my story. Some of the main ones are in chapters 15, 16, 22, and 25. There are some other small ones too, but I can't think if where they are right now. I encourage all of you to read her story, especially those of you that like Sirius, and leave a review or two. It's written very well.

Again, thanks so much for the reviews! I hope you continue to enjoy this "second half" of the story with Dinah and Severus as teenagers. Will they ever get back to their normal selves? Who knows... ;)

* * *

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

Fear

* * *

She dragged her newly-youthened boyfriend out of the town in the direction of Hogwarts, staring straight ahead and unable to sort through all of the thoughts in her mind after the incident. All she did know was that it had been right. She had to do that. Even if it had hurt Lucy and Sirius, something in her had just _needed _to get all of that out of her system.

"Dinah, stop," they had just made it out of the small village when Severus stopped and grabbed her robes, pulling her to a halt.

Dinah stopped and turned around to face him. He was staring at her with an expression in his eyes she had never seen before. Mostly it was awe, but she could also see what looked like admiration and gratitude, and a bit of sadness. Her gaze softened; "What?"

"What did you just do?"

"I..." she flushed, "I did what I had to do, I think. I couldn't let that continue anymore, I just... couldn't. Severus, I-" she broke off as he threw his arms around her.

"Thank you," he whispered as she hugged him back, closing her eyes. "No one has ever done anything like that for me before."

"You're welcome," she tightened her arms around him just as he did the same. They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity. He just didn't seem to want to let go, and despite the snow and winter weather around them Dinah felt warm. Even if they were children, this had never changed. And yet, something had changed in him. She could feel it; and it wasn't just the youthening. Something had changed in him when she had hit Sirius. Something she couldn't quite place...

All she knew was that he had never held onto her quite like this before.

When she finally drew away from him slightly and looked into his eyes again, she saw yet more of that new expression. It was amazing how different he was as a child. Physically, he was scrawny and unimpressive, and his hair hung limply around his face, perhaps greasier than usual. Yet, he was still beautiful to Dinah. More so maybe because she knew what he had gone through during this stage of his life. Or maybe it was more because he was still Severus. His eyes were the same, and his expressions; just set in a younger face.

"What do we do now?" he asked, his hands still resting on her shoulders, their bodies close.

"I don't know."

"What about your friend?"

Dinah sighed and looked away. "I think it's probably best that we stay away from Lucy and Sirius for awhile. They need to sort through these things on their own. I also... think probably Lucy doesn't want to be around me anymore, after what I did. But that's okay. I can leave them be for now."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"But it wouldn't have happened if Black hadn't called me Snivellus..." he looked away from her.

"But that wasn't because of you! It would have happened eventually anyway, I'm sure of it... he has come close so many times, and this time he said it so mockingly," she winced and shut her eyes. It hurt to even think of it.

"Dinah..."

"Well," she opened her eyes and looked at him again. "I mean, I hate that I might have done damage to my friendship with Lucy and it will be hard to go through this with one less friend involved but... no," she shook her head. "It's okay. It was about you. Ultimately, you are more important than-" she had to break off when he hugged her again.

After another moment he moved back, took her face into both hands and kissed her. "Thank you," he said again, quietly, when he pulled away.

"Severus..." She wanted to say 'I love you', but he probably didn't want to hear that. He knew it already, anyway.

"But now that we've alienated the only two people you could think of to help us, what do we do? Where do we go?" he asked.

"Um... I don't know. Just wander around? I suppose we can sneak back into Hogwarts at night once the students are asleep."

"If Mrs. Norris or Filch catches us they're going to think we're students," Severus frowned. "I can't risk being found out like that."

"But we have to have someplace warm to sleep! It's the middle of winter!"

He sighed; "I'm sorry. I can't think straight in this form. Maybe... well, I'm sure there's a way we can get into Hogwarts without detection. What I'd give for Potter's infernal invisibility cloak right about now!"

"Harry!" she exclaimed, causing Severus to grimace. "I'm sorry, that just reminded me of something. We have to send an owl to Dumbledore right away. We can ask him to meet us at six o'clock in the morning, tell him it's an emergency. Oh, and request him to have our classes cancelled and announce it to the school. Then we'll have at least one full day to figure this out with his help. And we should ask him to bring Harry. This is important enough to warrant that, I think."

"I can't be in Potter's presence in this form! He's seen the pensieve! He's seen everything! And he looks just like... his father..." Severus finished through gritted teeth, the boy from the pensieve coming through again in his reaction to the idea.

"I know," she put her hand on his arm to calm him. "But this is important. There could be any sort of connection to Eugene or the prophe...cy..."she felt her eyes widen and took a panicked step backward; "Oh no!"

"What?" Severus's eyes took on a worried look and he stepped forward, placing an arm on her waist to keep her from continuing backward. "Dinah, what?"

"The prophecy!" she moaned. "The line from it: She will relive the past, facing darkness yet again. The youthening potion – reliving the past – this is it, it's coming true!" She felt tears springing to her eyes. "Severus, it's coming _true_!"

He just stared at her for a minute, unblinking. "That does... make sense, doesn't it?"

"No!" she shouted, lifting her hands to cover her ears and try to block it out. "I don't want to! It wasn't supposed to happen like this. I can't – I can't do this, not in this form. I can't!"

"Dinah, stop!" Severus pulled her into his arms, his fingers reaching into her hair, pressing her head against his shoulder. "Stop. Don't panic yet."

"I can't help it," she whimpered, burying her face in his shoulder. "I can't do this. I'm not like you. I never have been. I'm scared."

"That's not true," he said softly, his arms tightening around her. "I told you before, don't compare yourself to me. You can do just as much as I can, probably more. And I'm not going to let anything hurt you. We'll do what you said; send an owl to Dumbledore. Then he can help us tomorrow. You are _still _not alone in this."

"Okay," she tried to breathe. "Thank you. I'm sorry, I'm just... having a hard time maintaining control."

"I know. It's these bodies. It's not you."

She pulled away and faced him, nodding. "But... what does this mean? If this fits with the prophecy then this was _supposed _to happen. So how long will we really have to stay in these forms?"

He winced. "I don't know. Let's just take it one step at a time. Dumbledore can help. He always does."

"Yes... it's the one thing we can count on. We complain about him always being right so often, but when it comes down to it we really, really need him. It's funny, isn't it?"

"I suppose," he agreed with a sigh. "Now call your owl and I'll try to think of _some _way to get into Hogwarts."

Dinah whistled for Rowena. "What about that scene in the pensieve when you finally found out about Lupin and the animagi? You used some sort of-"

"Sound and scent concealment, yes," Severus finished for her, looking thoughtful. "That would take care of everything but sight. But maybe it would be enough, as long as we were very, very careful."

* * *

"Severus!" Dinah exclaimed, grabbing onto his arm late that night as they peeked around a dark Hogwarts corner. They had spent the rest of the day by the lake, mostly trapped in their own thoughts as they made a fire with _Incendio _to keep warm and waited until all of the students and professors were asleep. Dumbledore had responded to their letter immediately, and so at least they knew they could meet him tomorrow.

"Shh!" Severus hissed, turning to glare at her.

"I'm sorry; I just heard something back there!"

"It was nothing! I think Filch is coming, so shut up, will you!"

She glared back at him. Young Severus could be rather snappy. Then again, apparently young Dinah was rather jumpy. This whole thing was just too messed up to even comprehend.

Then something occurred to her. "Wait a minute, you can't tell me to shut up; you cast a sound concealment charm!"

"Oh... right... well, then stop moving! There he is!" he pointed in front of them to where the ugly caretaker came into view, shuffling past, holding out his lantern, his eyes searching for any students that might be out of bed.

Dinah let her glare transfer to that man; the one who had played such an awful part in her past. The snake-killer. He would just _love _to find them out here, wouldn't he? Just love to think they were students and threaten them with extreme punishment; and then once he found out they were professors he would probably laugh at and mock them. No way, she was definitely not letting that git catch them tonight.

It seemed to take years, as slow moving as the old man was, but finally he passed around another corner and disappeared from sight. Severus held up a hand, making her wait until the light from his lamp was completely gone before pulling her with him in a run to the dungeons, hurriedly opening the door and dragging them inside his office, and then shutting it behind them.

Dinah exhaled and collapsed into the chair opposite his own on the desk, her head in her hands; "Thank goodness at least that part is over."

"Yes," he just stood there.

She looked up; "Aren't you going to sit down?"

"I'm not sitting in that chair!" he insisted, pointing at his large, black, office chair with a hostile expression. "I'm supposed to fill it!"

"Oh," she nodded, looking down at the chair she was sitting in. It _was _a little different. "I see what you mean. My entire perspective has changed. Although... I guess I'm not that much smaller than I usually am, just a little. You grew a lot more after sixteen, didn't you?"

"Yeah," he groaned, running both hands through his hair and walking to the desk on the back wall, bracing his hands against it and staring into the ceramic bowl that was his pensieve. He sighed and lifted his wand, bringing it to his head. "We have to get a record of this."

"I guess so," she looked away just as the silvery thread started coming out through his hair. It felt too personal to watch, for some reason. "Severus, why do you keep so many memories?"

"What do you mean?"

She finally looked up again as he dropped the thread into a vial and went about labeling it. "I mean... I guess I understand why it's important to keep the record in some cases, like this one. And some of the ones Dumbledore has kept are undoubtedly important. But you seem to keep so many – so many ones from your past with... um, Lily and James and your family and others. I've never even thought of doing something like that. To me it would feel like I wasn't letting go of the past or something."

Severus turned to face her and she saw that he was smirking. "Well, you know me well enough now, I would think. Do _you _think I'm any good at letting go of the past?"

"Sorry, I guess you have a point," she looked away.

He sighed. "It helps, I guess. The ones with Lily, especially. I need to remember that we were ever really friends, sometimes, because I start to think she... hated me forever. And," he seemed in a hurry to leave that subject behind; "you never know what might be useful. I had actually never used one before but in Potter's fifth year Dumbledore let me borrow his so I could remove certain ones so Potter couldn't access them as I _tried _to teach him Occlumency. I found at that point that I liked the idea of preserving memories. After I was reborn I got one of my own. The memories I had given Potter at my... death," he frowned a little at the word and then shook his head and continued. "I was not gone for long and they were still in the pensieve of Dumbledore's. Since I was alive I took them back, but I needed to sort through them. I left most of them floating around in the pensieve at that point. I had removed some and was in the process of making others for myself when you came and saw it. That's why it was full on that day."

"Oh, I see," she said, still not looking at him, feeling a fresh wave of guilt as she recalled the day she had intruded upon his personal memories. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about that. It's over with now," he insisted. "The nice thing about pensieves is that it's also helpful to see not just my subjective memory but what actually happened in certain scenes. It can be surprisingly insightful when you catch things that you didn't really notice at the time because it was happening in the background and you weren't involved in it."

Dinah turned to look at him again and said softly; "I was in there."

"Yes," he said quietly after a pause. "You must have seen at least some of them when you spied then, I guess. I have kept memories of you. I don't know why, at least not why at first. You made an impression on me from the very beginning, though... you really did."

She smiled a little. For some reason that was very sweet, especially as she had gotten the impression he didn't like her at _all _on their first meeting. "I did see that one, the one where we were first introduced. But... I was talking about something else. In the pensieve memory from when you found out about Lupin and the animagi. I was there. "On the school grounds. It was my first year. We... looked at each other for a moment."

Severus just stared at her.

"It's true," she said, feeling a little nervous now. "Oh, wow, I don't even know why I just told you that. I guess it doesn't matter, I don't even remember it for real. And I didn't tell you about it before because it didn't seem like there was a reason to. I don't know why I mentioned it just now. Ignore me."

"I have to see this." He didn't ignore her, instead he marched over to the cupboard where his memories were held, pulled out the relevant vial, dumped it into the pensieve and stuck his head in.

She didn't have to wait more than two minutes before his head popped out again. It seemed time _was _a little different inside of the pensieve. He stared at her again for a long time before speaking; "That was you. We really did see each other. You look just like you did then."

"Yes. I was sixteen. So were you."

"I wonder if this... means something."

It was Dinah's turn to just stare at him. What could he possibly think that it meant? That there was some connection between them? No, that was silly. It had been mere coincidence and she didn't dare get her hopes up that it was more or even that Severus would take a moment to think that it was more. He had already made it abundantly clear that she didn't mean as much to him as he meant to her. It was enough that he cared about her enough to still stay with her, and to need her. He didn't love her.

When she didn't respond Severus sighed again, walking over to the back door and opening it, gesturing for her to follow him into the main room. "If this indeed has a connection to your prophecy, this youthening potion, then why was I hit with it, too? Maybe I really am supposed to be a part of this. Maybe that really _is _why I was reborn. To help you."

"Oh," she hated that she still felt a twinge of disappointment when she discovered what he really meant. She let him shut the door and went to sit on the couch, drawing her knees up to her chest in her usual attempt at a comforting posture.

Severus turned back to her, something in his eyes that she couldn't quite place. "I wish I had known you back then."

"Really?" she looked up at him and couldn't help but let a tiny glimmer of hope peek through her defenses at that comment.

"Yeah," he ran a hand through his hair, looking a little embarrassed as he walked over to her. "Maybe things would have been different."

"Severus..."

He sat down next to her, on the opposite side of where he usually did, and put his arms around her, "Then again... maybe I would have just driven you away, too."

"No. Of course not," she slid her arms around his waist and laid her head against his shoulder.

"I guess we should just go to sleep," he said softly after a moment.

Dinah shuddered; "I don't know if I _can _sleep right now. Not in this state. There's too much going on, and I'm so confused."

"You need to sleep. We both do. It's very late and we have to get up very early tomorrow."

"I don't want to," she found herself whispering as a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over her.

"Yes you do," he whispered, sliding his hands into her hair, pulling her head closer against him. His voice was starting to sound distant and echoey again. "Did I tell you... that you're still beautiful? Even at this age?"

"Severus," she curled closer against him, feeling her face flush.

"Not like me."

"That's not true," she murmured, sliding her own hands into his hair. She didn't care how greasy it was. "Don't put yourself down anymore. I love the way you look. No matter what."

"Dinah?" his voice was drifting away as her eyelids started to lower, but he sounded sleepy too.

"What?"

"I think that... maybe..." but he didn't seem to finish his sentence.

Dinah was unable to open her mouth anymore to ask him to finish what he was saying. Maybe he fell asleep. That certainly seemed to be the path she was headed down. She wanted to suggest moving to the bed, but before she could do so her eyes fluttered shut and a wave of warmth washed over her. She let her head fall back down against his shoulder and welcomed sleep.


	68. Eugene

CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT

Eugene

* * *

"I'm scared," Dinah whispered, squeezing Severus's hand as they stood in front of Dumbledore's closed office door early the next morning. "What are they going to say? What's going to happen?"

"We have to just find out," he said, not sounding particularly anxious to do this himself. "At least your issues with Potter aren't as bad as mine."

"I guess so..." she took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Dumbledore and Harry sat in the same places they had a couple of months ago, and both turned around as the doors opened and Dinah and Severus entered the room. After that, time seemed to stop for Dinah just as her feet stopped moving forward. They just stood there, facing the widening eyes of Harry Potter and the unreadable stare on Professor Dumbledore's face.

"Dinah, Severus..." the headmaster finally spoke, shock evident in his quiet tone. "What has happened?"

"Eugene's potion," Severus managed to find his voice before Dinah.

"Who?" Harry turned the incredulous, soft-spoken question on Dumbledore, but the headmaster wasn't paying much attention to the boy.

After another long pause, Dumbledore continued, "But why? You have volunteered-"

"Do you think I would _volunteer _to look like this again?" Severus demanded, his face reddening slightly, his arms outstretched to emphasize his transformation.

"I am sorry," Dumbledore brought a hand to his head thoughtfully, looking more out of the loop than Dinah had ever dreamed she could see him. "Please," he said softly after a moment. "Come. Sit."

"No," Severus's feet were now firmly planted on the floor.

"Severus, come on," Dinah took his arm, forcing him to relax and let her lead him to the two other seats in front of the headmaster's desk.

"Now, please," Dumbledore repeated. "Tell me exactly what happened, as much as you know, in your own words."

Dinah nodded, and she and Severus took turns explaining the situation. Between the two of them, they told Harry and the headmaster everything, from Dinah's first odd discoveries in Eugene's office at the Slug Club reunion in September through their youthening and even the incident with Lucy and Sirius. The two members of their audience didn't speak at all, just took the information in, never revealing more than mild expressions of shock at various points in the long story.

Dumbledore sighed when they finished the story, and Dinah thought he looked a little wearier than usual. He summoned a house elf into the room. "Go fetch Professor Slughorn and Eugene Wilkins. Tell them they are to report to my office immediately," he told the elf, who complied and apparated away.

Harry was looking at Dinah in an odd way while they waited, and she finally realized why. "I'm sorry," she said. "I know Sirius is your godfather, I just..."

"No, I understand," Harry shook his head with a sigh. "I don't really like it but I can understand why you did it... at least from your perspective, not mine. I had never really liked the way he and my father behaved as kids in the pensieve-" he broke off when Severus growled at him.

"You should never have seen those things. Not the first time. And as if you honestly cared how your father and his dog mistreated another person."

"I did care! You know I cared! You gave me those memories the second time-"

"I had no choice," Severus looked away.

"Please don't mind him," Dinah had to say, putting her hand over Severus's and causing him to relax a little. "He's just uncomfortable in this form and I think seeing you when he looks like that... since you look so much like your father..." she left it hanging and shrugged.

"I suppose I understand," Harry admitted with a sigh.

"All right, let us try to remain calm," Dumbledore cautioned. "We have much to discuss today."

"You wanted to see us, Albus," a voice said from the entrance to the room and they all turned around in their chairs to see Professor Slughorn and Eugene.

"Yes," the headmaster said. "There are two young people here that I think... you would both like to meet. You, at least, should know them already Horace," he gestured to Dinah and Severus.

"Merlin's beard..." Slughorn's hand came up to cover his mouth just as his eyes recognized them.

Eugene, however, looked more confused than anything. "Students?" he asked Dumbledore.

"We are most certainly _not _students, Eugene!" Severus stood from his chair, meeting the potions assistant's look with a glare.

"Severus, please," Dumbledore said, causing Severus to sigh and clump down in the chair again. Dinah was surprised he didn't fold his arms across his chest. It would have fit well with the awkward teenager image he had going.

"Severus!" Eugene exclaimed. "But that is ..." he looked again at Severus and Dinah, and his eyes held a tiny glimmer of what might have been horror.

"You see the problem here, then," Dumbledore summoned up two more chairs and gestured for the two new stunned individuals to take a seat. "It seems Dinah and Severus have somehow imbibed your youthening potion."

"What!" the tiny glimmer of horror quickly turned to panic in Eugene's face. It was a sight Dinah had never seen on the man before. "But that is impossible! No, it is utterly _impossible_! They should not have – _could _not have taken it! It was not meant for them! It is impossible!"

"Eugene, what have you done?" Slughorn murmured.

"I have done nothing! This should not have happened! It is impossible!" Eugene repeated again.

"Please remain calm," Dumbledore chided, meeting Eugene's panicked expression with a firm gaze. "So you have no idea how this might have happened, nor who is responsible?"

"No! I... no, none! I have no idea. My extreme apologies to both of you," he almost bowed to Dinah and Severus in his distress. "I _never _intended this! The potion should not have fallen into the wrong hands!"

Severus stared at Eugene, his eyes boring into the other man's, reading and calculating. Dinah recognized legilimency easily now that it had been used on her once.

Eugene did not react, however; he simply sat straight up in his chair and met Severus's stare with a firm gaze of his own. "It is impossible. I know nothing of this."

Severus leaned back in his chair with a frown, and turned to look at Dumbledore, some understanding passing between their eyes.

"I see..." the headmaster murmured, mostly to Severus. He looked back at Eugene; "Any leads or suspicions you have would be most helpful."

"But I know nothing," the assistant said softly.

"_Someone _put the potion in our cocoa yesterday," Severus said, his quiet voice dangerous even in his young form. "It should have passed into our drinks in the kitchens around lunchtime, under the eyes of the house elves. It did _not _simply get there on its own."

"I realize that this is most inconvenient for both of you," Eugene said, and then turned to entreat Dumbledore. "But I am speaking the truth when I say I do not know how this could have happened."

"I understand," Dumbledore's gaze was almost harsh, though, as he continued to regard the potions assistant. "But now we, at the very least, need your help to get to the bottom of this. You will, I presume, tell us all you know about the potion and allow us to search your rooms for any evidence of the culprit?"

"I..." now Eugene looked nervous, his eyes darting back and forth amongst the people in the room. "I suppose I must allow it, mustn't I...?" he finished.

"Eugene," Dinah said softly, trying to sound encouraging when she spoke to whom she hoped was still their friend. "How does the potion work now? Is it... permanent?"

Eugene sighed and refused to meet her gaze. "At this moment, I think... potentially. Yes."

"No!" she exclaimed, an unintentional whimper escaping from her lips. "You can't! I can't stay like this!"

"I am sorry," Eugene still wouldn't look at her. "I can work on an antidote or a reversal spell. It is in the early stages, but I do not know... when or if it will be complete."

"Dinah, I am so sorry," Slughorn spoke for the first time in ages. "If I had any idea that our project would lead to something like this I would not have endorsed it, you must believe me."

"We understand, Horace," Dumbledore said in a softer tone. "But what is done is done. Now we must work on rectifying it. Eugene, you must understand the gravity of this situation. If we find any evidence that you are not telling us the whole story or you know more than you are letting on..."

"But I don't. I don't know anything about this!"

"Very well. Now all that remains is the matter of classes."

_ "All _that remains?" Severus demanded. "I think there is quite a bit more that_ remains_, headmaster. What about the fact that we will be children indefinitely or the dark storms or the choc-"

"Those matters will be attended to in due time," he cut in calmly, but his eyes suggested something else as he stared at Severus as though sending a message across to him. Dinah remembered that the headmaster was skilled in legilimency as well. Eugene's eyes also seemed to show something when Severus had said 'choc'. Yes, there was more to this than met the eye and Eugene was _not _being completely honest about the situation. Yet, there was no denying he was distressed over it, so Dinah still couldn't fully suspect him of foul play.

"Very well," Severus was subdued again.

"I do not think it would be prudent for you both to teach the students in these forms," Dumbledore said with a frown. "However, I also feel that you should still take part in the administration of your classes. Therefore, I have what I think is a reasonable solution."

"Which is?" Severus raised an eyebrow and Dinah had to smile. The gesture was the same in him as an adult and as a child.

"First, I think we should not tell the students anything today. You both need time to cope with your transformation and to adjust your lives accordingly. Your classes will be announced as cancelled at breakfast."

"Lovely. What will the students think when _both _Dinah and my classes are cancelled on the same day?"

The headmaster chuckled and for a moment the normal twinkle returned to his eyes. "I do not think that is something to be concerned with at the moment. Students will have their suspicions. They already know that you two are friends of a sort. But by Tuesday all will be cleared up, as we shall announce your predicament to the school."

"Do we have to?" Dinah asked, her voice more timid than she liked it to be.

"I understand that it is difficult for you," Dumbledore's gaze was sympathetic. "But if you are to stay here at Hogwarts it will eventually be known, and it is better to inform them all at once so that their reactions may be shaped and controlled, would you not say?"

"I suppose so."

"Then we shall announce that portion at Tuesday's breakfast, along with the scenario I will suggest to you now. I would like you both to continue formulating your lesson plans, as I'm sure you already have at least drafts for the remainder of the year, and you are both still the best in your respective fields. But given that you are now in adolescent bodies and - I think – your minds have been affected accordingly," he looked at Eugene for confirmation, and the latter nodded glumly. "That and the fact that it will be more difficult for the students to take the subject seriously when they are being taught by people who look like their peers..." Dumbledore continued, frowning. "These lead me to suggest that we have other individuals assigned to lead and administrate your classes. I believe we could assign Grubbly-Plank to you, Dinah. She is skilled in substitution and you can remain in the classroom with her, adding your views when you see fit and making sure it goes the way you want it to."

"I guess that's all right," Dinah murmured, not really very attached to the idea but unable to come up with a better alternative and not wanting to be ungrateful to the headmaster.

"Severus, you shall do the same, however..." Dumbledore frowned; "Choosing someone to administer your classes shall be more difficult. Placing faculty in the Defense Against the Dark Arts position has been historically difficult as well."

"That's an understatement," Harry groaned, and then the boy's eyes lit up. "What about Lupin? He was an excellent teacher in my third year."

"I am _not _working with that werewolf!" Severus snapped.

"Severus, please," Dumbledore frowned at him, nodding his head in the direction of Slughorn and Eugene. "You were aware of this Horace, but I must ask you to not spread the information around, Eugene."

"I don't even know who the man is," Eugene said quietly, still looking very off-put by the entire situation.

"Very well," Dumbledore said. "Thank you for the suggestion, Harry, but Remus has other priorities at the moment, and there is still the matter of the parents finding out about his status and complaining as there was in your year. No, I was actually going to suggest _you_, Eugene."

"What!" Severus stood from his chair this time as Eugene gasped. "How can you even suggest-"

"It is because of this situation that I suggest it," Dumbledore interrupted, gesturing for Severus to sit back down again. "I know your history, Evgeni Wilkins. You are highly skilled in potions, but you graduated at the top of your class at Durmstrang and received excellent scores in all fields. We have very few people to choose from for this position, and you would not be designing the class, only working with Severus to distill the information that he has planned to give the students. Because of your close connection to this... problem," he gestured at Dinah and Severus, "I think that the least you could do would be to offer your skills to us... to the two young people here who have been highly inconvenienced by your creation."

"I see," Eugene sighed, looking uncomfortable, but the way the headmaster was staring at him it was clear that he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. "Yes, I would be happy to help," he said quietly.

"Very well. Thank you. Harry, I would like you to go with Professor Slughorn and Eugene back to the potions room and their private quarters. You will take statements from both of them and do a preliminary exploration of the area. You will report back to me at two o'clock this afternoon and we will come up with a plan for the Auror department to investigate the dark magic that has been floating around Hogwarts as of late. We _may _choose to have an Auror stationed at the school, after all. Meantime, I would like to speak with Dinah and Severus alone."

There was some shuffling around as the three of them: Harry, Slughorn, and Eugene, left the room, and then Dinah and Severus were alone with Dumbledore.


	69. Adjustment

CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

Adjustment

* * *

Whatever Severus had still managed to hold inside of him took that moment to explode. "That's it? That is _all _you are going to say to them? What about the things Dinah saw in Eugene's rooms, the chocolate frogs, the cards with _you _on them, the drunken potion, the dark magic? What about the thing that attacked Peeves? And _why _would you even suggest that man teaching my class for me?"

"So that you may keep an eye on him," Dumbledore, very calmly, chose only to answer the last question.

It subdued Severus a little bit, at least. "Fine, I see the use in that, but it's still not enough," Severus snarled. "And what about his lies? He's an Occlumens, you know. I received _nothing _when I tried to read him. He is hiding something."

"All the more reason for you to keep an eye on him."

"Veritaserum would be quicker."

"It is too early for that. We would need further evidence of Eugene's guilt to even begin to bypass the legal ramifications of using such a product."

"What more 'evidence' do we need?" he demanded. "Aside from all of the suspicious things we have seen in his room it is also _his potion _that has done this to us!"

"That does not prove his guilt. You know we cannot use Veritaserum, Severus. I'm sorry," Dumbledore sighed, looking weary again. "This turn of events is not one which I had even suspected to occur. Even if it does connect to your prophecy Dinah, I still did not see it. There is something missing... a blank space that is still invisible to me." He sighed. "Perhaps I am simply getting old."

"That's impossible," Severus insisted, his tone changed to one of shock and conviction. "That would not happen to you. You are the only one who can see these things. We need you."

The headmaster smiled; "Thank you for your vote of confidence, Severus. But it has already been established in the past that I do not know everything."

"Still, your advice always pans out correctly. _Always_," Severus insisted, and Dinah saw so much admiration in her young boyfriend's eyes that there was no doubt in her mind that even though he sometimes complained about Dumbledore's knowledge, he found the old man indispensible as his friend and advisor.

"Again, thank you," Dumbledore's look at Severus was one of caring and comeraderie. It was true; the two of them were very, very close, as they had been for years now. "However," he stood up from the desk, wandering over towards one of the windows, looking thoughtful. "It is undeniable that there still remains a large missing piece in our current situation. I do not know why I cannot see it. It is reaching that part of me, that only part, that always remains blank when I try to think things through..." his voice was distant and it seemed as though he was only talking to himself. "It is like the last image in the Mirror of Erised..."

The item was unfamiliar to Dinah, but Severus's gaze was surprised when she turned to look at him.

He shook his head and smiled at them. "But no matter. I can only hope that the information will become clear soon. Until then, you should both probably head back to your rooms. More students will be emerging into the halls very soon, heading to breakfast. I assume you would like to pass through without drawing much attention to yourselves."

"Yes," Severus sighed, standing. "But I have one more question, headmaster."

"Yes, Severus?"

"What do you make of the chocolate frog cards with you on them? I fear someone may have a goal in mind to harm you..."

Dumbledore shook his head and smiled; "Let us not worry about that portion now, shall we? I will be able to take care of such a situation should it come up. As you've said, I always am." His words held a note of something else in them, though, that Dinah couldn't place.

"All right..." Severus still looked suspicious.

"I will see you both at breakfast tomorrow. Perhaps Harry will discover something when speaking with Slughorn and Eugene in their rooms. And I will continually encourage our new potions assistant to finish an antidote for the both of you. That is the most that any of us can do right now."

"More waiting," Dinah sighed. "Is that all we can ever do?"

"I am sorry," Dumbledore's eyes showed that he truly meant those words. "I can only hope that this does not last very long, but if there is a connection to your prophecy then it is out of my hands."

"I know," she whispered.

Severus came up behind her, placing both hands on her shoulders. "We should go," he said softly into her ear, causing Dumbledore to smile at them.

"Okay," she agreed, and they hurried together out of the headmaster's office and through the halls, the hoods of their robes up to hide their faces from the students that they passed. Neither of them had spoken of it, but they somehow ended up in her rooms.

"Your cat still seems to know who I am," Severus said, wiggling his robes as Godric batted at them, looking almost relieved about it.

"I'm glad," she smiled, moving to sit in the couch. "Um, so what do we do now?"

He sighed. "I think... I need to spend the day in my rooms alone. Not that I don't want you with me, I just... need to think this through, organize my things, try to figure out what I'm going to do in my classes tomorrow. You probably need to do the same."

"Severus?"

"What?"

"Should I tell my family about this? I feel like it's the right thing to do but I almost want to wait and see a bit. Maybe it will go away soon enough that we don't have to mention it to anybody. What should I do?"

"I... don't know, I never... I mean, I don't have a similar situation. I don't know what people are _supposed _to do with their families. With normal families," he finished quietly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I'm just... really confused," she wiped at the tears that had suddenly sprung to her eyes.

"Dinah," he took a hesitant step over to her, looking awkward as he always seemed to after transforming to this state. "I... am too. But we have to just try to do what the headmaster said, right? This is a good compromise, isn't it? We can teach our classes but we don't have to be in charge. Maybe they... won't make fun of us too much."

"What should we wear?" she asked, looking up at him. "Our current robes shrunk with us but our other things are all too big."

"Resizing charm. At least that's what I plan to do."

"I think I might resize and wear Muggle clothes..."

"What? Why?"

"I don't want to look like a student. I want to look like I'm different. If I look too much like I did as a student then... I'm afraid I'm going to _feel _like I did as a student. I don't think I can handle anything like that."

"Okay," he said, kneeling in front of her and pulling her into his arms. "Whatever you want."

"You don't hate it?"

"I don't honestly care anymore," he said, quietly, before drawing away. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure... at breakfast." She kissed him on the cheek and he gave her a vague, uneasy smile before standing, pulling his hood back over his head, and leaving the room.

* * *

Dinah wasn't sure what to expect at breakfast Tuesday morning, but she found herself standing in a doorway with Severus just outside the Great Hall, waiting with bated breath while Dumbledore explained their situation to the entire student body, amid the wildest reaction she'd seen in the hall that wasn't the announcement of the year's house cup winners. Students and professors talked and whispered and gasped and Dumbledore was only barely able to keep them under control so that he could finish his explanation.

"I know this is a unique, unusual, and unfortunate situation," he finally said, as Dinah and Severus reached for each others' hands at the same time. She wasn't even sure which one of them initiated it or how they managed to do it, but it happened, and it helped to calm her just a little bit. Soon, they would have to walk out there and be seen by _everyone_.

"I expect you all to be respectful to both professors in this difficult time. Your classes will be different for awhile, but rest assured we are working to rectify this situation as soon as possible."

"This is going to attract so much attention," Severus whispered to her under his breath. He had shrunk most of his clothes, as he had said, but decided to go with wearing the frock coat without the outer robes and cape, saying that he also had an aversion to looking too much like a student, now that Dinah had mentioned it. Dinah was wearing a casual blue Muggle dress, instead of any wizarding clothing at all.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"The whole world is going to be swamping Eugene about his potion now. People will want to interview him, buy it from him... it's going to be hard to keep an eye on him in the midst of all of it."

"I guess we just have to trust Dumbledore's judgment and that he'll take care of it."

"All right, please return to your meals. And refrain from staring or making a spectacle of yourselves when the professors come out in a moment and also while you are in their classes. Points will be taken from anyone who is disrespectful. Let that be a warning," Dumbledore's tone was solemn, more so than it usually was when he addressed the students. He stepped back from the podium and turned, gesturing for Dinah and Severus to come in.

"Let's just eat quickly and get this over with," Severus took a deep breath, letting go of Dinah's hand.

"Okay... um, you first," her feet seemed glued to the floor.

He winced, looking almost as terrified as she felt. "At the same time?"

She took her own deep breath and nodded, counting; "One, Two, Three..."

Neither of them moved.

Dumbledore watched them for a few moments, his eyes turning sympathetic. He looked out at the hall where all of the students were still staring, not eating their meals, waiting to see Dinah and Severus come out. "Please. Do not stare. Return to your meals," he announced to the room, and about half the students obeyed, although they kept sneaking glances up towards the front of the room when they could. Dumbledore walked to where Hagrid and Professor Vector sat and whispered something to them that Dinah couldn't hear.

The two exchanged glances and stood up, switching to take the two end seats so that Severus's seat and Hagrid's old seat next to it were empty. Then the headmaster came over. "You both need to eat. It will be better to appear in front of the students for the first time now than in your classes. Please, go sit. The assignments have been rearranged and those will be your permanent seats from now on."

"Thank you," Dinah said. At least she could sit next to Severus and they could support each other. Plus, Hagrid's girth would hide them from the student body, at least somewhat and from some angles.

"Please. Go on," Dumbledore stepped aside, gesturing for them to walk past him.

Dinah exchanged a glance with Severus and they both managed to step out at the same time, onto the stage. A collective gasp from the room made Dinah start running, hurrying into her seat and not looking at anyone if she could help it, staring down instead at the empty plate in front of her. Severus was quickly in beside her, making her think that he had done the same thing. It took another warning from Dumbledore before the room quieted down again and everyone addressed their meals.

Dinah was aware of an uncomfortable silence in the Great Hall as she ate, more picking at her food than anything else. A swift, furtive glance at Hagrid and Professor Vector revealed that they were not looking at her, but eating their food with awkward expressions. Nobody seemed to know how to react. Using only her eyes, she tried to get a glimpse of the student body. It appeared that most of them were still looking up at them whenever they could and whispering to each other. Dinah's eyes started to travel along the faculty table, but as soon as she saw Lucy looking at her she averted her gaze back to her food.

There wasn't enough time to see what was on her friends' expression, and she was glad. All she had noticed was that Slughorn was whispering something to her while Minerva listened in. Probably talking about them, but Lucy hadn't seemed to be listening so much as she was staring. Probably glaring, really, Dinah thought miserably as she pushed her eggs around with her fork. Surely Lucy hated her now, or at least never wanted to see or talk to her again. She hated that she had caused it, but there was no going back now. She would just avoid her. That's probably what Lucy wanted, anyway...

"I can't teach class like this," Severus said quietly next to her, in a low enough voice that hopefully no one else could hear. Dinah looked at him to see that he was nodding his head in the direction of the students. "Look at them. I'll lose all respect. My classes will be a laughing stock. I can't do it."

"Yes you can," she said softly, in a voice she hoped was encouraging, although she felt it came out more nervous. "We both can. We have to. You have to keep an eye on Eugene. That's important."

"I can't do anything useful in this form..." he mumbled, rolling his napkin into a tight ball and unrolling it over and over again.

She wanted to put her hand on his arm or his shoulder and stop him, but they didn't need any more stares from the students. "Yes, you can. You're still Severus. You're still extremely talented and you've always been good at discovering things." She forced a smile; "Besides, we're both so excitable in these forms it might even be _more _fun to yell at the students. Right?"

He had to laugh, and it relaxed her a little to see a smile on his face. "Well... I guess we have to just try..."

"That's right. It can't be any worse than this," she gestured at the students. "At least we'll have Grubbly-Plank and Eugene in classes."

"Eugene," he snarled. "How can I work with the man that did this to me?"

"You don't know for sure it was him. Just because he's hiding something doesn't mean it's this. It could be something else. Maybe related, but it still doesn't mean he intended for this to happen to us."

"Maybe not," Severus turned back to his food, but didn't look convinced.

Dinah managed to eat enough to feel reasonably full and then leaned back in her chair. "Are you done yet? Can we go?"

"Yes, let's go," he tossed his once-again rolled-up napkin aside where it hit Professor Trelawny by accident, muttered a 'sorry', and then got up from his seat and left to the doorway where they had come from, Dinah following.

"Let's just hurry to our classrooms. Eugene and Grubbly-Plank should be waiting for us," Dinah said. "Breakfast isn't done yet, so there shouldn't be many students in the halls."

It turned out she had underestimated the Hogwarts population. There were _plenty _of students in the halls and she could feel all their eyes on her as she hurried through, Severus close behind her. Passing by a group of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, she heard words being whispered from one boy to a girl.

"Can you believe how _funny _they look? The greasy git's just as greasy as a kid. Even greasier, in fact!" The girl giggled and made a noise of agreement.

Severus winced just as Dinah's newly-discovered adolescent fire got set off again; "Shut up!" she screamed, and everyone in the hall including Severus turned to look at her.

She didn't care. "One-hundred points from the house of any student who _ever _uses the word 'greasy' to refer to Professor Snape again! I can still take points, I'm still a professor!"

"Okay, okay," one student murmured, holding out his hands, and everyone sort of backed off and gave them a wide berth.

"Hmph, don't forget it, I mean that!" Dinah snapped. "Come on, Severus," she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him through the hall and into her classroom.

"What are you _doing_?" Severus demanded, grabbing her shoulders when they were safely into the room with the door closed. He looked more angry this time than grateful.

"What I had to do again," she said firmly.

"Well, stop! Don't defend me!" his expression reminded her of Speasy's when Mae defended him, but there was also some fear involved. "If you... I mean, we've... you've... _changed_..."

She sighed. "I know. So have you. We're so... excitable, like I said."

Severus shook his head. "That kind of behavior is what got me into trouble at this age. Please don't try to defend me any more. What if ... what if I call you... Mudblood?"

"Oh," she said softly, realizing where the fear had come from now. She lifted his hands from her shoulders and squeezed them. "It's okay, Severus. You won't do that, I know you won't."

"But what if I _do_? I'm not... I already feel like I did back then, like I'm not in control of my reactions. I can't risk doing that again. If I do you'll just... you'll..."

"I will _not_," she whispered, her voice fierce as she hugged him. "I promise. If you do that I'll know you didn't mean it. I wouldn't ever leave you. I meant what I've always said before. But you _won't _call me Mudblood. I know you won't."

"You don't know that," he whispered, his arms tightening around her, clinging once again as though he wouldn't let go, nestling his head against her shoulder.

"Severus..." she murmured, holding him closer.

"Ahem," someone's cleared throat caused them both to jump and pull away from each other, looking towards the front of the room to see the elderly Professor Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank standing there staring at them.

"Oh, no..." Dinah felt her fingers start twiddling and stuffed them her behind her back to hide the gesture. "Um..." she felt her face flare up and noticed that Severus also looked like he had just emerged from the inside of a volcano. "I'm sorry... I didn't see you there!"

"I didn't want to interrupt you two, but it seems... well, I didn't want it to get too personal with me standing here," she frowned. "Professor Snape, I believe you have your own classroom to go to."

"Er, yes. Fine. I'm going," he turned tail and left the room before Dinah even had a chance to say good-bye.

"Now, Professor Samson," Grubbly-Plank began, gesturing to the desk behind her.

"Um, Dinah's fine, I guess," she muttered, feeling odd being called Professor Samson in this form, even though she would probably have to have her students still call her that.

"Dinah, then," the old woman smiled, "we haven't really had a chance to discuss your class yet. I was hoping we could do so this evening and during breaks today. Right now, I know the headmaster just wants us to practice teaching together, see how things go."

"Sure. Um... well, today my lesson plan was to talk about paradigms..."

"What are those?"

"Oh," Dinah's face fell. This was going to be more difficult than she'd thought. "Well, we can just go over the raw basics today. We can talk in more detail after you've looked at my lesson plans I guess. My first class is the third years but there is a break before-hand as you know. I can tell you what I want to talk about, but... well, an hour isn't really a lot of time."

"I understand. Then we will do as much as we can."

"Okay."


	70. Changes

CHAPTER SEVENTY

Changes

* * *

Dinah stared at her third-year students and they stared back. Class would start in two minutes but already everyone had made it into the classroom and into their seats. Nobody had said anything yet, and therefore Grubbly-Plank, at the head of the room, wasn't trying to calm or discipline them or tell them to do anything. Still, Dinah wished _somebody _would tell them to stop staring at her.

She was standing off to the side, below the stage. She felt more comfortable here than up in front of them with Grubbly-Plank. Finally, the class bell rang and they were able to begin.

"Welcome," Grubbly-Plank said, smiling. "As you all know, I will be administrating Professor Samson's classes from now until such time as the youthening potion is reversed, and I will also be available with her during office hours to help all of you. Professor Samson will still be doing as much as she can, and I ask that you all show her the same level of respect you would if she was her normal age." She turned to Dinah; "Would you like to say something?"

_Great, _Dinah's inner monologue muttered, as she made sure her hands were behind her back and her stance stiff to prevent fidgeting. This was not going to be easy. She hadn't expected Grubbly-Plank to ask her to do something this soon.

"Um," she began, and then kicked herself inwardly. 'Um' was not the way for a professional to start her classes. "Thank you for... coming. I'm sorry if I won't be able to do as much as I usually do. Today we will be starting a new topic and I will try to help Professor Grubbly-Plank and you all as we try to... tackle it together. Er, are there any questions?"

"Yes, Mr. Reedham?" Grubbly-Plank asked as one of the Gryffindor boys raised his hand.

He looked at Dinah; "What's it like to turn young?"

"Um..." she began again, feeling shy and flustered.

"Mr. Reedham, questions about the _class _please," Grubbly-Plank chastised the boy. "This is a very new potion and its effects are still being understood. I am sure Professor Samson does not want to talk in too much detail about what it feels like at the moment. Try to understand that."

"Yes, ma'am," he lowered his hand, looking relieved that no one had taken points from him.

Dinah felt her mind grasping at something after that exchange. There was some way she could use it to teach her class, she was sure. But it was hard to get her head around it. "Um..." she resisted screaming at her self when she began yet _another _sentence with 'Um'. "This might actually be useful. Paradigms are kind of connected to this."

"Go on, then," Grubbly-Plank encouraged.

Dinah sighed, feeling like such a child being told what to do by her co-professor, but there was nothing she could do. "You all are very shocked by what happened, right? It is not anything you ever expected to see?"

There was a general consensus of bewildered nodding among the students.

"Being exposed to new forms of magic like this is kind of like how Muggles might feel when they are told that magic exists. It's very shocking and you don't know what to think because it doesn't mesh with any of the expectations you have been brought up to believe your entire life." When there was more nodding she felt encouraged to go on. "So when you want to fall into the... stereotypical thought pattern that Muggles are stupid or ignorant because they don't believe in or understand magic, try to think about how it would feel for everything you've ever known to suddenly be proven wrong."

"Does that make sense everyone?" Grubbly-Plank asked, looking impressed. Dinah tried not to feel too self-conscious. Clearly nobody had expected her to be able to come up with an explanation like that in her current form. Not least of which herself. Sure, the thoughts were still there, but she was surprised she had been able to articulate them so well, considering.

The Muggle-born Slytherin, and only one of three members of that house in her class, Tad Smyth, raised his hand and Grubbly –Plank called on him. "I think that makes sense," he said quietly. "I mean, Muggles just don't know anything about magic and that's because wizards make it so. They set up the International Statute of Secrecy, right? So how can they... er, get frustrated when Muggles don't understand magic if they are the ones who decided not to tell them about it?"

"Yes, that's right!" Dinah clapped her hands together, and then flushed at the childishness of the gesture. She would have to be more careful about that from now on. "Um, yes," she cleared her throat. "Very good, Mr. Smyth. Five points to Slytherin."

"But they set it up because Muggles hated and were jealous of us, didn't they?" asked Kendra McManus, another Slytherin, without raising her hand.

"Please raise your hand if you want to be called on," Grubbly-Plank chided, and then turned to Dinah.

"Yes, well that was true at times, to an extent," Dinah said. "But it's not really what he was talking about. We're not talking about whether the secrecy is right or wrong or how Muggles _feel _about magic, we're talking about whether they believe in it at all or not, and that is only because they've never been exposed to it. That's essentially what paradigms are. They're basically... your whole world. Everything that makes up how you see the universe constitutes your paradigm. And when you are exposed to something that does not fit with your paradigm, often you can't even comprehend it let alone start to interpret it. If your paradigm says magic doesn't exist and someone tells you it does, it's not something that you can even begin to accept without a complete rehaul of your... basic self and all of your ideas. Does that make sense?"

The class nodded.

"The concept of paradigms in this manner was originally developed by the Muggle philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn, but its implications reach many other disciplines. Basically, if two people with different paradigms try to talk to each other about their thoughts, most of the time they don't resonate with each other at all, because for each person the other concepts simply don't exist. But I don't think that life is always clean-cut like that. Things that seem to contradict each other often _do _both exist together, but maybe not in ways that we understand.

"Um, I guess I'm getting a little off topic. Basically, your paradigm lays out the way in which you expect things to happen, but when something happens that doesn't fit with that worldview, it can be very unnerving. That's kind of how I feel right now... being trapped in a young girl's body. Like something just happened that was not supposed to happen. Ever." She took a deep breath. It actually helped to get that out of her system and the students looked receptive. "So that said, I guess... well does anybody have any examples they'd like to bring up about a time when something happened to completely change your view of the world?"

A few students raised their hands and Dinah smiled. Maybe teaching in this form wasn't going to be so bad after all.

* * *

Dinah finally finished meeting with Grubbly-Plank about lesson plans late in the evening and hurried down to the dungeons to see Severus. She hadn't exactly been invited but she was going anyway. Although today had gone fairly well it had still been stressful, and she wanted to see how Severus was doing. Maybe he had the same problems she had had in getting her point across. Often her reasoning and how she got to her points had ended up convoluted. There were probably easier ways to get there but she had to fight with an adolescent mind that seemed to want to go to too many different places at once. Grubbly-Plank had more than once had to intervene and tease the point out of her.

She made it to the closed office door and knocked.

"Who's there?" Severus's young voice demanded from within, sounding rather angry.

"It's just Dinah," she said softly.

There was a pause. "_Alohomora_." His words and the soft click that followed told her that he had unlocked the door, so she turned the knob and walked in.

Severus was seated in his desk chair going over some parchments, but he had inched as far forward as possible so his butt was just barely touching the edge of the chair as though sitting fully in the large piece of furniture would be somehow deadly. He looked stiff, unhappy, and awkward as the chair even in this state did seem to dwarf his younger body. Dinah sighed and bit her lip when she met his gaze. This was harder for him than it was for her, at least so far.

"Hi," she said. "How did your classes with Eugene go?"

He scowled at her.

Dinah sighed, coming to sit in the chair across from him; "That bad, huh?"

"This whole system is pointless," he growled. "Eugene is hardly cut out for this job and I've gotten nothing useful out of him information-wise, either!"

"It's only the first day," she tried to be encouraging.

"It's not only Eugene! The whole class is transformed. I can't get the reactions out of them that I used to. They don't... _fear _me. They are supposed to fear me, Dinah! It's what I have based my teaching philosophy upon," he shoved the parchments aside with a look of disgust.

"I see..." she wasn't quite sure how to respond to that as she stared at Severus. She thought back to the older, snarky, demanding, monotone, unconventionally attractive Severus she had been with only two days before but it felt distant. Just like the older, calmer, more practiced, mature Dinah. Would those people disappear somehow? "Maybe you don't have to have them _fear _you to have them respect you."

He snorted. "Respect. Fear. It's all the same with my students. It's different in your classes. You just get up there and talk to them. You're like their friend. _I _am trying to teach them useful, potentially life-saving information. There is no room for... friendliness. Eugene is also too friendly. It makes me sick."

"Oh," she couldn't hide the hurt in her eyes. "I see. So my class isn't as... important as yours; that's what you're saying? That my classes are just a game?"

"Oh... um... no," he looked taken aback by her expression. "That's not what I meant. I'm sorry. See?" he sighed. "I do do cruel things that I don't mean to in this form without thinking."

"It's not that big of a deal. It's okay," she reassured him, feeling better now that he had sincerely apologized.

"Yeah, well," he refused to meet her gaze. "Either way, they respect you more than they could ever respect me in this form. At least you're pretty. They don't make fun of you behind your back. Not that they didn't always do it, but it never... bothered me that much as an adult... when I had fear on my side."

"Take a hundred points away from them," Dinah scowled, feeling angry as she always did lately when anyone mentioned making fun of Severus. "That's what I would do."

He had to smile at that, which made her feel much better. "I did take a lot of points today, actually. From all houses, even Slytherin. You were right about one thing at least. It _is _a lot easier to yell at the students in this form. It would almost be fun if I didn't think they were laughing at me for that, too. I probably looked ridiculous."

Dinah reached across and put her hand on top of his; "It's okay. It's probably good to get the yelling out of your system, anyway, no matter what people think." She grinned; "I did and look what a good mood I'm in!"

Severus slid his fingers into hers and squeezed her hand. "I still don't deserve you, you know."

"That's just silly," she smiled, letting go of his hand and standing from the chair. "For what it's worth, I actually _gave _five points to Slytherin today." At his surprised look, she added; "To Tad Smyth."

"Ah," Severus sighed. "That Muggle-born boy does seem to have some intelligence, I suppose."

"Yes... they really should be encouraged more..." she trailed off, not wanting to get too deep into the Muggle-born Slytherin issue right now after Severus's worries about the word 'Mudlbood' earlier today. "I wonder if Dumbledore has found out anything useful from Harry."

Her companion's face fell back into a scowl at the mention of his secondary arch-nemesis. "I suppose we'll find out at the meeting tomorrow." He looked down at his papers. "I still have a lot of grading to do, if I can even handle it in this form."

"We can handle it," Dinah said firmly. "I have grading, too. I know, since we're kids we'll make a game of it! Whoever finishes first is the winner!"

Severus laughed. "Now _that _is what's silly, Dinah."

She shrugged. "If you can't beat them, join them. At least... that's how I feel right now. Probably by morning I'll feel worse again. It's always been hardest in the morning."

"I know," he sighed. "I feel it too. It's when you almost forget for a moment that this has happened. And it's like the only time I remember what it felt like to be my older self..."

"Yeah... It's weird. I'm glad it's not just me."

"It's definitely not just you. So... I'll see you at breakfast?" his expression almost seemed shy, Dinah couldn't help but think. Did he want to ask her to stay over but felt awkward now that they were kids? She would ask him but she felt awkward about it, too.

"Sure..." she smiled. "Did you go to any of the meals today? I was meeting with Grubbly-Plank but I was glad to skip them. Still, I think it's good that we try to go to them at least sometimes."

"Those were my thoughts, too. As long as... we don't go alone."

"I definitely don't want to go alone," she agreed softly with a nod, and then smiled. "Good luck with your grading."

"You, too," he said, and she felt comfortable leaving him in a slightly better mood as she went back to her rooms for the night.


	71. Gift

CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE

Gift

* * *

Again, no one was talking to Dinah or Severus at breakfast on Wednesday. There was just the general uneasy feeling of being stared at whenever you let your guard down. It was awful, but the food was tasty, so she tried to let it slide off of her for now. At least her appetite had started to come back. Dinah looked up for a second, watching the sky above the Great Hall. If it was the real, unaltered sky, then the weather was still nice. Ever since the transformation she had been just waiting for another dark day, but it didn't seem like one was coming.

Returning her gaze back to her food, she passed over Lucy and noticed that her friend looked rather depressed. A sudden thought came back to her and she turned to Severus. "What date is it?"

"Date?" he almost looked relieved that someone was talking to him. "The twentieth. Why?"

"That's Lucy's birthday."

"Oh..." he frowned. "Right. I see. Well... but I don't think she wants to talk to us."

"No, not at all," Dinah sighed. "But... I can't just do nothing. I'd hate it if somebody forgot _my _birthday, even if I was having a disagreement with them. I know I said we'd leave them alone to sort through this on their own time, but... I think I'm going to send her something, at least. But what?"

"I don't know. But our classes are starting soon. Why don't you think about it and try to come up with something at lunchtime? We can eat in the dungeons together... if you want."

She smiled. "Okay. Let's do that. I'm sure I can think of _something _simple and nice to do, to let her know that I don't hate her. I don't know if it will make anything better, but..."

He nodded. "I guess that's the most you can do for now."

* * *

"Thank you very much for your kind attention, students," Grubbly-Plank said at the end of her first-years class. "Both myself and Professor Samson appreciate your understanding about what's going on."

Dinah nodded. It was mostly true, but Joseph Cantrell in particular seemed to be taking his work even less seriously than usual. Luckily, he was the only one, though. She'd probably have to face people like that in many of her classes while she remained in a sixteen-year-old body.

The students shuffled out, having been let out five minutes early, but one hung around. Mae Yates walked up to the front of the room, past Grubbly-Plank, and straight to Dinah. "Um... Professor Samson?"

"Oh, um... yes, Miss Yates?" Dinah asked, surprised. No one had come to her office hours yesterday and so she was surprised to be approached by a student.

"Um..." the girl looked shy, staring down at her feet. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened. I'm sure it's difficult. But I really still like your class."

Dinah smiled, surprised at how touched she was by the girl's words. "Thank you, Mae. That... really means a lot to me."

Mae looked up and smiled. "You're welcome. It's true. I liked the paradigm things you talked about today. I think Andrew has a lot of paradigms, and so do Wortham and Lee. That's why they don't understand each other."

"Wow," Dinah's smile widened. It was amazing how intuitive this girl was, even for a Ravenclaw. She seemed to comprehend the idea of paradigms a lot better than her peers, even if it was still a sort of innocent, childlike interpretation. "You know, I think you might be right about that. But that doesn't mean they can't learn to get along. It just... takes time."

"I heard you yelling at the students when they called Professor Snape... um, oops, I don't want to lose points."

Dinah had to laugh. "It's okay, I won't take points from you. So, I guess you heard that, huh? I... um, well when you get to be sixteen you'll probably find there are a lot of things you say without thinking too. Just a little warning."

She giggled. "I know. My brother is around that age and he does the same thing. But that was really nice of you, defending him like that. You like him a lot, don't you?"

"Er, well, yes," Dinah flushed, now _definitely _amazed at the girl's intuition. "But that's not something... I mean, don't go around telling..."

"I won't. I just thought it was nice, that's all. People are always saying bad things about him. I think he's pretty scary and kind of mean myself, but... Andrew can be that way sometimes too."

Dinah sighed. It seemed now even the young ones were noticing the parallels between Severus's youth and Speasy's. It was more unnerving than anything. After all, she was hoping to _discourage _her boyfriend's attempts to live vicariously through this young pair. And yet, it wasn't as if it mattered much anymore, after his birthday declaration that he was never going to get over Lily anyway.

She frowned and tried not to think about that. Besides, the idea of birthdays reminded her that she still had to think of something to give Lucy. "I'm very proud of the things you have been doing to help Andrew so far. They show such good character on your part. Just be careful, okay? That Joseph Cantrell is..."

Mae nodded. "I know. I try to avoid him. It's hard because Andrew likes him so much. But you always say we should take things slow."

"Yes," Dinah smiled. "I do indeed. Now, you probably have another class to run off to. But if you have anything else you'd like to discuss my office hours are always open."

"Okay," the small girl beamed. "Thank you, Professor Samson." She turned and left the room.

"That is truly an amazing little girl, isn't she?" Grubbly-Plank asked with a smile, walking over to Dinah. "I have subbed for her once before this year, and I was extremely impressed."

"She really is," Dinah smiled at where Mae had exited. "She really is indeed."

* * *

"What about a book?" Dinah asked Severus suddenly over lunch just as the idea occurred to her. When he frowned she had to protest: "But Lucy loves books!"

"Yes, she does," he said slowly. "But if I recall when we were at your... Muggle home over Christmas and you were off buying me colorful clothing which I still don't plan on wearing." He laughed at her pouty expression. "Anyway, Lucy was trying to give me advice about what to buy for you for Christmas. She basically told me in the midst of a very long monologue that she doesn't like it when people buy books for her. She already has most of them anyway, it seems."

"Oh," Dinah's face fell. "I guess that makes sense. Wow, you're more observant than I had expected!"

"Yes, well..." he turned a shy gaze back down to his food.

She smiled. "Well, now that you mention Christmas, though, I think she did tell me that she likes it when people buy her _gift certificates _for books, so she can pick out what she wants on her own. That might be good, do you think? It's also not overly personal so she won't be offended or think I'm sucking up to her or... whatever she might think, I don't know."

"That sounds fine," he shrugged. "But if you want to get it to her today you should send it now. The only place I really know of is Flourish and Blotts and it will take awhile for an owl to get to London and back."

"Oh, you're right!" she stood up from her chicken Caesar salad. "That's a good idea. I'll just send five galleons and a letter to them and ask them to deliver a gift certificate to Lucy's address... with a Happy Birthday note and a 'To: Lucy, From: Dinah.' I don't think I should really say more than that."

"Probably wise."

She jotted down the letter and summoned Rowena through the trapdoor in the ceiling, handing it off to her pet along with the money. "There. It should arrive by seven o'clock tonight or so."

"Good."

Dinah turned and walked back to the table to re-address her salad. "Thanks, Severus. I couldn't have come up with the idea without you. That takes care of that, then. All that's left is our meeting with Dumbledore tonight."

He sighed, turning a forkful of lettuce around in his fingers, apparently more interested in staring at it than he was in eating it. "That, I'm afraid, won't go as well as this did."

* * *

"I am afraid we have found nothing useful as yet," Dumbledore said later that evening, proving Severus's earlier suspicions correct. "Eugene and Slughorn's rooms are clean. We have found no trace of chocolate frogs, wizard cards, or another that might be living there. Eugene did admit being a fan of the treat, but he claims not to collect the cards at all, and I am afraid there is nothing we can do about that without any evidence to the contrary."

"What about dark magic? Evil things?" Severus asked, not backing off yet.

The headmaster shook his head. "No evidence to speak of. However, we are going to appoint an Auror to be stationed at Hogwarts at all times. Because they are busy they will alternate, and you will likely not see them as they will try to remain under cover as much as possible. But if anything is discovered, I and you both will be the first to know."

"Any word on the potion?" Dinah asked timidly.

He sighed, his eyes taking on a sad cast. "I am afraid there is as yet no progress on a reversal. Also, Eugene has clarified for Harry that the current iteration of the potion includes the factor that declares the age you return to to be the age you most need to relive."

"Why?" Severus demanded, his voice quiet. "_Why _do I have to relive this?"

"I cannot answer that for you... Severus," Dumbledore said softly, but there was something in his eyes that suggested he had some suspicion.

"Eugene told me," Dinah began, trying to change the subject as she didn't really want to think about why she had to relive this age either. "He said that the potion could make you stay young forever. Does that mean that we won't age normally or that we only won't if we keep taking the potion?"

"You will age normally unless you continue to take it, as I understand," Dumbledore answered.

Dinah sighed. "I don't know if that's better or worse." She smiled when Severus reached over to take her hand, his eyes concerned. "I'm okay," she said, giving his hand a squeeze. "Thank you."

"At least you are there to support each other," Dumbledore said softly. "You should be grateful for that."

"I am," Severus said, squeezing her hand again, and Dinah flushed at the conviction in his voice.

"Very well. Then unless there is anything else we need to discuss at the moment, you are both free to go. I would suggest that you continue your research into the dark arts, Tommy, and what might be going on around here. The library is full of books."

"You know something?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow in a gesture that was familiar in both his adult and child forms.

"Not so much a knowledge as a feeling. Whatever we are facing is likely not new – or if it is, there are still hints out there to be found. There almost always are."

"I don't know if I want to go to the library," Severus said, his hand still in Dinah's. "It's so... public."

"If we're together in a quiet space it should be all right," Dinah said.

"Yes, and I would encourage a gradual increase in exposure to the student body. It will not do for you both to continue to hide except for during classes. It will be easier to be accepted if you are visible."

Severus snorted. "Since when was I ever 'accepted'?"

"Same here," Dinah said quietly.

"Acceptance begins with just one person," Dumbledore said mysteriously, giving them a pointed look. Then he nodded toward the door. "I have many things to get to, as I am sure do the both of you. If you find anything of interest in your research, let me know."

"All right," Severus let go of Dinah's hand and they stood, heading back down to her rooms. They stopped at her door.

"Well, I'm glad he didn't say anything about the survey this time," Dinah said, relieved. "Maybe now that I'm in this form I'll find more time to work on it."

"Perhaps," Severus agreed. "So would you like to meet for breakfast again tomorrow? And then maybe lunch and dinner? And then after that we can force ourselves to go to the library and research?"

Dinah smiled. Since turning into children their relations felt much more like little 'dates', especially the way he kept 'asking her out' like this. It was odd, that they felt like they should go about it this way, after everything they had already gone through as adults together. But it was some kind of powerful adolescent instinct, and she couldn't stop her half any more than he seemed able to stop his. "Okay. Let's do that."

He smiled. "Okay."

"Hey, Severus? What do you think Dumbledore meant by 'acceptance begins with just one person'?"

"I think..." Severus ran a hand through his hair, as though trying to sort through his thoughts. "I think maybe he meant each other."

"Yeah?"

"Well," he stared at his feet. "I mean, I accept you. I don't know why anybody ever didn't, but I do."

She came forward and hugged him in the dark, empty hall, unable to resist immersing herself in his familiar warmth any longer. "Thank you. I accept you, too." _But if you find out that I'm a parselmouth... will you still accept me_? She closed her eyes and blocked out the thought.

Severus's hands slid into her hair and he pulled their bodies closer. "I know you do... though I still don't know why." He drew back and kissed her cheek. "But I still don't see how that makes other people accept us."

"Yeah, I know." She sighed. "See you tomorrow then?"

"See you tomorrow."


	72. Horcruxes

CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO

Horcruxes

* * *

Thursday went by fairly generically. Dinah and Severus attended all three meals for the first time since their transformation, although still no one talked to them. She had caught professor Vector watching her a few times, probably trying to think of something to say but not knowing what. It was okay, though. It was starting to feel like it had in her Hogwarts years, fitting with the horrible condition of her body. And yet, Severus was here this time. That already made a world of difference, even if they just sat by each other silently. She knew he was on her side.

Dinah had avoided looking at Lucy altogether today. She was afraid of what the expression on her friend's face would be after receiving the gift. If Lucy was still mad at her she would feel funny. If she wasn't, she'd come around on her own time, surely. Dinah couldn't put pressure on the relationship, after what she had done to Sirius.

The library was crowded after dinner as it usually was, but she had made up her mind not to back down from this. So she and Severus hurried through the throngs of students, trying to avoid the stares, until they reached the restricted section and went beyond the rope. That got a few more stares, but Dinah glared at them and it seemed to do the trick. After her 'one-hundred points from anyone who calls Snape greasy' outburst, the students seemed fairly cognizant that she was still a professor, even if it was somewhat in name only.

They buried themselves in between two bookshelves and found a small black table to settle into, and Severus pulled out a book. Dinah recognized it as the one she had gotten him for his birthday on that awful night. The last time they had looked at it together had been before Slughorn's party. "Did you finish the Horcrux chapter?" she asked, nodding at the book.

"I did," he agreed. "It doesn't tell us anything about the people who made them, but it does say this," he opened it to a marked page in the middle and read: "Successful Horcrux creation has only been recorded in very rare instances in wizarding society. See Dorian Pilliwickle: Dark Deeds and Dark Wizards: 1857."

"So some of those instances are described in Pilliwickle's book?" Dinah asked.

"It's what it sounds like. Now we just have to see if Hogwarts Library has it."

"Great! Maybe we'll get somewhere at last!" She smiled, deciding to try something, probably against her better judgment. "Aren't you glad I bought that book for you?"

"Yes," his finger's curled tightly – thoughtfully – around the book for a moment, and then he shook his head and stood up. "Okay, I'm going to go look for it. Wait here," he disappeared into the stacks.

Dinah didn't have to wait long before he came back, triumphant. He plopped the black book – one of the thickest she had ever seen – on the table between them. "Found it!"

"Wonderful!" she clapped her hands together and then flushed again at the gesture. It was something she seemed to do a lot in her young form. But Severus was smiling at her, so she smiled back. "It's huge though. I hope it doesn't take too long to find the relevant section."

"Hmm," Severus frowned down at the book, opening up the front cover. The parchment crinkled as he did so and a bit of dust flew out. It clearly hadn't been used in quite a while. "We might want to read the whole thing. Dark Deeds and Dark Wizards. Dark storms. There could be other connections."

At the mention of dark storms Dinah looked out the window again. But it was as sunny as ever. She nodded. "Okay. But let's find the Horcrux part first. One of us can borrow the book to read the rest over a more reasonable time period."

"Okay," it wasn't too long before they found the relevant chapter, as it was near the beginning of the book. Severus skimmed the first few lines and Dinah followed his finger along the page. Finally, it stopped. "Ah, here we are. A short description of Herp the Foul, whom we have already discussed, followed by this: 'Cedric Monteith, a dark wizard from the sixteenth century, was known to have created a Horcrux and inserted it into a dinner plate as an experiment to test how the magic worked.'"

"'The sacrifice to create the Horcrux had been a scullery maid." Dinah got up from her chair and walked so she was standing next to Severus where she could read better. "Upon Monteith's realization that the maid was actually his sister from whom he had been separated at birth, he was overcome with remorse for his actions. He destroyed the Horcrux and then himself, and it is presumed that because of this his soul was repaired in death..."

"Not excessively dark, was he?" Severus muttered.

"I'm more worried because it sounds like a Muggle soap opera," Dinah frowned. "But the book is historically accurate if your book references it."

"It still doesn't tell us too much. This man was nothing in comparison to the Dark Lord. One Horcrux as an experiment followed by remorse and destruction? That's tame in the light of what my former master did."

"He made six?"

"Seven, if you include Potter."

"And no remorse?"

Severus snorted; "Clearly not."

"Does the book mention what happens to you if you don't feel remorse and all of your Horcruxes and then you are destroyed? Harry said it was some sort of flayed baby thing."

"Not for this man. But maybe there are more examples." He continued to skim the book.

Dinah moved to stand closer to him, putting one hand on his shoulder as she leaned down to watch. He stopped for a moment and looked at her, then around the room, but when it was clear that there was no one in the vicinity he went back to reading, allowing her to leave her hand where it was.

"Here is something else," he said, pointing to something on the next page. "'Other instances of possible Horcrux formation are alluded to infrequently in the literature. Most information comes across as mere speculation, but there is evidence of at least one other creator of Horcruxes in the form of the witch Lucinda Asgard. Two were created, the only reported instance in which the spell was performed multiple times by the same person.' Odd. I don't know if this was recorded in other books or if it is true, but Dumbledore has said he believed the Dark Lord to be the only wizard to have made more than one."

"Perhaps she is not mentioned often because she was a woman. Either way, as of 1857, at least, the most Horcruxes anyone ever made were two," Dinah murmured thoughtfully.

"At least as far as it was known. That makes the Dark Lord's seven all the more impressive."

Dinah frowned, not quite liking the expression on Severus's face when he said it was 'impressive'. It seemed he still held a slight bit of admiration for the dark arts. "If impressive means horrible, then yes." She thought for a moment. "Severus, when they say Horcrux creation is splitting your soul, does that mean that each subsequent Horcrux splits it again?"

"I would assume so," he gave her an odd look, as though not understanding her question.

She realized she hadn't been entirely clear what she'd meant. "I mean, if someone, like the Dark – oh no, you've got me doing it." She smiled slightly at his amused expression and continued. "If someone like Lord Voldemort made seven, does that mean that he was an eighth of a soul, like all the pieces were split evenly, or-" she hurried back to her chair and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill. "Let me figure this out. So, the first Horcrux would be fifty percent, and then a second one would put you at twenty-five percent if it didn't go evenly..." she scratched ferociously at the parchment, the math getting more complicated as she got to the later numbers.

"What on Earth are you doing?" Severus asked, watching her with a raised eyebrow.

"There!" she exhaled, her expression triumphant as she leaned back in her chair and put down the quill, pushing the paper slightly away from her. "I was thinking that if somebody has made a whole Horcrux then their 'main portion' is only half a soul, so if they make another Horcrux and were splitting the 'main portion' only, then the 'main portion' would only be one quarter of a soul. If you continue in that way to make seven," she leaned back over the paper to get her number. "Well, then your 'main piece' is only going to hold 0.753125 percent of a soul!"

He blinked at her, looking a bit impressed. "That's... um, pretty insightful, I guess. Wow."

She sighed. "That's sad, isn't it? An eighth of a soul is bad enough, but what does it mean to be less than one percent of your whole self? Given that, I think your 'Dark Lord' is rather pitiable. No wonder he turned into a lost, flayed baby thing upon his death."

"I still don't like to use such empathetic terminology when referring to the Dark Lord," Severus frowned. "But yes, in an academic sense such a thing would be unfortunate. However, the Dark Lord _chose _to make those Horcruxes. If he did not take the time to consider the potential consequences I hardly think he used much of his soul even when he had it. Living forever or at least indefinitely was more important to him than his sense of self, if he even had any of that in the first place."

"Perhaps. But it's still sad. That he even reached the point in the first place where he didn't care about the loss of pieces of his soul. He must have researched _something _before recklessly creating seven Horcruxes."

"Six. The seventh was an accident when he killed..." Severus trailed off, looking away; but Dinah knew what he meant. "Anyway, I doubt he researched much beyond the fact that it would ensure his survival. Potter tried to offer him the option of remorse in the final battle as I understand it, and the Dark Lord was essentially unaware what the boy was talking about."

"That's sad," Dinah repeated, and Severus looked back at her and shrugged. She had to remind herself that she was thinking about this with respect to Tommy more so than Voldemort, and that it was difficult for Severus to think of his old master in any kind of sympathetic light. "So, I wonder... what about the other soul pieces? The Horcruxes were destroyed before Voldemort but he still had the option of remorse, so obviously they were still around to come back together even after their destruction, right? Then after his death what happened to them? Are they still floating around somewhere or did they just disappear? I'm of the mind that nothing that exists can ever just vanish completely. Basic law of thermodynamics."

Severus snorted. "Muggle science."

"Yes, basic physics and chemistry." She ignored his derisive look. "I used to talk about the subjects a lot with Dylan. But you know, there can still be changes in form." An idea occurred to her. "Do you think maybe one of the floaty soul-pieces form-changed into Tommy?"

"I don't know," he looked annoyed now, and she wasn't sure why.

"Does it say anything about those types of subjects in the book?"

"Not really," Severus, still frowning, glanced down at the book again. "The rest of this is mostly debating the moral and ethical issues related to Horcrux-formation. I don't see anything else that might be useful to us here." He looked back up at her, still with the grumpy expression. "This Dylan you mentioned. That's your ex-'lover', isn't it?"

Dinah stared at him, sure she had heard wrong. Was Severus actually _jealous _of Dylan? He had never shown such a reaction the other few times she had mentioned him. "Um, yes," was all she could answer.

"I see," he smirked, shutting the book. "What was this bloke like, anyway? You're always talking about him. Why did you break it off?"

Dinah had to smile. He _was _jealous! "I'm not _always _talking about him. I barely even mention him."

Severus shrugged.

"He was nice," she admitted. "I mean, I really had a thing for him at the time. But we broke it off because we just didn't fit together very well. After I told him about being a witch we had a harder time. Maybe I shouldn't have told him when I did, but at the moment I just felt so close to him that it came out." She smiled at him; "Like now, I've never been good at thinking about what I say before I say it."

Severus still looked unhappy. "It sounds like you regret breaking it off with him."

"Severus!" she laughed, but it only caused his scowl to deepen. "I wouldn't say I regret it. I mean, I was sad at the time because there were moments when I thought he and I would end up... well, you know. But I was wrong. He was too wrapped up in his work, less focused on me and our relationship. And he couldn't handle the total overhaul of his concept of reality when I told him about magic. I guess it's a lot like what I've been talking about in class lately."

"Right. Muggles are just like that," Severus agreed, finally looking a little bit satisfied. "What did he look like?"

"Wow, we're really enjoying the third-degree today, aren't we?" she giggled. "He was handsome, really. Blond hair, blue eyes, tall, well-built. I mean, really, he was fairly conventional. Normal boyfriend material I guess you could say."

"I see," Severus looked a little wilted. "You prefer the conventionally handsome type, then. Well, I can't say I blame you. You're so lovely. You deserve that type of man."

"Aw, Severus," she put her hand over his but he drew it away. "That's not what I meant. If you must know he was so conventional he was kind of boring, now that I think back on it. And it was never about looks. I mean, no that's not what I'm trying to say. I like _you_ now, Severus. You know I do. You're much more attractive and handsome to me than Dylan ever was."

He snorted. "Right. That's why everyone calls me the greasy git and makes fun of my nose and why Lily never even considered me as fair competition with Potter."

"I don't know that that's necessarily true," she said softly. "She flushed in that scene in the pensieve, when you were staring at her so intensely. I think it was all your behaviors that turned her off, not your looks. And I'm not Lily. I mean, I don't know if you think that's a good thing or not, but I'm not. And I really, _really _want to be with you now. Not Dylan."

Severus considered her. "You broke it off with him, right?"

"Well, actually, he broke it off with me, but- Severus, wait!" she exclaimed when he stood from the table. "Let me finish. I didn't mean-"

"I know you didn't but I really need to go back to my rooms and work on lesson plans." He slid the huge black book over to her side of the table. "You check this out and read the rest. I have too many other things to do right now."

"Severus..."

"I'm going to skip the meals tomorrow, too. I'm too busy, so don't come if you don't want to be alone. Good-bye," he marched out of the restricted section without another look back at her.

Dinah sighed and traced the gold letters on the front of the book. That had not gone well. Poor Severus. She hadn't intended to make him jealous, angry, or uncomfortable.

Well, there wasn't much she could do about it. Hopefully he would get over it. She stood and carried the book to the check-out desk, placing it in front of Madam Pince.

The librarian looked up from her paperwork only far enough to see the book sitting in front of her and muttered: "Students may not check out books from the restricted section."

Dinah resisted the urge to growl. "Madam Pince, I am not a student."

She looked up, finally seeing Dinah, and sighed. "Oh. Right. I'm sorry... Professor Samson," she looked uncomfortable, and waved her wand at the book, labeling it checked out, before pushing it back to her. "Bring it back by the end of the year."

"Okay," Dinah took the book and left, not wanting to be stuck in that uncomfortable position any longer. She tried to remind herself that this was just as weird for the faculty as it was for the students. Not to mention herself and Severus, although clearly they were the worst off.

She hurried into her room and shut the door, fighting back tears all of a sudden. This whole thing was so... overwhelming.

"Oh," she took a deep breath and calmed down when she saw her owl in the window. "Rowena, what brings you here? You have a letter for me?" She set down the book on the coffee table and walked over to take the envelope from her bird.

When Rowena had taken back off into the sky, she walked over and sat down on her couch, opening the envelope. A single piece of parchment sat inside. It read. 'Dear Dinah; Thank you very much for the birthday gift. Lucy.'

Dinah smiled. At least Lucy was not mad enough at her to be unhappy about the gift. Maybe, given time, they would be able to patch things up. The letter was simple, though, so it would probably be a bit longer before that happened. Dinah would not press the issue. Lucy would come around when she was ready.


	73. Bickering

A/N: Short chapter.

* * *

CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE

Bickering

* * *

Since Severus was not going to be at meals today, Dinah did the reasonable thing and skipped them as well. She wasn't really that hungry, anyway. Her break before lunch was the perfect time to go outside and think, especially as today the sun was exceedingly bright and the snow was even melting a bit. The dark storms seemed far away today.

She headed in the direction of the lake without quite knowing why. It was the site where this had happened. Maybe she had some kind of strange subconscious idea that if she went back there she could somehow turn back time and cause this youthening thing to have never happened. But that was ridiculous. Even a time-turner would not work in this situation. They only worked for small things and when incidents were sufficiently obscure that they could be changed. Here she was in young form, absolute proof that this was supposed to happen and absolutely nothing could change it.

Still, she could pretend. Plus, over by the lake there were fewer students to stare at her.

"Dinah!" a voice called.

She looked around. It hadn't sounded like Severus and there was no one in the vicinity that she could see.

"Over here," the voice said again, and Dinah turned to see a boulder by the lake which the snow had just freshly melted from, and a small black snake sunning itself on the top. Dinah recognized it as one of the ones she had asked to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity from Eugene.

After looking around once more to make sure there was no one around, she deemed it safe to head over to the boulder. "Hi."

"I came out from hibernation this morning," the snake said. "It was a warm day. I saw that man you told me to watch out for."

"You did?" Dinah smiled; glad something fruitful was happening in one part of her life, at least. She sat down on the boulder next to the snake; "Anything worth mentioning?"

"Yes, I think so. He was very angry."

"Angry?" That was an interesting development.

"I think so," the adder repeated. "It was over by the castle, very early. I did not understand the words but he was yelling at somebody, I think. I could not see the other person."

"Wow... I wonder what that means..." Dinah said softly, and then something occurred to her. "Wait a minute, how did you know it was me?" It was too much to hope that the potion had spontaneously reversed itself in the last two minutes.

"We can tell. You are the only person who looks like Dinah. And your wizard magic does many strange things. We are used to strange things when we live near Hogwarts."

Dinah smiled, touched by the fact that at least the snakes knew her no matter what and held nothing against her. Sometimes, she thought, the animal world could be nicer than the human one. "What could he have been angry about?"

"I do not know. But it was an argument. My impression was that the other person did something that your Eugene man did not like, because he also looked surprised and upset."

"I wish you had seen the other person!" Dinah exclaimed. "I bet it was the person who did this to us! Eugene knows who it is and is upset because he didn't want this to happen to us. I _knew _he was still our friend."

"Perhaps," the snake said.

"But he's still keeping what he knows from us. I wonder why. Well, thank you," Dinah stood from the boulder. "If you see anything else or especially if you discover what this other person looks like, please let me know."

"On warm days," the snake agreed pleasantly, and Dinah left to walk along the shoreline and think about the situation.

She hadn't walked far when she spied a familiar, black-clothed figure sitting near the spot where they had drunk the potion, staring out at the frozen water. "Severus!" she called, happier to see him than she had expected after yesterday's little argument.

He gasped and turned to look at her, his face full of light and hope, and then slowly his expression changed. His eyes took on a bit of realization and he considered her, looking thoughtful. "Dinah...?"

Dinah didn't know how she knew what he had been thinking. Maybe it was because his face reminded her for a moment of the face on the youngest Severus she had seen in the pensieve, at that park. "You were thinking about Lily..."

"I'm sorry," he frowned, looking a little guilty, and sighed, staring back out at the lake. "I was lost in thought, and... being in this body, I feel like I used to feel. I heard a young, cheerful female voice calling my name, and for a moment I thought I was back then. I expected to see her..."

Dinah tried to hide the pain in her voice as she approached him, but was afraid she was only half successful. "I see. I'm sorry..."

"It's not your fault, it was stupid." He picked up a rock and threw it. "I hate this body!"

"I know," Dinah made it to his side and put a hand on his shoulder, sitting next to him. "Me too."

"Eugene is stupid. He might be able to send us back to the age we need to relive but we can't do anything over again. I can't see her again and make her... love me. Make everything change. So what's the point of being in this form again when all I can do is think about everything I did wrong the last time I was in it?"

"I don't know," she admitted, leaning her head against his shoulder, hoping to offer some small bit of comfort to him. "I don't know that he was thinking much about its usefulness, really. More about some way to standardize the potion's effects. At least, I hope that's it."

"Maybe," Severus didn't sound like he cared much either way.

"Speaking of Eugene and the potion," she said, hoping to change the subject; "I found something out today."

Severus moved away so that he could look at her, his expression curious again, finally distracted from his thoughts. "What did you find out?"

"Well, I..." Now, the question was how to put this without revealing her parseltongue ability. "I saw him this morning. He was arguing with somebody about something."

"Arguing with who?"

"I don't know; I didn't see the other person. And I was too far away to hear what they were saying. But I think Eugene was upset with them. I think he knows who did this to us and is not happy with that person. I bet it's the person I heard humming in his rooms that day."

"That's intriguing," Severus frowned. "Maybe I can work with that and try to get something out of him in class. But I don't understand something. If you were too far away to hear them why didn't you sneak closer? Didn't you want to get the details of what was going on?"

"There was no... real place to go," she said, starting to think that mentioning this to Severus had been a bad idea before she had a reasonable plan for how to go about explaining it.

"Indeed?" he didn't look convinced. "And why were you unable to see who he was arguing with? Could you not at least have found that part out so we can do more with the information?"

"I-" she paused, realizing that she hadn't asked the snake why it couldn't see the other person either. "Well, there was a doorway. The other person was on the other side, so I couldn't see..."

He glared at her. "You're keeping something from me." It wasn't a question.

"Uh, no really I'm not," she murmured, nervous. "I really... I mean it was just an awkward situation. I couldn't tell the whole thing because-"

"Save it," he stood up. "I'm going back to get ready for my class. When you decide to tell me the whole truth come and find me," he stormed off again.

Dinah moaned and buried her face in her hands, feeling miserable and guilty. Somehow she'd set him off again. She was lucky he hadn't use legilimency on her after that, although she suspected that he didn't want to do it anymore after what happened the first time. But she would have to be much more careful about her parselmouth instances from now on, just in case.

He really was overly sensitive and excitable in his young form, she was realizing the more and more time she spent with him like this. He got frustrated and angry so easily. Then again, if she had lived through what he had the last time he had been sixteen maybe she would have been the same. As it was, her own faults were already being exaggerated. She wasn't thinking carefully about anything, was just spontaneously saying and doing things that got her into trouble.

Being sixteen was horrible! She had no idea why some Muggles _ever _said that secondary school was the best years of their life.


	74. Intensity

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR

Intensity

* * *

Dinah wasn't sure what to do for breakfast on Saturday. She had skipped dinner yesterday because she assumed Severus's declaration that he would not be going to meals on Friday still stood, but... today was Saturday. What if he decided to go and she wasn't there? She couldn't let him be alone. But if he didn't decide to go and she went then _she _would be alone. So what was she supposed to do?

Maybe if she just crept in and peeked she could find out if he was there or not and then either stay or leave accordingly. Yes, that was a good idea.

She finished dressing in a new set of Muggle clothes and headed out of the room. The stares were still there, of course, as she walked through the halls, but she was getting used to them. Part of it may have been her Muggle clothes, but she knew most of it was her youth. At least people weren't' whispering about her with the same awful things they did when she was a student. Yes, they whispered about her, but at least it wasn't as hateful or hurtful. Severus, on the other hand, was getting what he had always gotten. Even if nobody said greasy git aloud she knew that's what they were thinking. If she could give them all detention just for their thoughts she would.

Permanent, eternal detention.

She walked into the hall leading up to the staff table and peeked in the door. Severus was not there, but Hagrid, Professor Vector, and many others were. Well, then he wasn't coming. For some reason she felt hurt. He didn't know if she was coming either, and so he had effectively left her alone if she had come. It was probably stupid to think that, but she did.

She sighed and stared at Lucy, who was talking to McGonagall. Slughorn was being quiet. In fact, he had been rather unusually quiet since the incident. Dinah had no suspicions of her former potions master whatsoever. It was clear that he was deeply disturbed by the situation and had nothing to do with what had happened to them.

Her friend seemed grateful not to be hounded by Slughorn anymore, but she still didn't look happy. Probably still mad about what Dinah had done. Dinah sighed. All she could do was wait and try not to bother her too much.

She turned around to leave and ran smack into Severus.

"Oh!" she flushed and jumped back, meeting his eyes.

"Dinah..." he said, staring at her.

"I was going to-" they both began at the same time, and then stopped, staring at each other some more.

Dinah couldn't prevent the smile from spreading across her face, and after a moment Severus smiled too. She could no longer resist walking up and hugging him. There was nobody in this hallway and nobody could see them. She buried her nose in his neck and inhaled the scent of his silky hair just as he slid his arms around her waist and tightened them, pulling her body so it was pressing as close to his as he could get it before his other hand wandered up and began stroking her hair. It felt _so _good, Dinah couldn't help but think. It had been too long since they'd been this affectionate with each other.

"I didn't want you to be alone, so I came just in case," she said softly.

"Me too. I felt the same. You really came."

"Of course I did."

"Dinah, I'm sorry. Lately I've been acting so-"

"No, no, it's fine. I know this whole thing isn't easy," she loosened her grip on him a little bit and moved back so she could see his face. He was looking at her with that new look in his eyes that she had begun to see after she hit Sirius, and a small smile still remained on his face.

"Dinah," he said her name again. He said it so often lately; she almost forgot how it had felt when he didn't. She closed her eyes as his fingers stroked her cheek and the side of her face, the warmth and gentleness making her sleepy. "Let's not stay for breakfast," he finally continued. "We can take it in my rooms instead."

She couldn't argue. "Okay..." she smiled as he took her hand and led her through the halls, not dropping her hand even when an occasional student passed by them. Granted, he didn't look at the students and he seemed embarrassed, but at least he didn't let go. Dinah, on the other hand, had to lock eyes with each and every one of them and was pretty sure her face got redder each time. Thankfully, they managed to make it to the dungeons without too many weird encounters.

Breakfast was croissant sandwiches and porridge, and Dinah finally felt hungry again so had two servings of each. Severus watched her with an amused expression, but seemed in a hurry to finish his own food and impatient for her to do the same. Finally, she took a last guzzle of her orange juice-pumpkin juice infusion and he stood from the table. He took her hand and led her to the green couch, sitting next to her, again not on his normal side. "Did you finish reading that book?"

Dinah stared at him. It seemed an odd question for the way he was acting. "The whole giant black book? Since Thursday?" She laughed; "Not likely."

He smiled at her when she laughed, making her flush again. "I found some other books that might be of use. I had no choice. Yesterday, Eugene and I did class research in the library. He insisted on it. It was kind of suspicious. I have a feeling he was looking for something very specific, but from what I saw of the books he skimmed there was no common thread. So eventually I started ignoring him and looked up stuff for us."

"That's good," she smiled, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She noticed that Severus's eyes followed every tiny movement her hand made.

"I want us to look at them today," he sounded insistent.

"Sure. It's Saturday. Why not?"

He scooted closer to her, taking her chin into his hands and tilting her face up to look at him. "Dinah, I..."

Her face flared. "What?"

"Thank you... for trying to come to breakfast today," he leaned closer and caught her lips with his, his hand wandering from her chin into her hair, pulling her face to him.

She moaned a little and wrapped her hands around his neck, intent on enjoying this. They hadn't locked lips in almost a week, not since right after the transformation. For some reason, being in an adolescent body had made her shy about their relationship, and it seemed like he had felt the same. But sixteen wasn't quite that young, and the sixth years were known to try a lot more than just kissing, so she supposed... eventually, they would have to get over this shyness.

Severus seemed a little _too _intent on doing so, after awhile. The kiss had started out slow, but now his free hand was rather low on her waist and his tongue was tracing her lips, trying to force them open for him. She couldn't deny him the access, and she felt one of the strongest electrifying sensations in her lower body that she had ever felt before. It must have been the age and the hormones. Yet, still, this was strange... "Severus," she managed to squeak out when he let her take a breath. "What are you doing?"

"Shut up," he growled, "I'm trying this again." His mouth came down over hers once more.

She moaned again, but now it was one of stress. No matter how good this felt, she didn't think she could handle a third repeat of him taking her to the brink and then dropping her when he thought of Lily. "Severus, I really don't think this is such a good-Mm!" she broke off when he kissed her again, his body coming down on top of hers, forcing her back onto the couch, and she couldn't resist anymore.

She couldn't even_ think_ anymore as she grasped the buttons of his coat with one hand and his hair with the other. If she was pulling too hard he didn't utter complaint, just deepened the kiss, his hands wandering over her hips and down the inside of her leg. This was what she got for wearing tight Muggle jeans today. She tried to pull herself up to him and put their bodies in full contact, sliding her foot up his own leg, trying to feel every tingling sensation that ran through her. His lips were just traveling from hers to her neck when a loud noise broke them both out of their reverie.

Severus lifted his head and scowled at the trap door in the ceiling, where the noises were coming from. "Owl..." he snarled, but seemed to have been taken out of the moment enough that he was able to stand from the couch and head over to get it after muttering a 'we're not done here' to her.

Dinah tried to breathe evenly as she sat up in the couch, watching him take the letter from the black bird. Her cheeks were still so hot that she felt almost feverish and she crossed her legs more tightly than usual as she watched him.

His face only got angrier as he read the letter, and finally he tossed it aside. "That infernal potions assistant! Does he think I don't have anything better to do on a Saturday?"

"What does he want?" Dinah murmured.

"A meeting. Right now. All day. Discussing the progression of the class. He's already on his way over, so there's nothing I can do."

"Oh," she sighed, relaxing in her position a little bit as the intense feelings very slowly began to leave her.

"I'm sorry," Severus came over to sit next to her, on his normal side this time, and he took one of her hands into his. "I don't know why Dumbledore suggested that man. He's taking the position and running with it as though it's his life's work. I doubt Grubbly-Plank is taking _half _as much interest in your class as Eugene is taking in mine."

She laughed a little. "Probably not. Well, maybe he's doing it because he feels guilty about the potion."

"Perhaps," he sighed and shrugged, then brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face with the gentlest touch, regarding her with a thoughtful expression. "Dinah, now that... he's on his way over and we're out of the... moment, I think maybe you were right. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all. I don't want to hurt you again." At her sigh he winced and looked away. "I'm already hurting you, aren't I?"

"No, no," she put her other hand over their clasped ones and squeezed, causing him to look back at her. "You're probably right. It's better not to... rush into something like that. It's okay, I understand."

"You seemed like you were enjoying it, though," his voice was hesitant.

Dinah blushed. "I was. You make me feel so good, Severus."

"I don't know what I'm doing."

"Yes, you do," she leaned over and planted a brief kiss on his lips, her first full initiation of the act as a child. "Believe me," she smiled when she pulled away. "You know what you're doing."

It was his turn to flush a little. He stood and helped her up from the couch. "You'd better go. Eugene's coming. I'll try to get something out of him again, although I don't know if it will work."

"Okay, you do that. I guess I'll start reading that book for you," they walked through his office and to the door together. Severus opened it to let her out, revealing Eugene standing there with his hand poised to knock.

"Oh, hello Dinah," he looked uncomfortable when he saw them both together.

"Well, we'll continue our research later," Severus said pointedly to Dinah, his voice flat. "See you at breakfast on Monday."

"Um, sure," she wasn't sure if he was saying that just for Eugene or if he really didn't want to see her again until Monday. But the potions assistant was standing right there and making her anxious and so she couldn't really ask. "Okay," she said to him. "Breakfast on Monday. I'll... take my weekend meals in my rooms," she turned and left down the hallway, hoping that declaration had been enough. It didn't mean they wouldn't see each other on Sunday, just that they wouldn't be in the Great Hall for meals.

* * *

Dinah finished reading the Horcrux chapter in its entirety before closing the book. Severus's claim that it hadn't held anything much more useful had been mostly accurate, but there was one thing that had struck her a bit while reading.

The author had stated that rumors and speculation still abounded of undestroyed Horcruxes lying about from dark wizards who had created them. Apparently there were many rumors of Horcrux creation besides the two more clear examples the book had stated, but they were hard to verify. It left her wondering what it was that made a Horcrux 'activate', if that was even the term to be used. If a Horcrux creator died before his or her Horcruxes were all destroyed, wasn't the point of a Horcrux that they would be able to come back to life somehow? The question was, did the nearest or closest Horcrux flow into them in some way or did the Horcrux itself take on some kind of life? She tried to remember exactly what had happened to Voldemort during his first 'death' after he had attempted to kill Harry Potter, but couldn't. Severus probably knew, though. His former master had definitely been around in _some _form between that day and his later revival.

Not that any of these questions necessarily applied to Tommy, but they were still interesting to ponder.

She set the book down on the coffee table and headed into her bedroom, Godric following. As she climbed into bed, she noticed the sky darkening outside. It didn't bother her very much, though. It was winter, and it couldn't stay sunny forever. Besides, there had been a dark storm last weekend, although it felt more like a million years ago. They never occurred so close together, did they? Only during those early days when the weather stayed inclement for a long time.

Those days seemed even more distant, she thought, as she let herself fall asleep.


	75. Darkness

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE

Darkness

* * *

_Dinah was walking around on the Hogwarts grounds. It wasn't winter anymore, but a clear, sunny summer. The sky was a fresh blue and birds twittered in the distance as she traversed what was probably her favorite place in the world. It was so beautiful here. When she had been young, it was the one thing that had brought her comfort from the turmoil inside the school, walking alone on the grounds._

_She looked down at herself and was surprised and relieved to see that she was an adult again. She wore her normal robes and was the proper height and everything seemed normal, except that the grounds were strangely empty._

_Come to think of it, this didn't feel right after all. It was too empty. She heard birds but did not see them, and there was no breeze. Not even the tiniest sign of life was visible on the grounds when she would normally see at least a rabbit or a fox or even a snake._

_That last thought made her realize just how familiar this spot was. It was that hill arching down toward the forbidden forest where Wortham and Lee had spotted her talking to an adder back in September._

_She continued along the hill, her footsteps echoing in the silence around her as the bird noises grew distant, being swallowed up by another noise._

_And the she saw it, on the ground in front of her just a little to the left, coming into view all of a sudden as though it hadn't been there before and had just appeared, although she could not pinpoint the time when it did so._

_It was childlike, small, and writhing. Its skin was flushed red and it only looked half human as it squirmed, crying out in insistent, animalistic whimpers. It was both disgusting and pitiable, Dinah couldn't help but think as she knelt in front of it, its lost cries echoing across the empty grounds._

_This was what Harry had described, the flayed baby which marked what was left of Lord Voldemort, she was sure of it. The shell holding no more than an eighth of a soul, and more likely 0.753125 percent of one. But this was the Hogwarts grounds, not King's Cross Station. She'd have to ask Dumbledore and Harry what that meant._

_She felt for this creature. A slow, sort of lost feeling of sadness was starting to well up inside of her as she watched it, overpowering the part of her that was disgusted by it. It continued to squirm, crying out in a sort of strained, empty, hopeless agony. Desperate for a help that she couldn't give it._

_She reached out to it, wanting to be able to do something. But there was nothing. She couldn't even reach far enough to touch it, she was too afraid, and for that she felt ashamed. No living being, no matter how evil, deserved to remain in this state forever._

_Dinah bit her lip as she watched it, unable to move, the sun and birds seeming to fade away as she focused solely on this thing. How could any living creature live a life so horrible that it led to this in the end? How had the boy she knew in the bathroom, the lonely one without friends, transformed into the heartless Lord Voldemort and then, after all of that, into this?_

_But was it really permanent? Tommy's existence had to mean something, right? He was there. She had seen him. There was a part of Voldemort, however small, that was not incorporated into this pitiable thing yet. And she would do everything in her power to prevent it from being incorporated thus._

_At her thoughts, the creature slowed, and then stopped. Its small arms ceased their wild waving, and it turned its half-shut, slit-like eyes to look at her._

_Was she going to be able to help it?_

_All at once it opened the eyes, and they glowed red, wild, and evil in the summer light._

_

* * *

_

Dinah gasped and shot up in bed. She turned her gaze to the window, noticing through her intense breathing and throbbing heartbeat that the storm outside had intensified. The sky was black and pierced with lightning, while snow swirled with such violence that she couldn't see more than a few feet into the dark night.

What was that all about?  
She looked down at her hands and bit back a sigh when she noticed that they were still young. She brushed her disheveled hair away from her face and leaned back on the pillows, staring at the ceiling. It had felt so natural and normal in the dream, being adult again. Yet now she couldn't imagine it.

And that flayed baby... It wasn't supposed to be evil, she knew that much. It was supposed to be more... empty, and yet its eyes had clearly glowed red. Even now, it frightened her and made her uneasy. How much truth was in that nightmare? It had felt too real at the time not to have some sort of meaning.

Unable to sleep, she got out of the bed and walked to the window, looking outside, trying to see into the storm. A flash of something skeletal had her backing up, unable to breathe.

A dementor. There were dementors being summoned to the school again. If it came in to get her...

She uttered a sigh of relief as a bright light pierced through the darkness out her window, taking the shape of a Jack Russell terrier which chased the dementor down. The Aurors were here, she remembered. They would take care of things and keep the dementors away.

Still, she didn't like being this close to the window, so she left the bedroom. Dinah wasn't really sure why her feet continued walking to the door, but they did. She opened the door and stepped out into the hall, where the sounds from the storm were a bit muffled.

Tommy was out there. Tommy needed her.

She didn't know how she knew that, but she did. She was going to that bathroom and she was almost certain it would look the way it was supposed to. Fresh, new, and waiting for her to enter and talk to her young friend.

A small voice in the back of her mind reminded her that she had said she would take Severus with her if she ever sought Tommy out again during a dark storm, but she had a feeling he would not be there this time if she did so. Maybe that was why he hadn't been there last weekend, either. And Severus was too hostile towards Tommy. He didn't understand. Until she could make him understand, she couldn't involve him in this, no matter what he said. She had waited this long, biding her time and following Severus's instructions when it came to Tommy, but it was time to ignore those things and follow her own instincts. She had to go see him. Today. Now. Alone.

And so, despite her slight feelings of guilt, she continued down the dark halls toward Tommy's lavatory.

As expected, and now eerily so, it was just as normal-looking as ever. She tried the knob and it opened. It was strange to think that she was walking into a ruined lavatory when it looked so new, but she tried to push those thoughts aside for the moment. She had to find Tommy.

He was in his usual stall, his face buried in his hands, cringing as he hid from the noises of the storm outside.

"Tommy?" she said softly.

He jumped and looked up at her, sniffling and wiping his nose on his robes, his large dark eyes surprised as he looked her over. "Dinah?"

"Yeah, it's... yes, it's me. I, um... know I look a little different but-"

"You turned young. Is that my fault?"

She blinked. That was an odd thing to say. Perhaps it would provide some more insight into his nature. "Why would it be your fault?"

"Bad things are always my fault," he said, his eyes empathetic as he looked at her. "You look sad. You don't want to be like this, do you?"

She sighed and knelt down in front of him, her new body making it so that she was just below his eye level instead of right at it. Perturbed by this, she forced her kneeling position higher, although it was less comfortable. "No, I don't, but... I don't think it was you that did this to me. There were a lot of extenuating circumstances and... no, it wasn't you. Don't worry."

Tommy didn't look convinced, but he nodded. "I'm sorry this happened to you."

"Me too, I guess. You know, when I was this young the first time I had a lot of the same problems you had. I didn't have any friends. The people in the school were always talking about me behind my back. It was... hard."

"But you didn't hurt them," Tommy said quietly.

"No," she sighed again, looking away from him so she could stare down at the cold stone floor. "But they acted like I did, or like I wanted to. Because I can... like you, I can also... talk to snakes."

"I know," he said, surprising her. "You can hear the whispering."

"The whispering?" she repeated. "You mean the whispering noises that come with the dark storms... the ones in the background?"

"Yes. That was always parseltongue. It was usually so far away you couldn't make out the words, but the voices always follow me. They got close to you last time though, so you could hear them. They were talking about you."

Dinah's heart began fluttering faster. The voices speaking her prophecy in Slughorn's rooms. But how did Tommy know about that? She hadn't seen him in the bathroom that day; then again, Severus had been there... "How did..." she paused and swallowed, her throat dry, but not because of Tommy. She was remembering the voices. "How did you know that they were talking about me?"

"Because it was not about me."

"What?" she was confused.

"The voices only talk to me and you. So if they were not talking about me, it had to have been you."

"Oh, I see." She wanted to ask Tommy what he thought about the words; if he understood anything about her prophecy and how it connected the two of them, but the boy was already thinking about something else.

"There is only one voice that is not in parseltongue."

"One voice?" She probably sounded like an idiot repeating things, but this was about gathering information. She wanted to get everything the boy had to say out of him before he disappeared on her again. She would try to interpret everything later.

"Yes, it's not like the others. It's new. It came just a little before you came. It's the only voice that isn't scary. I think it's waiting for something, but I can't always understand it. It's hurt by the other thing, too."

"What other thing?"

"The storm-bringer," Tommy's voice turned low and frightened and he wrapped his arms around himself. "Every time I'm here in this lavatory there's a bad storm now. Always. When I'm here there's a storm. It's getting closer."

"The storm?" Dinah asked, just as a crash of thunder filled the room.

"It's coming to get me, Dinah," his tone changed in an instant and a cold shudder ran through his body, causing Dinah to want to hug him and make him warm again.

"What's coming to get you?"

"The thing. The one with the red eyes. The one that does bad things. I can't escape it."

The thing from her dream. The flayed baby. That had to be what Tommy was talking about, hadn't it? The almond-shaped eyes opening on her revealing flaming bright-red pupils surrounded with white. Empty and deadly. But that meant that Tommy knew about it, too.

Severus's old warnings echoed in the back of her head. The evil energy left from Voldemort, whatever it was that caused the dark storms, was using Tommy to manipulate her. No parts of the Dark Lord were good. Yet she knew unequivocally in this moment that that was wrong. Whatever Tommy was, he was not evil. He was separate from that thing. He wasn't lying to manipulate her. He was truly frightened.

"It wants me, Dinah. It's always wanted me back. It wants to make me empty just like it is. It wants to take me away. Help me, Dinah! Please!" his voice became desperate just as Dinah started to hear the whispering again. She shivered a little herself at the incomprehensible parseltongue. Tommy leaned over, covering his ears as his body began shuddering with violence. "Help me!" he moaned once more.

Dinah had a vision of the flayed baby before it opened its eyes. The half-human emptiness, the idea of being so little of a soul, so little of yourself, that life didn't matter anymore. It reminded her of the feeling she had in the library that one day, from the dementor. No happiness, no meaning, no point to anything. She couldn't let that fate befall Tommy.

"Tommy, it's okay," she came forward, wrapping her arms around the little boy's shaking shoulders, hugging him. "It's okay," she repeated, feeling him relax a little as she spoke. "I won't let it get you. We'll keep it away from us. I'm always here to talk to you."

"You're my friend," Tommy whispered, more of a statement than a question, pressing his head into her shoulder, his hands still over his ears, hiding from the voices.

"Yes. I'm your friend. I will _always _be your friend."

Next thing Dinah knew there was a flash of lightning and she was hugging herself. Alone in the lavatory. The storm still raging but the voices gone.

She let out a long breath and looked at the spot where Tommy had been, now an empty toilet. But she wasn't afraid anymore. She wasn't afraid of Tommy, only of the voices that seemed to be after both of them now.

And those voices were gone, for the moment. She had a lot to think about tonight after this discussion with Tommy and the nightmare she had had before it. As she stood and left the room, she turned all of those items over and over in her head, trying to find some kind of common thread to link it all together and get to the bottom of this situation.

But there were just too many things to contend with, she thought miserably as she crawled back into bed. There was _still _something missing in all of this, a connection that hadn't yet been revealed. And until she figured that part out, she had a feeling the puzzle would remain incomplete.

Thinking about flayed babies, voices, red eyes, dementors, dark storms, parseltongue, and a million other items and connections that floated around without any meaning or closure, the sleep she finally fell into could be nothing but fitful.

* * *

Dinah opened her eyes to a loud, insistent knocking on her door. A quick glance out the window let her know that the storm hadn't ended or really calmed down at all, but she wasn't really that worried about it at the moment. She groaned and turned over, pulling her pillow over her head to make the noise go away, but it was no use. The knocks only got louder.

"Fine," she snarled, her irritable adolescent hormones getting to her again. She tossed the pillow aside and clambered out of the bed, throwing an outer robe over her pajamas and stomping to the front door. "What?" she demanded, throwing it open.

Severus stood there glaring at her.

"Oh... hi," she said, relaxing a bit.

"'Hi'?" he repeated, his tone incredulous. "Is that all you can say? Why didn't you come and get me last night or this morning due to the dark storm?"

"I, um... didn't realize it was a requirement," Dinah said, a little taken aback in her still-sleepy state.

He actually growled at her. "Didn't realize it was a requirement? What do you think we've been doing together this past year? Do you think I invited you to spend the night in my rooms all those times just to be frivolous?"

"I wouldn't mind if it was just to be frivolous," she murmured, still not fully awake yet.

"You are missing the point! I'm supposed to _protect _you, Dinah! The Dark Lord wants you! I don't know how or why but he does and you are most vulnerable during these dark storms!"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry," he snorted. "I don't hear from you all night or all day and then I find out from the headmaster that Hogwarts was running rampant with dementors all night to the point where Weasley was barely able to take care of them all on his own and all you can say is 'sorry'?"

"Weasley?"

"The _Auror _and a member of the golden trio of previous years! But that is irrelevant. Are you not listening to the words that I'm saying?" he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her over to the couch, sitting her down and not taking his glare off of her.

"I'm listening," she frowned, trying to get all of his words to fit together in her brain. "All day? What time is it?"

"It is _noon_, Dinah!" his voice was exasperated.

"Noon!" she paused. "That's funny. I don't feel like I slept that long. I guess it's because I slept so badly, then."

He sighed, dragging his hand through his hair, pulling at it a little bit this time as he collapsed onto the couch next to her. "You slept badly because of the storm and you _still _didn't come to get me."

"Why didn't you come and get _me_, then?"

"I fell asleep! Believe it or not I do do normal human activities like that!"

"Yeah, well so did I!"

"I would have come earlier this morning but Eugene was hounding me and then the headmaster met with me to tell me about the goings-on last night... honestly I expected better from you, Dinah. You should have been awake and at the meeting. You should have been with me all night."

"Aw, Severus, that's sweet," she smiled, but the snarl didn't leave her boyfriend's face. Then something that he had said earlier came back to her. "Wait. Dumbledore's here this weekend?"

"Yes, why wouldn't he be?" Severus suddenly frowned. "Wait a moment. Did something _happen _yesterday that would normally happen while he was gone?"

"No!" she shook her head vigorously, shoving away the guilt because she knew that she wouldn't – _couldn't _tell him about Tommy. At least not until she had more of these odd connections figured out. "I mean, just the storm. Nothing _else _happened..." She inwardly begged that he would take her at her word and not consider using legilimency.

He gave her a look that suggested he didn't entirely believe her, but after a moment nodded. "All right. Fine. From this point forward we do not spend our weekends alone. And if for some reason a dark storm decides to appear during the week then you are to come to the dungeons and find me _immediately_."

"Yes, _or _you can come here," she retorted, meeting his gaze with a determined one of her own.

He stared at her for a few moments, and then finally laughed. Dinah exhaled and laughed as well, glad he had finally lightened up a bit. "Okay, okay. We'll just find each other somehow, how's that?" he said.

"Good," she smiled, and then yawned. "Now, if you don't mind I was trying to catch up on sleep when you so rudely burst in here."

"You're going _back _to sleep?"

She looped her arm into his and nestled her head in his shoulder. "Unless you have any objections."

"I..." he flushed a little and then turned so he could put his arms around her, pressing her head more closely to him and stroking her hair. "I don't. I'll just stay here with you..."

"Thanks, Severus," she murmured, her eyes closing. "You know, being in this form isn't so bad with you around."

He pressed his lips into her hair, smiling, and his other hand stroked her shoulder before he whispered; "Your pajamas."

"What?"

"The purple ones. You transfigured them with a resizing charm."

She giggled, remembering when she had used the pair to flirt with him before Christmas. That seemed like ages ago. "I did. I told you, they're my favorite. More comfortable than the normal nighttime robes and very soft and cozy."

"They are," he said, continuing to stroke her shoulder, as Dinah's face flushed even through her sleepiness. "You were right. I like them."

She smiled. For the first time the storm outside seemed distant and she felt safe and comfortable; "Good night, Severus."

"It's the afternoon," he laughed. "But okay. Good night."

Dinah didn't know much else of what happened after that, because she slept all day and all night, Severus never leaving her side the entire time.


	76. Research

CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX

Research

* * *

Dinah went back to the library after dinner on Thursday to read up on more dark arts stuff. She wanted to check out the other books that the one she'd borrowed had referenced in his Horcrux section and other sections, and now seemed a reasonable enough time to do it.

Although they were going to spend all their weekends together now she hadn't seen Severus much during the week. When she did see him, he mostly moped around and complained about Eugene, although he did at least seem a bit more cheerful when they were alone together than he did at meals or when she passed him in the halls. All in all, he seemed to be getting more and more depressed as the days went by.

There was nothing she could do except try to be encouraging though, she supposed, as she opened up the book and took out a parchment to start making a list of the references she wanted to look for. She tried to ignore the stares as she did so. She had decided to make a point of trying to not hide this time, and so was right smack in the middle of the library, in the midst of a bunch of gawking students. She bit her lip and started writing down references. The best way to get her and Severus through this awkwardness was to face it head on, right? After all, it wasn't like anyone knew about the prophecy or the fact that she was a parselmouth. They couldn't do to her what they did when she was originally this age.

"What are you _doing_?" a voice demanded.

She looked up to see a rather stressed-looking Severus staring down at her from where he stood in front of the table.

"Researching," she replied stupidly.

"_Out here_?"

Dinah sighed. "I know. It's just, I think it's better if we try to get over this issue, don't you? The more they see us the more used to us they'll get. Even Dumbledore said so. So I was trying to kickstart that."

"That's easy for you to say. They don't stare at you like they stare at me. Look at them!" he gestured out at the library and half the students who had turned to look looked hurriedly away in embarrassment, or perhaps fear.

She frowned. It was true. Now that Severus had come in more people were staring than had been when it was just her. But, maybe it was just the addition of a new person and it would die down quickly. Then again, this was different for Severus. He was awkward and unconventional, and people could be _so _cruel about those things. Like they were with Speasy...

"You're right. I'm sorry, I didn't think. But Severus, we can't hide forever. We have no idea how long this potion is going to last and I think we should at least _try _to expose ourselves more. It will be better in the long run, even for you, I promise."

"Fine, fine, fine! We'll do it your way!" he growled, clumping down in the seat next to her, only drawing more stares with his behavior.

"Severus," she touched his arm very briefly. "Please relax. People will be less likely to stare if you stop being so excitable."

He shot her a challenging glare. "Can _you _turn off your instinctual adolescent behaviors?"

Dinah sighed; "It's hard, I'll admit. But let's just try to relax, okay? Here," she showed him her piece of parchment. "I started making some lists of books this one references that might be useful. Want to go see if you can find some of them while I finish up?"

"I guess so," he snatched the parchment and stood up, scanning it and then seeming to head for whichever one he had identified that would likely be found in an out of the way place.

Dinah went back to making her list. She was just finishing up the last reference when a voice said; "Professor Samson!"

She looked up to see a small girl with shoulder-length, dark brown hair, and a cheerfully surprised expression standing next to her chair. "Oh. Hello, Mae," Dinah smiled. She wasn't sure when but somewhere along the way she had slipped into calling the girl by her first name outside of class. It just felt natural that way, and Mae didn't seem particularly shocked by it, so it was probably fine.

"It's nice to see you here. You aren't usually wandering around outside of class anymore. Are you researching something?"

"Yes," Dinah agreed. It probably wasn't a great idea to expose this small child to material from the restricted section, especially Horcruxes.

"I was working on the paradigm essay for class," she paused. "Um... is it okay to use Muggle references in it?"

"Absolutely! I like it when you take sources from all different places. And well, after all the point of the class is understanding between the worlds. So you can definitely do that," she frowned, pretty sure that hadn't sounded as professional as she would have liked it to.

"What about real life examples? If I don't use names, I mean," Mae looked even more hesitant at this question.

"Hm," Dinah paused. "Well... I assume you're referring to-"

"Here," Severus returned, plopping a pile of five books of varying thickness onto the table next to Dinah. He frowned when he noticed Mae standing there.

The girl cringed a little bit, but said boldly; "Professor Snape."

"Miss Yates," he sat down, not looking at her. "Well, any more for me to find?"

"I finished the list," she handed the parchment to him. "But maybe we should look through these ones first before we go and get more."

"Whatever you think," he grabbed the book from the top and opened it, burying his face in it and shutting out the world around him.

"What are you researching?" Mae asked Dinah.

"Um, well," she frowned, not sure what the best way would be to answer that question. "Actually we're researching some material that... could be used in Sever- in Professor Snape's class." There, that wasn't quite a lie. It _could _be used in his class, although it never would be.

"Oh! That's nice. Something we will study later?"

"Not you. This is material that can only be taught to older witches and wizards. It's... rather dark."

"Oh, okay. Do you help Professor Snape with his research a lot, Professor Samson?"

"How is this relevant to anything?" Severus suddenly demanded, lowering the book and glaring at Mae. "Do you not have something better to do, girl?"

"Severus," Dinah put a hand on his arm for a moment. "Be nice, please." She turned to the nervous-looking Mae, "Don't worry, you're fine. It's nice to have somebody to talk to. Most of the other students seem to be a little, er... freaked out about the transformations outside of class."

"I know. Some of the students talk about it. Somebody said that Mr. Wilkins should be getting more publicity for the potion. Like offers of money."

Severus and Dinah exchanged glances. "Come to think of it, that _is _rather odd," Dinah said. "You mentioned that before too, Severus, but I haven't heard _anything _about publicity or it being sold or the like."

"Perhaps the headmaster is refusing such offers until such time as this incident blows over?" Severus suggested.

"No, that doesn't feel right," she murmured. "Something's up. Oh, I'm sorry Mae. Thank you for coming over. Is there anything else you need?"

"No. You two have a lot on your plates right now, don't you? Can I help with something? Maybe I can look for books in the regular section that you might want to see."

"You shouldn't interrupt your studies for that," Dinah said, causing the little girl to look disappointed. She frowned, considering; "But, well, if you really want to help, maybe don't seek anything out specifically but keep an eye out for interesting information. If you see or find any very unique information about... ghosts, or... well, or the Dark Arts, maybe you could show what you find to me? As long as you make sure you stay in the unrestricted sections and keep up with your regular studies," Dinah said.

"Great! I will! Thanks!" Mae looked positively ecstatic and skipped away to the other end of the library.

"That girl is as nosy as Miss Granger," Severus growled, watching her go.

"No, they're quite unalike, actually," Dinah said thoughtfully. "Not that there's anything wrong with Hermione, of course. She's great, but Mae is – oh, speaking of!" she cut herself off, pointing across the library to where Hermione was walking through the tables, engaged in blissful conversation with a tall red-headed boy not dressed in school robes. "Who's that she's with?"

Severus snorted. "Weasley. This week's appointed Auror and her _boyfriend_. If you'll excuse me, Potter and Granger likely blabbed about our transformation to him anyway but I have no reason to allow him to see me in this state," he lifted the book so it was blocking his face again, but Hermione and the boy were too wrapped up in their discussion to even look over.

Dinah felt a small smile creep across her face. "Ah, so that explains why Hermione has seemed so distracted in class this past week."

"Likely," she could hear Severus's eye roll in his voice.

"Oh, let them be. It's good for her to loosen up sometimes. Anyway, I had a couple of questions for you about Horcruxes that I haven't gotten a chance to ask yet."

"Certainly, but first let me show you what I just found," he lowered the book that he had had his nose buried in and pointed to the center of the page.

Dinah leaned over and read. "Evidence suggests that Horcruxes are normally inert objects while the creator is still alive. However, each possesses a strange power that _may _be activated under certain circumstances when the creator is still living. Insufficient evidence has been collected in the field, however, to define what these powers are or predict how an individual Horcrux shall behave."

"It's not much, but it makes me wonder, that first sentence," Severus said. "How are Horcruxes 'activated' upon the creator's death? When they are _not _still living?"

"That's what I wondered, too!" Dinah said. "I was going to ask you what happened to Voldemort when he was originally 'killed' by Harry. The first time, not the second time. All those years. Did the Horcruxes sustain him or did they activate?"

"At least one activated during that time, though I do not know quite how," Severus frowned. "The Diary. We might ask the headmaster, or Potter or the Weasley girl if it comes down to it, but I'd rather not. Normally, the existence of the Horcruxes simply sustains the individual as you said. They were the reason he did not die, but existed in some small, skeletal form until – what?" he turned his frown to Dinah.

She realized that at his mention of 'small, skeletal form' her eyes had widened as she thought of the red-eyed demon baby from her dream. That flayed baby had not been quite skeletal, though, so she didn't know why she'd thought of it. She forced her expression back into normalcy. "Nothing. So, Horcruxes don't even always 'activate' when the user is dead? Or, but he wasn't dead. I – oh, I don't understand this," she shook her head. "Why is it so complicated?"

"I don't know. I think 'activation' is more of a description of the action of the piece of soul inside of the object. It should have some thoughts or awareness, since it is still a soul piece, regardless of whether the creator is alive or 'dead'. The ring had a curse on it and it was strong enough to doom the headmaster to death. I'm not certain of the action of the remaining Horcruxes, but Potter would know. The Diary was the strongest as far as I can tell. It was able to take on physical form, after Miss Weasley's association with it."

"The diary was the first Horcrux created, correct?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Well, then according to my mathematical calculation the other day, the first Horcrux made would be 50% of his soul. Because each one splits it. So it would make sense that it was the strongest. It was more whole than Voldemort himself was. Unless I'm wrong about how they're split."

"Either way, it still may be that the first Horcrux is stronger than the later ones. Good insight," Severus nodded.

She smiled. "Thanks. So, what was he like in the interim again?"

"The Dark Lord that was revived in 1995 was a shrunken, skeletal creature. But I do not know where or how he came to be that way, because in 1992 when I first encountered him after his initial defeat, he was an almost non-corporeal, ghost-like form, only able to remain somewhat solid by drinking unicorn's blood. He was also capable of possession – taking other bodies for his own. Perhaps that is eventually what he did for the second form. For a time in that first year he had possessed the predecessor of your predecessor, Professor Quirrell."

"Yes, I heard of him. He was Muggle Studies professor for a time."

"A rather incompetent one, actually. Of course, he was even worse at the Dark Arts. Charity Burbage was a somewhat worthy replacement, but I wish it had been you. You should have been here much sooner. It would have been better if you were here."

"Severus," she smiled, and then chuckled, "Although in that case I think it would have been me who was killed by Voldemort."

"That's not what I meant!" he exclaimed, causing a few nearby students to stare.

"Shh, I know," she pressed her finger over his lips briefly, calming him, and smiled, "I was just joking."

"Don't joke about that. I wasn't even thinking. Obviously that would have been... terrible. I only meant that I wish I had known you earlier."

"I know," she repeated. "Believe me, I feel the same way. But I guess what matters is that we know each other now, right?"

"Yes. It's true," he looked at her for a moment, then flushed and cleared his throat, turning back to the book. "Either way, that's all I saw here. I think we might try to find more references to that Lucinda Asgard, the woman who supposedly made two Horcruxes. I would also like to look up Herpo the Foul. I want to know if the details of his Horcrux creation are recorded anywhere as more than just a brief mention."

"All reasonable ideas," Dinah agreed, jotting down the notes on a new piece of parchment.

"Dinah, what are these books for?" he took her completed list and pointed to a bunch at the bottom. "They aren't about Horcruxes."

"Oh," she flushed, trying to remember this as she had rehearsed. "I just read the whole big book like you said and there were some other parts that interested me. I was thinking... I'd like to learn about other dark creatures that might be associated with Tommy. I also wondered about that flayed baby thing Harry talked about. Maybe it's discussed somewhere independent of Horcruxes."

"I don't know why it would be," he raised an eyebrow at her. "It's not something that anyone but Potter and the headmaster has ever seen, and it occurs after death so should have no affect on the living."

Great, that had come out all wrong. "It's just an odd feeling I get," she improvised.

Luckily that seemed to satisfy him and he shrugged. "Well, whatever you think. It's not like we have many other leads." He looked at the list and sighed. "The list is long. And all of these books were published before 1857."

"I know. It's a start," she smiled. "This is why Muggle databases are useful. You can do backwards citations to find stuff that has cited something. So we could find out what modern books cite this one," she tapped the big book.

Severus scowled at her. "Well, we don't have that here."

"Just admit it, it's useful."

"No."

She laughed. "You never change. But, you know what? I don't really mind it anymore."

He chuckled, "So does that mean we get no more debates?"

"Oh, I'm sure we'll still find plenty of things to debate about. I'm about to do some of my initial survey analyses. If you _want_, I'll show you my early results. I hope I get something great that changes your entire outlook on the Muggle world!"

Severus snorted. "Good luck with that." She laughed and he smiled. "You knew I would say that, didn't you? You even... wanted me to."

"You're catching on," she smiled and opened the nearest book to her. "Still, I _do _hope to show some things to you... eventually. You're open and intelligent and listen to the things I say, even when you don't agree with them. I like that."

He smiled. "I like that you're defiant and challenge my opinions even when I stubbornly refuse to change them. You share the usual idealistic traits with your predecessors, but that doesn't bother me so much in you. Maybe it's the way you argue your opinions or maybe it's just because I enjoy being with you so much. You are... a pleasure to debate with. I thought so from the very first time."

She beamed at him. "Severus, I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

"Really? I was of the opinion that I had said nicer things to you," his smile was teasing, and he seemed to be in a much better mood than he had been in earlier today.

"You probably have," Dinah blushed and looked away, burying her nose in the book.

She heard Severus sigh next to her, but he was silent for a long time before he hesitantly said; "Dinah?"

His tone made her look up. "What?"

He wasn't looking at her, but his hand was on the table, covering up some object that he slid over to her side. "Here," he withdrew his hand to reveal a small silver key.

Dinah just stared at it for what felt like an eternity; unsure if what she thought she was seeing was really what she was seeing. She looked at Severus again, who was red-faced and still not looking at her. "Severus, is that...?"

"The key to the dungeons. Yes," he looked further away. "I want you to be able to come down whenever you want to. You're always welcome there. And not just because of the dark storms. I just want you to be able to come."

She placed her fingers hesitantly over the key, tracing its surface, her heart beating fast. "Severus," she clutched the key, lifting it up and turning it over in her hands so that it caught the light. She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling warm even though she wasn't touching him. "Thank you," she looked over at him, "Are you sure about this?"

"I decided awhile ago, I just didn't know when or... how... to give it to you," he said, finally turning his hesitant gaze to look back at her.

She smiled, still not believing this was happening, and then a thought hit her. "Oh, then, absolutely," she dug into her robes and found a spare key to her rooms, sliding it over to him. "You should have mine, too."

"I, um..." he looked a bit nervous as he stared at it. "Please don't think I was giving you mine just to make you give me yours. I wasn't."

"No, no," she pushed it closer to him; "I know you weren't. But I want you to have it. It really makes sense, doesn't it? That... at this point... we should just be able to see each other whenever we want?"

He smiled, taking the key over to his side. "I think so. I think what you said at Christmas at the Leaky Cauldron was... I always, always want to see you. Well, I feel the same."

She just stared at him. He remembered those words of hers, and felt the same way? "Severus..." she lowered her voice to an undertone and smiled at him. "I really, really want to kiss you right now."

Severus flushed, his eyes darting around the room. "Um... well... you'll just have to... wait..."

Dinah laughed, "I know, I know. I can wait. I look forward to it."

"Thanks," it was an odd response, and he looked away from her again, his gaze suddenly shy.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, um, can we take a break from reading for a bit?" he said, absently tracing the letters on the front of one of the books.

"Sure. Do you want to play a game? They've got wizards chess sets here but they also have gobstones, I think. Let's play that, for something new!"

"Umm," he stared at her, his face oddly unreadable. "Gobstones. Well, I suppose we could play that if you really wanted to."

"I know there's not as much logic involved in it as wizards' chess," she said, and then laughed, "but maybe that way I'll actually have a chance at _beating _you at something for once."

"We'll see about that," he said, his face flat, and summoned a set over to them.

They played a quick three-game set of gobstones, and much to Dinah's dismay Severus managed to beat her _every single time_. And yet he didn't gloat or tease her about it in the way he usually did with wizards' chest. In fact, he was fairly stoic throughout the entire play period.

She sighed, waving the set away with her wand. "Unbelievable. How do you do it? Am I really so incompetent that I can't even beat you at a _non_-logic based game?"

"It's not that," Severus said with a shrug. "Gobstones is hereditary."

"Hereditary?"

"My mother."

"Ah... oh!" she nodded as she just remembered a brief moment from the pensieve where another woman at King's Cross Station had asked Severus's mother if she still played gobstones. Dinah regarded Severus for a few moments. His solemn, uninterested face, and his slow, methodic, thoughtful way of playing the game. "Severus? You really did love your mother, didn't you?"

He stared at her, his expression unreadable, and then finally shrugged again, turning away from her to stare at the table. "She wasn't so bad all the time, really. It was mostly his fault she was the way she was."

"Yes," Dinah sighed and stared at the table too, realizing that was the most in the way of an answer she was going to get out of Severus at the moment. "That makes sense."

"Here," he shoved a book over to her. "Let's do some more reading before the night is over. Maybe we can look through all of these, and then finish the rest of the list up at least by the end of this weekend. Then we can begin the search for more modern sources."

"Okay, that sounds like a plan," they finished reading the old books, not getting much more out of them than they had already discovered, and then walked back to Dinah's rooms together. The halls were mostly empty at this time of night, but an occasional student drifted by, and Dinah noticed that as soon as one passed Severus quickened his pace, hating being seen by them, stressed by their presence.

They stopped at the door to her rooms and she let them in. When they got in and shut the door she suddenly smiled. "You know, I could have let you open it this time."

Severus flushed a little. "Yeah, I guess you could have. Hi, Godric," he pushed the cat lightly away with his foot and Godric came back. They battled for a few moments before he turned a smile to Dinah. "Well, good night. Sleep well. I, um... hope your classes go well tomorrow."

"Yours too."

He shrugged, not wanting to talk much about that as usual, and then leaned forward. She met him in the middle and they kissed, finally able to do so now that they were alone. The kiss lingered longer than their normal good-night kisses, and she slid her arms up around his neck, her fingers traveling through his hair to the back of his head, pulling him closer to her. He responded instantly, his fingers clutching her waist and moving down to her hips, pulling her body against him. The kiss began to intensify...

"Mm, we have to stop this," Severus pulled away, his face flushed again, and Dinah nodded, taking a step back herself.

"Adolescent hormones," she muttered, toeing the ground and trying to catch her breath again.

"Yeah... wonderful, aren't they?" Severus laughed.

She giggled. "Yeah," she kissed his lips briefly once more. "Good night. I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Yes. Our first fully planned weekend together. I'm glad. We'll, um... get a lot done, I'm sure. Academically, that is."

"Yes," she grinned, feeling her face heat up just a little bit. "Good night."

"'Night," he flashed her a smile and then opened the door. The minute he looked out into the halls his comfortable expression became strained and he took a deep breath, steeling himself for the walk back to the dungeons.

Dinah wanted to say something encouraging but she couldn't think how to do it fast enough, because he had already started to march off down the hall. She sighed and watched him go, concerned about how much his youthful form and the students' opinions about him bothered him. She watched until he disappeared around a corner, safely avoiding any passing students at least so far. "Be happy, Severus," she said softly, and closed the door.


	77. Discoveries

A/N: Again, thanks for the continuous reviews! Glad everyone is enjoying the story! Since there has been a little bit of talk and questions regarding Dinah and Severus's young personalities I thought I'd talk briefly about how I'm trying to go about that part. I've been trying to make them sort of the same and sort of different. With Dinah I'm coming up with things on my own since she's my OC, but with Severus I think we got a little bit of his young personality in the books, especially the end of book 7. In The Prince's Tale chapter (which I do not own),especially with him and Lily talking as young children and then again when they're talking at Hogwarts about his suspicious regarding Lupin and his jealousy over James, we see – I think – a young Severus that is quite different from the older one. He seemed to me to be a lot more awkward, easily flustered, and easily angered and much more volatile with emotions than as an adult. He also seemed a bit more cheerful and talkative, at least when he was very young and talking to Lily in the park. So those things are kind of what I've been trying to capture here, while still maintaining some of his adult behaviors. He kind of shifts back and forth, which is how I think it is as an adolescent anyway, mood swings and the like. With Dinah I'm sort of trying to enhance her angry side as well as her fearful side, as she is even more inclined to hide things from people when she fears their reactions, mostly because she had to deal with all of the prophecy/parselmouth stuff most intensely at this very age.

Well, that was a little long-winded, but I hope it all makes sense! Keep reading! Thanks! :)

* * *

CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN

Discoveries

* * *

"Well, that's it," Severus closed the last of the books they had been going over together on Sunday morning. "I think we've had a productive weekend."

"Yes, very," Dinah yawned, enjoying being cuddled up against him as they sat on her couch in each others' arms. The weekends were wonderful, she had decided. It was just the two of them, Severus was more relaxed, and they could do whatever they wanted. She had been surprised that he had come to her place this weekend. She had sort of expected him to want her with him in the dungeons, but hadn't questioned his choice. It didn't really matter to her so much where she was, as long as they were together. "No dark storms this weekend."

"I know. I don't understand what ultimately causes them and why they happen when they do. There seems to be no conceivable pattern."

"It's all mystery and no answers," she sighed.

"Not entirely. Let's go over what we _do _know."

"Okay. Well, we know from the ghost angle that there are things out there that might be related to ghosts or 'Muggle ghosts', but nobody has really identified them yet. According to Professor Binns's brother."

"Yes, and we know of three Horcrux makers and what supposedly happened to them. Herpo the Foul was one of the first creators and perhaps invented the spell, but no one knows how he was ultimately defeated. He just vanished from knowledge; whether he felt some kind of remorse or someone destroyed his Horcrux and then killed him, nobody seems to know, although speculation floats around that venom from his own basilisk might have killed the Horcrux. There does, however, definitely seem to be a rather obvious connection between parselmouth abilities and the Dark Arts. You have even said the whispering you've heard during Dark Storms sounds a bit like hissing. So there might be something to that part of it."

"I don't think so," she said, gritting her teeth to stop herself from saying too much. "Harry Potter was a parselmouth."

"Only because the Dark Lord gave him the power."

"Still, he _was _one and it didn't make him evil. In the pensieve he told a snake to stop attacking that boy, and the snake listened. It stopped. You were there, you saw it stop. Snakes aren't evil."

"I didn't say they were. They're our house mascot; it isn't as though I have a _problem _with them."

"Yeah? Well, good," she knew she sounded flippant.

"Dinah," he turned so he could look at her and fingered the necklace he gave her. "I know you _like _snakes. I'm not trying to make you angry. I'm just identifying what seems to be an obvious connection."

She sighed. "Well, maybe if people weren't so cruel to parselmouths they wouldn't want to become evil so much." She bit her lip as he gave her an odd look. "Anyway, about the other two Horcrux makers. That Cedric Monteith wizard who made one out of a dinner plate and then killed himself because he found out the maid he killed was his sister..."

"Right," Severus seemed to be distracted by her change of subject, luckily. "And Lucinda Asgard, who made two and then the damage done to her soul started to make her so uncomfortable and nervous that she found remorse and repaired herself out of fear."

"Yeah, I'm not sure how that's done exactly, but whatever," Dinah shrugged.

"Mm..." Severus agreed with a frown. "Well, either way there's no reason to believe the history isn't true."

"Yes, and maybe that's also why the headmaster says the most anyone ever made was one, because she got rid of them and then apparently still survived and lived a normal life. So maybe she doesn't 'count'. And aside from that all we have are intangible rumors about other Horcrux creators, and the question of what kind of dark magic keeps creating these storms and summoning these dementors here. There has to be some despair involved in order for them to want to be here, but we don't know what kind of dark magic besides dementors creates despair and everyone in Hogwarts right now seems to be happy enough."

"Besides your Tommy," he added quietly.

"But that means his despair is real," Dinah had to point out for the umpteenth time this weekend. "So he can't be evil."

"Dementors can also be summoned by Dark Wizards," Severus retorted, also for the umpteenth time, and then they both went silent at their usual standstill.

Finally, Dinah sighed and shrugged. "So, what else do we know?"

"That your friend 'Mae' is nosy and invasive," Severus muttered.

"Oh, now stop," Dinah scolded, turning to look at him. "She hasn't been a bother and she's nice company to have around. Besides, she found that book that helped us a little bit."

"If you consider providing us with references to a few mostly useless restricted section books, half of which were on your list already, 'helping' then yes, I suppose she helped."

She rolled her eyes. "Severus, why do you hate all the students?"

"I don't _hate _the students, Dinah. It's more that they hate me. Besides, that girl may be intelligent but she should be working on her own studies and not helping us. She needs to be spending more time with Speasy, not us!"

Dinah sighed and stared down at her hands. So they were back to that again, were they? "She _does _spend time with him, Severus. She's doing all that she can, and besides, she can't be with him _all _the time. He has to figure out his priorities on his own at least a little bit. You had to do that."

He growled and stood from the couch. "Because I was incapable of listening to the one voice of reason in my life? Thank you for reminding me."

"That's not what I meant."

"I'm sorry," he sighed and trailed a hand through his hair, pacing around the room a bit. "It's just the one thing that bothers me the most. Even after I... sent her to her death... it still took years of working with Dumbledore for me to realize that all of the Dark Lord's ideals were wrong and that I could care about other people besides her and become a... I guess a 'good' person. Why wasn't Lily enough to save me, Dinah? She should have been enough!"

"I can't answer that, Severus. You know I can't."

"I know. Sorry," he repeated, pacing a few more times. "I can't keep thinking. Let's go do something. Anything."

"Of course," she was up immediately, walking over to stand next to him. "Do you want to go for a walk? I was kind of thinking it might be a good idea to retrace our steps at some point. You know, the ones we took on the day we got transformed? Maybe something will come to us."

"Okay," he slid his fingers into hers, looking grateful. "That's a good idea. Thanks."

"Sure," she smiled, and they left the room, heading through the halls towards the kitchens where they had asked the house elves to make them their 'winter picnic' food on that day, which seemed like an eternity ago but was really only two weeks. They passed some students, who giggled under their breath and pointed at him as they passed by, but Dinah shot them a death glare and they dispersed.

Severus seemed frozen in place for a moment, watching where the students had gone with an uncomfortable look on his face. "That always happens," he said quietly. "They do that now and they did that when I was a student. I feel like I have to walk around with my wand at the ready to use _Sectumsempra _the moment somebody attacks me... just like _they_ did. What if I actually use it?"

"You won't," she made her voice soothing, hugging his arm. "Don't worry so much. I'm here now."

"That could be worse."

"You won't call me Mudblood," she took his hand again. "Come on. Let's go. There are no students around now."

They made it into the kitchens and looked around. The door leading in revealed house elves hard at work starting preparations for the day's lunch. One ran out to greet them; "Hello, Professors. What may we do for you this morning?"

"Nothing, thank you," Dinah smiled. "We just wanted to look around. I know you all told the headmaster you don't know what happened on the day we were transformed."

"A thousand apologies!" the elf shrieked, bowing before them. "Had we known what was happening-"

"No, no, please don't worry about it," she said hurriedly while Severus just watched the interaction. "I know it's not your fault."

"You are too kind!" the elf gushed.

"Yes, um..." she frowned. She could really understand Hermione's issue with the house elves when she got close to it. How anyone could enslave sentient creatures of human-level intelligence like this was utterly appalling. "Well, do you mind if we look around?"

"Of course not. You are welcome to anything here," the house elf stepped aside and went back to his duties. Dinah and Severus walked along the long counters and tables, looking at things, inspecting, trying to find anything unusual.

Finally Severus sighed and put down a pot he had been examining. "Everything's clean. But the Aurors searched this already."

"Well, it was worth another look," Dinah looked around. "The place is pretty open. I don't see how anyone could have gotten in without... wait, what's that?"

"What?" he looked in the direction she was pointing, "The sinks?" A row of sinks lined the back wall, and house elves were using magic to make floating sponges wash the dishes.

"Yes," she grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the last sink on the right, pointing at the spigot. "Do you think someone could have injected potion into the tap? Then when they got water for our cocoa it could have gone right in."

He frowned. "It's not a bad idea, but I highly doubt it. They would then also have to know exactly when the house elves were filling our cups, so they'd have to still see into here, and I don't think there are any windows or... doors..." he seemed distracted and his eyes took on a look of realization as he focused his gaze to the wall next to the sink. "Look there."

"There?" Dinah followed his gaze, confused.

"That pipe looks different... loose," he led her over to the wall and knelt down. A thick pipe large enough for a person to crawl through made a loop as it came down from the ceiling and then curved into the wall and disappeared. "You! What is this for?" he demanded of a passing elf.

The elf looked nervous as she replied. "It is... um, well it's an air vent, Sir. It brings in air from the upper levels, keeping it fresher down here for the food. It goes through the walls and comes out there," the elf pointed across the room, where Dinah and Severus could see a grate in another wall

"Are you _aware _that it is loose?" Severus demanded, shaking a piece of the pipe, which wobbled as though ready to pop out.

"Severus, don't be so harsh with them," Dinah chided as the elf took a few frightened steps backward.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. Would you _please _explain to me why nobody ever noticed this before? Thank you, I appreciate it."

The elf watched him warily. "I... I do not know, Sir. It... well, we don't look so closely at things in the walls, we have our jobs to do. This entire place was decimated during the Battle at Hogwarts. I suppose that part was not noticed or fixed..."

"Incompetent individuals," Severus growled, and the elf took that moment to escape from them. He pulled at the pipe again, harder this time, and a large chunk popped out entirely, revealing the hollow inside.

"Severus!" Dinah gasped, reaching forward to the hole that had been revealed at the part where the pipe went into the wall. She plucked a thin, flat object from the floor and turned it over, showing it to Severus. "A wizard card... of Dumbledore."

He stared at it, his eyes as wide as hers, and then gingerly took it from her grasp, fingering the slightly bent edges. "We must tell the headmaster about this."

"We will," she said. "Just as soon as we finish retracing our steps. We might find more things we need to tell him." Severus nodded agreement and she turned to another passing elf. "Excuse me?"

"Um... are you talking to me, Professor?" The elf didn't seem to know how to respond to her polite request.

She smiled. "Yes, I am. Can you tell me where this pipe starts? We know where it ends," she pointed to the grate.

"Well," he said, "I think it goes all the way up to the second floor. The air comes in from the hallway right by the potions classroom, I believe."

Dinah and Severus gasped and exchanged glances again. "Eugene," she said. "This comes back to him again. The wizard cards, the potion, their rooms... but it wasn't him that was humming. It's _that _person. The person he was arguing with. That person is the one who came down here and put the potion in our drinks. The person who is living in Eugene's room and making all of those noises."

"But Potter and the Aurors found no one when they inspected the rooms."

"Maybe he moved out the moment he did this to us... obviously he knew he might be found out."

"But he still has to be around if he was arguing with Eugene last week... or she, I suppose," Severus tacked on at the end.

She smiled; glad he wasn't as sexist as his house's Quidditch team apparently was. "Yes, it could be. Either way, we have to find out who they are and what they're up to."

"Easier said than done if they've evaded us thus far," Severus put the pipe back in and stood, tucking the wizard card into one of the pockets of his coat. "I suppose we should continue."

"Yes," she agreed, and thanked the elf before they left the kitchens, heading towards the exit onto the grounds. She smiled and inhaled the crisp winter air when they made it outside. It was sunny and a fresh snow had fallen the day before, leaving everything white, glittering, and pristine. "Lovely day."

"Yes, but it's just like the day this happened to us," Severus said, gesturing at their bodies with a thinly-veiled look of disgust.

"I know, but it's not the weather that did it," she sighed, beginning to walk across the grounds, taking the path that they had taken to the lake just two weeks previously.

Severus sighed. "No, but I don't like to be reminded of it. Look at them!" he gestured to the students who happened to be outside, about half of whom had stopped to stare at them as they walked by. "Do they have nothing better to do than _gawk _at us?"

"I don't know," she said softly. "Just ignore them." She grinned. "At least the house elves still treat us as usual."

"They're afraid of wizards. I really don't see what you and Granger have the trouble with. It isn't as though they are abused here. They simply know their place."

"Is it really necessary to give them that 'place' in the first place?" Dinah scowled. "Think about it. You go on and on about how magic is more convenient than Muggle technology, how it makes our lives perfect and so much better... and yet we still insist on having slaves and servants do our work for us? Well, 'we' meaning much of wizarding society, not me specifically."

"House elves are a part of magic society. Ages ago it made sense for them to assimilate into our world as witches' and wizards' servants and for us to hide their existence from Muggles. Those decisions were made for a reason."

"Yes, because all of the decisions made thousands of years ago still apply today," she rolled her eyes.

"You have a point there, I suppose," he admitted grudgingly. "But your other point still falls flat. House elves use magic to help us, not Muggle technology. It is the same as how Muggles have Muggle servants do their Muggle work for them."

"Yes, but if you are to go on and on and on about how magic makes everything better and more convenient..." Dinah thought for awhile, not willing to give up her side of the argument as they got closer to the lake; "Doesn't it make wizards hypocrites if they say it's so and yet they are still too lazy to do the work themselves?"

"I don't – I mean I don't _think _so," Severus looked almost insulted at her use of the word 'lazy' to describe wizards. "If anything it just goes back to your concept of human nature in that humans don't want to do work no matter what kind it is. If we can think of ways to avoid all of it then we will, magic or no magic."

"Ha!"

"Ha?"

She grinned. "You just admitted that Muggles and wizards are very much alike, deep down."

"I did – I did not!" he exclaimed, his face reddening in defiance, and she couldn't help but burst into giggles at that. After a moment, he smiled a little. "Dinah? Did we just have another debate?"

She stared at him for a moment as she realized that he was right, and her eyes lit up at the thought. "We did! I'd really missed those, you know? Now I remember how much fun it is."

Severus's smile brightened as he stared at her, and he laughed. "It is quite fun. Even if you _did _win this time."

She ran up to him and grasped his hand, enjoying laughing together and sharing a smile for a moment. It made everything better, even when they were stuck in these bodies. "Did you just concede defeat?"

"Only a little bit and only this once. I still think I've won most of our other ones."

"Oh, you do, do you?" she shot him a challenging stare, and he laughed again. It made her so happy to hear him laugh, especially as much as he'd been depressed and bothered by everything lately. Maybe they could get used to these bodies after all. At least they had each other. "Let's keep going. We're almost to the lake."

He smiled and nodded and they continued walking for awhile, just enjoying each other, until something out of the corner of her eye caught Dinah's attention and she stopped.

"What is it?" Severus asked, tightening his grip around her hand.

Dinah found herself staring out into an open field on the right side of the path, where a solitary red fox stood in the middle, one foot in the air and her ears pointed forward, staring at them. The snow all around the fox was trampled and its pristine blanket destroyed as though a whole herd of animals had run through. But she saw only the fox, and they stared at each other for a long time before another movement occurred at the edge of the nearby forest. Dinah felt Severus's hand twitch in hers and she looked towards the movement just in time to see a large black dog – a familiar black dog – wander out towards the fox. He stopped about halfway, when he saw them, and Dinah knew it was true then. If that dog was Sirius, then the fox was Lucy.

A swift glance at Severus revealed a very uneasy expression on his face as he stared at the black dog, and Dinah was sure her expression mirrored his as she looked to the dog for a moment and then back at Lucy. At her friend who surely was still angry with her after what she had done to the dog in human form just two weeks previously. Dinah felt suddenly ashamed and couldn't look anymore. "Let's go!" she closed her eyes and turned away, hiding her face from the animals as she pulled Severus with her, down the path towards the lake in a run to get away from them.

Dinah didn't stop running until they made it to the lake. She sighed and stepped back, shaking her head in her hands; "Thank goodness. That was unexpected. At least we're out of there now," she looked back up at him, trying to catch her breath.

Severus watched her warily; "Are you sure that was the most rational response?"

"No," she groaned, running a hand through her hair and looking around them at the lake, feeling like kicking herself for her behavior. "But I don't know what else to do. I sent her the birthday gift and she sent me a thank-you note, but... I smacked her boyfriend and brought a bunch of things to light for them that they didn't want to face. I mean, I still don't regret what I did but I don't know how I can show my face in front of her again."

"Well, I can't tell you how you should act and I don't have any better answers. But I think it would be better if the two of you patched things up somehow, eventually."

"I know. But I can't really... apologize, because I'm not really sorry. I just wish she could understand why I had to do it."

"Don't apologize for hitting Black, then. Apologize for the effects of the action, not the action itself. I think we're both sorry it had to come to this. If he had just been a better person it wouldn't have had to happen that way."

"I can't exactly tell her that either," Dinah muttered.

Severus sighed. "No, I suppose not. I guess just give it more time. She can't hate you forever."

"I wonder about that," Dinah stared at the ground, feeling sorry for herself for a few moments, until something further along the path caught her eye. A golden glint in the snow near the spot where they had set up their picnic and been subsequently transformed. "Severus, there's something there." She started down the path towards it and he followed. When they made it to the object they stopped and exchanged glances. It looked familiar to both of them.

Severus knelt over and picked it up, brushing off the snow and holding it out to Dinah with a concerned frown on his face.

"_Another _wizard card," she gasped.

"Dumbledore _again_," Severus nodded. "Is it just me or does it seem like someone is deliberately placing these things for us to find?"

"It does feel like that. But why? Is Dumbledore the person's ultimate target? Is someone trying to destroy him again?"

"I hope not," Severus said with a heavy sigh, sounding stressed. "We have to be very careful here. The headmaster has to be careful. But I don't see how turning us into children could accomplish that goal in any way. Nor do I see why it's productive to keep dropping hints to us."

"I don't know that I'd call them much of hints," Dinah said. "We don't really _know _anything about the person, just that they – apparently – exist."

"And we still have the eternal question, don't we? Do these things with Eugene and the frogs and the wizard cards connect to Tommy directly or only through the coincidence of your prophecy? And if they _do _connect directly, where is that connection?"

She didn't get a chance to even try and answer his question when a loud noise boomed from across the lake. Dinah and Severus turned to look out on the vast, icy surface. Far along there had been a crack and the ice had burst upward in thick chunks that fell apart and collapsed, shattering into pieces on the still-solid surfaces on either side. The ground around them rumbled as the crack extended, traveling along the ice towards them. "What is that? The giant squid?"

"I don't know, it's-" he broke off as a flash of light burst across the surface of the water and a small creature shot up from where the crack stopped in front of them. A childlike creature with bright red eyes.


	78. Depression

CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT

Depression

* * *

Dinah gasped and ran towards Severus, throwing her arms around him and burying her face in his curtain of black hair, hiding from the creature. From what she had been able to see of it it had appeared translucent, almost ghost-like. She hated to think 'like Tommy' but it had been, in a way. At least its physical nature, although Tommy was always opaque. She wasn't really worried about Tommy's nature, though. She still knew her small friend was not evil. Yet she feared his connection to this frightful being was deeper than even she could imagine.

It was comforting to feel Severus's arms wrapped around her, clutching her as tightly as she clutched him, his heart racing and his nose pressed up against her ear. It had startled him as much as her. But the sudden quiet around them seemed to indicate that it had disappeared nearly as quickly as it had come. She wasn't quite ready to pull away and look though.

Moments passed, and then Severus managed to move. His arms slowly released her, trailing across her waist as he drew his head back, his face brushing against hers until he was far enough away that their eyes met. Dinah loved looking into his eyes, and she wasn't afraid anymore. She knew he wouldn't try to pry into her thoughts after what had happened the last time, so she didn't even try to look away. "What just happened?" she murmured.

"It was some sort of demonic creature. Never in my experience with the Dark Arts have I see anything so..." he paused and moved his head further away from her face, so he could see her expression more clearly, and regarded her with a frown. "It was like that flayed baby. You don't look as surprised as you should be, and you suggested we look that creature up in the books last week. You know something about this."

"I, um... had a dream about that creature," she might as well tell him that much of the truth. What could it hurt, at this point? She forced herself to turn and look back out at the lake where they had seen it, and sure enough it was gone. The crack in the ice was still there, but the baby was nowhere to be seen.

"A dream? When was this?" he demanded.

"Recently..." she didn't want to tell him that it had been during last weekend's dark storm.

He sighed, not prying further for the moment but looking very frustrated. "And you did not tell me about this."

"It was just a dream."

"It was enough to convince you to try to find more information about that being. And what was with the red eyes?"

"That's what I would like to know. In the dream it was... it started out... just like Harry said it was. Gruesome, but pitiable, and then it stopped whining and opened its red eyes... and I woke up." She ignored his annoyed look and instead turned back out to the lake. "What happened to it?"

"It's gone. It disappeared almost as soon as we saw it. It didn't seem entirely real, more like an image or a projection of the real thing. _That _might be what is summoning dementors here or what has been tricking you by creating that Tommy person. And I think you've thought of that already but _did not tell me_!"

"Tommy is not evil!" she exclaimed, choosing to ignore his final comment and defend her friend instead.

Severus scowled at her, then grabbed her hand and turned abruptly around, leading her back down the path from whence they had come. "We are telling the headmaster about _everything _right this minute whether you like it or not!"

"We can tell him!" she retorted; "But I know Tommy isn't evil and I'm not letting you _or _the headmaster treat him as such!"

Severus growled at that but didn't offer any vocal response, and so they simply continued on. A quick glance at the snowy field when they passed revealed that Lucy and Sirius had left; probably glad to get away from her. It wasn't long before they were running down the halls toward the headmaster's office. They made it there just in time to run into Minerva, almost literally.

She gasped, clutching her hand to her chest, and offered them a nearly scolding look, like one she might give to students. "Dinah. Severus. What is the idea of frightening people like that?"

"Minerva, er... Professor McGonagall," Dinah said, feeling a little bit weird calling the woman by her first name while in this body. "We're sorry. But we need to see the headmaster right away."

"I'm afraid that would be impossible. He was called away this morning. Auror business dealing with some ex-Death Eaters captured from all over Europe. The Ministry will have him tied down for at least a week."

"What?" Dinah didn't mean for her response to come out as a childish shriek, but it had.

Minerva gave her an odd look and nodded. "I'm sorry. But I will be taking over his duties in the interim. Is it anything you can discuss with me?"

"Not... as of yet," Severus grumbled, taking Dinah's hand into his own again, a move Minerva most definitely noticed. "We will let you know if we need to talk to you. Come, Dinah," he led her back to her rooms, ignoring Godric's advances, and sat down across from her at the dining room table. "That clinches it. Everything we thought we knew about patterns is falling apart and things are getting highly unstable."

She nodded, easily following his train of thought. "A dark storm last weekend and Dumbledore stays in the castle. _No _dark storm this weekend and yet he leaves just as we finally start to see some real evidence of foul play. Not to mention that... thing."

"Exactly. We need to be extremely alert, and we need to switch gears again in our research. We need to look for what that creature might be."

"It is Voldemort," she said softly.

Severus winced at the mention of his former master, but had to agree with her. "However Tommy is involved, the least we do know is that that red-eyed, flayed demon baby is the last incarnation of The Dark Lord mentioned in your prophecy. But if it was powerful enough to threaten anyone thus far it would have done so. The Dark Lord may be strong, but one thing he does not do is bide his time. If he has not yet attacked it means that he _cannot_. Perhaps the other person – the one with the wizard cards – is trying to revive him."

"Is there any way that our youthening could have an impact on that?" Dinah asked, searching for any kind of reasonable answer.

He sighed. "That's a good question, but I do not know. I can't think of anything at all."

"Don't tell me we're back to square one again."

"At least until the headmaster is back," Severus sighed again and shrugged; "All we can do is more research."

"Ugh!" Dinah snarled and slapped her hand on the table before standing up. "I am so sick of this! If I'm supposed to fulfill the prophecy then let me fulfill the damn prophecy! Come and get me!" she shouted at the ceiling, spreading her arms. "Stop doing this to me and just come and get me _now_!"

"Dinah, _stop it_!" Severus hissed, standing from the table and running over to her, pinning her arms back down to her sides and forcing her to sit back in the chair.

"But I hate this! I'm so confused!"

"Do not instigate whatever it is that's floating around here," he murmured, staring into her eyes. "If you do you might regret it. I _know _it's hard. I hate this as much as you do, but screaming at it will not help."

"I know. You're right. I just don't know what else to do."

"Dinah," he leaned over her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders as his hair brushed against her face again. She closed her eyes and let her breathing slow down, allowing his presence to soothe her. It wasn't very hard. "We _will _figure this out," he said softly, his own breathing slow and even, as if the embrace was soothing him as well. "I know we will. We just need to give it time."

"Okay," she nodded, tilting her head back so that she could give him a brief kiss, letting her fingers trace his cheek, brushing his hair back away from his face so the light could hit his features. She smiled. "Is the lake off-limits for us now?"

"I don't think so," he shook his head and smiled a little. "I like going there with you. And besides, I don't think it matters _where _we are. Since it's your prophecy, the magic, whatever it is, will find you when it wants to. The main thing is that we're always prepared for it and that we're always together, or at least as much as we can be."

"Maybe you can get some more information out of Eugene if you make mention of the cards in the kitchen or by the lake."

"Maybe," he agreed. "At any rate, it's worth an attempt."

* * *

The next week flowed by much like the previous one had, with Severus being monopolized by Eugene and consequently giving Dinah very little time to spend with him. She was even more worried, as if Severus had seemed depressed last week he seemed positively miserable this week. He picked at his food at meals and moped around in the halls. There had been students close by every time she had seen him and so there was nothing much she could do, but she was determined that today – Wednesday - when they met in the library to look through more books before lunch, she would try to cheer him up.

She ran into him hurrying through the halls toward the library, trying not to lock eyes with any of the students, and ran up and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hi!"

He flashed her a weak smile; "Oh, hi. I didn't expect to run into you in the halls."

"Well, we're both going to the same place. It makes sense that we might run into each other."

"I suppose..." he wasn't responding very well to her cheerfulness.

Dinah considered him for a moment. "How are things with Eugene?"

He growled and glared, but Dinah didn't take offense because she knew the look wasn't really directed at her. "Utterly objectionable, as usual. But I have no choice. I must work with the man."

They entered the library and Dinah took his arm discreetly, leaning and whispering into his ear. "Let's go somewhere private today. I want to talk more about this."

He nodded, seeming a little more relaxed at her suggestion of privacy, and they crept into their little alcove in the restricted section where there were usually no students. The same place where he had stormed off before after grilling her about Dylan. Hopefully he was over that jealousy now. Still, she had no intention of bringing her ex-boyfriend up in conversation again any time soon.

"I threw the wizard cards into conversation, as discreetly as I could with this infernal adolescent mind," Severus said, sitting down at the table with a heavy sigh.

"And?"

He shook his head. "I noticed some stiffness in his response, but nothing more. He is strong in Occlumency. His response was essentially 'oh, really?' and then going about his business as though I had spoken of nothing." He snorted. "Typical."

"He's very, _very _good at hiding things," Dinah murmured, and then offered him a smile; "But hey, at least you tried, right?"

Severus shrugged; "We're still getting nowhere fast."

"Yeah, but at least we're safe so far. That's one small blessing in the midst of all of this turmoil. Nothing is strong enough to hurt us."

"Yet."

"What happened to the glass half full person from last weekend?" she teased. "You know, the one who stopped me from screaming my lungs off at the ceiling?"

"He was destroyed through being forced to work with an incompetent assistant," Severus grumbled, slapping a book onto the table and opening it up to a random page. "Let's just research. We'll find nothing, I'm sure."

"Now, don't be like that," Dinah scooted her chair so it was right up next to his and nudged him with her shoulder, then leaned against him. "We might find something extremely useful just when we least expect it."

He finally smiled a little and nuzzled her forehead with his own. "Mm. Okay. Stay next to me?"

"Always," she whispered, his request making the muscles in her chest and stomach tighten up. She closed her eyes for a few moments as he began perusing the book, thinking. He really did need her and she loved him _so _much. If only she could mean as much to him as Lily did. They were _perfect _for each other. Similar in the right places and complementary in the right places. Intellectual equals or at least almost-equals, and they truly enjoyed being together. Things had gotten better between them as children, and yet she still felt she could never compete with that red-haired beauty from his past. Still, he wanted her next to him like this. That should be enough.

That was enough.

She lifted her head and opened her eyes, pulling a book over and perusing it herself. Unfortunately, in the hour of their break they came upon nothing useful, as usual, and Severus's frustration slowly but steadily returned as he slapped useless book after useless book into their slowly-growing 'finished' pile.

"It's time for lunch," Dinah murmured when he slammed one down with an extra amount of force.

"Forget lunch," he growled. "We'll keep looking. I'm not hungry anyway."

"You should eat. You've been picking at your food a lot lately. It's not healthy. At least we should go bring a snack over-"

"I said I'm not hungry!" he snapped, standing from the table, startling Dinah and causing a nearby student carrying a 'restricted-section' pass to shoot them a nervous glance. A well-placed snarl from Severus had the young boy rushing out of their sight.

"Severus, relax," Dinah stood, putting a hand on his arm and meeting his eyes with her own.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. It's just – this is really agitating me. There's too much going on at once right now. I need – oh, I don't know. I'm going to just check these last two books out and take lunch in my rooms. Dinner, too. I don't feel like being in The Great Hall where these infernal dunderheads can gawk at me for an hour," he snatched the books and stormed off, not giving her a chance to say another word.

Dinah sighed and fell back into her seat. She knew the adolescent hormones well, of course, but they seemed to be hitting Severus extremely hard lately. He was becoming essentially unpredictable. The combination of Eugene and the students' stares was really wearing on him, but there was little she could do. In his current foul mood, she couldn't exactly follow him to the dungeons, and she definitely wasn't going to The Great Hall alone, so she would have to take lunch in her own rooms.

Not that that was horrible or anything. Still, it would be nice if her boyfriend could give her some warning before he went mental on her. She had thought they would eat together today, but apparently that wasn't happening.

* * *

Dinah turned the silver key over and over in her fingers, staring at it, feeling its smoothness, and generally dawdling around as she stood in front of Severus's closed office door that evening. She had decided to use her free entry pass for the first time tonight, to have dinner with him in the dungeons. It had been a long time since lunch and she thought maybe by now he would want some company. Well, whether he wanted it or not she was going to give it to him.

After his blatant declaration that he would not be taking dinner in The Great Hall tonight she knew he expected her to stay in her rooms. He wouldn't come and find her because his declaration had been for her benefit. Ever since that first time, they had been careful to make it clear where they were going to be for each meal, so that neither of them had to be in The Great Hall alone. But there had never been any explicit agreement that if they didn't specify it they couldn't still have a meal together outside of The Great Hall. So she was going to surprise him.

Hopefully, he would be amiable about it. After all, he had given her the key. If he was that annoyed with her coming in on her own accord after he explicitly told her to it would be completely unreasonable.

Dinah took a deep breath and slipped the key into the lock, opening the door and stepping inside. The office was dark, but there was light coming from the door to the main room, which was opened just a crack. She closed the office door quietly behind her and tiptoed to that second door, taking another deep breath before sticking her head into the crack and knocking on the doorframe. "Severus?"

He jumped a little as her voice had clearly startled him, and looked over at her from where he was seated at the dining room table, a plate of mostly untouched food in front of him and a bunch of parchments off to the side. "Dinah. Um... come in, I guess," he said, his tone flat and making it hard for her to read how he felt about her being here.

"Sure," she pushed the door open and stepped hesitantly inside. "I hope you don't mind I came. I just thought maybe we could eat together. And you did give me this key," she held it up for him to see, like a crucial piece of evidence.

"No, that's fine, I don't mind," he offered her that weak, uneasy smile that he had been smiling so often lately, and gestured to the seat across from him. "I gave it to you because I wanted you to be able to come. So you can come whenever you want. I meant that."

Dinah smiled and let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding, quickening her pace a little as she approached the table. But rather than taking the seat he had offered she came to stand next to him, peering across at the parchments. "Doing grading over here too?"

Severus sighed, his eyes following her pointed finger over to the pile. "Yes. I decided I prefer doing it in here over the office. The chairs are quite a bit smaller. I feel more ... comfortable."

"Mm. That makes sense," she turned her finger to his food. "You're still not eating much, are you?"

"It doesn't really matter," he sighed again, leaning back in his chair and looking up at her, his expression stressed. "I just don't feel like eating. I know that's a foreign concept to you but-" he shrugged and gave her a little laugh.

She frowned, pretending to look insulted, and was glad to see that it caused him to smile a little more. "Thank you so much for your observation," she couldn't help but let a corner of her mouth twitch up in a smile. "It might surprise you to know that I also occasionally don't have an appetite."

He laughed, and then suddenly sighed, looking subdued. "You didn't at the beginning of this ordeal. And yet you somehow managed to get past that part. You've always been more resilient than me at this sort of thing, you know? Getting over stuff. You have many strengths that I don't."

"Severus," she considered him for a moment, flattered by his words but more concerned about his own well-being right now. She hadn't realized it bothered him so much that he had a hard time getting over things – at least things besides the Lily issue, which had come out rather painfully on his birthday.

Rather than thinking about that whole episode, she chose instead to place her left hand squarely on the table, steadying herself as she leaned over, placing an impromptu kiss on his lips, sliding her other hand along his neck and jaw line into his hair, keeping his face tilted up towards hers.

He made a little noise of surprise, but his response was quick and warm. She closed her eyes and deepened the kiss as she felt his hands crawl up her hips to her waist and finally along her back to her shoulders, pulling their bodies closer together. "Dinah," he murmured, when she pulled away to take a breath.

"Shh," she said, kissing him again, lifting her other hand from the table so that she could take his head into both hands and feel the silkiness of his hair. This was an amazing moment that she wanted to preserve as long as possible. She had never quite kissed him like this before, at least not from her own initiation. At the beginning she would never have been able to do so safely, and yet now he wanted it. Now he wasn't afraid of her affection, and she wasn't afraid of giving it.

"Mmm," he murmured when she finally drew back again, and the smile he gave her was full and genuine once more. "Thanks."

"Sure," she whispered, feeling suddenly shy again where she clearly had not been only moments before. "You feel better now?"

Severus laughed. "Much."

"I'm so glad." She giggled, "And now I'm hungry."

His laughter increased, he finally managed to say; "Why am I not surprised? Sit down; I'll summon a plate for you. Then we can research more here tonight, provided my lovable assistant stays away from me."

"I'll only stay if you eat too," she teased, plopping down into the seat across from him and shooting him a smile.

The smile he returned to her was full of affection. "Okay. You win. Besides, kissing you like that was rather exhausting. I'll need more energy if we plan to do it again," he took his fork and ate a very deliberate bite of chicken.

Dinah flushed and smiled, digging into her own food when it appeared in front of her. "Again and again and again."


	79. Consolation

A/N: This chapter is quite long...

CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE

Comfort

* * *

"Professor Samson," Mae Yates appeared next to Dinah's table in the library on Thursday, holding a rather large book in her hands.

"Hello, Mae. Did you find something?"

"I think so," she slid the book onto the table. "This was in the 'mysteries' section. I was looking around in it for references for the 'weaknesses of magic' essay you and Professor Grubbly-Plank wanted us to write."

"There's a 'mysteries' section?" Dinah blinked, surprised.

"It's very small. I think it has books that they couldn't really think went anywhere else, you know? Anyway, it talks about all the things you wanted me to look for, in different short chapters. The ghost one talks about 'voice ghosts', when people hear voices of people who are supposed to be dead but don't see anything. It doesn't say much about them, but I thought it might be useful..."

Dinah gasped and drew the book, which was titled _Unexplained Instances in the Magical World, _close to her. "Mae, this is wonderful. I think this might actually help us out a little bit."

"Great!" the girl beamed.

"By the way, excellent job on your paradigms essay. You used real life examples, but were vague enough about them where I don't think anybody could be offended. You can expect good marks when I return it to you."

"Thank you, I worked really hard on it. Andrew, hi!" she waved at the small boy walking over to them, first with a smile on her face and then a frown as she noticed who was following behind him. Cantrell, Wortham, and Lee, all at once. Speasy met Mae's gaze with the vaguest wave and a sharp shake of his head, a warning to let him go for now, but it was too late.

"Hey, no hiding with your girlfriend, _Sneezy_!" Wortham taunted. "You Slytherins have a lot to answer for and you aren't getting her involved!"

"Hmph," Cantrell snorted, turning a death glare on the two Gryffindor boys. "You can't prove anything. And if you even try," he withdrew his wand from his robes in a threatening gesture.

"If you hex us in here the Professors are going to know about it!" Lee retorted, as he and Wortham withdrew their wands in response. "And we _know _you two are the ones who did it!"

"Andrew, what did you do to them?" Mae whispered, looking concerned.

"_Nothing_!" Speasy hissed at her.

"You did so you little snot-nosed Slytherin Death Eater wannabe!" Wortham growled.

"Um, what's going on here?" Dinah stood from the desk, wanting to intervene as she was the only Professor in sight, although she always felt awkward trying to discipline the students in this form. It seemed that only when Severus was involved could she truly be as tough as she wanted to be.

Cantrell snickered, not taking her in the least bit seriously. "Oh, sorry _Professor_. I was just trying to put these two Gryffindors in their place. Right, Speasy? Oh," he glared at the smaller boy and Mae shrunk back behind one of the chairs. "No, you're too busy with that Mudblood, aren't you? I keep telling you to stay away from her, but you won't listen!"

"And I told you that's none of your business! And don't call her that!" Speasy shouted back, grasping his own wand and sneezing a couple of times, making him seem rather less threatening.

"Don't brandish your wand at me, you're supposed to be on my side!"

Lee burst out laughing. "Sneezy, you gonna turn on your mentor here just to defend a girl you _liiike_?"

"Shut up, both of you!" Speasy's wand was now shooting back and forth between Cantrell and the two Gryffindors.

"_What _is going on here?" a new voice demanded. Dinah sighed with relief and looked up to see Severus, coming into the library to meet her and looking a bit put off by this miniature battle he had apparently walked into.

"Cantrell, Speasy, what _did _you do to Wortham and Lee?" Dinah asked, trying to maintain control and get whatever it was out into the open.

"We don't have to tell _you_!" Cantrell retorted.

"_Answer the question_!" Severus shouted, causing all of the students and Dinah to jump.

"We didn't do anything, honest Professor Snape! You _know _that I wouldn't do anything to these Gryffindor scum," Cantrell seemed a little subdued in the presence of his head of house, despite Severus's transformation.

"You're gonna take their side, aren't you?" Lee looked a little wilted. "Even though they snuck into our common room and turned our robes into pink and lavender girls' dress robes that levitated us around the room like fizzing whizbees. I don't know how they got in but when our entire house was _laughing _at us and saying they could see our underwear we saw two pairs of Slytherin robes disappear out the portrait hole. As soon as the spell wore off and we got outside we saw these two running off down the hall!"

Severus frowned and Dinah turned to Cantrell and Speasy, determined to make herself seem more professional despite Cantrell's blatant disrespect. "Is this true, boys?"

"It wasn't my idea!" Speasy exclaimed, and Cantrell shot him a death glare for inadvertently spilling the beans on them.

"Andrew, why would you-?"

"I said it wasn't my idea!" Speasy, red-faced, cut Mae off mid-sentence.

"Yeah, well I only suggested it so that _you _could get revenge on them for what they did last week!" Cantrell yelled at Speasy, and then turned back to Severus. "And you agreed to it, anyhow. You should hear about half the things they do to him! For instance, they even managed to-"

"All of you, get out of here!" Severus yelled, interrupting Cantrell as though he didn't want to hear about whatever kind of abuse Speasy had suffered. "Get! Get out! Wortham and Lee, you first! Go!"

"But – but we didn't-!" Wortham began.

"Nobody is losing points because obviously this back and forth between you four – five – _whatever_ is never going to end! Don't _any _of you simpletons realize that none of this is going to _mean _anything when you get older? No! Because you are all a bunch of imbecilic dunderheads! All of you! Now go away!" he pointed toward the library's exit, looking more like a student participant in their argument than a Professor giving orders.

Wortham and Lee looked at each other and shrugged, then ducked under Severus's outstretched arm and left the room. Cantrell started mouthing insults at their backs as they left, a gesture that didn't go unnoticed by any of the other four people remaining.

"Andrew, I need to talk to you," Mae said softly, and then turned a hesitant glance to Severus. "Professor Snape, can he please stay?"

"Whatever," Severus snarled, pulling back a chair as if he was going to sit down in it, but thinking better of it when he noticed that Cantrell was still there. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Mr. Cantrell, Professor Snape asked you to leave," Dinah said, trying to make her voice firm, but the stammering that she always ended up doing in class refused to leave her. "I know you... um, I know they aren't always nice to Mr. Speasy but you _have _to understand that trying to get revenge on them is only going to make things worse. This is... just turning into an endless cycle, you know? So please just leave and don't do these things anymore, okay?"

Cantrell sneered at her and rolled his eyes. "Um... okay," he said, mocking her stammering.

Dinah stared at him, feeling suddenly very small and very helpless, shocked at his blatant disrespect and thinking that she finally realized how Severus felt lately with the way half of the students stared at him. Or how Lucy must have felt around Septimus Peaks after the fox abuse incident. She tried to think of something to say in response to Cantrell's taunt, but she didn't have to.

Severus spoke instead, through gritted teeth, as he fixed Cantrell with the coldest stare she had ever seen. "Twenty-five points from Slytherin."

"Twenty-five?" Cantrell shouted, turning on his head of house with wide eyes. "But you _can't_! You _wouldn't_!"

"Oh... _wouldn't _I?" Severus was completely set off now, shouting at the boy and drawing stares from all over the library. "If you _ever _treat Professor Samson like that again you will receive a month's worth of detention and I just might consider expelling you! You do _not _make fun of your professors under _any _circumstances, _do you understand me_?"

Cantrell growled at him, "Fine, I understand. That's your thing now, isn't it? Defending all the girl professors just like you did with Septimus Peaks and Professor Ketteridge at the Quidditch game?" He pointed at Dinah; "_She _is doing to you just what this Mud – what this girl here is doing to Speasy!" his finger moved to the still very frightened-looking Mae. "You keep taking points from your _own house_ and you never used to! The other Slytherins are saying that you-"

"Five more points!" Severus interrupted him, now positively livid. "This is your last warning. I have every authority to detain and expel you! You actually show _me _disrespect now? You and Peaks are in way over your heads, boy! You think you have the right to do whatever you want but you don't! You are _no different _from Wortham and Lee! Now, _get out of here_!"

"Fine!" Cantrell snapped, back, running past Severus and out of the library.

Dinah, Mae, and Speasy just stared at Severus as he pulled the chair further back so it screeched across the floor and clumped down in it. "Infernal troublemaking students!" He looked across at Dinah and his gaze softened a bit. "Are you all right?"

"I'm... yes, I'm fine. Thanks," she swallowed back a lump that had just cropped up in her throat. "Thank you so much. I don't know... what I'm doing as a teacher anymore."

Severus shook his head. "That was all Cantrell, _not _you. We shouldn't be teaching like this, but we are. We have no choice. But if any of the students _ever _mock you again... I'm used to them doing it to me, but _not you_!" He reached across the table and placed his hand over Dinah's, squeezing once before drawing back. He shot Mae and Speasy a glare. "That goes for the both of you, too!"

"I didn't do anything!" Speasy still seemed to be in defense mode.

"Yes, you did," Mae said quietly. "You tried to get back at Wortham and Lee just because Cantrell told you to. You have to stop doing that." She looked from Severus to Dinah. "And I would never make fun of my professors."

"I know you wouldn't," Dinah flashed her a smile. "I really appreciate that. Both of us do," she gestured across to Severus, who just shrugged response, pulling the mysteries book over from Dinah and idly perusing it.

"Andrew, Cantrell scares me," Mae said to her friend. "Why do you keep spending time with him?"

"We're friends. He doesn't do anything that bad, really. It was just a little fun, that's all. It's not like Wortham or Lee got hurt." Severus's gaze popped back up from the book at Speasy's words, and Dinah knew that he was weighing the similarities between his life and the boy's in his mind.

"He's not really your friend," Mae said with a firm shake of her head. "He's just trying to take advantage of you."

"At least he's better than Wotham and Lee!" Speasy retorted. "Do you want me to just sit back and do nothing while they treat me the way they do? I have to get _back _at them and Cantrell's ways are the easiest ways to do that."

"I _know _they're mean to you. But Cantrell is no different. He's always following that boy Peaks around... and Peaks is _really _bad, isn't he? Cantrell preys on you because he wants you to worship him the way he worships Peaks. He thinks you're easy to take advantage of because Wortham and Lee pick on you so much. He's just like they are!"

Dinah was listening to Mae and Speasy's discussion, but her focus was mostly on Severus, whose head was shifting back and forth between the first year boy and girl, his impressions unreadable but his expression stressed.

"So you don't think much more of me than any of them do, then?" Speasy muttered, looking a little hurt. "You're so sure everybody just wants to take advantage of me. Don't you think I'm strong enough to make the right choices on my own?"

"It's not that!" it was Mae's turn to look stressed. "It's just that I want you to make _real _friends. It really wouldn't be that hard if you just stayed away from Cantrell. I mean, look at how mean he was to Professor Samson just now."

Speasy and Severus's gazes both shifted to Dinah, but Speasy just shrugged and glanced away, as though he didn't care one way or the other what Cantrell had done to her.

"That's enough!" Severus pushed back his chair and stood up, his voice cracking. "I can't watch this anymore. I'm leaving." He turned and hurried out of the library.

Dinah watched him go. It seemed that the similarities between Speasy and Mae and himself and Lily had been too much for him to take all at once.

"What's wrong with Professor Snape?" Mae asked.

"Oh. Nothing, just let him be for now," Dinah said softly, pulling the book back over to her. She wouldn't follow him down to the dungeons right away. She would give him time to deal with this first.

"Okay..." Mae said slowly, still looking confused as she and Speasy watched the place where Severus had disappeared.

"You two should probably go for now," Dinah said to the two first-years. "I'm sure you have studying to do, things to discuss alone..."

Mae at least seemed to get the message that Dinah wanted to be alone and agreed, Speasy reluctantly following her off toward the back of the library.

Dinah sighed and opened the book, figuring that if she skimmed the whole thing that would be enough time to wait before she went down to the dungeons to talk to Severus.

The book was published in 1960, so would hopefully be more useful than some of the older books she and Severus had been searching through lately. Looking through the pages, she realized that the book was more or less a list of every type or at least most types of unexplained phenomena recorded in wizarding society since the distant past. The descriptions of each thing were brief, and categorized according to their nature. The 'voice ghosts' part was in the 'non-corporeal' section. There were also sections for spells, people, beasts, and potions, among other things and a catch-all 'other' category.

The extent of the voice ghosts section was pretty much nothing more than what Mae had already described, but it did list one or two references to generic books that could probably be found in the non-restricted sections of the library. Dinah skimmed the remaining categories for something that might jump out at her. She had gotten through the first three chapters and found nothing when something in the 'beasts' section caught her eye. There was a section on humanoid beasts of all shapes and sizes, making her think of the flayed baby and its demon child counterpart. Unfortunately, nothing seemed quite right, but there were more references that might be useful.

She made it to the 'other' category in the last chapter before she finally found something else of interest. The phrase 'dinner plate' caught her eye because she remembered that the Horcrux creator Cedric Monteith had used one as the vessel for his soul piece. And, indeed, the section did seem to be talking about Horcruxes. It referenced evil objects with strange powers tied to dark wizards reportedly long-dead. Of course, it wasn't a restricted section book so it didn't delve into the actual concept of Horcruxes in any detail, not even mentioning the word, but for somebody who knew about them it was obvious that that was the reference. Basically, it repeated the statement that there were legends of Horcruxes still floating around that had not been destroyed from dark wizards rumored – but unproven - to have created them.

It made Dinah wonder if Tommy or the evil demon child could be tied to a different dark wizard than Voldemort. But of course that was silly. He prophecy clearly stated 'the Dark Lord'. Then again, there was still the issue of Eugene's mysterious wizard-card collecting friend...

She stood and took the book through the library, finally managing to locate the mysteries section in a far corner, near where Mae and Speasy sat. The two first-years were deep in conversation and didn't really notice her nearby, but Dinah was just glad that they seemed to be getting along well again, for the moment.

She put the book away in its designated place and started perusing the other titles on the small section of shelves. She had intended to look for other potential books for interest, but found she was too agitated to do so. She had barely finished skimming the top shelf when she couldn't stand it any more. Rather than standing here forcing herself to work and fidgeting like an idiot, she had to go down and talk to Severus. It had been enough time, and he needed her.

Dinah sighed and turned swiftly away from the shelf, leaving the library. There was the entire weekend to look for mystery books. Right now she needed to see Severus. She made her way down to the dungeons and used her key to enter his office. Like yesterday, the lights were off, but the door to his private quarters stood open all the way, letting the orange glow from the inner rooms into the outer one. Dinah tiptoed towards it and stepped into the door frame, biting her lip at what she saw inside.

Severus sat on the couch, very much in her view, but not noticing her presence, too focused was his gaze on the picture he held in one hand. His eyes appeared slightly red-rimmed as he spoke to the picture in a soft, hesitant voice. "Lily. Have you really forgiven me?" He was silent for a few more moments, just watching the picture with an expression that suggested innumerable distressed thoughts roiling around in his head.

Dinah felt guilty just standing there watching with him not even noticing her, so she cleared her throat softly.

He jumped, much like he had at dinner yesterday, and looked up at her, the hand holding the picture jerking slightly. His attention immediately snapped back to it, checking to see if he had damaged the image in any way. He carefully smoothed a corner of it, leading Dinah to think that he might have bent it slightly, and when he finally seemed satisfied he turned back to her. "Dinah," he managed a weak smile, "must you insist on startling me every time you come in here?"

"Sorry," she offered him a mild, sheepish smile back, but in truth felt no happier than he was feeling right now. She started heading in the direction of the couch and asked softly; "Are you all right?"

He shook his head and sighed, not meeting her gaze. "It's this body. I can't be in this body without thinking of her. It feels just like it did back then, you know? I just - I keep expecting her to come around the next – around every corner. And then I remember that you were also here, going to school at the same time as me, and I get even more confused."

"Oh," Dinah sighed and sat down next to him, taking his free hand that wasn't holding the picture into hers. "Don't worry about that. You don't have to say that just for my sake."

"I'm not – I mean, it's not that," he looked at her, and the sincerity of his expression was such that she couldn't _not _believe him. "I really do think about the fact that you were here as well, not just for your sake, but because I just... think about it."

She nodded, meeting his sad gaze with one of her own. "Okay. But I guess it's not really relevant, is it? I mean... we didn't even _know _each other."

"We looked at each other though. I want to think that it means something," he shook his head and looked away, staring back down at the smiling flame-haired beauty in the picture he still held in his right hand. "Never mind. You know, ever since being in this body all I think about when I'm alone is the past. I've even been watching pensieve memories from time to time, and I wonder... maybe I'm remembering some things wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"There was a scene. I thought she defended me, but- and I started thinking about this again after Speasy and Yates were talking in the library – that scene when I called her... _that_," he closed his eyes for a moment as pain washed over his face and Dinah squeezed his hand. After a moment he opened his eyes again and stared at the picture of Lily once more, a tiny frown crossing his features. "She _did _defend me, but... there was a moment, while I was hanging there after that git Potter used _Levicorpus _on me. I think... I think she might have laughed at me, too. Just a little bit," he turned back to her in one swift movement, his eyes begging for answers. "What do you think? You saw the scenes."

Dinah sighed, recalling the scene. She knew it was true, that Lily had at least _almost _laughed at him in that moment. She hated recalling it. Problem was she didn't know how Severus wanted her to answer. Maybe he wanted her to lie to him, help him maintain his pure, perfect image of his old friend. And yet, she just couldn't bring herself to do it. It felt somehow crueler, in the long run, to let him keep living in his illusions. "I ... I don't think she quite laughed, Severus, but there _was _a moment... the tiniest moment where it looked like maybe she was going to. I'm sorry; you probably wanted me to tell you that she didn't."

He shrugged and looked away. "No. The truth is fine. I really knew the answer anyway. So I guess I'm no different than Speasy then, huh?" he laughed, but the sound was hollow and held no amusement. "Even the one person I loved more than anything and who was my closest friend... even _she _thought little enough of me to laugh along with everybody else. Well, I guess I probably looked pretty funny in that position. It's not like I _asked _Potter to do it. Still, who wouldn't laugh? Right?"

Dinah bit her lip again, fighting back a wave of tears, and shook her head. "For what it's worth, when I watched that scene in the pensieve I didn't laugh. When I think about it now I don't laugh. I would _never _laugh at your expense, Severus." She sighed. "I'm sorry. Now I probably sound like I'm bragging."

"No," he offered her another weak smile and laid his head on her shoulder. "I believe you. It means a lot to hear you say that."

"Severus," she hugged him and cuddled close, resting her cheek against his dark hair.

"So... I guess that's it then," Severus said, holding the picture of Lily in front of him with a sigh, his expression still one of longing as he gazed at her. "I wonder what else I'm remembering wrong. She probably laughed at me all the time."

"I don't think so," Dinah shook her head. "Don't over-think this. You were still friends. Her defense of you was real that time. Yes, maybe she laughed a little bit but she still cared. Maybe not as much as... as she could have, but she did. It was the other part of that scene that bothered me though, more than that part. She called you... that horrid nickname," Dinah shuddered as the anger that always seemed to boil up inside of her when she thought of the word 'Snivellus' returned.

Severus shrugged, but tucked the picture back into his robes, out of view again. "I called her the other name first."

"I don't care," Dinah growled. "I refuse to accept _anyone _calling you that name ever again. You've already seen what happens when they do."

Her young boyfriend actually laughed at that, making her feel a little bit better. "Yes, I've seen it. I must admit, it was rather satisfying watching Black _finally_ get what he deserved. I... I wish I'd had you around a long time ago. Then again, we've seen how I was back then. Maybe it's better that we didn't meet until now."

"Don't try to think about the scene in the pensieve again," Dinah said softly, running her fingers through his hair. "I know it's tempting, but I really think there's no point. I mean, we could go on and on wondering if there was some 'meaning' in the fact that we saw each other but we'd never come to any kind of conclusion. It should only matter that we're together now. That's what I thought when I first saw the scene and I still think so."

He shrugged. "I guess. I just... can't stop seeing it. Any of the scenes. I shouldn't have that pensieve in here, but it's so easy to just spend my free hours staring into it. Watching all the old scenes... even the ones from before we went to Hogwarts. But I see a lot of things now that I never noticed before. Things that bother me." He sighed. "She was my life, Dinah. From the moment that I first saw her. But I was seeing her through... a tainted view. I don't know. I was just so ... focused on her and what I thought about her, I don't think that I saw anything else correctly."

Dinah smiled a little. "Well... you were young, and you had your past and your personality affecting your approach to her. But I do admit that when I saw that first scene of you watching her in the pensieve I thought you looked a _little _like a psycho obsessed stalker."

Severus laughed and lifted his head to face her. "I see. That's a... very interesting choice of words. I'm glad you're here to tell me these things."

She smiled. "At least I can still make you laugh."

He grinned. "You do have a gift for cheering me up, I'll admit. I honestly don't know what I'd do without you."

"Well, that's a question you'll never have to answer, because I'm not going anywhere."

He sighed, leaning in to give her a lingering kiss; "You have no idea how much it means to me that you _are _here." He turned and looked at the clock on the wall; "It's not that late, but I think I need to go to sleep. Will you stay with me tonight? I know it's not the weekend but I want you here and... I'm just feeling exhausted all of a sudden."

"Of course you are; you're thinking too much," she murmured, smoothing the lines that had been creasing his forehead ever since she had arrived and brushing his hair back from his face. He exhaled, finally letting go a little, and she could clearly see his exhaustion. She returned his kiss from earlier and whispered; "And of course I'll stay."

He smiled and stood from the couch, taking her hand into his and leading her back to the bedroom. They took turns changing clothes and she crawled into the bed first. When he climbed in next he very decidedly reached across, gathering her into his arms and pulling her against him. He pressed his face to hers and murmured a "Thank you" into her ear.

"Mm," she nodded, tilting her head up to look at him. "I just want you to be happy."

"Make me stop looking into the pensieve," he whispered, pleading again.

Dinah bit her lip and shook her head; "I don't know how you expect me to do that. I'm not Lily. You... need her."

"I need you, too."

"I know," she offered him a small, sad smile; "But it's not the same."

He looked a little stressed, reaching across and cupping her cheek in his hand. "It's not. But... it's still... important."

She smiled a little more easily, hoping to relax him. "That's enough, then. I've told you that it's enough, and I mean that." She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him so she didn't have to look at his reaction to her words. It was her turn to feel a little overwhelmed right now.

"You will always be by my side," he murmured, tightening the grip his arms had around her waist. "No matter what happens, I will always have you stay."

"I know," she said, and she did know that. And it _was _enough. And yet... if for some reason Lily miraculously returned she would remain by his side as only a friend. He had said so, and she had convinced herself that even that was enough. Of course, it was ridiculous to assume that something like Lily returning from the dead was a possibility. Then again, Sirius, someone who had been dead for two years, managed to return via that strange old magic that had brought Severus into her life. Was it too farfetched to assume the old magic might randomly decide at some point that Harry Potter's parents deserved a second chance at life, too?

Probably, and yet now that the thought had occurred to her it stayed settled in her stomach as a nagging fear. She tried to push it away as she felt Severus's muscles relax and go limp around her, indicating that not only had he fallen asleep but he had been much more stressed than even appearance had indicated. She was glad he could rest now, and yet the disturbing thoughts remained with her, staving off her own relaxing sleep.

Even if Lily _were _to come back it wouldn't change the fact that she had chosen James over Severus. Did her boyfriend understand that? Did he even seriously think about her returning? Was it a secret hope of his? Either way, he'd just be disappointed _again_, right? After all, she had clearly chosen the other man. Maybe at some point she could have gone the other way and picked Severus but she had not. Dinah really couldn't understand why but she had chosen that obnoxious git James Potter, and had been happy with that choice. Even if she returned that wouldn't change. So Severus would just have to endure more pain if such a miracle ever occurred.

Unless she returned without James and without memory. In which case, Dinah was doomed.


	80. Good

CHAPTER EIGHTY

Good

* * *

She was happy to have been able to stay with Severus all weekend again, even though that was their plan, Dinah thought as she searched through the library stacks Monday evening. At least with her presence Severus had not gone looking through his pensieve some more, and seemed to have relaxed a little bit. It was always like that though. When they were together, he slowly relaxed until he seemed okay, and then when they parted for the week he started getting stressed and depressed again. She was especially worried because Eugene had insisted upon another meeting tonight, leaving her searching the library alone with her thoughts.

Dinah hadn't realized he spent all that time with the mysterious bowl, dwelling on his past. It bothered her much more than she had even expected, as she realized once again how deeply his issues ran. Was she even cut out for helping him through them?

She sighed and ran her finger along the stacks, trying to push those worries from her mind with only a tiny bit of success. She had to try and find some good books. Over the weekend they had perused the rest of the mysteries section and had found a few promising pieces of information. Nothing life-altering, but it had definitely clued them in to the fact that there was more information to be found in just the regular, non-restricted sections than they had at first assumed. So she was perusing the ordinary dark arts section again.

She had a pile of two books in her arms already that she was going to look through, after the first three she had found had been dead ends. Many of these books were, unfortunately, ones that Severus already owned and had looked through.

Her finger stopped at a very thin, worn book with no writing on the side that almost disappeared in the slew of larger books surrounding it. She pulled it out so that she could look at the title and frowned.

Odd.

_Where Does the Good Go? – A collection of fairy tales on the nature of evil_, by Raymond Scrump.

She added it to the top of her stack and carried the small pile over to an open table, settling down and opening the small old book. She had never heard of these fairy tales nor had she ever heard of this author, which was odd considering most wizarding fairy tales were fairly well-known. But these seemed to be dark fairy tales, so maybe they got less publicity. And the author had a rather funny name, too, she couldn't help but think. Still, it was intriguing.

There was a short table of contents listing seven stories, and she decided to start at the beginning, reading through each tale in turn.

The first tale was entitled 'On Evil and Forgiveness', and was sort of a Cinderella story about a young witch named Esmeralda who was abused and tormented by a wicked stepmother. It began fairly generically, but then Dinah stumbled across the sentence 'She did not know that most people who are evil do not start out that way (See "Where Does the Good Go?")' and turned back to the table of contents. The books titular tale was the third tale listed, so she would get to it then. The phrase was intriguing and made her think of Tommy. The second tale listed also looked promising, entitled 'The Wizard who Split in Two' and making her think of Horcruxes, but she was determined to read all of these in order, and so continued with the first tale.

_And then the stepmother died one day, freeing Esmeralda from her endless torment. The young girl was relieved, but continued to live in constant fear, too great was the damage that her father's second wife had inflicted upon her._ Dinah frowned. These tales certainly were dark. No wonder the kids didn't like them. _And yet that fear would_ _begin something new for the pretty young girl. Soon Esmeralda began hearing her stepmother's voice and seeing her around the house from time to time. Her stepmother haunted her like a ghost, but she was not a ghost._

_That _phrase struck Dinah quite clearly and she couldn't help but wonder how through all her endless searches for descriptions of non-ghostlike ghosts she would finally find something useful in a book of fairy tales. Yet, these were just fairy tales, and there was no telling what if any actual truth was to be found in them.

Still, she continued reading. It seemed that Esmeralda's fear and hatred of her stepmother was holding the woman's spirit on Earth in a very indirect sort of way. Eventually, the girl learned of her stepmother's past through the voices and memories, talks with her estranged father, and research into her stepmother's family. She came to realize that the woman had gone through much torment of her own in life and _that _was why she was as cruel as she was. The story ended with Esmeralda finally forgiving her stepmother for her crimes, and the odd spirit was able to leave in peace.

Dinah smiled a little as she turned the page. The tale was dark, but had a good moral and a positive ending. Forgiveness of another's sins, no matter how great, was always something that Dinah had believed in. Then again, she was an overly idealistic Hufflepuff-type, as Severus never failed to constantly remind her.

Smiling again, she started reading the second tale, entitled 'The Wizard Who Split in Two.' Barely two paragraphs in, she could tell that the story was a cleverly-veiled look at Horcruxes. It seemed that once upon a time there was a very evil wizard who tormented the kingdom that he lived in where he served under and manipulated the king. One day a servant boy angered him, which led to his murder at the hands of the evil wizard. When the wizard cast the killing curse on the boy his body split in two and the kingdom was forced to contend with two of this entirely evil man.

That was where it differed slightly, the fact that there were essentially two of him rather than him hiding one part of his soul in an object, but Dinah guessed that this was just poetic license on the author's part. Anyway, the rest of the tale was quite indicative of Horcruxes. It seemed that valiant knights tried many times to kill him, but his second half always brought the first half back. Only when one particularly brilliant knight decided to kill the two of them in opposite order was the world finally rid of the horrible evil.

Dinah almost laughed at that. Apparently you needed a genius to discover something that should have been obvious after the first one or two killing attempts. She also wondered if this was based on a true story in any way. After all, many books from their research had said that there were likely many other Horcrux makers, just ones that were not clearly identified in history. But there was no way of telling for sure.

She moved to the next fairy tale, mouthing the intriguing title again as she traced the words with her fingers: _Where Does the Good Go?_

Dinah read:

_Once upon a time there was a kind young prince. He was good and gentle and everyone in the kingdom loved him. All of his deeds were for the good of the people and his family, and he was engaged to be married to a beautiful young lady-in-waiting whom he had been friends with since childhood and loved very deeply and with all his heart._

_But one day tragedy struck, as war with a neighboring kingdom brought death and destruction on the day of the prince's fifteenth year. The kingdom fought valiantly to defend itself, but the ruler of its enemy was particularly cruel, and almost all in the prince's kingdom died, including all members of his family and the girl that he loved._

_The prince was left alone to rebuild his home with the few remaining survivors of the attack, but he had greatly changed. Loss of his loved ones overwhelmed him with thoughts of revenge on the neighboring kingdom. Although advisers tried to discourage this futile mission on a rival much stronger and more powerful than they, the prince refused to hear reason. He led his kingdom on many, many attacks, and each time they failed and resulted in nothing but more deaths, weighing heavier and heavier on the princes psyche. _

_And yet he could not stop, so crazed had he become with his missions of revenge. Over time, the deaths of his servants and his familiars affected him less and less, until one day he stopped caring altogether. What had once been good changed in an instant to pure, utter, and complete evil. The kind young prince was lost forever._

_Or was he?_

_As the kingdom tried futilely over many years to adjust to the rule of a wildly evil and despotic tyrant, something strange eventually began to happen to a young woman of the kingdom. She was the sister of the girl the prince had once loved, and the only remaining survivor of that family. Despite her many losses and the horrid conditions in which she was forced to live, she had been able to forge a happy marriage and had a loving family which she was devoted to and cared for very deeply. Her kindness mirrored the kindness that had once been in their prince's heart._

_Some years after the birth of her second child, she began encountering a boy that she thought she knew in the halls of the ruined palace. Although she told her husband, children, and friends of this young adolescent man that she had met, none of them were able to see him as she was. Like a ghost, he could appear and disappear at will, but unlike a ghost, he did not seem to have chosen this life. He was sad and lonely and confused, and oftentimes did not know where he was and why he had gotten there._

_Eventually, the young woman recognized the boy as someone from her past. Someone she had known through her dead sister, long long ago._

_He was the prince._

_But he was not the same. He was but a mere shadow of the kindness and good that had once lived inside of their ruler. In order to take the shape of pure evil that the prince had become, he had to lose the remaining good that existed inside of him. And yet, goodness and kindness is a resilient, ever-present thing. It cannot disappear from the universe, but must depart to another location when one who is good suddenly becomes pure evil. The sister had found this missing good._

_The woman tried to help the embodiment of kindness that had left the evil prince, but she did not know what to do. Try as she might, there was little she could do to help him. And yet he had forged a connection to her, the one person that remained from his good past and a person whose personality and story meshed with his own in many ways. Yet the woman had survived adversity with her soul intact and he had not. No matter how hard the young woman tried, she could never do more for the young spirit of kindness than remain his friend, while the prince continued to rule with more evil than ever._

_Can the missing good ever be returned to its original vessel? No one knows. If it can, it must be through that tenuous connection it made through another human being, as the prince did with his former love's sister. Is it possible for the vessel to regain the missing good on its own? That is doubtful, but if a connection still exists between them could it be possible? These questions plagued the woman for the remainder of her days, and she could do nothing more than hope that somehow, someday, the young man she met in the halls of the ruined palace could find peace._

_Whether he did or not is still unknown._

Dinah had been so absorbed and so shocked that she had read the fairy tale straight through without pause and with barely a breath. Now that she had finished, she let out an audible gasp and stood from the table, her gaze darting around the library at nothing in particular and her heart pounding so hard and fast inside her chest that she could hear it.

This story! This story was Tommy! It was almost _certainly_ Tommy, and she had forged a connection to him! He wasn't a Horcrux, but an embodiment of the goodness that had left Voldemort on that day back in the 1940s when he had given up trying to make friends and destroyed that bathroom. He _had _to be that! Sort of an anti-Horcrux.

And if he was an anti-Horcrux then surely that little piece of his soul that still existed on Earth was what was holding the flayed baby thing in existence and probably what made it still evil. And everything made perfect sense with the words of her prophecy, too. All of the answers that she had been searching for had existed in this tiny book of old fairy tales!

At that thought she slumped back down into her chair, her excitement subdued. What if they _were _just a bunch of old fairy tales and didn't mean anything after all? Could she be on a wild goose chase? The missing good in the tale certainly sounded like Tommy, but there were no specifics on whether he was solid and colorful like Tommy was, only that he was able to disappear and reappear and was confused about who he was. But it was really close enough for Dinah's mind at this point.

The other confusing thing was that, although the first story about the witch and her stepmother had referenced this one, it hadn't been clear on if the stepmother was also a 'missing good' or not. The reference made her want to think so, but if so then simply forgiveness was enough to save the missing good? But the missing good story had said that nobody knew how to do so. Were there different 'types' of missing good? Then again, the stepmother in the other story hadn't been 'pure evil' if her spirit was still able to hang around wanting forgiveness. As far as Dinah figured, pure evil didn't care much about forgiveness.

She groaned. Why even put that reference there if it wasn't going to make any sense? So many things were still unclear. Plus, it didn't give her in any way an answer about the youthening potion and the wizard cards and Eugene's mysterious 'friend', so there were still plenty of other annoying mysteries in her life that the tales didn't touch on.

Who was Raymond Scrump? Why did he write these tales? Were any of them from real, personal experience? If so, why didn't more books discuss these issues?

Looking at the published date she realized that the book was written in 1783. It was in the Hogwarts library, so _some_body _some_wherehad to know about it. But what could she do? How could she find out more about this author and whether he just came up with these tales on a whim or if they were based on something?

She inhaled sharply as the answer came to her.

Lucy.

Lucy would know.

... Problem was, Lucy didn't want to talk to Dinah and Dinah was afraid to approach her. But surely the dire circumstances she found herself in and the potential usefulness of these tales in interpreting them was enough to give her the courage to approach her old friend. And Lucy loved her job, loved reading and interpreting old and new fictional works. Surely she would be able to at least help Dinah to interpret these tales, and since it was something she enjoyed doing she might even be willing despite the fact that she was still angry with her.

It was crystal clear. Lucy was necessary and essential to following this trail of clues, and Dinah would have to go and talk to her.

That decided, Dinah took the book into her arms and stood determinedly from the table. She _had _intended on reading the rest of the tales, but the remaining titles hadn't looked quite as useful and so they could wait. She had to get this to Lucy _now_, before she lost her nerve.

As she marched down the hall, Dinah tried to come up with exactly what she was going to say to Lucy, but her mind refused to give her anything but swirling incoherencies. By the time she reached Lucy's closed door her throat was dry and she was terrified and ready to run back in the other direction. But she stood her ground. She didn't know how she did, but she did, and lifted a trembling fist to knock on the door.

The door opened and Lucy stood there, but Dinah felt her face burning and shut her eyes and turned her head sharply away towards the other side of the hall before she could even see her friend's expression, holding the book out as far as she could in front of her and babbling in what was probably a too-loud voice: "I know you probably don't want to see or talk to me right now but I found this book and I was hoping you might be able to look at it and give me some of your interpretations. It's really important and if you can and you're willing to help please find me when you're done and let me know what you think, okay? Sorry, thanks!" she turned and ran off down the hallway as soon as she felt the weight of the book shift and knew that Lucy had taken it. She didn't even look back, too afraid of seeing whatever expression was on her friend's face.

By the time she reached her door, she was kicking herself and feeling ashamed for how idiotic she had just acted. Being a teenager was just _not _fun. Another uneasy thought occurred to her as she slipped her key into the lock. Hopefully Lucy didn't think that the 'sorry' she babbled meant that she was sorry for hitting Sirius, because she wasn't. No, it had been more of a 'sorry for bugging you and showing my face at your door' kind of a sorry. Yeah, Lucy had probably got that impression, it was rather obvious since she had just been babbling, and had thrown the 'thanks' in after it. She was just over-thinking things again, as usual.

Cursed adolescence!

Dinah was in for another surprise when she opened her door and found Severus sitting on her couch, play-fighting with Godric. "Oh!"

"Hi," Severus turned a slightly nervous smile to her. "I hope you don't mind that I came. I managed to get rid of Eugene early and I wanted to see you. I thought maybe you were done in the library. I was going to go find you in there when you weren't here but I started playing with Godric and well..." he shrugged.

"No, I'm glad you came," she smiled, walking over and sitting down next to him. "I gave you that key so that you would use it, same as you did with me. And I'm sure Godric appreciates it," she said, absently petting her cat and sighing.

"What happened?" asked the ever-observant Severus.

"I talked to Lucy."

"Oh. Well, that's good, isn't it?"

She shrugged, curling up against him and laying her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. "I don't know. I had found this book in the library and I wanted her to help me interpret it but I just sort of shoved it at her and ran off. Pretty stupid, I know."

He chuckled and hugged her to him, the sound a warm rumbling against her and very soothing, pretty much the same when he was an adolescent as when he was an adult. "A little silly, perhaps, but not stupid," he murmured affectionately into her hair. "My Dinah could never be stupid."

Dinah flushed at the fact that he called her his and smiled. "Thanks."

"So what happened exactly?"

She sighed and sat back up so she could face him, then gave him a brief summary of what she had found in the book and what had happened at Lucy's door.

He blinked after she had finished and then frowned. "Dinah, if those tales are real or based on reality in any way then this is our biggest breakthrough yet."

"I know. And you know what else it means, right? That Tommy is _not _evil, but rather good. Pure good in fact, the last good that's left from Voldemort."

He sighed, tilting her chin up towards his face, looking a little guilty. "If that's true then you were right and I was wrong. And I'm sorry."

"Oh, Severus," she smiled, resting her cheek against his hand and closing her eyes for a moment. Maybe now that he was more on her side she could tell him about her recent visit with Tommy.

"But," he added, and it was her turn to frown. "We don't know that for certain yet. And at least until we get more information or hear Lucy's interpretation I'm still not comfortable with you associating with him. So if there's another dark storm and you want to seek him out, find me first like we talked about."

She sighed, feeling guilty about lying again but there was nothing she could do. Obviously, she still couldn't tell him about Tommy. "Okay."

* * *

"What do you mean, staying away another week?" Severus positively shouted at Minerva as he and Dinah stood in the headmaster's office at lunchtime on Tuesday, facing a very sheepish and guilty-looking Professor McGonagall.

"I don't know, it's simply what the owl I received from him said, Severus," she said, exceedingly patient given the circumstances. "I'm afraid the headmaster has seemed very distracted as of late, and I cannot always interpret his whims. You would be better at that than I would," she nodded at Severus. "You know how he's been ever since the rebirth."

He sighed, calming down a little and staring at the floor; "I know."

"Know what?" Dinah had to ask, their comments igniting a spark of curiosity in her.

"I'll tell you later," he mumbled, turning back to Minerva. "Fine, then. The minute he returns let us know."

"I will. You know I will."

Severus nodded and took Dinah's hand, leading her from the room and back down to the dungeons, summoning dinner for them at the table.

After Dinah had taken a few satisfying bites of Hogwarts' best shepherd's pie, she asked again; "What was Minerva talking about?"

"The headmaster has been troubled," Severus said, shrugging. "Like I was, about being reborn. He's convinced he knows why I was, but I think that fact that he was truly bothers him. He was so utterly convinced that it had been his right time to die. It's been... distracting him a lot. It sort of concerns me."

"Oh, I see," she replied softly, concerned as Severus was but also relieved that her boyfriend had used the past tense when talking about his worries over being reborn. Did that mean he wasn't troubled about it anymore? Had she been able to help him at least that much?

"Speaking of people acting strange," Severus was continuing. "Eugene has been acting unusual and has seemed very uneasy and on edge ever since the headmaster left. Why is it that almost everything with dark storms and Eugene and his 'mysterious friend' happens when Dumbledore isn't here?"

Dinah sighed and shrugged; "You think Dumbledore is a key connection to everything."

"Given the wizard cards that keep showing up everywhere, I think he has to be," Severus agreed. "Problem is I have no idea how or why."

She nodded. "I hope there are no more dark storms this week, at least. The students have enough on their plates what with the upcoming Quidditch match and studying and Valentine's Day right around the corner." She looked up at a sudden clink across the table. Severus's fork had fallen from his hands and he was staring at her with a shocked expression. "What is it?" she asked, worried.

"Valentines Day is coming!"

"Yes," she laughed, relieved that that was all he was worried about. "It is. But don't panic. It's Sunday, I just thought we'd get some dinner and cuddle on the couch or something, if you were up for it. I mean, I'm not expecting anything big from you. I was just going to peruse that old birthday list you gave me for something to give you, since you don't strike me as the type of person who would want a bunch of chocolates."

"Yeah, okay, that's fine, can you leave now?" he asked, looking anxious.

"Leave! But I haven't finished my pie yet," she resisted the urge to laugh again. He was taking this whole thing so seriously.

"Sorry, but please? I need to... um... think."

"Okay, okay," she smiled and stood up from the table, lifting up the plate in front of her; "But I'm taking my plate with me. Ok, Mr. Valentine's Secret?"

"Do what you want, just get out," he waved her off, still not looking very relaxed despite her teasing.

Dinah couldn't help but laugh again; "Okay, I'm going. Surprise me then. But you don't have to go overboard. I don't need a lot, you know." He shrugged and she sighed; "Would you please look happier about this!" He looked up at her and forced a giant smile, causing her to cringe and back up. "Um, Severus could you not do that? It looks...unnatural."

"Fine," his face immediately fell. "Are you gone yet?"

"I'm _going_," she continued to laugh, rolling her eyes and heading for the door, before a thought made her turn back. "Oh, about tomorrow. Library after dinner?"

"I'll meet you there. I'm stuck with another Eugene meeting over food, but I'll make sure it's a short one."

"Okay. See you then," she smiled and left the dungeons, heading back to her rooms with a new spring in her step. It seemed Severus was intent on doing something really nice for her for Valentine's Day. She hadn't really expected it, but it made her happy. She couldn't wait to figure out what he would do!


	81. Lucy

A/N: Long chapter.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE

Lucy

* * *

Dinah ate a quick dinner in her rooms so she could get to the library early on Wednesday. She had to restart going through the dark arts sections as the two books she had intended to read yesterday had been left on the table and Madam Pince had replaced them. She'd just found them again and was about halfway through the first one when someone tapped her on the shoulder a voice spoke her name.

She jumped and turned around, startled for a moment and then nervous as she looked up into the hesitant gaze of Lucy, holding the fairy tale book she had given her the day before last. Dinah had no idea what to say. Lucy had come to find her, so obviously she wasn't mad enough at her to ignore her literature request, which was nice. But she didn't know what other things her old friend was feeling, and so the only thing that she managed to squeak out was a cautious; "Oh, um... hi."

Lucy looked nervous as well; "Um, can…can I sit down?"

"Oh!" Dinah exclaimed, surprised, pushing a nearby chair back with her foot and gesturing to it with a probably too-large wave of her arms, "Of course! Please sit down!" Was it ... _possible _... that Lucy wasn't really as mad at her as she'd thought? The literature professor looked cautious and insecure like she did from time to time, but definitely not angry.

Lucy smiled. "So," she said sitting. She placed the book on the table and began tracing its title with her finger, an idle, nervous gesture. "You wanted me to interpret this?"

Dinah just stared at her for a moment. She was smiling. That was a good sign, right? "Um, yeah... I just thought you might have an idea about it," Dinah watched the book instead of looking at Lucy, knowing that she wasn't speaking very directly. But she couldn't do much about her instinctual adolescent habits; "I hope I'm not bugging you or something."

She giggled, looking at Dinah like she might look at a student. "Dinah, you're not bugging me. In fact I've been spending most of my time outside of class reading or grading. I seem to be occupying a rather large gap in the social workings of the school. Not really old enough to talk with most of the professors, though some do try and I'm not a student so I really shouldn't be hanging out with them all the time. It can be rather lonesome, but it's not something I've never experienced before."

"Oh. So you're not busy, then," Dinah wanted to kick herself for sounding like an idiot, but didn't. Lucy probably thought she was a complete child.

"No, no. But…I'm not really sure what you wanted me to interpret. I mean I read them and everything but you didn't mention anything in particular you wanted me to look for. There's a whole host of ways I can interpret these stories. It sort of depends on the context…"

"Oh," Dinah sighed, realizing that her friend was right. "I'm sorry, that was really stupid of me, wasn't it? I'm sorry, I know you're probably still mad at me and I didn't mean to waste your time. Here, I'll show you what I was looking at," she reached for the book.

Lucy held on to the book firmly for a minute. "I'm not mad at you. I thought you were mad at me. I mean, maybe I was a little mad at first, but that's understandable isn't it? I don't know. I was more confused than anything. Then…then he told me…"

"You... you're not mad at me?" Dinah wasn't particularly worried about whatever it was that Sirius had told Lucy, she was more shocked that she had been interpreting everything wrong from that point forward. "I... I'm not mad at you, either. I mean, I just wanted to give you time to deal with what happened because I thought you needed that. I mean, I hit your boyfriend. I sort of expected you to be mad at me; that's why I was waiting for you to come over but when you didn't I thought... you hated me." Dinah found herself blinking back tears and wanted to kick herself again. Being an adolescent was awful.

"I'm not mad at you," Lucy said quietly. "I appreciate you wanting to give me time though. We talked about it. We dealt with it. It's over. I thought you needed time to cool down and then you kept running away from me…"

"I was giving _you _time," Dinah swiped at her eyes and smiled a little. "I guess we were both being pretty stupid, huh?"

Lucy grinned, blushing, "Yeah, I guess we were. Now," she said, pushing the book so it was between them, "what where you thinking about these?"

Dinah smiled, exhaling with relief, and opened the cover of the book. She was so glad this whole confusing Lucy thing was over and they were friends again. Sirius was another story, of course, but she'd cross that bridge when she came to it. "I read the first three," she said, pointing to them in the table of contents. "I didn't really get to the last four because the third one really struck me. I guess, first off I wondered if you knew anything about the author. You know lots of authors, right?"

"Not personally," Lucy grinned. "But yes, I am familiar with a lot of authors. This author I wasn't too knowledgeable on. His name sounded familiar but I had to go look him up." She reached into the bag she'd brought with her and pulled out a book entitled _The Squib Did It_. She flipped to the back and the "about the author" section.

"He was a squib?" Dinah asked, a little surprised as she looked at that part of the book.

"Mmm," Lucy nodded, "It seems so. I think it'd be interesting if we could find out the name he used as a Muggle and how his life was after he left our world but that probably wouldn't add much to the stories here. I read through all of them and the first three are probably the best, unless you like really gory fairy tales. The second one struck me as a tale about Horcruxes, but other than that…well actually I was hoping I could get a copy of the first one at some point so I could look at it more in depth. It seemed to be one of the lighter pieces and it had a good moral too it."

"I liked the first one, too!" Dinah exclaimed, grinning, realizing she probably looked like a total kid again. It was weird to hang out with an adult after she and Severus had only been associating with each other for the past few weeks. Minus Grubbly-Plank and Eugene, of course, but that was only about work, at least with Grubbly-Plank. "But I wasn't quite sure why the first one referenced the third one. I guess we'll get to that later," she looked back at the about the author section. "So he was a squib born into a Slytherin family and that's why he wrote fairy tales about the dark arts, probably. You know, I bet he faced a lot of the same issues that Muggle-born Slytherins have to face. But it must have been worse in the 1700s."

"I imagine so. The witch hunts can't have been long over; they might have even still been going on. The squib issue can be hard to deal with, especially for pureblood families. I mean, at least if one of your parents is Muggle-born than you have a chance joining a society where you can be relatively normal, but purebloods just don't have any experience with Muggles mostly and no one to introduce that to their squib children. Either way it must be hard to be a part of a world that you can't truly belong to…I imagine a family full of Slytherins would only exacerbate the problem," she bit her lip, reminding Dinah that Sirius's family was full of Slytherins.

"Ah, I see," she ran her finger across the about the author page absently. "You're thinking of Sirius's family then." The family she had called 'disgusting' and said that he was no better than. Perhaps that much had been a little harsh... she wouldn't know for sure until she found out if Sirius was ever going to even _try _to apologize to Severus.

"Um, yeah. They had issues with anyone that wasn't in Slytherin so I imagine a squib would have been so much worse. Um, Dinah about that…" she hesitated. "Actually, you know, we should probably leave that until we aren't sitting in the library with students all around us…"

"Yeah, I guess so. I don't know how much there is to say at this point, anyway. I guess you two dealt with it however you had to." But they were still together. Well, Dinah hadn't really expected them not to be when it got down to it. Sirius wasn't a bad person, at least when it came to Lucy. But he had to apologize to Severus for the things that he had done. He really needed to and Dinah wasn't going to have anything to do with him until he did. But at least she could still talk to Lucy again at school, even if it did make her feel a little like a child, emphasizing her youthful qualities when she had an adult to compare herself to.

"Maybe not, but there were things he told me, things I mentioned that I don't think even he realized about the whole thing…I just…I think you deserve to know about them. At least at some point. Now isn't the right time though. Um, back to the stories I guess," Lucy said, staring pointedly at the books in front of them, her cheeks flushed.

"Um, yeah, let's," Dinah agreed, flushing a bit herself as she skimmed the about the author section again. "So after he couldn't make it as an author in the wizarding world he wrote Muggle stories, huh? You're right, I wish we knew what he changed his name to. It says he changed it but it doesn't say to what. But he was a successful Muggle writer, so maybe... wait, I think I know somebody that might be able to help!"

"Help what? Oh!"

Dinah turned at the new voice to see that Severus had come up behind her, and was now looking at Lucy with a surprised expression. He stared at Dinah for a moment, frowning, and then looked back at Lucy, his posture slightly stiff and his voice flat. "So I see you were willing to help interpret for us then."

"You don't have to be so formal," Dinah smiled and shook her head. "Lucy and I have patched things up."

"Oh... I see," he slumped down in the chair on the other side of Dinah, his uneasy gaze shifting from her to Lucy and then back again. "That's a good thing... right?"

Lucy nodded, "Yes, it is. We decided we were both stupid. Have you looked at these?" She shoved the book towards Severus, looking awkward.

"No, but Dinah told me about them," he said, shooting a curious raised eyebrow at her and then staring at the about the author section. "A squib born to a family of Slytherins, huh? I feel bad for him."

"Yeah, that's unfortunate, but I'm sure it happens," Dinah agreed. "Lucy realized that the second story was about Horcruxes, too," she turned to Lucy. "I wasn't aware you knew what those were, but I guess being so close with Harry, Ron, and Hermione you would. That was the only one that was easily interpretable. What I wanted to know was... do you think there's any reason to believe these stories have some basis in reality? Or is he just making stuff up?"

"Well," Lucy said, flipping through the fairy tale book, while Severus looked through her mystery book, "I think all stories have some basis in reality, even if it is very small. Whether or not Scrump had these experiences himself or only heard of them from others I can't say."

Dinah sighed, "That's what I kind of thought. But there must be some way you can get hints, right? Like through his style of writing and stuff? Is there a way to identify which parts he identified with most... or something? I'm sorry, I probably sound like an idiot. It's this body. My, um... brain is kind of that of an adolescent's, too, if you hadn't noticed," she sighed and stared at the table.

"Um, yeah. At this point in the year though I'm used to dealing with sixth years," she grinned, "Actually though, we can use his style to make assumptions. Obviously we'll never be completely sure of ourselves without any doubts but assumptions aren't bad things. Sometimes, even if they're wrong, they can lead us someplace the author never thought of themselves. For instance when he writes _'Eventually, the young woman recognized the boy as someone from her past. Someone she had known through her dead sister, long long ago'_ we see a continuing emphasis on the sister. He spends a lot of time talking about the ghost-like creature that was the prince's former self. I'd guess this could be something he either spent a great deal of thought on or he saw a similar creature himself."

"Yes!" Dinah exclaimed, excitement running through her again like it had when she'd first read the tale; "That's just the kind of literature interpretation I expected from you! It's great!"

Lucy blushed, hiding her face from them in embarrassment, "Thanks, but I think you could have come up with it on your own eventually."

"Not in this body, and not so well-articulated," Dinah said, somewhat glumly.

"This book was clearly based on reality," Severus spoke up suddenly, drawing both Dinah and Lucy's gazes over to him. He looked at Lucy; "Doesn't that mean that the author _likes _writing based on his experiences?"

She stared at Severus, her eyebrows furrowing in thought, "Normally I would say yes. In this case I'd say most likely. It's hard to make a definite conclusion with only two books having been written by the author and only one of these is clearly grounded in reality. Though I have strong suspicions both of them are."

Dinah nodded, thinking as well; "Also, the fact that he was essentially a Slytherin squib probably means he had a lot of time to really think about the nature of evil and the things that happen to people. The, um... well, the mindset of Muggle-born Slytherins that I seem to be getting from my surveys is a strong desire to find their place in both of the worlds that they have been thrust into, and a lot of thinking about things and trying to understand. I bet he was much the same."

"Probably. Like I said earlier it has to be extremely hard to be part of a world you can't participate in. It makes no mention of his family being pureblood or not but I'd guess they were. Slytherins tend to be so anyway. And, again generally, they don't tend to be very forgiving. There are exceptions of course," she said, looking worried about offending them.

"Hm. Clearly," was all that Severus said, looking more distracted than offended.

Dinah just shrugged. "It all makes sense, really. Lucy," she considered her friend, a thought that had occurred to her a bit ago still hanging around in the back of her mind. But it was a risky one. "If I was able to find you more of the author's work, do you think you could interpret more easily?"

Lucy nodded, "It would help to notice patterns and we could probably be more confident about some of our presumptions. But it might be hard to do. Scrump only published these two books as a wizard and we don't know what name he used as a Muggle…"

"Well, there's where I think I might know someone that could help," Dinah said, feeling conspicuous with both Severus and Lucy's curious gazes pinned on her. "You see, I... I have this friend in the Muggle world, Rosa Banks. She's a historian and a linguist and she knows pretty much anything you could ask her about things written in the past. If Scrump became as popular in the Muggle world as that book says he did she should be able to look at these books and match his writing style and use of language with that of the Muggle books. She could probably tell us who he became."

"Dinah, you can't show your Muggle friend these books!" Severus protested.

"I can if I tell her that I'm a witch," Dinah said quietly.

"Dinah!" Severus nearly shouted, standing from his chair and slamming his hand on the table, drawing stares from the nearby students. He flushed and sat back down, his normal insecurities at being stared at going into effect.

"Do you really think that's the best idea Dinah?" Lucy asked, concerned. "I mean with the Statute of Secrecy and everything…"

"You yourself know how inefficient the Ministry is," Dinah said. "As long as there is no kind of hubbub or anything they won't know about it. They monitor underage magic but they don't monitor every witch and wizard and every person they perform magic in front of. It would be too difficult. I've noticed it in my surveys. You'd be surprised at the sheer number of people Muggle-borns are able to tell without Ministry knowledge. As long as it's done quietly, it can be done easily."

"And what makes you think your infernal Muggle friend won't cause a hubbub when you shatter her... what do you call it... 'paradigm' about the world she lives in?" Severus demanded, still looking vehemently opposed to the idea.

Lucy's eyes shifted back and forth between the couple. "Um, I'm sure Rosa is very nice and not at all infernal, Severus," she quietly said.

He snorted. "You would think so. You two are both the same. Nice, idealistic. I'm telling you, Muggles are all infernal. They find out about magic and they either worship it like freaks or condemn it and go on witch-hunts. The International Statute of Secrecy was put into effect for a _reason_!"

"Severus, she can help us. You know how closely that story ties to... well, you know," Dinah murmured, a little hurt at Severus's words. "Rosa _is _very nice and she's also open-minded. Can't you just give her a chance? I was hoping you would come with me when I told her."

"Come with you!" Severus exclaimed; "Are you mad? I don't associate with Muggles! I haven't even decided yet if I'm going to let you go through with this inane plan of yours!"

"_Let _me?" Dinah shouted, standing from the table and fixing him with a glare, only realizing when his expression changed that Lily had said the exact same thing to him in a scene in the pensieve. "Oh, I'm sorry..."

Severus bit his lip and looked away. "No, I'm sorry. I just... don't think you're thinking this through. You don't know how she will react. You may think you have an idea, but you really don't _know_..."

"Um," Lucy said, pulling the book away from Severus and firmly into her lap, "I know the statute was put in place for a reason and it was a good reason, but there are already plenty of Muggles aware of our existence. At the same time," she turned to Dinah, "You may be relatively sure how Rosa will react but much like our assumptions about Scrump you can't know until you…well, until you know."

Dinah sighed, "Look, I know that. But I still think it's worth it to try. If you're that worried about how she'll react then that's all the more reason for you to come with me, Severus. Besides, I've... told Muggles before, and it went just fine."

Severus scowled. "Ah. Yes. _Him_, then. You're going to use that against me, are you?"

"I'm not trying to; I just want you to realize that all Muggles aren't as horrible as you think they are!" Out of the corner of her eye Dinah noticed Lucy getting ready to leave and whirled on her friend. "Oh! Lucy, you don't have to go. Severus is just being Severus. Don't worry; I'll eventually get him to agree with me."

"Oh, so I'm not allowed to try to change your mind about something but you're allowed to try to change mine?" Severus challenged.

"Essentially," Dinah replied, feeling a little huffy at the moment.

"Um, it's okay," Lucy said, sheepishly, "Just another hang-up from my childhood I suppose. Um…I can stay if you want." She glanced around, noting there were still some students trying to study so it couldn't have been that late yet.

"Can I borrow that other book of yours, please?" Dinah asked. "I want to read it to see if I notice anything. If you want you can keep the book of fairy tales until I have to go show it to Rosa. We're going to go weekend after next."

"And apparently it's decided," Severus groaned, folding his arms and glaring at the table.

"Oh, sure," Lucy pulled the book back out of her bag, "I haven't looked at it for years so I won't miss it. If you're sure you don't mind I'd like to borrow the fairy tales from you. At least so I can copy the first one. There's just something about it…"

"Sure, being a professor still I've got it checked out for the remainder of the year," she smiled. "The little things like that and being allowed in the restricted section are all that's left to remind me I was an adult once, I feel like sometimes." She sighed; "I'm glad we're friends again. It's been... hard for me and Severus, being stuck in these bodies and having nobody to really talk to but each other. And we're both stuck in the same predicament so there's only so much we can deal with on our own, you know..."

Lucy nodded, "I can imagine. It's been hard for me too. I'm sure no where near as much as it was for you but still…You know, I never got a chance to tell you before…at Slughorn's party. I…I heard her again."

"The voice of Bellatrix Lestrange?" Severus's head shot back up from the table to fix Lucy with a pointed stare.

"Yes," Lucy said, shifting in her seat, looking like Severus actually still made her nervous in his child form. "I don't generally hear voices in my head and hearing hers is worrying enough. If I started hearing others I'd probably have run straight to Dumbledore."

"Lucy, I was reading something in the library the other day about something called 'voice ghosts'. It was only briefly mentioned in a book from the mysteries section, but apparently there _have _been instances in the past where people have heard the voices of others who were supposed to be dead," Dinah said. "I don't know much about it as there wasn't a lot of information, but that first story in the fairy tales seems to be a little similar as well. And that night... with the dark storm... a lot of other things were happening when the lights went out. Things I probably shouldn't tell you about without permission of Dumbledore and the Aurors but... I wonder if it's all connected."

Lucy paused for a moment, a shocked expression of some kind of realization on her face, before she turned back and looked into Dinah's eyes, grinning, "I'm not crazy."

Dinah couldn't help but laugh and even Severus looked mildly amused; "Well, I wouldn't think so." She didn't mention that she didn't know exactly _how _Bellatrix's voice could be connected to all of their other stuff, but so much weirdness was floating around that she had no doubt that at the very least Lucy was really hearing something and definitely not crazy.

Lucy shocked Dinah when she spontaneously hugged her, "Dinah, really, you have no idea. I was honestly beginning to wonder."

Dinah smiled and hugged Lucy back, honestly _so _happy to have a friend again in all of this and that they had managed to at least work their school relationship out. "Don't worry about it. Believe me, I know how infuriating this whole dark storms and mysterious happenings stuff can be," they broke the hug and she grinned back up at Lucy. "But, maybe now that we're all helping each other we'll be able to figure it out more easily."

"Hopefully," Lucy agreed, "Well, it's getting late. I should probably go…I can walk you to your rooms if you want. I mean I know you can do it yourselves but I thought maybe my presence would help…"

It was Dinah's turn to shock Lucy by hugging her again in her excitement. "Yes!" she exclaimed after pulling away. "You have no idea how great that would be! Surely people will stare at us less then! Right, Severus?" she turned her excited look on her boyfriend, who instead was frowning.

"But... today is _Wednesday_, isn't it?" he asked.

Lucy grinned, but it looked uneasy again, "Yes, but its fine. He can wait and I'm actually doing well for now. I don't…I'll be okay."

"I take it that means he's not wandering the halls again, like before," Severus said, and the shrugged and stood. "Okay, then. That would be appreciated."

"No, he's not wandering the halls. Severus?" she said, hesitatingly, "He shouldn't have done what he did. I can't apologize for him and I doubt it would matter much if I did but…_I'm _sorry. I didn't know. If I had…"

"Mm," Severus grumbled, and Dinah watched his response with some concern. It was nice of Lucy to say that but like she said, it wasn't really like she was apologizing for Sirius. And none of this was her fault, anyway. "You had nothing to do with it. I have no problem with you. I never have," he finally finished, essentially voicing Dinah's thoughts.

Lucy grinned, more at ease this time, "Now, don't lie to me Severus Snape." She stood and began walking with the two of them out of the library, "I know very well you wanted nothing to do with me early in the year."

"I wanted nothing to do with your relationship with Black," Severus clarified with a slight scowl; "The two of you and your constant public displays of affection were rather infuriating, actually. To the me from the beginning of the year."

Dinah smiled. "Yes, my old stoic, snarky Severus who panicked when I barely tapped him on the arm. Those days seem... like forever ago."

"I didn't panic, you startled me," Severus insisted, flushing slightly.

Lucy giggled, "You'll have to excuse the us of the past. I think the things we weren't doing sort of intensified the things we were." She blushed and shrugged, "But that's neither here nor there. Which room do you want me to take us to?"

Dinah exchanged a glance with Severus, unsure if they were planning on staying the night together or not. He raised an eyebrow at her and nodded in the direction of the dungeons and she somehow figured out what he was implying. The hall leading to the dungeons was the same as the hall where Lucy's door lie. They were going to hit Dinah's first and he would end up walking alone with Lucy and they might both run into Sirius.

"We'll stay in my rooms tonight," Dinah said, and Severus smiled slightly, satisfied that she had gotten the message.

"All right. No problem. You've got nothing to worry about tonight. He's staying in my rooms until he leaves which will probably be just before dawn. In case you were wondering."

"Sure," Dinah nodded as they arrived at her room and she opened the door with her key; "I guess we're being silly anyway. We haven't seen him any of the previous Wednesdays, either." She sighed once they were in and looked at her friend. "Thanks for the apology. Even though it's not the same as one from your fiancé I ... we... appreciate it." At Severus's slow nod she continued; "I'm glad to know that at least you... disapprove of what happened even if you still worked things out with... Sirius." She might as well say his name. It was just going to make her seem more like a ridiculous adolescent if she kept trying to avoid it.

"Oh, he's going to make one. He's just got to work it up and then get the opportunity." She paused for a moment, knowing she probably shouldn't say what she was about to, "He probably won't appreciate me telling you this, and I know it doesn't make things better, but I think, in some ways…he was jealous of you."

Severus just stared at Lucy like she had lost her mind, and Dinah was afraid she looked much the same.

Lucy shrugged, "Don't get me wrong he had a lot, but there was something you had that he didn't. Something he probably really needed. Well," she said, going back out into the hall, "Good night. I'll see you at breakfast."

"Um... yeah, good night," Dinah could think of nothing more intelligible to say and so closed the door after Lucy and turned to Severus. "What was she talking about?"

"You expect me to know? Imagine Black being jealous of _me _for any reason! I mean, look at me and look at him! At any age!"

Dinah shook her head sadly; "Don't start that again. You're just as pretty as he is, you know," she grinned and snuggled up to him; "At any age."

He scowled. "I am going to ignore the fact that you are making little sense right now and continue pondering your friend's bizarre comment. I didn't mean look at me and him for looks alone, anyway. He was popular, had friends that actually _liked _him and the women were obsessed with him. Unless he had some secret desire to be more intelligent I don't see what I could possibly have had that he would have _wanted_, let alone needed."

"It's a mystery, but there must be something. Maybe Lucy will clue us in later," Dinah shrugged. "I hope he really does apologize. That would make everything okay... wouldn't it?"

Severus shrugged. "We'll cross that bridge when and if we come to it. If he means it sincerely, then... I will accept it."

"Me too," she said with a soft sigh, taking his hand and heading towards the bedroom with him. "If he means it sincerely."


	82. Voices

CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO

Voices

* * *

The sky was starting to darken, and Dinah had a bad feeling. If this brewed into a dark storm, she was going to have to go and find Severus immediately and there would be no chance to talk with Tommy. Although he had agreed to go with her if she felt the need to seek out her small friend, and she had thought it was a good idea at the time, now she felt unequivocally certain that going with another person would make Tommy not appear. There was no need to test that notion; she knew that was how it would be.

So that was how she ended up tiptoeing through the halls less than an hour after dinner on Friday, her robes back on and her hood pulled over her head to hide who she was like some kind of a criminal. She had been in the hallway when there were students around before. They just never really came back there, so if Tommy was present she should still be able to find him.

Unfortunately, Severus had made it abundantly clear on Wednesday after leaving Lucy that they still didn't know enough to warrant her seeking Tommy on her own, so she had to keep hiding things from him. She absolutely hated doing it, but felt that at this point she had no choice. If he gave her the okay though, she would have to confess, and she was a little worried what his reaction to that might be.

She hadn't seen him since breakfast on Thursday, owing to him having a lunch meeting with Eugene and her having an evening meeting with Grubbly-Plank. Severus had said he was going to do some research in the library, but not to come and find him if she got out of her meeting early.

The thought made her smile, thinking he was probably still working on whatever he had in store for her on Valentine's Day. It was very sweet and rather unexpected that he seemed so dedicated to it.

There was no crying when she made it to the bathroom, but it was also not in its normal state of disrepair. It was open, looking just like it had over sixty years ago, and waiting for her to enter. She tried the door and it opened easily, granting her access to the image of a bathroom long-destroyed. She still didn't know how this part of it worked, but finding Tommy was more important than speculation at this point.

He was there in his usual stall, looking sad but not as distressed as he usually did. "Tommy?" she asked quietly, wondering why he wasn't crying this time.

"I was waiting for you," he said with a small smile, as though he could read her mind. "I knew you would come."

At his words Dinah realized that she had also known. Known he would be there and known she would come to him. It was quite obvious that she had forged a connection to the boy, just like in her prophecy and just like the woman in the third fairy tale. Whenever he was around she always managed to make it to this bathroom to help him. Today had been no different.

"I'll always come," she smiled at her young friend, trying to think of the best way to approach this. The fairy tale had ended sadly, implying that it was likely impossible to help the missing good return to its former vessel. And Tommy didn't even really have a normal, living human being to return to. He had an evil flayed baby that itself had all sorts of strange issues surrounding it. Dinah didn't really know where to start but to ask questions. "Is that thing... the storm-bringer with the red eyes that does bad things... is it here?"

"It's always here," Tommy whispered back, shuddering. "It wants me."

"I know, I know, but we're not going to let it get you, okay? I don't know how, but we're not."

He sniffled and met her gaze, a tiny glimmer of hope in his sad eyes; "We're not? You can do that?"

"I think so. I hope so. I think... we were brought together for a reason, Tommy. We're very much alike, you know."

"But you're stronger than me. You never did bad things."

"We grew up in different worlds and different times. We faced different things," she said gently. "You don't have to compare yourself to me. What matters is I know how you're feeling now. We can get through this. You can escape this bathroom and go back home, to where you really belong." Maybe. Hopefully. Dinah tried not to let herself frown at those thoughts.

"Where do I belong? Back in that place where I tried to make friends and just hurt them instead?" he shook his head, looking frightened. "No. I don't want to go there. That's not my home."

"I'm not talking about that place. I'm talking about starting over. A place where people love you and where you don't do bad things. And where I'm still your friend." What was she babbling? She didn't even know herself. Time to shift strategies and start asking questions again. "Tommy, do you know why you always see the evil thing now? Do you know why it wants you?"

He shook his head; "It was just me and Myrtle for a long time. I was sad and lonely but at least I could talk to her. Then I met you and things changed. I don't think it was you, though, I think it was something else. It got sadder."

That was a curious statement; "What got sadder?"

"Everything. The world felt sadder. I think it likes that, the evil thing. It likes... despair. The voices like bad things."

Dinah suddenly recalled the sad humming on that day in Eugene's room, the connection to something else that she had felt. Another person. Someone in despair.

"Is that the connection?" she said softly. "Is that the same despair that's bringing the dementors here? Is that not Tommy, but the person in Eugene's rooms?"

"What?"

She shook her head, realizing that she'd been thinking out loud. "Do you think that somebody else might be involved in all of this?"

"All of what? I don't know what you mean."

Dinah sighed and forced herself to smile at the boy. She had to remember that he was a very vague sort of spirit, an embodiment of goodness that didn't really know where he was or why. "Tommy, I think that there are things that you and I have to do together. I think there is a way we can make everything better for both of us, but I don't know just how yet. I think you and I were brought together for a reason, but that there are other things we have to deal with together. Like the evil thing and the sadness and despair that you've felt."

"And the other voice?"

Dinah managed to recall something Tommy had told her the last time she'd seen him, about another voice separate from the parseltongue; a voice that wasn't scary and that was also hurt by the evil thing. "Yes, probably that too. I think it's all connected, also to the fact that I was made young. Remember the words in the other storm? When they were talking about me?"

"'Relive the past...'" Tommy recited softly, realization hitting his gaze.

"Yes!" Dinah was glad that she was apparently getting through to him, getting him to notice things. Maybe that was an important step in helping him, and one that the woman from the fairy tale hadn't tried. "Listen to me, Tommy. Right now I'm working with a ... friend. We're trying to figure out how all of this fits together. We don't know much yet, but we're getting closer all the time. I think I can help you. Like I said, I don't know how yet, but... don't worry. I'm not going to give up on you. Okay?"

"Okay," Tommy managed another hopeful smile. "I'm glad I met you, Dinah."

"I'm glad, too," she smiled. "So just wait for me, okay? I'm going to figure things out for you. I promise."

He nodded, and then faded from sight.

Dinah sighed, now used to his disappearing act, and stood up from the floor, moving to head out of the lavatory. By the time she left the hallway and got into the main area again she could tell that the storm had gotten worse. She didn't have much time to get to Severus before he became suspicious.

In fact, she met him in the hall just as she was passing by her rooms on her way toward the dungeons.

"There you are!" he exclaimed, looking exasperated. "I had just given up on waiting and was coming to get you. What are you doing out of your rooms?"

"Coming to see you," she only half-lied.

"Then why did you come from the other side of the door?" he pointed behind her.

"I was hungry."

He chuckled, her excuse seeming to satisfy him; "I should have guessed. Well, come on; let's get out of the hallways. We have to go into your rooms tonight."

"Have to? Why do we have to?"

"We just have to," he was oddly insistent about that as he even used his own key to open her door.

"The storm's not too bad yet," she said, sitting down on her couch. "Want to play wizard's chess or something? Severus?" she frowned, as her boyfriend had started wandering around her kitchen, staring at everything in sight as though searching for something. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," he turned back to her. "Do you have any books?"

"Books?" she shook her head. He was acting strange. She laughed and pointed to the bookshelf right across from her; "Right there. How often have you come in here? Did you want to read something?"

He wandered over to the shelf, looking all of her books up and down and folding his arms. She could hear the frown in his voice when he said; "They all look nice and new."

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked, laughing again.

"Maybe," he turned abruptly and walked over to her, sticking his face in hers and seeming to give her a once-over, staring her up and down like he had done with the shelf only moments ago.

"Severus, what are you doing? What's with you today?" She backed off a little, not opposed to being close to him but this third-degree was getting weird. "Is there something on my face?"

"No, sorry," he leaned back and let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't know what she's thinking I can't possibly figure anything out from this, the infernal ideas and everything I'm trying to do. Why don't I just go to-"

"Severus, I hate to break it to you, but you aren't exactly mumbling your thoughts quietly enough for me not to hear them. What on _Earth _are you talking about?"

"Nothing!" he exclaimed again, whirling around and stomping off in the other direction after a loud declaration that he was going to use her bathroom.

Dinah shook her head once he had gone. As if the million other things going in her life right now weren't enough, Severus had to choose this moment to go completely and utterly mental on her? And exactly how much time was he spending in her bathroom anyway? This was getting a little weird, she couldn't help but think as she looked at the clock. Ten, and then twenty minutes passed. She was just about to get up and go find out what was keeping him when he came back into the room. "Is everything okay?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as he might do.

"Fine," he snarled, flopping onto the couch next to her. "I have to go out for a bit tomorrow. Necessary classroom items to purchase. Hopefully the storm isn't too intense then. When I'm not here you are not to leave these rooms, do you understand me?"

"I guess so," she frowned, a little concerned at this behavior. It sort of reminded her of the stress he had been dealing with at the beginning of the second half of the school year, leading up to that horrible birthday incident. Then again, it wasn't exactly the same. He didn't seem quite as upset as he was frustrated. Still, she wanted to tread cautiously. "Okay, whatever it is you have to do is fine. But if the storm is still intense you probably shouldn't go. It's not safe."

"I have to go," he said stubbornly.

"But a broom will be completely unstable in such a storm!"

"I don't need a broom."

She just stared at him, her eyes widening. "You don't seriously mean that you can fly without one, do you?"

He shrugged, looking disturbingly cavalier about it; "It was necessary to learn."

"Severus! That's such strong magic! You are..." she grinned and cuddled up against him, "amazing, did I ever tell you that?"

He managed to push through his frustration enough to flush a little. He ran his fingers through her hair and turned so they could meet each other's eyes again. "Thanks, but that's not important. Just... be safe while I'm gone, okay?"

She smiled. "Okay, just remember we still have Valentine's Day on Sunday."

"I would love to forget," he grumbled.

Dinah laughed and leaned against him again, suddenly realizing what it probably was that was stressing him out and why he needed to go out tomorrow all of a sudden. Necessary classroom items, indeed! She just couldn't _wait _to see what he had in store for her on Sunday.


	83. Valentines

A/N: Cute and humorous fluff chapter here :D - Hope everyone enjoys!

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE

Valentines

* * *

A knock on Dinah's door on Sunday morning had her leaving her glorious ham and cheese omelet to answer it, wondering who it could possibly be. Severus had been gone for quite literally the entire day on Saturday and had just rushed through his breakfast and insisted he had to go somewhere for something, so she was alone for the moment. The only person she could think of that might be knocking was Lucy, and surely her friend was too preoccupied with Sirius on Valentine's Day for a visit. Maybe Dumbledore was back already and chose to seek them out. That was probably a stretch, though.

She opened the door. "Severus! Why did you knock, you have a ... key..." she trailed off when her brain finally registered the _gigantic _bouquet of flowers that he was holding.

"Here," he muttered, his face as red as a beet as he shoved the bouquet into her hands.

"Severus," she whispered, feeling her cheeks flush as she fingered the red and silver roses. It seemed that there were a dozen of each. She had always loved the silver roses that were often put into wizard bouquets. "That's so sweet, thank you. I didn't expect-"

"And here," he placed a small box of chocolates on top of the roses, nearly squishing some of them had Dinah not grabbed the box before it sunk down too low.

"Wow," she grinned, pleasantly surprised. "Thanks. Flowers _and _chocolates? You certainly know what you're-"

"And this," he placed a small jewelry box into the hand that was also holding the chocolates.

"Um... Severus..." she stared at it, stepping back into the room and beckoning for him to follow, noticing that he was holding a canvas bag in one hand and looking more awkward than ever. She was starting to wonder if there was even _more _stuff for her inside of it. She managed an awkward smile at him; "Let's go to the couch, okay? I need to put these things down if I want to open the box."

"I'll open it for you!" he set down the bag and took the box, opening it to reveal a silver snake bracelet with green emeralds for eyes. "It matches your necklace and I wanted earrings to match but there was none of the same type of metal and Lucy said you should use the same type of metal so-" he continued babbling without giving her a chance to respond about the bracelet, digging into the bag and pulling another box out, opening it to reveal slightly more toned-down silver snake earrings.

"Severus, I _really _need to sit down," Dinah said, feeling a little overwhelmed.

"Oh, okay," he was still babbling, looking more and more nervous by the minute as he lead her to the couch and sat her down, forcing her to kneel on it so they could face each other as he knelt next to her. "Do you like them?"

His gaze was so pleading and hopeful that she couldn't help smiling. "Of course," she leaned across and kissed him. "Don't worry about the non-matching metals, either, it just means a lot that you would give me so much for-"

"Well, I thought about that and there was a matching bracelet that went with the earrings!" He pulled out another box and shoved it at her. She opened it to see the bracelet that matched the earrings. "So," he continued. "You can either wear the bracelet and necklace or the earrings and bracelet. That way you have two things for everything, right? Is that okay?"

Dinah couldn't help but laugh at this point. This whole thing was ridiculous, but adorable nonetheless. "That's _fine_, Severus. Everything is lovely. Thank you."

"Well, but," he ran a nervous hand through his hair, fidgeting on the couch. "Lucy said that I shouldn't do all snake stuff but you might like a new set, so here!" he threw another giant box at her from out of the bag.

"Lucy-" Dinah began, his second mention of her friend finally registering in her swirling mind.

"See, they're garnets," he interrupted her, opening the box to reveal a beautiful set of garnet earrings, bracelet, and necklace. "I think you look good in that color, even if it's like Gryffindor's," he muttered, flushing. "I saw some other stuff like it in your jewelry box when I was searching your room on Friday and remembered you wore them before and they were pretty so... that covers something that I noticed on you that you didn't tell me about, right? I think..."

"Severus," they were so beautiful and his words so sweet that she felt tears forming in her eyes. "They're wonderful. But really, you didn't have to... I mean, what are you talking about by saying that you noticed something on me that-"

"Here's a package of novelty foods and sweets from Honeydukes," he placed a large gift basket into her hands. "You like all kinds of foods, right? I like that about you."

She blinked, having to shove the other boxes and flowers aside for the basket that now filled her hands. This was getting to be a _little _much. And weird, too. "I do, and I like that you like that about me, but there's only so much for one holiday-"

"Here's a stuffed snake," he placed an adorable plush green snake into her hands. "But then I thought to myself, maybe I'm overdoing it on the snake thing still, so... here's a stuffed kneazel, too!" he added a fluffy ginger kneazel plush to the mix.

"Um... it's cute, but-"

"A book. You like books, right?" he asked, giving her a book. "It's about Muggles. You like them. I don't know why, but you do, so you can read it. Critique it or something, I don't know."

Dinah stared at the book, recognizing it as the apparently horrible fiction one that Lucy had discussed in class, entitled _My Life as a Muggle_. "Severus-"

"Then there's this," he pulled out a large but slim box covered in bright purple wrapping. "I had to cast a face-recognition charm on myself before I bought it! I couldn't be recognized in that store! And well, you have the light purple ones and I like them so I got dark purple this time..."

Dinah just stared at her boyfriend, wondering what he was babbling about as she – very slowly – removed the wrapping from the box and lifted the lid. She found herself fingering a pair of silky and lacy purple nighttime robes.

"Lucy said it was romantic but not sexy if it wasn't too revealing," Severus mumbled; "I don't know if I believe her, but I bought it anyway, so yeah."

"Lucy," Dinah repeated, frowning; "All of this was _Lucy's _idea?"

"No!" he almost shouted, his face reddening again; "She just gave me some advice is all. I wanted to get you something you really liked but I couldn't decide and she gave me a bunch of suggestions but I still couldn't decide which thing to get so I sort of got all... of ... them," he finished, biting his lip and slumping into a more easy position on the couch with a sigh.

"Oooookay," Dinah tried to sort through all of her thoughts and flashed Severus a weak smile. "Can I, er – safely assume that this is it now?"

"Yeah, that's it. I'm done. You like them, right?"

She chuckled; "Of course I do. But Severus... you do realize that generally there's less thought involved when you just get _everything _to cover your bases, right?"

His face fell and he looked so utterly disappointed and crushed that she could almost feel her heart breaking. "Oh, sweetheart," she laughed and leaned over, stroking his cheek, "Don't. I love them, I really do. I was just letting you know that in the future you don't have to go overboard like this, that's all."

He smiled a little, placing his hand over hers and running his fingers across the back of it as he pressed it closer to his cheek; "I guess it was a little dumb, huh?"

She shook her head, leaning in to kiss him; "No. It really means a lot to me that you cared this much about getting me something that I liked. That's the best gift of all;" she laughed; "Plus, you did manage to amuse me. Don't underestimate the gift in that, either."

He grinned and nodded. "Oh, um... and there's one more thing."

"_Another_?" Dinah couldn't help but burst into giggles.

"No, not a thing thing!" Severus exclaimed, looking embarrassed again. "More like, well... I mean Lucy was saying-"

"Lucy again," Dinah rolled her eyes and shook her head; "I'm going to have to have a talk with that girl."

"No, but this was good advice," Severus insisted. "I don't know how good I'm going to be at it, but... when we go to talk to this Rosa friend of yours I'm going to try really hard to be, um... nice and open-minded and happy and friendly," he muttered, looking away.

Dinah stared at him, sure she had heard wrong, and then felt herself smiling. "Oh, Severus, really? You'll try?"

"Try!" he insisted, looking at her again. "I'm not promising success, but-" he broke off when she threw her arms around him and kissed him, pinning him back against the couch in her enthusiasm.

After the initial surprise was over she felt his arms come up around her, one sliding across her cheek into her hair, pulling her face closer to him as the other slid up her back. They gently increased the intimacy of the kiss over the next few moments, only breaking apart when they couldn't breathe anymore. "Severus, you're amazing. Thank you," Dinah murmured after catching her breath.

He shook his head. "_You're _the amazing one. I'm only doing this because... you mean that much to me."

"Severus," she kissed him again, and then lifted herself from on top of him, hurrying into the kitchen. "Let me get your gift for you, okay? It's nothing in comparison to what you gave me, but," she hurried back in with a box for him.

"No," he said, taking it with a small smile and shaking his head again. "We've already established that I went extremely overboard. If you want me to take some things back, I-"

"No! No taking back! I love everything," she grinned, snuggling up against him again. "I just got some potion ingredients from your old list. I hope that's okay."

"That's fine," he smiled, removing them from the box. "I didn't really expect much."

She laughed; "Neither did I."

"Well, I thought you were lying. That's what women are _supposed _to do, say they don't want a lot of stuff when they really do. At least, that's what I thought."

"Well, sometimes," Dinah giggled; "I tend to be a bit more straightforward than some women are, though. But... no, that was really sweet. Thanks."

"Thank _you _for these," he said, kissing her before laying back and pulling her with him back into their previous positions. "You should wear those nighttime robes tonight. I'll stay with you again."

She flushed. "Really? Okay, if you want me to. They look comfortable." She knew better than to think he was promising sex. It was enough to remain snuggled up to him in bed tonight, his fingers stroking the silky material of the robes and his warmth surrounding her. Not that she didn't _want _sex. She did, and she knew he did, too. But it was just too risky. She couldn't handle him stopping in the middle again; she just didn't think she could handle that at all.

Yet, even then, she would still stay with him. She knew that much was true. Especially now, after this wonderful Valentine's Day. And the day was just beginning!

"I'm glad you're happy," Severus said softly. "That's all I hoped for."

"_You _make me happy, Severus," she smiled, closing her eyes and lying against him, content to just stay there however long they wanted. "Happy Valentine's Day."

His arms slid around her; "Happy Valentine's Day."

* * *

A/N: Hope you all liked it :) - Severus is acting a little silly but I think he has no experience with girls whatsoever and was really trying to do the right thing here. He's kind of regressing to the kid in the park a little bit – lol. I hope it's also clear now that Severus was searching her room on Friday for gift ideas when he was supposedly in the "bathroom" for 20 minutes - XD - Sorry if anybody got a little er... confused about that point, lol.

Also, I HIGHLY suggest you all read Chapter 37 of CommanderValeria's "Don't Leave Me" (you can find a link to it under my favorite stories, or a link to her page under my favorite authors) – there is a scene in there that I wrote with her where you get to see Lucy actually find Severus in the library and give him the Valentine's "advice" he so desperately "needs" – it is really rather hilarious, so you should definitely check it out! I couldn't put it in this story because this one is all Dinah's POV. Thanks!


	84. Awkwardness

CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR

Awkwardness

* * *

Dinah stood in front of Lucy's desk during her break on Monday morning, having surprised her friend by coming to her office hours. She smiled and emptied the bag she was carrying onto Lucy's desk, allowing all of the gifts Severus had given her on Sunday to tumble out onto it, and fixed her friend with a raised eyebrow; "So I hear that _you _are responsible for all of this."

"Um, I am?" Lucy looked confused.

"Just look at them," Dinah said, still grinning and gesturing to the objects. "I'm sure it'll come to you."

Lucy began sifting through the pile of stuff, her eyes widening in realization more and more at each item. "Oh, he didn't, did he? He wasn't supposed to buy everything! I told him to think about which one you'd like best! I mean I probably could have helped him narrow it down but I think all the romance novels he'd read were freaking him out."

It was Dinah's turn for wide eyes as she stared at her friend. "Romance novels? You're kidding! Just to come up with gift ideas for me?"

She nodded, repressing a giggle, "Yes. I'm not sure he quite understood the concept of a romance novel before he started looking through them…The only one he found that mentioned Valentine's Day in the restricted section was more about sex than…well, I think what he wanted was more of a guide. I don't know, like I said I think he misunderstood what a romance novel was. Of course, right before he stomped out he shoved one at me and said I'd need it more than he did."

Dinah burst into laughter, pulling back the chair and sitting across from Lucy. When she finally stopped giggling she shook her head affectionately; "That boy is dedicated, I'll say that much. Oh, and don't worry, I'm not annoyed with you. I just thought it might amuse you to see the monster that you created."

"If I'd done my work well enough you'd have gotten some classy, yet slightly kinky, lingerie, but he vetoed the sexy theme."

Dinah sighed, fingering the purple alternative that he had gotten for her, trying not to think too much on what their unique relationship made her miss out on; "Yes, well... I like this, too..."

"It's gorgeous. He has good taste. I didn't mean there was anything wrong with it. Heck on the nights it's just me I wear something similar. Though it's usually cotton or flannel instead of silk or satin."

Dinah giggled; "He said you told him this was 'romantic'. You'd be surprised how much he kept invoking you when explaining why he got these things. 'Lucy said this', 'Lucy said that'... you have amazing influence."

Lucy grinned. "I bet that was romantic. To me the less revealing pajamas are romantic. It sort of says 'we're intimate but we don't have to have sex' or at least that how I interpret that type of gift."

Dinah nodded, "I like that idea. I think that's kind of where Severus and I are... probably forever, but I guess I can deal with that. When you really love somebody you'd be surprised what you can endure. But I guess I don't have to tell you that."

"Uh, no. Actually Severus told me, and I'm really am not sure why he did, but he told me he wants to but he's afraid of hurting you again."

Dinah smiled sadly. "No, I know. We both know it. That's why we're not doing it. We don't want to risk anything. It's fine. I'm surprised he told you, though. Then again, I think as an adolescent his insecurities and such make it harder for him to keep his mouth shut about things. _Much _different from when he was an adult."

Lucy bit her lip before saying, "Well, please don't take this the wrong way but I'm kind of surprised those teenage hormones you two got haven't swept you right along past that point of no return yet."

She shrugged; "Maybe there are parts of us that are still adult. I'd like to think so. Either way, we've made it this far. I'm not trying to predict what will happen in the future, I'm just letting things take their own course. It's easier that way."

Lucy nodded, "That's probably best." She paused for a moment before barreling on, "Dinah, I'm sorry but I just feel really awkward brining up anything to do with Sirius around you. I know what he did was wrong but I can't go back and change the past. I don't expect you to forgive him or want to be around him or anything I just…I just thought you should know I guess."

Dinah stared at her friend, not entirely sure what she was trying to say. She shook her head. "I'm confused. Is there something specific you wanted to say about Sirius? Because I didn't expect you to bring him up or anything, nor did I expect you to go back and change something... I'm sorry; I'm just not sure what you're getting at."

Lucy shook her head, "Sorry, I'm not entirely sure either. I'm really tired. We stayed at the Lupin's last night and I didn't come back until this morning."

"Oh. Right. The werewolf," Dinah hoped she didn't sound too negative about that. She didn't know Remus Lupin in any way, but she most certainly didn't think any of this was his fault. As far as the pensieve scenes went, he hadn't seemed to participate at all in any of the heckling of Severus and seemed more like the quiet, introverted type. And clearly what he did as a werewolf was not under his control.

"They're a great couple. Remus is pretty soft spoken most of the time and he tries so hard for people to like him. He taught here once you know. Harry and the Weasleys say he was the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teach they'd had. At least up until that point that is. I mean you know…Once people found out about his furry little problem the letters started coming in asking for his resignation. What's worse is he didn't expect anything different. It's just such a shame he's treated like that."

Dinah nodded, her normal 'let's love everybody' Hufflepuff tendencies coming back to her. "No, I understand. I didn't mean to sound bitter. I _know _none of what happened could possibly be his fault. There are plenty of nice werewolves out there; people who try to fight their transformation instead of succumbing to it."

"Okay," Lucy looked away for a moment, "Is it weird that we haven't talked about kids? I mean it's just Tonks made a comment when we were there and…I don't know. She asked about the date too and we haven't talked about that either. He seemed surprised when Tonks said I'd always wanted a winter wedding. I don't know. Maybe I'm over thinking this."

Dinah had to laugh; "Oh, you wanted to talk about romantic stuff. Well, let's see if I can get my old-lady advice-giving style back. I think every couple goes about things differently. I think myself if I ever got married..." she bit her lip and turned away, as a sudden wave of realization washed over her. That was _never _going to happen, was it? She had given her life up for Severus and was okay with that. It was a bit overwhelming. "Um, anyway," she continued, shaking her head and trying to keep tears from forming; "Well, I'd try to have kids quickly only because I'm – or well, I _was _thirty-eight and if I waited much longer there would be health risks and such. But you're young. I don't think there's any problem with waiting a year or two before thinking about such things. Gives you time to get used to each other before you bring more people into the mix."

Lucy grinned, "You're right I suppose. He just seemed very…careful of me last night. It was kind of like how we were around each other. We sort of had this unspoken agreement to stick to minimal touching. Which was probably a good thing considering what happened when we kissed the first time. He wasn't not touching me, it just, kind of felt like it did then." Lucy considered her words for a moment, "Of course, that's not necessarily a bad thing I suppose. It made things kind of…tingly."

"There are benefits to all parts of a relationship," Dinah smiled, trying to recall and indulge in her tingly moments with Severus, especially as that's probably as far as things would ever go from this point forward. "Of course, you _are _both aware of little things called protection spells, I would think. Dylan positively _loved _them over Muggle options. And I still have no children," she laughed.

Lucy joined in her laughter, "Oh, yeah. We know _all_ about those spells. There's been a couple incidents where the spell has been forgotten but obviously it's not resulted in anything besides a little worry."

"Ah, so you're less cautions, then," Dinah grinned. "Might want to be careful in that case. But if you're that concerned about it I don't think you'll forget. Maybe Sirius is just trying to figure out what you think about the idea. As for the winter wedding, those are things you discuss together. Just because he was surprised doesn't mean he dislikes the idea... um, I mean I don't think so," she finished, her adolescent uncertainties coming back to her.

Lucy shrugged, picking up the snake stuffed animal sitting on her desk, "Maybe. I don't know. About the kids thing. He's got some major parental issues. I mean after you left…Hogsmeade House…he was telling me Severus was the kind of son his parents would have loved to have."

Dinah just stared at Lucy for a moment, digesting this. So her friend was trying to say that that somehow justified Sirius's mistreatment of Severus? Well, maybe she had a little bit of a point but Lucy and Sirius obviously had _no idea _of the deeper implications of that. "I see. Well... look, I hope I don't sound insensitive to this and I'm not trying to. I understand how Sirius might feel that way and it's legitimate, but... is that what you were saying Severus had that Sirius needed the other day?"

"Yeah. I know that doesn't really justify what he did but..." she shrugged. "I think somewhere deep down he wanted his parents to love him, like I wanted my father to love me. Severus was what they would have wanted in a son and Sirius must have been jealous of that. Again that doesn't make everything okay…"

Dinah shook her head; "No, it doesn't. I'm sorry. But Sirius should have thought more about the reality of such things before he started wanting things that didn't exist, even if his thoughts _were _all subconscious." She snorted. "Okay, so maybe _Sirius's _parents would have loved Severus but Severus's parents certainly didn't. Or, well maybe his mother might have tried but she was too busy in her desperate attempts to please that disgusting husband of hers. Battered woman syndrome and all that – Oh!" her hand came up to her mouth and she bit down on it, cursing herself more than ever for letting her adolescent mouth run again. "I really, _really _shouldn't have told you that. Severus is not going to be happy."

Lucy stared at Dinah. "I…I don't know what to say. I'm sorry. I won't say anything. I wasn't trying to make it all seem okay. I just…I was just babbling again I guess."

"No, It's not really your _fault_, it's just the whole situation is so ridiculous. Sirius obviously knew nothing about Severus's family. It would have been no better than his and probably worse for him. I mean, I understand him wanting his parents' approval but," she shook her head. "He shouldn't have brought Severus into that. Severus's home life was just about the worst imaginable. I'm sorry. It really hurts just to think about."

"I get it. I think." She carefully placed the snake back on her desk with the rest of the stuff, "I don't mean to kick you out but my class should be starting soon. If you don't have a class you're welcome to stay if you want."

"Yeah, I guess I should go. I have a class, too," Dinah muttered, gathering her items back into their bag, feeling a little frustrated that Lucy was showing more shock and less sympathy on finding out about Severus's horrible past. Yet again, she wasn't being as sympathetic to Sirius as Lucy probably hoped, either. The whole thing was just too convoluted to deal with.

"Dinah?" Lucy said, as she led her friend to the door, "I'm not mad at you and you can come see me whenever you want."

"Yeah, thanks," Dinah forced herself to get past her frustration and smile at her friend, hoping all of this madness would get worked out eventually. "I'm not mad at you, either."

"I'm glad. See you later," she said, closing the door behind her.

* * *

"I see," Dumbledore frowned, looking more distracted that evening than he had yet this year and yet still looking quite concerned. Minerva and Severus were right, though, Dinah couldn't help but think. He _was _acting different from usual. "But nothing else has happened since then, correct?"

"No," Severus said as Dinah frowned, wondering if she should tell the _headmaster_ about the Tommy stuff or not. For the moment, she was holding her tongue.

"There are many different facets to this situation," Dumbledore said, his brows furrowed in thought. "Many more than I had ever expected. And yet I still see no ultimate connection. It is inaccessible to me, like the last image in the mirror of Erised..."

Dinah's frown deepened. That was the second time the headmaster had used that phrase. She would have to make sure not to forget to ask Severus about it this time. "Sir?"

He shook his head; "Never mind. Just the odd musings of an old man. The cards with my likeness on them concern me, however. It seems we know at the very least that both of you, Eugene, myself, Voldemort and his Tommy counterpart, Eugene's mysterious visitor, and perhaps Slughorn are involved in this."

"I don't think Slughorn is," Dinah shook her head at the last part. "He's seemed to be put very out-of-sorts by this entire situation."

"Yes, but we cannot rule him out," Dumbledore said. "At the very least he may be an unwitting participant."

"I'm sure that's the most he could be, too," Dinah said quietly. Despite how annoying he could be sometimes, in truth she had always liked Slughorn.

"Either way, I am deeply intrigued by this fairy tale book you have found," Dumbledore said, changing the subject. "I must confess I had never considered that young Tom Riddle was hiding a deep-seated desire for friendship in his early days at Hogwarts. If he hadn't hidden it so well and we had been able to see into the young boy who was still seeking out love and acceptance, perhaps things could have been different. On the other hand, perhaps he was already too far gone."

"Perhaps," Dinah sighed and nodded. "I mean, clearly there was still some good left in him but I don't know if it could have sent him down a different path at that point. It was in that orphanage that it really started to go downhill, I guess."

"Listen, not to play devil's advocate here," Severus cut in, looking a little agitated; "but we still don't know if this fairy tale book holds any truth to it. It may fit with what we know of Tommy and it may fit with Dinah's prophecy, but it could _still _be some kind of trick of The Dark Lord or this flayed baby that remains of him. We don't know. We still need to tread cautiously."

"Hm," Dinah pursed her lips, using the adult Severus's favorite noncommittal phrase. "Well, that's what we're going to find out, isn't it?"

Severus scowled and nodded. He _had _been trying to keep a good attitude about going to see Rosa this weekend, but so far his success had only been marginal. Dinah had to give him credit for really trying, though.

"I do have some concern about that, as well," Dumbledore agreed; "But as long as you tread cautiously with your Muggle friend I think things will be all right. Now, if you will both allow me to present a new piece of information you may not have considered?"

"Please," Dinah nodded. "We were hoping for your insight."

"You have researched the creation of Horcruxes and those who have created them and you have also found that fairy tale book," he began. "The fairy tale book laid great emphasis on the concept of 'pure evil'. It seems that only when a being becomes 'pure evil' do they lose that piece of good that remained in them, which does make some sense. And, theoretically, that is what happened to Voldemort on that day when Tom Riddle destroyed the lavatory. You have referred to the missing good as an 'anti-Horcrux', Dinah. I wonder... has there ever been a time before Lord Voldemort where 'pure evil' and Horcrux creation have existed at the same time?"

"I was kind of wondering that, too," Dinah confessed. "As in, has any person ever had both Horcruxes and an anti-Horcrux existing at the same time, and maybe that's what's causing all these unique situations to crop up."

"That's intriguing," Severus agreed. "Perhaps that _hasn't _ever happened before. The prince in the tale did not make a Horcrux so it seems, and the history books mention nothing about creatures like your Tommy, so it's doubtful any of the others we read about have had that issue."

"It also makes sense that only someone who was pure evil would even _try _to make that many Horcruxes," Dinah said, and shuddered. "Well, from what I've seen of your past Voldemort was horrifying and most definitely pure evil."

"I don't doubt that," Severus said softly, "And that's what I've been trying to tell you."

"But Tommy isn't, I'm sure of it!" she said, allowing herself to show at least that much conviction in front of them right now. "Listen, in the fairy tale it was said that the woman never figured out how to return the missing good to the evil prince. But I don't have a living evil being to return the missing good to. I have a non-living evil flayed baby with no more than an eighth of a soul to return the missing good to. I don't know if that will make it harder or easier."

"Or if you're even supposed to return it," Severus said. "In my opinion, the flayed baby simply needs to be _defeated_."

"But... what will that do to Tommy?" Dinah murmured, biting her lip at the thought.

"I'm afraid we do not have all the answers at present," the headmaster cut in. "And I do not think we should attempt to defeat anything or return anything until we have more information. That is why it is crucial that you both find out more information about this mysterious author. I wish I had more answers myself, but I do not. I am afraid I have been quite useless this year, and for that I am sorry," Dumbledore said softly.

"You're never useless," Severus insisted. "You need to give yourself more credit for being reborn. If _I _was reborn for a reason then certainly you were, too."

"A young man and an old man have many different reasons for living," the headmaster said simply, his eyes showing them both that the subject was dismissed. "If you think it will be helpful, I will allow you both to look through some books that have been removed from the library ever since Tom Riddle's time here. Specifically, _Magick Moste Evil _and _Secrets of the Darkest Art_, the latter of which has much information on Horcruxes including the incantation and instructions on how to create one."

"You would give that to me," Severus said, more of a statement than a question but a very surprised statement at that.

Dumbledore smiled and his gaze shifted to Dinah; "I no longer entertain any fears of you turning over to the dark arts, Severus. I shall go and retrieve the book," he turned and went to his shelves, retrieving an old black book and sliding it across his desk to them.

Dinah fingered the ancient binding, exchanging an awestruck glance with her boyfriend. She had not heard of this book, but if it contained instructions on Horcrux creation and had been removed from the library that long ago, then it must be very dark indeed.


	85. Secret

CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE

Secret

* * *

"That's horrible!" Dinah moaned, closing the book and shoving it aside in her haste to eliminate the terrifying things she and Severus had just read from her mind. "To think that Tommy – that Voldemort – ever became so evil and hated himself so much that he would perform such a ritual _seven times_!"

Severus also looked appalled and disgusted, the most negative reaction she'd ever seen him give to something from the dark arts. He shook his head; "I'm honestly not surprised, but still... reading about it was not pleasant."

"Understatement of the century," Dinah murmured, squeezing her eyes shut and trying again not to think about the book's contents. "That book is awful. I can see why Dumbledore removed it from the library. I honestly don't think I can read more of it right now. Maybe later."

"That's fine. We'll keep it here in your rooms for now," he slid an arm around her and pulled her against him, fingering the purple nighttime robes that he had given her for Valentine's Day.

Dinah smiled and closed her eyes, forgetting about the book's awful contents becoming a little bit easier. Since Valentine's Day she and Severus were finally acting more like an ordinary dating couple of sixth years. It was kind of nice. Their relationship had fallen into something a little more comfortable than it had been before, and for that she was happy and grateful. "Hey, Severus? That was the second time Dumbledore mentioned something about an image in a mirror. Do you know what he's talking about?"

Severus sighed and nodded. "The Mirror of Erised. A horrible object."

"Horrible?"

He sighed again. "The Mirror of Erised is a magical item that the headmaster owned and had kept in a room in Hogwarts until Harry Potter's first year here. Because the creators clearly thought that they were witty, 'Erised' is 'desire' spelled backwards. Anyone looking into the mirror would see themselves living out their heart's greatest desire."

"That's... curious," Dinah said, briefly wondering what she might have seen in the mirror if it were still here.

"Curious and terrible. Because of its nature anyone looking into it would often become so wrapped up in seeing what they wanted that they would stare into it for hours, days, even longer. Some people would waste away just looking at what they wanted but couldn't have."

"You looked at it," she guessed, her voice soft.

Severus snorted; "Well, it was hard not to, once you knew it was _there_. And it shows everything perfectly, too. I could look into it and see Lily... not just the friend Lily and not just my memories but it was myself and her together, her with me as if it was completely natural. In my arms, kissing me, telling me she loved me. I went there quite often, actually. Dumbledore let it go because – apparently – I had enough willpower not to stay there for more than an hour or two at a time. And then, of course, Potter came along," his voice took on a sneering tone; "And he gets trapped in front of it once and the headmaster immediately removes it from the school. Yes, let's not let Potter wallow in his misery but it's fine to let Severus do so."

"Oh, Severus," she looked up at him and pressed a kiss to his forehead, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "I see. I don't think that's right, either. But the headmaster always... has his reasons, doesn't he?"

Severus shrugged, but closed his eyes for a moment, appearing a little more relaxed; "I can't imagine what his reasons would be, but it's over now. The mirror is gone, thank goodness. But I _am _curious about his statement. I have no idea what missing image he is referring to, but it seems to be occupying his mind quite a bit."

"Hmm," Dinah agreed, closing her eyes as well. "I wonder."

* * *

Tuesday was a beautiful day, Dinah couldn't help but think for the thousandth time as she wandered the castle grounds during lunch hour. Severus had another meeting with Eugene and so she had eaten rather quickly and decided to go out and take this opportunity to see if some snakes were out sunning themselves on the rocks. She sort of wanted to find the one that had seen Eugene the other day and ask why the second person wasn't visible, but it would be hard to find the same individual again. If it didn't have more information, it probably wouldn't seek her out either.

Surprisingly, it didn't take her long to find a snake that was willing to talk. It wasn't the one who had seen Eugene, though, but at least this small adder would have some new information for her. "Hi," she knelt down in front of it in the brown grass that had been revealed under the mostly-melted snow.

"Hi," the snake said. "I saw something today."

"That's great," Dinah smiled. "Thank you for keeping an eye out on things for me. What did you see?"

"The old man you told us about," she said. "The one working with the young man you thought was suspicious."

"Professor Slughorn?" That was a bit of a surprise.

The snake nodded; "He was very distressed, wandering around out here. I think he was looking for something. He took the path by the lake over there," the snake nodded again, in the direction of the path that led to where Dinah and Severus had taken the youthening potion.

"Really? That's odd... is it possible he actually knows something?" Dinah murmured out loud; "What else did you see?"

"He was holding something. A magazine. He kept looking in it and then wringing his hands and looking back towards the castle and then out at the lake again. I was almost worried for him he looked so stressed."

"That is _so _strange," Dinah murmured, trying to put this together in her head but not coming to any conclusions. "Thank you for telling me. I don't know what it could possibly mean, though. Slughorn can be like that sometimes, I think. He's a good man but the dark arts make him very nervous. In a way he's not unlike some of the Muggle-born Slytherins in my surveys that are less darkness-oriented and more attuned to the Muggle world than-"

"Dinah."

Dinah's breath caught in her throat and she abruptly stopped talking at the murmured voice she had heard behind her. She closed her eyes as the snake ran away, counting to five... to ten... willing herself to wake up from this dream. She hadn't recognized that voice. There had been no voice. It was her imagination and her fear talking. Nobody was behind her. She was going to wake up in her own bed. She was going to wake up in her own bed.

The world wasn't going to end.

Or was it?

"Dinah," the frighteningly familiar voice said, more loudly this time.

She couldn't stop a whimper from escaping her lips as she turned around in her seated position to come face to face with Severus. Her boyfriend was standing there in the grass not more than ten feet away from her, his eyes wide and his expression completely and utterly unreadable.

Finally, he spoke in a soft voice; "You're a parselmouth."

"No," her voice managed to whimper as trembling fingers that didn't feel like her own came up to cover her mouth. She tried to swallow but her throat was too dry. She couldn't breathe. This couldn't be happening. Not Severus. She couldn't _Obliviate _him. She just couldn't. It seemed the world really was going to end.

"What do you mean, no?" he demanded, his voice still soft and his expression still blank; "I heard you talking to that snake just now. Talking, and it understood you. It nodded at you!"

"No... no... no!" she stammered through shallow breaths, her chest tight and tears stinging her eyes. "No," she whimpered again, her body shaking with terror. Not Severus. _Not Severus_! He was all she had. He couldn't abandon her now. Think she was evil. He couldn't but he was going to. He knew her secret. He knew she was a parselmouth. The world was going to end!

She felt like she was going to throw up. She'd never had a panic attack quite like this before, Dinah thought, now gasping for air. She quite literally could not breathe, but it didn't terrify her any more than the blank look that Severus was giving her right now.

A look that quickly shifted into one of fear and concern. "Dinah?" he took a hesitant step toward her. "Dinah, what's going on? What are you doing? You're scaring me."

"I'm sorry!" she screamed, the tears spilling over. She wrapped her arms around her shaking body and hunched over towards the ground. "I'm scaring you. I scare everybody. I'm a parselmouth! I'm a parselmouth! Yes, I am!"

"Dinah, stop it!" he exclaimed. She had never heard his tone quite so loud and distressed before.

It forced her to look up at him again. "I'm sorry. I can't change it. I didn't do it on purpose," she whimpered, swiping at the tears that just wouldn't stop.

"I don't mean stop being a parselmouth, I mean stop whatever it is you're doing! Calm down! Relax! You're going to hurt yourself!"

Dinah just stared at him, a barely noticeable glimmer of hope rising in her chest. "You mean... you don't... hate me? You're not mad at me for being a parselmouth? You're not going to..." she finished saying the last words in a frightened whisper, "leave me?"

"Dinah," his gaze softened and he took a few more steps toward her. "I admit I never expected this and that it's strange and confusing that you are a parselmouth but... it doesn't change the way that I feel about you."

She wasn't sure exactly how he felt about her and she didn't really care at this moment. She also didn't know why she burst into tears again at his statement, but she did. Maybe it was the hormones, maybe it was something else, but she found herself burying her face in her hands again, babbling; "Severus! Severus!"

"Dinah, what? _Please _stop," she felt Severus kneel down in front of her, but couldn't look up.

"It's just... you don't understand. I hate this! I don't know what to do anymore! You really don't hate me? You really don't hate me?" She was aware that she looked like an idiot but she just couldn't stop anymore. This whole thing was just too overwhelming.

"Oh, Dinah," he murmured, his arms wrapping around her and pulling her against him, so warm and comforting and not gone. There. He was still there. "Was this what was _really _bothering you that first night in the rain?" he asked softly, rubbing her back.

"Yes," she admitted through her tears, her voice again a whimper. "The boys caught me. Wortham and Lee did. I had to _Obliviate _them. Dumbledore said I could. He lets me do it but I don't want to. And then I remembered my past. Everyone hated me, Severus. Everyone hated me!"

"The parseltongue _and _the prophecy," Severus murmured understanding, his fingers tangling in her hair and pressing her face closer to him. "I can understand now. I understand what happened. How much it must have hurt you. What they did was wrong."

His voice was so soft and the skin of his neck where her face was buried so warm. His body so warm and his voice so comforting. It was too good to be true, and only brought more tears to her eyes. "They all thought I was evil," she murmured. "They did the same to Harry, but I'm a _real_ parselmouth. Only bad people are parselmouths so they think that it means I'm evil but it doesn't! Does it? Snakes aren't evil either. I've always talked to them, they're nice. They really are, they're just animals but everybody thinks they're evil because of their association with the dark arts and parselmouths. Herpo the Foul and Salazar Slytherin and Voldemort! I'm just like them. I'm a bad person! I'm a bad person!" She was babbling again, but she couldn't stop.

"You are _not _a bad person, Dinah!" Severus said fiercely, pulling back and forcing her to look at him. When he saw her face his gaze turned sad and he gently wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Please don't cry. I don't think you're a bad person. I don't think snakes are evil. And I don't care that you're a parselmouth. The only thing that bothers me is that you didn't tell me about it sooner," he murmured, smoothing her hair away from her face.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered. "I should have told you. I was just so scared. So scared. I thought-" she broke off with a sob but was able to continue when he shushed her and pulled her gently against him again. "I thought you might not want to talk to me anymore," she murmured, wrapping her arms around his waist and nuzzling her head into his shoulder. "In the pensieve when you saw Harry Potter was a parselmouth you looked as shocked as everybody else, so I thought you'd do the same to me as everyone else has. It was stupid. I'm sorry."

"I'm not angry with you," he whispered, stroking her hair. "I know well the stigma associated with parselmouths. I _am _a Slytherin, remember? But there is no way that _you _are a bad person, Dinah. Not a chance. I'm so sorry that it hurt you all those years; that people weren't your friends because of it. But _I _am not one of those people."

"I know," she murmured, and she finally did. It was too good to be true, but it was obvious when she thought about it. Severus was different from everybody else. He was there for her when no one else was and he would always be by her side. Even if it was as a very close friend and not as a lover and even if he never loved her in the way that he had loved Lily, he was there. He was always there.

He moved his head back far enough to meet her gaze again, once more brushing her face clean of tears. "Are you all right now?"

She nodded, closing her eyes at the warmth of his fingers on her face; "Yes. Thank you. Severus..."

Severus's lips softly kissed hers; "What were you talking to the snake about?"

"Oh! Um... well, I was sort of using them to help me notice things about Eugene. They can't understand humans but they can see things. The other incident with Eugene yelling at somebody from before... that was through a snake that I knew it. It's why I couldn't tell you so much about what actually happened. I'm sorry," she found herself apologizing again as a wave of guilt washed over her.

"Shh, that's fine," he murmured, his tone comforting. "I understand. I'm sorry I yelled at you about it before. But it's not a bad idea. Using your gift to notice things we might not on our own. It's rather brilliant, actually."

She flushed a little; "Thanks. I just... I thought it would be useful. Believe me, the snakes are nice and helpful. There's no risk involved," she watched his gaze with a worried expression, wondering if he would approve.

He nodded, "Of course not. I trust your judgment on this matter. You're the parselmouth after all," he smiled, "You would know."

"Severus!" her sadness turned in once swift instant to elation and she tackled him to the ground with a kiss, pinning him against the brown grass in her enthusiasm. Yes, these quick mood changes were definitely caused by adolescent hormones, but she didn't care right now.

He laughed, happily returning the kiss once his initial shock had worn off. "I take it you feel better now."

"So much better," she murmured, tears springing to her eyes again, but this time they were tears of joy. She kissed him again. "I love you, Severus. Oh, I'm sorry," she covered her mouth. "You don't want to hear me say that, do you?"

"It's fine," he said, the smile surprisingly not leaving his face. "I don't... really mind so much anymore."

"Severus," she smiled, not reading any deeper implications into that for fear of disappointment, but feeling very good just the same. He was more accepting of her love, then. That was nice.

"You seem happy," he said, softly caressing her cheek, not seeming to mind at all the fact that she was still on top of him.

"I am," she smiled. "I actually don't think I've ever been happier in my life."

The smile returned to his face and he regarded her with one of the most joyous expressions she'd ever seen in his eyes, making her even happier. "Good. That's all that I'd hoped for."

"Mmm," she said, making a blissful noise and hugging him tightly, once again a little overwhelmed, but this time in a good way. "I really, _really _love you, Severus."

"Dinah," he murmured into her hair, his arms wrapping around her and holding her as tightly as she was holding him. She wondered if her words had affected him somehow this time, but by the time she drew back to look at him again his face was back to normal. He sat up a little, tilting her back so that she was on his lap, and kissed her again.

"Mm," she repeated, pressing her forehead against his and looping her arms around his neck. "I love you." Okay, maybe she was going a little overboard with her declarations of love now, but he still didn't seem to mind. Even so, despite the fact that he had said it was okay now, she really shouldn't take it as a free ticket to do whatever she wanted. Ah well, she thought as she kissed him again, pinning him back to the ground as he happily responded. She'd back off again once she didn't feel so happy anymore.

"Lunch hour is nearly over," Severus finally mumbled in the midst of a particularly intense kiss, when he got a chance to catch his breath. "Students will fill the grounds soon. We're far away but not _that _far away, so we should probably..." dare she imagine she saw intense disappointment in his eyes when he added the last word: "stop..."

She sighed, sitting back again and nodding, taking her hair that had come loose of its tie and wrapping it around one shoulder, running her fingers through it and trying not to stare at the evidence of just how intense their kissing had gotten. It was rather amazing that both of them had managed to avoid sex, but the fear of ruining things between them seemed to have given them both tremendous willpower. Still, if Dinah looked at him too long she might lose her resolve. It was hard enough to ignore her own invisible signals.

He winced a little and sat up, taking her shoulders into his hands and kissing her again. A short one this time. "Now there are no more secrets between us."

She turned away to hide her flush, nodding as another wave of guilt washed over her. Little did he know that she had seen Tommy _twice _and not told him. When he did find out she feared he was going to be deeply hurt. But there was nothing she could do right now. She had to wait until they found more information out before telling him anything about that. She just _had _to wait.

* * *

A/N: So the secret's finally out! I just couldn't have Severus be too upset with her :) - Granted I think he would have had a bit more to say on the subject had she not had a panic attack in front of him. That made her his first priority. Hope it's a satisfying out for the information! Now, she still has one more secret hovering around... :(


	86. Gryfflepuff

CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX

Gryfflepuff

* * *

"The Quidditch game is going to start," Dinah giggled on Friday morning as she and Severus sat together on his office chair, effectively filling it with two of them where neither one or the other was capable of doing so on their own.

"No," he mumbled, his fingers in her hair again as they kissed; "What makes you think I care one iota about the outcome of a Gryffindor-Hufflepuff game?"

"Be_cause_," she insisted when they paused again. "I happen to _be _a Gryffindor-Hufflepuff. I'm a Gryfflepuff. And you need to show appreciation for your girlfriend's collective house." She took the briefest moment to laugh inwardly at herself at their silliness. Somehow, after the Valentine's Day episode and him finding out that she was a parselmouth they had managed to fall completely into their 'dating sixth-years' role and had been all over each other every chance they got. It was utterly childish and ridiculous... but fun.

"A Gryfflepuff? Really?" he managed to shoot her one of his old-style snarky raised eyebrows.

She flushed. The young Severus was fun, but she did miss the old one from time to time. It was in pleasant moments like these when she was reminded that they _were _– in fact – the same person. Ultimately it was nice that he was opening up more in child form. Maybe what both of them needed, and why they had been sent to these ages, was to mix their more easygoing younger selves with their older, more knowledgeable ones. But that was neither here nor there and with his arms wrapped around her she found she wasn't that interested in deep psychological analyses.

A knock on the door had them broken out of another kiss. "Who's there?" Severus demanded, scowling at the door, his indignance at being interrupted causing Dinah to giggle again.

"Um, Lucy?" the literature professor's hesitant voice responded from the other side of the door.

Dinah was afraid her giggles were loud enough for Lucy to hear, and she leaned over and whispered into Severus's ear. "It's just Lucy. We can let her in, it's not like she hasn't seen us kiss before."

"Fine," he growled, shifting a little bit so they weren't _quite _as close, but not shoving her off of his lap.

Dinah smiled and slid her right hand through his hair, bringing it to rest on his shoulder before pointing her wand at the door with her left hand; "_Alohomora_. You can come in, Lucy."

Lucy opened the door, looking a little surprised to see them in those positions. Actually, looking a lot surprised. Her gaze took them in for a moment, and then she blushed and reached into her pocket. She pulled out a handkerchief and held it out to Severus with her left hand; "Um, here. I don't think that's really your color."

It was Dinah's turn to flush when she realized that she had been wearing lipstick this morning and had donated about half of it to her boyfriend. Severus growled again and snatched the handkerchief from Lucy, making sure to shoot Dinah a glare as he took care of the problem.

"Um, sorry. Put it on this morning, didn't think," Dinah said, her gaze shifting to Lucy's hand. "No gloves this time? You could have used the necklace thing like before," she said, referring to the engagement ring.

"Nah. This time I've got this," she said pulling a Tudor Rose necklace out from around her neck and showing it to Dinah. "One of the things he noticed," she grinned. "He had it custom made. I've recently gone from having minimal jewelry to an ample supply. It's getting a little ridiculous."

Dinah laughed. "You think _you _have that problem. Today I had to decide whether to wear the bracelet with the necklace or the bracelet with the earrings or toss aside formality and wear all of them and mix metals," she grinned and kissed Severus on the cheek to soften the scowl he was still wearing. "Ultimately, I went with the garnets. Oh, and your necklace is lovely by the way."

"Thanks," Lucy's face went a little redder as her gaze slid to Severus, "Don't be embarrassed. After all you, ah, walked in on me and Sirius in a similar position before one of the Order meetings if you'll remember."

"How could I possibly forget?" he did not look pleased as he recalled this apparent incident. "Now, I assume you're here because you want to go to the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff game?"

"Gryfflepuff game," Dinah corrected, nudging him with a grin. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Well, um, yes if you two want to go…what in the world is a Gryfflepuff?"

"Me," Dinah beamed. "I was in both houses, remember?" She probably sounded like a child, but she didn't care much right now.

Lucy laughed, "Oh right. A Gryffindor and a Hufflepuff. Got it. Did the two of you want to go then or should I leave you to…resume your previous activities?"

Dinah frowned, considering this. It was tempting, but she _had _wanted to go to the game. She had been a little bit worried about going to watch it in these forms, but maybe with Lucy there everything would be fine. "We'll go, I think. I want to see who wins. You don't mind going with a couple of teenagers though, right?" She slid her hand into Severus's and gave Lucy a small smile. "It's just your job to take away points if anybody makes fun of us."

"I'll do my best, but you'll make my job easier if you go below the bleachers to snog. With any luck though you'll run into Agrona and Derwent down there."

"There will be no... snogging in public," Severus said through gritted teeth.

"Darn," Dinah laughed. "Agrona and Derwent? They haven't been talking much in class lately that I've noticed."

"Yeah, she came to me a couple weeks ago, crying. She's got no clue what's gone on but he just stopped talking to her. Never broke up with her or anything. Just stopped talking. She thinks maybe someone said something to him but she doesn't know…"

"He's been recently spending time with a group of Slytherins who hold Death Eater values in high esteem," Severus spoke up. "I don't know why or what any of them may have said about Miss Huntingdon, but I suspect it may be similar to Speasy and Yates's issue. It wouldn't surprise me if one of them suggested she was taking advantage of him; him being Muggle-born."

"I wondered if it was something like that. I saw him in the library that day I found you there with the romance novels," Lucy nodded.

Severus gave a little groan when Lucy mentioned the romance novels, causing Dinah to crack a smile. Then he continued: "The only time pureblood or Death Eater bent Slytherins associate with Muggle-born Slytherins... or often half-blood Slytherins as well," he sighed, "is when they have something they want. Mr. Lympsham is highly skilled in my class. That's probably why they're using him. And mark my words, they _are _using him."

"Mm," Dinah murmured, squeezing Severus's hand and leaning her head on his shoulder. The whole Slytherin system was a complete mess.

Lucy sighed, "I wish he could see that. Of course I couldn't see that Nick was just using me at first so I suppose it's a part of growing up. I doubt saying anything to him would help…" she looked down at the floor with a sad expression. "Should we get going then? I know I'm incredibly early but I wanted to catch you before you left…"

"Sure, let's go," Dinah stood from the chair and walked over to a hook in the wall, grabbing her warm outer robes to put on over her Muggle dress.

"Here," Severus stood, grabbing a scarf and wrapping it around her neck with an affectionate gaze. "Don't forget one of these this time. It's colder today than it has been during the week," he kissed her, and then went to grab his own outer robes.

Dinah smiled and slipped her gloves on. "I have you to thank for half of this, you know," she said to Lucy.

Lucy laughed, "Really, now?"

She grinned. "The Valentine's escapade put us halfway into dating mode. Then we went the rest of the way ourselves," she gave Severus an indulgent smile which he managed to return despite Lucy's presence, and looped her arm into his. "Shall we go?"

"If we don't want to be late, then yes," he led them to the door and opened it, gently dropping Dinah's arm when they exited into the hall.

They were mostly silent walking from the school down to the pitch. When they had climbed partway into the stands Lucy pointed out a rather dark, secluded corner. "That's a good spot there, in case you were wondering," she grinned.

"Enough!" Severus snarled, his face flushed and his head darting back and forth to the students around them, some of them staring a little but most of them wrapped up in Quidditch. After a moment he sighed; "Do you think everyone knows?"

Dinah wasn't sure if he was asking her or Lucy, but she answered anyway. "We haven't done much in public, so I don't think they _know _know, but... well, I'm pretty sure they've all at least gotten the message that there is _something _between us."

"I doubt anyone knows much more than they did before the youthening. It's just now they're witnessing the more…hormonal side of you," Lucy said, having seemed distracted a moment ago but now bringing her thoughts back to the younger couple.

"Which makes everything entirely more obvious," Dinah sighed as they settled into their seats. "Either way, nobody's said anything on that subject. It's more laughing at us because we look like children than anything."

"Mm," Severus agreed uneasily, ending up in-between Dinah and Lucy in the Hufflepuff stands, but not complaining. He probably felt more hidden from student view in-between them. "We barely made it in time."

"Hey, you said you didn't care one iota about the Gryfflepuff game," Dinah teased, clapping as the team members were introduced and flew onto the pitch.

Lucy grinned, looking over at Dinah, "The Gryfflepuff games were always weird for me. On the one hand I had Tonks rooting for Hufflepuff and she was my friend but then I had cousins on the Gryffindor team…and my own house wasn't playing so…divided loyalties."

She nodded. "I can understand that. I was similar, except I reached the point where I didn't really care. Either one could win and please me. I guess that whole thing is why I never got extremely into Quidditch. Or any of the house rivalries for that matter."

"Mmm," Lucy responded, not really knowing what to say to that. "I think, in general, Muggle-borns aren't quite as into Quidditch as the rest of us. Not that it's and us and them kind of thing. That's not what I meant."

"I don't know if that's necessarily true in all cases, but I'd agree that it is in some," Dinah said with a frown. "There are a lot of other sports in the Muggle world that they come in knowing quite a bit about, so Quidditch is added to that but it doesn't replace it. I could have asked a question about that in my surveys."

"Surveys that will never be finished," Severus teased.

"Oh, hush!" she laughed and nudged him. "They will be, just not anytime... soon."

Lucy laughed, "Ahh, I know all about soon. It's another word for never. Students tried that with assignments early in the year. Mum said it when she was hoping I'd forget about something she wasn't keen on doing or explaining. Soon…"

Dinah laughed, too. "But I really _do _intend on finishing them. Yeah, though, soon is one of those famous last words, isn't it? Lucy? Are you okay?" Lucy had gotten a little quiet after mentioning her mother.

Lucy shook her head, "Yeah, sorry. It just sort of sneaks up on you sometimes. You know?"

"Mm, yeah I think so," Dinah agreed; "Like the thing with the houses earlier. It was hard being divided between two houses and dealing with people's bitter feelings. I would sometimes dwell on my Hogwarts years and how hard they were, but," she smiled and knew she had been a little indulgent in bringing this up. Severus seemed to know too, the way he was looking at her. But she didn't care. She was just so happy about the recent developments in their relationship. She threw her scarf over their laps as she had during the last Quidditch game with her robe, when they were still adults, and reached over to squeeze his hand. "That doesn't bother me so much, anymore," she finished, moving to sit closer to him as they shared a smile. Since the incident when he had discovered her parselmouth abilities, she had finally been able to tell him all of the important stories from her past, and now she finally felt like she wasn't alone in the matter. It was rather perfect, actually, how that part of her life had finally gotten a little bit better after twenty-two long years. And all thanks to Severus.

Lucy laughed, "Keep that up and everyone _will _know. I'm glad it doesn't bother you now though. Kids can be cruel and the ones who were mean to you don't really matter now. I mean look at me and Nick. Thirteen years ago he was important…now he's just some brown-noser trying to move up in the Ministry. He doesn't matter to my life at all."

"Yeah," Dinah agreed. "I didn't get the most favorable impression of him when I met him at Slughorn's party."

"Oh, trust me, that _was_ a good impression. I barely kept Sirius from punching him in the face. Though truth be told if he'd called me Lulu one more time I might have done it myself. Take his wife and child to America to be safe," Lucy muttered, "Yeah, way to care about others Nick."

Dinah bit her lip, reminded of her own hiding from the wizarding world during the recent wars. Was she any better than Nick in that respect?

"That is unfortunate, but the war would have reached those shores eventually, either way," Severus said, his turn to squeeze Dinah's hand underneath the scarf. "There was not anywhere to hide or be safe. Even had he not participated in any fighting, just staying in Britain would have been a strong move. Shown that he was intelligent enough to realize that there was no place to hide."

Dinah hugged herself and nodded, Severus's words slightly comforting as he had surely intended them to be. At least she hadn't left the country. She had to keep telling herself that much.

"Exactly my point. Nick is an idiot. I mean I get wanting to be safe but even if I hadn't joined the Order I would have stayed. Not everyone could fight. That doesn't mean they were cowards. It just means they couldn't do it for one reason or another. Sorry I didn't mean to get all political on you," she said, clapping when Gryffindor scored.

Severus nodded his approval at the pitch. "It would be preferable if Gryffindor wins."

"What?" Dinah and Lucy both turned shocked glances on him and spoke at the same time.

He chuckled slightly. "Slytherin's chances are better in that case, especially with the current score standings. They have a remaining game with Hufflepuff but have already defeated Gryffindor. If Hufflepuff wins this game, a win against Slytherin in May will carry greater threat."

Lucy nodded, "Makes sense. Ginny's on Gryffindor so I'd prefer them to win but then Hufflepuff could use a win too…"

Dinah sighed; the house she truthfully identified more with always seemed to receive negative publicity and they weren't known for a phenomenal Quidditch record either. She shrugged; "Well, like I said, either way is okay with me."

"Soo," Lucy said awkwardly into the sudden silence that fell on them, "Seen any fox around lately?"

Dinah laughed; "No, not since you. I've seen some snakes though. They like to sun themselves on warm days," she grinned, loving how she could be cheerful about this for the first time in her life.

"Mmm," Lucy said, leaning her head back and enjoying the sun herself, "I know how they feel. It's been so nice lately it's easy to forget about those storms…"

"Yeah... the last one was pretty mild. No dementors," Dinah agreed. By now it was general knowledge around the school that there was reason to be cautious of the dementor-summoning dark storms, and that there were Aurors around.

"It was hardly noticeable in Hogsmeade. No voices last time either."

"Good," Dinah paused. "Oh no, we forgot to mention that to Dumbledore!"

"Perhaps because we didn't ask Lucy if she _wanted _that mentioned to Dumbledore," Severus said calmly, turning to look at Lucy. "Do you?"

Lucy looked around them to check for overhearing students. "I don't know," she shrugged, "Dumbledore knows about before but…" she turned to look back at Severus and Dinah, "The two of you are the only ones that know, but if you think it's important he knows, if it'll help you with whatever it is you're working on, then I suppose it's all right."

"It might help. Don't worry," Dinah smiled; "He's not going to think you're crazy either. We'll make sure of that."

"Thanks," she said, smiling back, "that's good to know."


	87. London

A/N: First, special thanks to all my reviewers! I'm a little behind on replies, I think, but I will keep replying to everyone who has a site membership and those of you who don't just know I really really appreciate all of your reviews and that you are enjoying the story! Please keep reading and reviewing! :)

Also, although probably no one cares, I simply MUST give a shout-out to the candy mentioned in this chapter! Lol. Aero chocolate is a really delicious bubbly chocolate that is sold in Japan (where I had it for the first time), the UK (where it originated, I think), Canada, and a bunch of other countries but not the US! T_T Luckily, I live in Vermont which is close to Canada and at least one local store sells the imported chocolate. But sadly, I can only get the mint (the best version!) if I go to Canada, which I can only do on occasion but it's better than nothing. HOORAY FOR AERO MINT! :D

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN

London

* * *

"At least we still have our apparition licenses," Severus grumbled, looking around Dinah's Muggle house on Saturday morning. He sighed and shook his head; "So we're here again. Lovely."

Dinah rolled her eyes; Severus's attempts at being happy and going along with this trip to talk to Rosa were ending up more sarcastic than anything else. But he was _trying_, she had to keep reminding herself. "Yes. We can't apparate right into her home, we have to drive there. Plus, I thought I'd make breakfast for us. You need more exposure to the good parts of the Muggle world anyway."

"Whatever," he tossed his winter robes onto the banister to her stairs and followed her grudgingly into the kitchen. He sighed and sat at the table, looking grumpier than ever.

Was he _really _trying?

Dinah sighed. "Severus, you've been here before. Over Christmas, remember?" She smiled. "You told me I looked nice in Muggle clothes and almost kissed me for the third time. I enjoyed that day."

That got him to smile a little. "I remember. I guess the Muggle world wasn't so bad... that time. You do have a nice house, I'll say that much. Er... did you need help with anything?"

"Oh, no, no," she waved him off, pulling open some cupboards and surveying their contents. "I haven't even decided what I – oh!" She grinned and pulled two wrapped chocolate bars, one with white and brown wrapping and the other with white and green wrapping, out of one of them. "Oh, Aero chocolate how I've missed you!"

"_What_?" Severus demanded, his voice suggesting that he thought she'd lost her mind.

She whirled around and grinned at him, holding the packages out so he could see. "My favorite chocolate! You just have to try one!" She opened the white and brown package containing the plain milk chocolate variety and broke a piece off, walking up to him and making him look. "See, it has little air bubbles inside of it. Try some."

He leaned back in the chair as though she was holding a grenade at him and shot it a suspicious glare; "What does it do?"

Dinah couldn't help but burst out laughing. "_Nothing_, it's just plain chocolate! Muggle chocolate. But the bubbles melt in your mouth and it's fun and tasty. Now try it!"

"No. I'm not eating non-magical, Muggle candy."

"Oh, just eat it!" she said, shoving the piece into his mouth just as he was opening it to protest.

He shot her a vicious glare but she was feeling rather immune as he finished eating the piece, letting it dissolve as she had instructed. When he was finished he shrugged. "It tastes like chocolate."

"Killjoy," she chuckled, opening the second package and breaking off another piece. "Try the mint version. The bubbles are meltier in the mint version."

"It's green."

"Green for _mint_," she insisted, holding the piece out to him. "Now do I have to feed you again or are you going to take this willingly?"

"Fine," he snarled, snatching the chocolate from her and eating it after mumbling something about who eats chocolate for breakfast anyway. "It's fine. Now can we eat something normal?"

"Sure! I think I'll make eggs. Just sit tight, I'll have it ready soon!" she skipped to the fridge, feeling especially triumphant for having gotten Severus to eat the Muggle candy despite his protestations. Maybe there was hope for him yet.

"It's good," Severus smiled when Dinah placed the eggs in front of him and he had taken a bite a few minutes later. "I didn't like watching you make it without magic, but you _are _an excellent cook."

"Thanks!" she beamed, alternating bites of eggs with bites of her chocolate bars, ignoring the shaking head of Severus every time she did so. "So the plan is to drive over there. Since I'm sixteen I'll just alter my license to show the relevant picture and dates. I have to pretend I'm seventeen, since that's the legal driving age, but it's close enough that nobody should suspect and we should be fine. Not like I'd get in trouble anyway. I happen to be an excellent driver."

Severus sighed. "See how useful magic is?"

"Oh, really?" she shot him a sly grin as the perfect argument came to her; "Because it allows me to fix the problem of my age changing that it _caused _in the first place?"

"Fine, have it your way," he replied, scowling and taking a rather aggressive bite of toast; "Either way, how are you going to work us being young into the picture? She's not going to know who you are."

"That's the problem," Dinah said with a frown. "She _is _going to know who I am, or at least she should rather quickly. I've known her since I was five. We grew up together, went to school together... yeah, so I think I'm going to need you to make the introduction."

"What!" Severus exclaimed, jumping from the table as Dinah winced. "You expect me to – to – looking like _this_?" he made a dramatic gesture to himself, his insecurity at his young appearance popping out again.

"Severus, don't worry, I'm sure it will be fine."

"Yes, because a scrawny, big-nosed, greasy-haired teenager showing up at her door for no reason introducing a girl from her past as a youthened witch is just _fine_, Dinah!"

She bit her lip, hating to hear Severus describe himself like that, and shook her head. "Don't talk like that about yourself. And I'm sorry; I should have told you this sooner."

"Oh, you think so?" he slumped back into the chair, folding his arms and glaring at her.

"We can figure it out! You put on the resized Muggle clothes. People come door to door all the time. You just have to very quickly say – er, pretend you're selling- um, you have to try to get her to let us in by – um, you need to – er..." she sighed and groaned, shaking her head in her hands as she realized she hadn't really thought this through at _all_. "Maybe I'll just have to put a bag over my head."

"Face recognition spell," Severus muttered. "It's the only way. I did it when I bought your purple robes from the stupid girly lingerie store; not that anyone would have recognized my youthened form anyway. Of course then you'll have to adjust your driver's license to reflect the facial changes."

"Unless I do the spell right when we get there. Okay, that helps. We still need a way to get her to let us in."

Severus rolled his eyes. "I _knew _this was a bad idea."

"We'll figure something out."

"I hope so," he finished his eggs and took his dish to the counter. "Do you mind if I use magic to wash this or are you going to force me to watch you do more things the Muggle way?"

"Go ahead, use magic," Dinah waved him off again, more focused on the huge problem at hand than on continuing trying to warm Severus up to the Muggle world. "Oh, thanks," she shot him a smile when he took her plate from in front of her. He was rather helpful, for being male and also for being grouchy about this whole trip. Then again, cleaning up with magic was fast. It wasn't long before he was standing next to her again, suggesting that they get going.

She agreed and they headed to the front hall to put on their coats. Severus took a moment to look at the photographs lining her wall while Dinah adjusted her scarf. "Muggle images are so strange, aren't they?" he mused, tracing the frame of one of her school pictures.

"Because they don't move? Well, I think there are positives and negatives to both type of picture, really. I do have both types of camera, but obviously I can't put wizard pictures up in this house with Muggles coming and going all the time," she watched as Severus started scrutinizing a picture of her cousin Larry. "Severus?"

"This man!" he exclaimed, sticking his finger right in the middle of the picture. "Blond hair, blue eyes... you've kept a picture of Dylan this long!" his voice was accusatory and also a little hurt.

Dinah felt bad when she started laughing but she couldn't help it; the whole thing was just so utterly ridiculous. "Yes Severus, I did. You have no idea how much I enjoy just standing here and staring at a picture of my _cousin Larry_!"

Severus turned to face her and flushed; "Cousin Larry?"

"Yes, cousin Larry," she giggled. "Can't you see the resemblance? Of course I didn't keep a picture of Dylan! And the very idea of Larry looking like him is appalling. I really don't want to think about having had that kind of relationship with my cousin, thank you so much for bringing it up," she smiled to show that she was teasing.

"I'm sorry," he looked embarrassed. "It's this adolescent body. I guess I really _am _a little jealous of Dylan."

"I know you are," she leaned across and gave him a quick peck, "I think it's cute. And at least you admit it now. But you _know _that I want you, right?"

He frowned. "I don't know why, but yes. I guess so." He turned back to the pictures before she could respond. "You were always pretty, Dinah."

"Aww, thanks," she smiled; "That's so sweet of you."

"Is this... your family?" he pointed to a large family portrait that had been taken close to two years ago.

She nodded; "Yes. It's a small one, but that's all of us."

"It must be nice. Everyone looks so happy."

Dinah smiled and put an arm around his shoulders, pressing in close to him. "It is nice. They're all wonderful people. Oh, but you have to be careful of this one though," she grinned and pointed to one of the women in the picture. "That's crazy Aunt Mildred. Larry's mother. They live over in Gloucestershire. She's obsessed with new blood in the family. Every time Larry or myself simply goes on a _date_ she gushes for hours about whoever we're with."

"Is she the one who thought I was French?" Severus frowned.

Dinah giggled; "Well, sort of. She got your name wrong, anyway. I'm afraid if you don't tell her about your significant other right away she comes up with all sorts of bizarre ideas on her own. It's like she lives vicariously through every other couple on the planet, although she and Uncle Winston have a perfectly healthy, normal relationship, so I can't imagine why. I guess it's just her personality."

"Healthy and normal. Must be nice," Severus repeated the phrase in a low mutter, and then changed the subject. "Do they know? Your aunt and cousins and such? And I'm guessing this is your grandmother?" he pointed to the elderly woman in the picture.

"Yeah," she nodded, a little bit of sadness stinging her chest. "Everyone in this picture knows – or well, knew anyway. Grandma passed away shortly before I started work at Hogwarts."

"Oh, um... I'm sorry," Severus said awkwardly, watching Dinah with a sad but thoughtful expression. "I guess even healthy normal Muggle families still have hard times."  
"You didn't think so?" Dinah said, giving his shoulder a squeeze and smiling sadly. "I know it's hard for you to admit that Muggles are similar to wizards in any way, but really there are a lot of things that are the same. There are still friends, families, births, deaths, marriages, divorces, fights, and squabbles. Both Muggle and wizard families can be happy and they can also both be dysfunctional. Even though I know my family is a lot more stable than... well, yours was, we _have _had our issues. I can never imagine all the horrible things you went through, but we all have our own experiences. Ones that can only be compared so much to others', you know? We have to look at them for what they are."

"Yeah, I guess so. So your family is okay with you being a witch?"

She shrugged; "They seem to be. It was a bit weird at first, but we're all very used to it now."  
"So they don't... worship you or anything?"

"Hardly!" she had to laugh. "They find it convenient for me to use my magic in certain instances, like if something breaks or something and I can fix it quickly, but we also do plenty of things the Muggle way without mentioning my magic. It's very... casual and normal most of the time."

"Odd," Severus frowned and then shrugged. "Well, we should get going. I don't relish the idea of riding in your infernal car again but I suppose it shall have to be dealt with."

Dinah laughed. "I suppose it shall."


	88. Muggles

CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT

Muggles

* * *

"Okay, so here's the plan," Dinah said, having figured this out in her head on the way to Rosa's home. Severus's look was skeptical as they both walked up the stairs to her front porch, but she continued, fairly certain that her plan would work. "Depending on whether Rosa or Luke answers we'll-"

"_What?"_ Severus shouted, grabbing her shoulders and glaring into her eyes.

"What what?" Dinah blinked, confused.

"Dinah, I'm going to ask you this once and only once and I want you to answer me very, _very _carefully..." Severus growled; his glare positively livid. "Who the _hell _is Luke?"

Dinah flushed at the sudden realization that she had probably forgot to mention this up until now. "Um... her husband?"

"You didn't tell me there was a husband!"

"Er, yeah, they got married last year," Dinah knew she was babbling again, but those were the only words that left her mouth. "I stood up in the wedding."

"That is irrelevant, Dinah!" Severus's voice was getting loud and Dinah saw some movement within the house, but didn't get a chance to interrupt his rant; "Why didn't you mention him before? Don't tell me you expect us to tell him, too!"

"Well, kind of. I mean, even if I just told Rosa she'd probably tell her husband, right? It's just a precaution either way. If he's here we should tell them both because it's probably better he hears it coming from us than from her. Um, Severus?" she noticed someone walking towards the front door. "About the plan..."

"Dinah, I have just about had it with you not telling me things that you should be telling me!" he continued, ignoring her and his words making her feel guilty again about the Tommy stuff, to the point where she was distracted from any more movements within the house. "I have told you _everything _that you have needed to know about things without holding back for months now and yet you still leave important things out when-"

"Excuse me, but can I help you?" an agitated woman's voice broke them out of their argument, causing them both to jump and turn nervous glances in her direction. "You do realize that you are having an argument on a total stranger's front porch, right?" her friend asked.

_So much for the plan_, Dinah thought, and sighed. "I'm sorry, ma'am. Um... can we talk to you? It's important."

Rosa just stared at them and shook her head, confused. "What on Earth? I don't even know you two! If you don't leave right now I'm going to call Scotland Yard and-"  
"I'm a friend of your friend Dinah's!" Dinah shouted, worried that Severus's expression was starting to look smug. She had to show him that Rosa was a nice person soon or risk not being able to shatter his opinion of Muggles.

That at least gave Rosa some pause. "A... _friend _of Dinah's? Well, you seem a little young to be a friend of hers. But you know her?"

"Yes, I... well, it's really hard to explain. Couldn't you just talk to us for a minute? Once we're alone it will all make sense."

"Dinah's in New Zealand," Rosa said instead of responding, still looking confused.

"No, she's not," Dinah shook her head. "That's what I need to talk to you about. I promise, we're not dangerous. You can search us if you want to," she spread her arms, intending to look non-threatening. "We have nothing on us."

"Dinah, we have our wa-" Severus began in a furious tone, and then cut himself off before finishing the word, his face reddening in embarrassment.

Rosa was now looking at them with a very suspicious raised eyebrow. "Your name is Dinah, too?"

Great, now her friend thought they were crazy. "Please let us come in. It's cold out here and as _soon _as we're inside everything will be made perfectly clear," Dinah tried the only thing she could think of anymore.

Her friend just stared at them for a very long time before pursing her lips and muttering; "Fine." She stood aside and opened the door; "But before I let you in I want to make sure you really know Dinah. I saw her at Christmas when she was back in England and she told me the name of a new man she was seeing. Do you know his name?"

Severus made an odd face and Dinah felt a huge smile spread across hers. If she had known it would be this easy she would have included it in her brilliant but ultimately useless plan. She took Severus's hand in her own and met her friend's gaze. "Severus Snape."

"All right," Rosa said after another frown. "Come in."

Dinah shot Severus a triumphant look and he just shrugged, but they followed Rosa into the house and to the kitchen.

"Have a seat," Rosa gestured to the kitchen table and they did so. She didn't sit down herself, however, simply stood at the counter eyeing them with a still-suspicious gaze. "Now would you mind telling me what this is all about?"

"Is Luke here?" Dinah asked, looking around the room.

"No..." Rosa said slowly. "He's out. Business trip this weekend. I'm sorry, this is making me very uneasy. Could you please explain how you apparently know us so well but we don't know you. I really don't think Dinah would do something strange like this."

"But Dinah does lots of strange things," Dinah said softly, the second part of her plan at least being workable. "Remember in secondary school when the teacher would call on her and she didn't know the answer to a question? Remember how the lights would go out or some other accident would happen? Remember that?"

"Yes. I _do _remember that," Rosa's gaze only looked more suspicious. "But what does that have to _do _with anything?"

"I – we –" she gestured to Severus, who had been silent ever since almost mentioning their wands earlier, "come from Dinah's other world. Her real world."

"Are you going to tell me Dinah's an alien and you need me to save her from abduction? Because if so I am _definitely _calling the police. Crazy teenagers," she mumbled, rubbing her forehead and groaning.

"Please, don't. Just another moment," Dinah said quickly. "There are things in this world that you don't know about. There's such a thing as magic, and witches and wizards. They live right alongside of you but separate, hiding things so you can't see them. See this?" she withdrew her wand from her pocket and muttered the _Lumos _charm, causing the tip to light up with a very faint glow. "It's my wand. I'm a witch and Se – and my boyfriend here is a wizard. We can perform spells. Dinah is also a witch. That's why she disappeared when she was younger – for seven years, remember? Boarding school? But it was really witch school!"

Rosa just stared from Dinah to the lit wand and back, not speaking.

"She's not in New Zealand right now, because she went back to that school to teach," Dinah continued, glad her friend was shocked enough to allow her to finish speaking. "In that world they don't know much about non-magical people. They call non-magical people Muggles and Dinah is teaching Muggle Studies – teaching magical people about non-magical ones. She really enjoys it because it fits with what she likes – you know how she would always get so idealistic about discrimination and that sort of thing – how dedicated she was to sociology and anthropology? It was mostly because she knew of some of the negative relations between the wizarding and Muggle worlds and wanted to help change that."

"Let me see that," Rosa murmured, running forward and taking the wand from Dinah, turning it over and over in her hands as though searching for something.

"There's no battery compartment," Dinah said with a slight smile. "It's really magic. But I can show you more than just that. You see... something happened to Dinah recently. She took a potion – Severus took the same potion - that turned her into a younger version of herself. A sixteen-year-old version. Rosa, _I _am Dinah." She took her wand back from her bewildered friend's hands and pointed it at her face, cancelling the recognition charm and holding her breath, hoping for the best.

Rosa blinked at her a few times; "Dinah?"

"Yes!" Dinah exclaimed, standing from the chair. "You recognize me, then!"

"Why didn't I recognize you before?" Rosa backed up, looking nervous. "Why do you look like you did as a child? Are you... wait a minute, did you have an illegitimate child with Dylan? Did you make up all that stuff to soften the blow for that? I mean, did your mother have an illegitimate child with Dylan? I mean, did Dinah – I mean-"

Dinah sighed, concerned about the expression on Severus's face and the fact that this was not going as well as she'd hoped. Hopefully her boyfriend realized that this would have gone much better had he not started screaming at her on the front porch ten minutes previously. "Rosa, if I _had _had an illegitimate child with Dylan it couldn't be any older than five right now. No, this is really me. If you let me, I can perform more spells for you and prove that magic exists." When Rosa just stared and didn't respond Dinah used her wand to float a glass of water out of the cupboard, fill it, and float it over to her, which she drank gratefully to abate her stress.

Rosa's eyes were wide with wonder as she watched; "You really just did that!"

"I did," Dinah said, letting out a breath of air, trying to relax. "I'm sorry. You would have an easier time believing this if I was showing you as my normal, older self. Believe me; I don't want to be stuck in this body either. There are good and bad things about magic, like anything else. It's what I've been trying to teach Severus here," she gestured to her scowling boyfriend.

"Severus..." Rosa's still-blinking gaze shifted over to him. "Him too? Turned young? He's the one you were talking about?"

"Yes!" Dinah exclaimed, feeling hopeful again. "You believe me, don't you? _Please _say you believe me!"

"Well, you _do _look exactly like the Dinah I knew back then..." Rosa said slowly, her eyes returning to Dinah. "And you did just fill that water with your magic wand – stick thing. But ... I mean this is just... so unbelievable!"

"I know, but it's really really true!" she insisted. "I'm sorry I never told you before. We're not supposed to tell Muggles. I hate everyone but my family thinking I'm in New Zealand when I'm not, but I really love teaching at Hogwarts and if I hadn't gone there I wouldn't have met Severus and you have no _idea _how happy we are together – or how happy I am with him, at least."

"I'm happy with you," Severus said softly, speaking for the first time in ages.

"Severus!" she took a moment to turn joyous eyes to him, throwing her arms around his shoulders and planting a kiss on his lips before turning back to Rosa. "See?"

"You spoke his name so easily there," Rosa said, quietly. "No hesitation. He did the same to you earlier. Either you are both excellent at acting or you really are who you say you are."

"We _are_, I promise you! And I decided to tell you and Luke about myself because there's something very important I think you can help us with! Can you help us?"

"I... don't know. I don't know what it is you want help with yet," Rosa said, and then shook her head, her eyes still bewildered. "What else can you do?"

"A lot of things. Um..." she dropped the glass on the ground and let it shatter.

"Dinah!" Rosa exclaimed.

Dinah smiled a little; "_Reparo_," she said to the glass, causing it to go back together.

"No... _way_!" Rosa exclaimed, her eyes lighting up as she grabbed the glass, running her fingers all around it for evidence of the breakage. When she found none she tossed it to the floor again, then knelt down and felt the pieces. When she seemed satisfied that it was indeed broken she looked back up at Dinah. "Do it again."

"Excuse me," Severus snarled, "But you do not _order _Dinah to do things, Muggle!"

"Severus," Dinah whispered, lightly chastising him and hoping he remembered that he was trying to be nice on this trip.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Rosa looked a little hurt as she faced them. "I mean, I didn't mean to be rude. This is just all so mind-boggling. _Can _you repair it again, Dinah? Please?"

"Of course," Dinah smiled and cast the charm again, returning the glass to its original state.

"That's amazing!" Rosa nearly shouted, standing up, looking as excited as though she was a teenager herself. "Do more stuff!"

Dinah laughed. "Well, if you promise not to call the police I can use _Incendio _to make fire."

"I won't call the police! Show me, show me!"

Dinah went on for what felt like about an hour showing Rosa spell after spell. The whole thing only seemed to make Severus grouchier but Dinah was just glad her friend was in a good, accepting mood.

Finally, Rosa collapsed into the third chair at the table, giggling and shaking her head. "Wow, just wow! I wish you had told me this sooner, Dinah. Magic is _amazing_! I can't believe you've been able to do it since you were sixteen and I never suspected a thing! Being a witch must be the greatest thing ever!"

"Well, it does have its merits," Dinah smiled a little. "But I really do like both worlds."

"Yeah, I suppose," Rosa agreed, still grinning, finally seemed to settle down a little bit. "And I guess I don't really know anything about the society you live in and the arguments between groups you were mentioning."

Severus snorted; "Hardly."

"Don't mind him," Dinah said, quickly excusing her boyfriend's behavior. "I told you at Christmas that he was kind of moody."

"Yes, you did. I'm sorry," Rosa turned to Severus. "I'm sure I've been completely rude asking Dinah to keep showing me things. This is just very exciting, you know?" At his shrug, she frowned. "So, um... sorry, guys. I guess I should stop now and we should get to the matter at hand. What is it that you needed my help with?"

Dinah sighed. "It's a long story. There are a lot of bad things and some mysteries going on at Hogwarts – that's the school – right now, and we're trying to solve them. But we need more information. We found these books," she withdrew _Where Does the Good Go? _And _The Squib Did It_ from her bag, sliding them across the table to Rosa. "If you look here," she turned to the about the author section of the latter; "It says that the author, Raymond Scrump, was a squib – that's somebody who's born to a magic family but can't perform magic – and eventually moved to the Muggle world where he became a successful author. But he changed his name and we don't know to what. We _really _need to find out more about him and his work, so I was hoping you could look at his writing style and help us figure out who he became in this world."

"Sure," Rosa nodded, taking the books. "I can try. It might take a week or so, though, if that's okay. I might not know it off the top of my head, but as soon as I find the relevant author I should be able to match their styles easily."

"Thank you!" Dinah exclaimed. "You have no idea how much that would mean to the both of us!"

"Yes, er... thanks," Severus muttered, his attempts at being nice finally coming through properly, even if it was only a tiny bit.

Dinah flashed him a smile.

"You know, you two are really cute together," Rosa said, smiling at Severus who now looked extremely embarrassed. "Dinah really gushed about you over Christmas, you know."

"Rosa, don't!" Dinah squealed, her turn to flush in embarrassment. It was nice to joke with her friend again, though. Rosa's acceptance made her feel less conspicuous in this adolescent form.

Rosa chuckled, tucking a strand of her medium-length dark brown hair behind her ear and shifting an innocent gaze back to Dinah; "Well, you _did_. So tell me how you two _really _met, then. Clearly he isn't working with the same tribe of aborigines on New Zealand that you are."

"Aborigines!" Severus exclaimed, shooting an appalled look at Dinah.

She shrugged; "Well, I _am _a sociologist slash anthropologist, you know. What else would I be doing in New Zealand where I didn't have phone or internet access?"

Severus just grumbled acknowledgement and went back to munching on the crisps Rosa had laid out on the table somewhere in the midst of all the spell-casting that had been going on.

"Severus and I are both professors at the school, actually," Dinah said. "He teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts, but he also has a great talent in potion making."

"You aren't bad at it yourself," Severus had to add. "You made it into the Slug Club."

"Mostly because of the prophecy, really," Dinah said softly, taking a crisp.

"What are the dark arts?" Rosa asked with a frown.

"Hmph," Severus snorted, perhaps at her apparent 'ignorance', but a glare from Dinah had him sighing and meeting Rosa's gaze. "The dark arts are evil magic. All of the odd accidents and weather incidents that had been occurring in your world last year? Those were the result of an intense war raging in the wizarding world that was just starting to cross over into yours as well. We managed to restore peace but it appears there are still some remaining threats. The information you give us may, at its most useful, prevent the outbreak of another war that could destroy both of our worlds."

"Severus doesn't like sugar-coating things," Dinah explained to Rosa with a slight wince.

Her friend's fingers clutched the book more tightly and she looked appropriately subdued. "I see..." she said. "I don't mean to be presumptuous but isn't it a little unfair not to tell us what's going on if our lives are in danger?"

"I've always kind of thought so," Dinah said softly.

Severus seemed to seriously consider Rosa's words. After a moment he sighed and said. "Your Prime Minister knew. When things get bad enough he is always informed. Your general public did not know the details but you were being appropriately protected."

"But unaware of our fates," Rosa said. "If those protectors failed, none of us knew that we could lose our lives or be destroyed or the like. Don't you think that some of us might have had things we wanted to do or people we wanted to talk to... just in case?" She blinked in realization and then turned to Dinah. "Dinah! Is that... why you were so encouraging of Luke and I getting married when we did instead of waiting another six months when I asked your opinion on the matter?"

"Yes," Dinah admitted, her voice still quiet.

"You did that?" Severus asked, shooting her a curious look. Once again, he seemed to be considering something.

"I wanted to make sure my friend was happy," Dinah said. "Muggles and magical folk, it doesn't matter, I want them all to be happy. You know that about me already."  
"Yes..." he agreed slowly, nodding. "I do."

"Thank you, Dinah," Rosa said, her eyes shining with gratitude and awe. "I wish I had known then why you were doing it. You're a wonderful friend."

"You're welcome," Dinah smiled back, feeling a little emotional all of a sudden. It was probably the adolescent hormones again. She sighed and shook her head; "Anyway, I'm sorry I never told you before. We aren't really supposed to tell anyone, but exceptions are made as long as you don't cause a ruckus about it. If you do, the authorities – the Ministry of Magic – might send someone out to erase or modify your memories. So you have to keep quiet."

"I can do that," Rosa nodded. "But what about Luke?"

"Tell him if you must. I think, though, it would be better if you let _us _tell him whenever we see him next. When you're done looking at the books, perhaps?"

"Mm, that's fine. But how do I get a hold of you?"

"You can call my mobile. I'll leave it on for you. We're free evenings and weekends only; classes to teach and all that."

"You teach classes as children?"

"Not quite," Severus said, coming into the conversation again. "We teach them with... supervisors. They guide the classes and we come up with the curriculum and participate as much as we can. It isn't exactly a pleasant arrangement."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Rosa frowned and nodded at him. "Isn't there some kind of reversal spell for this, though? If you can be turned into children, then can't it be undone?"

He shook his head. "What was done to us is very advanced magic. They are trying to create an antidote but it doesn't look like there's been any progress yet. So we don't know how long we'll be stuck like this. Maybe you haven't noticed yet, but this has affected our minds and... bodies as well. We are full adolescents."

"I... did get hints about it when I found you two on the porch," Rosa said with a small smile, and Severus returned it with one of those old half-smile half-smirks he used to give Dinah as an adult.

Dinah smiled, pleased that Severus was actually conversing with her friend in a civil manner. He had finally warmed up to Rosa, it seemed, and was completely fulfilling his Valentine's promise. "Sorry about that. I had a great plan to get you on board but Severus messed it up by yelling at me when I told him you had a husband."

"It's not my fault!" Severus exclaimed; "You made me think we were only telling one person, not two!"

"Well, so far we only _have _told one person!" she retorted.

"So _far _means so far, not always!"

"Oookay, that's enough, lovebirds," Rosa cut in with a chuckle, holding her hands out towards each of them and causing Dinah and Severus to both flush and stare at the table. She laughed again and stood; "How about I make us some lunch? If you can both stay, I'm sure there are plenty of things to talk about and I can start perusing your books as well."

"That would be nice," Dinah smiled, turning a hopeful glance to Severus. "Does that sound okay with you? Staying here for awhile?"  
Severus paused and considered her question before finally nodding. "Yes. I think we can stay."

"Thanks again for coming and staying for dinner!" Rosa said, hugging Dinah after walking her and Severus to the door after their evening meal. "I'll start researching those books at work first thing on Monday. Like I said, the prose looks recognizable but I won't be able to tell you exactly who it is until I can find the proper references. That will take ... I'd say a half a week at the least and two weeks at the most. I hope that's all right. If our lives are in immediate danger I suppose I could try to pull a rush job, but..."

"No, no, I think we're okay at the moment," Dinah smiled, reassuring her friend for about the third time today that they weren't all going to die. At least not right now. "But please let us know as soon as you can."

"Absolutely," Rosa nodded, and then turned and extended a hand to Dinah's companion with a friendly smile. "It was very nice to meet you, Severus. I think Dinah's made a good choice."

Severus still looked a little uncertain about this whole normal social interaction thing, but extended his hand to Rosa all the same, managing a small smile. "Nice to meet you. Thank you for your help."

"I'm happy to do it! The only hard thing is going to be resisting telling Luke about magic until you two come back. Oh, and wishing that you were here to show me more stuff or fix things when I break them," she laughed.

Dinah grinned and nodded, bidding a final farewell to her friend before they left the house, back into the cold winter air. "See how nice she is?" Dinah asked Severus as they walked back to her car.

"She didn't stare at me like I was some kind of freak," he said quietly. "That's what Muggles are supposed to do."

"Nobody is _supposed _to do that, Severus," she said softly, pulling him to face her so that she could hug him.

"Okay," he sounded more like he was just going along with her statement to please her than that he actually believed her, but his arms moved to hug her back. "Her reaction was strange, ultimately."

"What do you mean?" Dinah murmured, sliding her fingers through his hair and taking his face into both hands to kiss him after gently withdrawing from the hug.

"I mean," he murmured, leaning in for another kiss just after she'd finished, his eyes begging for more.

Dinah was starting to get the feeling it would be awhile before they managed to pull away from each other and get back in the car. She briefly wondered if Rosa was watching them from one of the windows, but didn't really care at this point; "Mean what?" she managed when it became apparent that he wasn't going to finish his statement.

"Well," he continued, his fingers sliding along her neck and his lips still lightly pressed against hers. "She was excited to discover our world but she didn't decide her life was meaningless as a consequence, _nor _did she immediately label you as a freak."

"That's what most Muggles are like, Severus," she said softly, closing her eyes and letting the exquisite feeling of being in such close contact with him overwhelm her. "I know you've only met bad ones, but almost all of the ones I know behave like Rosa."

He sighed, drawing far enough away from her to meet her eyes, and nodded. "I guess..." he began, looking uncertain and a little confused, as though whatever he was thinking was hard for him to accept; "maybe some Muggles are all right after all."


	89. Dissonance

CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE

Dissonance

* * *

Dinah hurried through the halls after releasing her second seventh years' class on Monday evening, hoping to catch Severus on the way to dinner before he thought she'd abandoned him or something. She hadn't expected her class to go on for as long as it had but their discussions about Muggle transportation had ended up making the class go five minutes over.

She found him approaching The Great Hall and hurried up behind him, tapping him on the shoulder and calling his name.

He stopped and turned slowly to face her, the smile on his face strained and irritated. "I wondered if you were coming," he said, his tone holding the barest hint of accusation.

"I'm sorry," her face fell. "I just got held up in class, that's all."

"No, I'm sorry," he sighed and shook his head, looking depressed again, which caused Dinah to be a little concerned. He had been a little moody all day yesterday, after their meeting with Rosa, but she had just chalked that up to him spending a full day in Muggle-land and figured he'd be better by now. "I don't know what it is with me today," he continued. "Oh, wait. I do. It's Eugene," he slid an agitated hand through his hair and shook his head again; "It's always Eugene."

"Oh," she managed an encouraging smile and gave his shoulder a squeeze; "Well, how about after dinner we forget about him for awhile? If you aren't opposed to me bringing an evil piece of Muggle machinery into your dungeons," she grinned, "then I can bring my laptop over and show you this very interesting piece of information I just discovered! My first official survey result!"

He rolled his eyes. "Took you this long, did it? Well, all right then. You can show me. Just don't mention Eugene."

"Consider my lips sealed."

* * *

"This is what you wanted to show me? A colorful picture?" Severus, not in a better mood by any stretch after just picking at his sausages and potatoes all dinner long, pointed to the bar graph on her screen.

"Oh, come now, you're just being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn," Dinah chided. "Obviously you at least understand the concept of a bar graph."

"Obviously," he muttered, and then sighed. "So what are we looking at?"

"That's why we have axis labels," she rolled her eyes. "See, this is a display of the average number of Muggles each student tells graphed by house. And we have a significant difference!"

"Since they're not all the same, clearly they are different. I don't see the-"

"Not different! _Significantly _different!"

"As opposed to _insignificantly _different?" Severus frowned at her. "Who are you to decide what's significant or not?"

Dinah sighed. "No, no. 'Significance' is a statistical term. Look, here, let's start at the beginning. See here? Muggle-born Slytherins tell an average of 7.3 people of their identities, followed by Hufflepuffs at 5.3, Gryffindors at 2.7, and Ravenclaws at 2.5!"

"Slytherins tell the most..." his frown deepened as he touched the tallest bar. "Your theories..."

"Yes, well, they tell significantly more people than Ravenclaws tell, anyway," Dinah frowned, wishing that her results were more conclusive but used to the evils of statistics.

"They tell more than all of these houses do," Severus protested.

"Not _significantly_."

"Again with that word! Would you please tell me what you _mean _by it?" he almost shouted, his face reddening with impatience.

"Relax! I'm sorry!" she put her hand on his arm, guiding him to sit back down with a sigh. "I know I'm not being straightforward. I'm sorry," she said again. "You know how these adolescent bodies are. I'm getting so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I'm not remembering that you don't understand this stuff."

"Fine. Now would you please _explain _what you mean by that word?"

"Yes. You see the little letters on top of the bars. Well, we have an 'a' on Slytherins, an 'ab' on Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors, and a 'b' on Ravenclaws. Only bars with different letters above them are _statistically significantly _different from each other." Severus was frowning at her so she hurriedly continued; "See these standard error bars? The little lines above and below the top of each bar? Well, generally if they overlap then that means that the margin of error for the mean includes this other mean. So if the margin of error for the Slytherin 7.3 includes 5.3, which it does, then it's not _significantly _different from the Hufflepuffs even though the means are different."

"So you're telling me that the margin of error for Slytherins includes 2.7 but not 2.5, making the number _significantly_ different from Ravenclaws but not from Gryffindors even though Ravenclaws and Gryffindors are exceedingly close?"

"_Yes_!" she chirped, resting her head on his shoulder; "I knew you were smart!"

"But that doesn't tell us anything!"

"Well, it's not the best result," she frowned. "But the n's aren't that big. Especially Slytherins. The n for them is very small. That's why the standard error is so huge and it overlaps with everybody. The overall N is fairly small too, really."

"What the hell is an 'en'?" he was shouting again.

"N! The _letter _n, it means number. The number of students! There aren't that many Muggle-born Slytherins!" she rushed her explanation in order to subdue him.

He growled and clawed at the table. "Then explain that! Enough of your jargon!"

"I'm _sorry_!" she sighed and stood up. "Look, maybe this isn't the best time for this."

"It would be a fine time if you knew how to explain things properly. Dinah, wait," he grabbed her hand when she started to close her laptop. "Either way, this seems consistent with your theories, doesn't it? Muggle-born Slytherins are so ostracized at Hogwarts that they feel a need to tell more people in the Muggle-world because they feel more... _accepted _there?"

"More people than the Ravenclaws do, anyway," Dinah nodded and sat back down. "Well, really, the 'truth' of the matter isn't something we can get at, because this is just a random sample of people, but we _can _make some assumptions. I mean, aside from the giant standard errors, _if _these were all significantly different from each other we could conclude that Slytherins tell the most people because of the reasons you suggested. I think that Hufflepuffs may tell a lot of people as well because of their kind natures."

"Like you."

"Yes, like me," she flushed a little. "Gryffindors... well, they always struck me as the types who love being 'super-powerful wizards' so much that they have no problem merging into our world and thus have no need to tell Muggles about themselves. They're quite... popular in most circles, I guess. I don't want to say self-centered but-" she broke off with a laugh. "Well, that got you to smile."

"I never thought you'd see that of them."

"Severus, _all _of your ideas aren't wrong; it's just that you always frame them in such a negative way. Anyway, I think that's why Gryffindors don't tell so many people. Ravenclaws, on the other hand, I think tell fewer people because they're quiet and studious and don't care as much."

"All reasonable conclusions," he murmured agreement.

"Yes, except that it's only speculation because the differences aren't _significant_."

He groaned and shook his head. "And you say Muggle statistics is useful."

"Could magic have come up with something better? It's basic mathematics. I bet Professor Vector would be impressed with this. Anyone can use it, even wizards, it's just that Muggle technology can do the calculations quickly. This would take hours to do by hand; minutes on computer."

"So these 'significances' are based on..."

"Ninety-five percent confidence. Well, it's complicated, but essentially I'm ninety-five percent certain that at least these differences aren't just a product of chance."

"The 'Slytherins are different from Ravenclaws' conclusion."

"Yes. The _p_-value – statistics jargon, I'm going to explain it," she added quickly when he glared at her. "Anyway, it's a number for probability that the results are a product of chance alone. If it's less than 0.05 then you're good. Significant with ninety-five percent confidence. At least."

"So there are no one-hundred percent certainties."

"Are there ever?"

He chose not to answer that question, and pointed again to the bar graph. "And for these other differences?"

"Well, the _p_-values for the differences were all under 0.10, except for the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors because they're so close. If I was using that as my confidence level then we'd say there were more differences."

"So you arbitrarily decide what percent is good enough? That's-"

"Well, you have to standardize it _some_how. So yes, if you want to get technical we can say that there's a good chance the other differences are real. At least that Slytherins tell more people than all other houses and that Hufflepuffs tell more than Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. At a confidence level of ninety percent instead of ninety-five."

"Then just go with that one."

"You can't _just go _with it, you have to follow protocol."

"And which Muggles are you going to show this to? You're in our world now! You can pick your own protocol depending upon what you think is reasonable!"

She blinked at him. Maybe he was right. Maybe she could relax the constraints a little bit. Maybe there would be less stress than if she was doing this analysis in the Muggle world. And after all, in her write-up she could explain things the way she had explained them to Severus and it would be okay either way. As long as she acknowledged the way things were _generally _done in the Muggle world she could offer alternative explanations or interpretations for people to simply consider. It was all just probabilities, anyway. She grinned. "You may have a little bit of a point there. Truce?"

"Truce," he smiled. "Either way, you've come up with some good insights. Now I'd like to see the rest of the survey analyzed."

"Yes, Sir, Professor Snape," she teased, plopping herself into his lap and looping her arms around his neck. "And when would you like me to have that on your desk?"

"Have what on my desk?" he purred, pulling her to him for a kiss and effectively making her forget all about statistics.

* * *

Dinah made sure to end her office hours early on Tuesday and meet Severus as he came out of his class to make up for being late on Monday. Come to think of it, it surprised her that she hadn't gotten a chance to look in on one of his classes since they had been youthened. Not that he had looked in on hers either.

The sight she was greeted with as she leaned against his doorframe to catch the tail end of the course wasn't one she'd expected. Eugene stood in front of the classroom, droning on in a slight monotone about Fiendfyre while Severus paced back and forth behind him, his face stressed, anxious, and angry. Rather than watching Eugene, the students were watching Severus. Some of them were whispering and pointing.

"And so, we'd like you to write a sixteen-inch essay on the subject of Fiendfyre for next week," Eugene said. "Right, Professor Snape?"

"Right. Whatever. Write the essay," Severus continued pacing.

"Can anyone tell me, before we leave, the proper defense against Fiendfyre?" Eugene asked.

The room was silent.

"Just answer the question!" Severus whirled on the room, red-faced and shouting at the students. "Somebody answer it right now!"

A few students snickered, causing Severus to look even angrier and more embarrassed, and Jania Whitehorn hesitantly raised her hand.

"Call on the Hufflepuff!" Severus ordered Eugene, turning around and pacing again.

"Miss Whitehorn?" Eugene asked. If Severus's behavior was bothering him he wasn't showing it. Then again, he was probably used to it by now.

Dinah bit her lip as she watched. She hadn't expected this. Hadn't realized that Severus was quite so... volatile in class. Why hadn't she expected it? It was the way he acted when he talked about the class, just more intense. More stressed. Was she completely insensitive to not have seen this?

Severus had been staring at the floor while he paced up until now, but then he lifted his head and saw her standing in the doorway and his expression changed. It was barely visible, but it was like a tiny bit of relief entered his eyes at her presence. He didn't do much more than give her a little nod, but his pacing slowed and his posture relaxed.

"I'm here," she murmured, so low she knew he couldn't hear her, but it made her feel better just the same to assure him of that.

"Well, I think you mean the proper evasive maneuver, Mr. Wilkins. Right?" the girl asked slowly. "Because you didn't tell us how to defend against it, and I think that's really advanced magic. But you can keep it from finding you if you keep low to the ground and cast protective enchantments. Usually. I think."

Eugene turned to Severus, "Is that what I was-?"

"That's what you were asking, yes!" he exclaimed, looking annoyed, and then turned and waved at Jania. "Fine answer, Hufflepuff. Now everyone get out of here! Class dismissed!"

The students didn't waste any time in obeying that directive, giggling and scrambling from the room past Severus. Dinah noted that Jania left the room holding hands with the Muggle-born Slytherin Tad Smyth, and smiled a little. It seemed that a lot of young Slytherins were meeting people of different houses and getting involved this year. She couldn't help but think that that was a good thing.

"Severus," Dinah began, when he hurried up to her with a more obviously relieved expression in his eyes. She had just taken his hands when Eugene burst in-between them, interrupting what might have been a very sweet moment. She would never know now.

"I'm glad you're both here," the potions assistant said, looking very cavalier considering what he or one of his familiars had done to them. "I wanted to ask you both to try a potion that I've concocted. It has reversed the effects of the youthening in rats and frogs."

Dinah and Severus just stared at him for what seemed like hours. Dinah could only assume Severus was thinking the same things she was. Was it true? Was it possible? Could he really have formulated the antidote?

Finally, Severus spoke. "Frogs and rats do not equal humans."

"That's why we need to experiment," some emotion finally came into Eugene's eyes. He looked a bit anxious.

"Is it safe?" Dinah asked, her voice coming out a little bit more timid than she had wanted it to.

"It should be perfectly safe."

"_Should _be?" Severus's raised eyebrow indicated dissatisfaction with his co-professor's statement.

Eugene sighed. "As in there's no reason to believe it isn't. One can never be one hundred percent certain about things."

"There's that theme again," Dinah murmured, exchanging a quick glance with Severus as she recalled their statistics discussion from yesterday. She shrugged and turned back to Eugene. "I suppose... what do we have left to lose, then?"

Severus gave a reluctant nod and they followed Eugene through the halls and up the stairs to the potions classroom, where they were greeted by a very nervous-looking Professor Slughorn.

"So glad you both could make it," he said, wringing his hands and looking like he hadn't slept in weeks. "Eugene has been working diligently... so diligently on a potential reversal. I have it here, please, step in and try it!" appearing more flustered than usual, he made a mad gesture to the table with his hands and herded them over to it, where two glasses of red liquid sat waiting for their consumption.

"Well," Dinah lifted one of the glasses as Severus lifted the other. "Bottoms up, I guess..."'

"Mm," he agreed, eyeing it suspiciously, and then they both drank their glasses of bitter potion down and waited, staring at each other to see if something would happen.

It soon became apparent that nothing was going to.

"Ah. Well." It was Eugene's turn to wring his hands. "Back to the drawing board, I suppose. Thank you for sampling."

Severus growled a little; "I trust that your next concoction will be more useful than this."

"One can only hope. I'm sorry. I'll continue to work on it, believe me. Now, Severus, about a class meeting-"

"No class meetings!" he snapped, grabbing Dinah's hand and dragging her out of the room, shouting back to Eugene. "No more class meetings ever again! Just teach them whatever you want! I don't care anymore!" he slammed the door behind them and continued to storm through the halls.

"Severus!" Dinah exclaimed, trying to slow him down but without success as he led them towards the dungeons.

"I've had enough! I'm not dealing with that incompetent fool anymore! It's not like I'm doing anything in my classes anyway! He can teach whatever he wants, it won't make a difference! They'll learn more if I'm not in the room for them to stare at, anyway. I'm not hungry. Eat in your rooms. Good night!" He walked into his office and slammed the door on her before she even had a chance to speak or allow her brain to register what had happened.

Dinah heard him take a few steps, heard a cupboard open and close, and heard one more step before everything went silent. She leaned against the door and listened for a long time, hoping to hear more, but she didn't. She sighed and rested her forehead against the wood, feeling a little helpless. She desperately hoped he wasn't looking into the pensieve again but that's just what was probably happening.

And there was nothing she could do about it. She sensed that tonight was not a good night to use her key, and so all she could do was go back to her rooms and hope he'd be better tomorrow.

* * *

"Severus, please eat something!"

"I'm not hungry," he repeated, shoving his dinner plate away and turning instead to the pile of parchments that he was grading.

Dinah sighed and leaned her head against his, her arms wrapped around his shoulders from behind, but he wasn't being responsive to her at all. He had apologized yesterday's behavior this morning when they managed to be in sync enough to meet at breakfast again, but despite those apologies his mood hadn't improved at all. Professor Vector and Hagrid had even been bold enough to try and make conversation with them at lunch today, but she was afraid his attitude had driven them away again just when they had a chance to add more people to their socialization list.

After a few more moments of silence Dinah tried something else. She grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl that had come with dinner and offered it to him, trying to be cheerful and encouraging. "Come on; at least have a little bit? Look! They sent fresh fruit today! It'll be easier to grade if you have something in your system."

It was Severus's turn to sigh; his gaze shifted away from both her and the fruit. "Listen, I understand what you're trying to do and I appreciate it. But I really just can't eat right now, Dinah. There's too much going on and I have to get these things done. Could you please just let me be and eat your own food?"

"All right," she murmured, replacing the apple, disappointed and worried but knowing when to give up. She started to pull away but he grabbed her hand before it fully left his shoulder.

"Wait. Don't go. I'm sorry," he said softly, resting his head against her arm and closing his eyes for a moment. "I don't mean to be like this towards you."

"Don't worry about it. I'm not taking offense," she hugged his shoulders again. "Believe me, I wish Eugene's concoction had worked yesterday, too. But at least we know he's trying. He'll come up with something. We just need to give it time."

"It's not... only that..."

"I know. The students, the classes. I'm sorry I didn't realize how bad it was sooner. If you would just relax a little in class I'm sure the students would have nothing to talk about anymore. Everything would go so much more smoothly. For you, for Eugene, for everyone."

He snorted; "You think it's so easy."

"I didn't say it was easy. I really don't know what to say. If you need help relaxing I'm here for you."

"You're already doing enough. I just need to get this grading done. But... if you'd just stay here with me, I think I could resist looking into the pensieve..."

"Don't look into that thing," she lightly kissed his temple and ran a comforting hand through his hair. "I'll be here. You don't have to look for things as long as I'm here by your side. And I will be."

"Thank you. That's enough for now."


	90. Anxiety

CHAPTER NINETY

Anxiety

* * *

"Severus?"

"I'm sorry!" Severus exclaimed, lifting his head from where it had been bending towards the pensieve the moment Dinah had spoken his name after entering into his office with her key on Thursday. "I was just starting to look – I didn't expect you to – I mean I was only-" he stopped mid-sentence and just stared at her, looking guilty.

Dinah sighed. This week was just getting worse and worse for them it seemed. "Don't apologize. Obviously you feel that you need it."

"It's not like that. You know it's not like that."

She shrugged. "Look, I just came by because I didn't get to see you today; but I brought my Valentine's chocolates and food over thinking we might share... I mean, I really just want you to eat, you know?"

"I had some toast this morning," he muttered, but walked over to where she had placed the chocolates on his desk, lifting off the lid. "I guess I owe you this much," he popped a color-changing chocolate into his mouth and grimaced as he chewed.

"Bad one?"

"No. I'm just not enjoying food right now."

She grinned. "I should have brought my Aero Muggle chocolate back with us. After all, it went over _so _well last time."

That did not make him laugh as she had hoped. Well, maybe it was stupid to think that one afternoon with Rosa would start warming him up to her other world. Still, she didn't expect her comment to make him look quite this grouchy. "Sorry. Just a suggestion," she said meekly.

He shrugged. "Whatever. It isn't as though it matters. Chocolate is chocolate, food is food, and I just don't want any right now. But maybe some of those cauldron cakes from the food gift basket would be okay."

"Thanks for putting up with me," she sighed, glad he was eating but wishing that he would be happier about it as she handed him one cauldron cake and took the other for herself.

"No," he said softly as he finished it. "I know I should eat. I appreciate your encouragement. I don't know why this week has been as bad as it has been, it just has. Being in these bodies... wears at you. There's just so much tension."

"I know. I feel it, too."

He stepped up to her and wrapped his arms around he waist, pulling her against him.

"Severus?" she murmured, her head resting against his shoulder as her arms crawled their way around him.

"Maybe," he leaned away from her just far enough to meet her eyes; "We can help each other... relax," his lips caught hers in an intense kiss.

Dinah's fingers were just pawing at his coat-buttons for her third attempt at removing his clothing when some tiny part of her mind fought through the lust and the little warnings she was starting to ignore to catch the sound of footsteps near the door. She had just decided it was only her imagination when she heard the voice.

"Professor Snape, I – oh!"

"Potter!" Severus snarled, yanking his head up to glare at the boy just as Dinah's arms fell to loosely grasp his shoulders and he pulled her waist sharply to him.

That had probably not been the move he had intended to make, Dinah couldn't help but think. Then again, he sort of needed her in front of him right now, which was probably why he wasn't shoving her away. She tried not to squirm as she met Harry's gaze. "Um, what... what do you need?"

"Um... uh... well..." Harry stammered, turning his beet-red face so that he wasn't looking directly at them. "Dumbledore wanted me to warn you – both of you, I guess – well, warn you that Slughorn has been in his office acting strangely and to keep an eye on him. The headmaster's office, that is. It seems... well, it seems that there is something he wants to say but he keeps beating around the bush about it. He knows something. The headmaster is trying to get it out of him but he's notoriously good at hiding things when he doesn't want them known – or when he doesn't know how to reveal them – believe me, I had to use _Felix Felicis _to get something out of him once. Uh... well, Dumbledore just wanted you two aware so you can try to ... encourage him or something, I guess."

"Is that all?" Severus sneered, his glare becoming harsher as he regarded the flustered young Auror in their doorway.

"No," Harry closed his eyes and looked further away from them. "I noticed some dementors on the grounds yesterday. Far away, but they were here without a dark storm. That's a bad sign. I'm the Auror for this week, you know."

"I think we gathered that," Dinah's boyfriend growled. "Now, is _that _all?"

"Yes, that's all."

"Then would you please remove yourself from my office?"

"And close the door behind you," Dinah added, her voice a tad squeakier than she had intended for it to be.

"Yes, absolutely. Good-bye," Harry couldn't get away fast enough it seemed.

Severus turned his glare on Dinah as soon as the door slammed; "You know... your little habit of leaving doors open is _really _starting to grate on me."

"I know," she murmured, her voice red as she stepped back away from him, since they were alone and the intensity had long since died off, anyway. It seemed that if she wasn't going to listen to the little warnings inside of her that the universe was going to do it for her. "I really, really need to stop doing that, don't I?"

"Well, I admit that I'm glad about the first time," he smiled a little.

She flushed. The day she was talking on the mobile with her mother and Severus had walked by, taking the opportunity to complain about her use of the offensive object and sparking their first debate. "So am I."

"So," he looked a little embarrassed; "What about Slughorn, then?"

"It's just like the adder said on that day," she frowned. "There _is _something going on with him. But he wants to tell us, so it can't be anything that bad. He's trying to do the right thing; it just always takes him forever to do it."

"Well," Severus frowned; "In this case, forever may be too late."

* * *

"Bad storm," Dinah murmured on Friday, walking close to Severus for warmth as they left The Great Hall after dinner. She feared she wasn't going to get a chance to find Tommy this time, as close as Severus had been sticking since the storm had cropped up around lunch hour.

"A quiet night of research in my dungeons," Severus offered; "Far away from the windows of your room. I only imagine it's going to get worse this time. It's just a bad feeling I've got."

She nodded. "I feel it too. Okay, the dungeons it is." She wished there was some way to get out and find Tommy, but as depressed and grumpy as Severus had been acting this week she found her priorities were shifted to him now. At least he seemed a little bit happier when he thought he was being useful in protecting her.

They were just passing the hall leading to the headmaster's office when a flash of lightning revealed a body curled up on the floor in front of the gargoyle statue. Dinah grabbed Severus's arm and gestured; "Is that a student?"

He looked and frowned; neither of them seeing anything more than a balled up clump of robes, rocking back and forth and crying. "Perhaps."

"We have to help them. They might be hurt and nobody else is around. Come on," she pulled the still-considering Severus with her. As they approached Dinah noticed that the ball on the floor was too big to be any of the early years. It looked like an adult, its long red hair covering its face.

Ginny Weasley? Harry was the Auror stationed at the school this week, but she couldn't imagine Ginny in this position unless something _awful _had happened to him, and even then it was a stretch. The girl was extremely strong and resilient. "Excuse me," she said softly, kneeling in front of the distressed individual. "Are you all right?"

"No," she groaned, not lifting her head. "She keeps talking to me."

Dinah gasped when she recognized the voice; "Lucy!" She looked at Severus, who nodded at her, frowning, before his gaze shifted back to Lucy. He recognized the voice as well.

After a moment's pause, Lucy lifted her face and sniffled, wiping tears away with her sleeve. "Dinah?"  
"Lucy!" Dinah exclaimed, her hands moving to her friend's shoulders, a million horrible scenarios running through her head. "What happened? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" This was a dark storm. Dinah had a sudden fear that _anything _could have happened.

Lucy's eyes seemed like they were trying to focus on Dinah but they kept darting back and forth, crazed with fear. "She won't stop talking."

"Who won't stop talking?" Severus demanded, finally throwing himself into the conversation. He did look concerned though.

Her eyes jumped to him for a second before moving away. "B-Bella…Bellatrix. 'I'll kill him', she said."

Dinah drew in a sharp breath at her friend's words. The voice of Bellatrix Lestrange had seemed only tenuously connected to all of the other dark storm incidents that had been happening around Hogwarts this year, especially since Lucy was the only one who had ever heard it. But Dinah had a sudden feeling that the connection might actually be deeper than any of them had suspected. But she couldn't voice that now. She had to calm down her friend. "Lucy. Lucy. It's just a voice," she said, making her own voice gentle. "It hasn't hurt Sirius before, has it?"

"But he's not here! She's saying different things now and he's not here! And that," she said, glaring at the gargoyle, "won't let me see Dumbledore. He has to know. He has to warn Sirius."

"Dumbledore is not here," Severus said, and when Dinah met his gaze she knew that he was right. Neither one of them had been told one way or the other if Dumbledore would be around this weekend but the mere presence of the dark storm in all of its violence made it abundantly obvious to both of them that he was not. Yes, he had been here that one weekend during a dark storm, but that had been some sort of fluke, Dinah knew. She didn't know how she knew, but she did.

"No," Lucy denied, "he has to be here. He has to explain…why did her words change? Why is the storm so…? I don't…" she started gasping for air, "I can't…think…"

"Lucy! Lucy, stop!" Dinah exclaimed, worried that her friend was going to hyperventilate. It reminded her of what had happened to her only recently when Severus had caught her talking to the snake. She knew quite well how it felt and wouldn't wish it on anyone, much less her friend.

Looking at Severus, she knew he was thinking the same thing, and it ignited a deeper concern in his eyes. It had bothered him when she had behaved like that, and this was reminding him of it. He didn't want to see Lucy in a similar state. "Lucy," Severus said, his voice quiet as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "We need to get you to your rooms. We'll address this there. But you shouldn't be out here in the halls right now."

"Oh. My rooms. Okay," she said, looking off to the side, her eyes seeming to go a little blank.

"I don't like this," Severus said, his voice taking on a new tone as he watched Lucy's gaze with realization in his eyes. "This mirrors her behavior shortly after Black's initial death. Lucy, you have to stand up. We have to go back to your rooms _now_."

"Yes, here, take my hand," Dinah offered her hand to her friend, who was still staring off into space.

Lucy's gaze shifted to Dinah's hand. She looked confused, like a small child might be, but eventually placed her right hand into Dinah's. The hand was red, bruised, and swollen.

"Lucy, what happened to your hand?" Dinah asked, concerned.

She looked down at her hand, and then turned back towards the gargoyle, "I couldn't get in…"

Dinah frowned. So Lucy had been that desperate, pounding on the gargoyle until her hand was nearly crushed into a pulp. "Okay. Lucy, don't do that anymore, all right? We're here to help you now."

"Yes, we'll get you safely back to your rooms," Severus added, himself looking a little shocked at the abuse her hand had taken.

She turned her gaze to Severus's face, looking confused again. "Just to my rooms? Not…" she didn't finish her thought, her eyes frightened.

Severus's gaze, oddly, took on a look of understanding. "To your rooms only," he said firmly, as Dinah helped Lucy into a standing position. They had just gotten her up despite the fact that she was a little wobbly when a thump followed by a crash could be heard from above their heads, where Dumbledore's office was. A flash of lightning illuminated the hall, revealing all of their faces drifting upwards toward the noise.

"Was that her?" Lucy whispered.

"No," Dinah said, not one-hundred percent certain that Bellatrix Lestrange wasn't up there in some form, with the red-eyed flayed baby and Eugene's mysterious companion and about a million chocolate frogs, but her current goal was only to keep her friend, who was clearly experiencing some kind of mental breakdown, calm.

Severus nodded slowly, letting his gaze leave the ceiling. "We'll worry about that later. Let's get Lucy back to her rooms now."

"Mm," Dinah agreed, and they led Lucy down the hall. It wasn't too far to her rooms, and when they got there they noticed that the door was hanging open.

"I was in a hurry," Lucy said, tears falling again, "I had to see Dumbledore. I didn't know what else to do…"

"It's okay," Dinah said softly, relieved that nobody had invaded Lucy's rooms and her friend had simply left the door open on her own. "Come on, let's go," she led Lucy into the room and Severus closed the door behind them. They both managed to get her to sit down in a chair near the entrance. "Is that better?" Dinah asked.

"It's not as hard as the floor," Lucy said. She brought her knees back up and rested her chin on them, wrapping her arms around her legs. "I don't _like_ this. I don't like being like this."

Dinah nodded, glad Lucy was at least being a little more coherent now. "I know. But it's not your fault. It happens to the best of us and if I was hearing voices like you are I'm sure I wouldn't be very stable either. But we're safe here and nobody is going to get you or Sirius."

Lucy shook her head. "He's not _here_," she said again. "I asked him not to go. I told him. I don't think he believed me…" she hid her face back in her arms.

Dinah looked at Severus, not sure what to do or say anymore.

Severus sighed and knelt next to Dinah in front of Lucy; "Where did he go?"

"The Lestrange mansion," she mumbled into her lap. "I don't know where it is." She lifted her face and looked up at Severus. "Severus, please, don't make me think anymore. It hurts too much and it's scary and if I can just go to that place where I don't have to think…it'll be better. Please."

"No," Severus said, his voice surprisingly firm again. "That does not benefit anyone. Lucy, I need you to listen to me. There is no one at the Lestrange mansion. It is abandoned. Both Rodolphus and Bellatrix are dead. No one is going to hurt... Sirius."

Dinah blinked at Severus in surprise, shocked that he had chosen to use his arch-nemesis's first name. But in Lucy's current state it probably made sense that that was the name that would most clearly register in her, and Severus knew that.

"No," Lucy shook her head, "I can't. It's too much. I _can't _do this again. I…I can't!" The tears slowly stopped and she stared, her gaze going completely blank.

"Lucy! Lucy, focus!" Dinah exclaimed, waving her hand in front of her friend's face but to no avail. "Lucy!" she tried again, shaking her shoulders, but nothing happened. She turned a frightened gaze to her boyfriend. "Severus, she's not responding!"

Severus stared at Lucy and shook his head. "This is what happened before. I did not see much of it. After Sirius's death I spent less time with The Order and more with the headmaster, but I encountered her once and she was just like this. Even in my state at that time it was disturbing to see."

"What can we do?"

"Lucy," Severus conjured up the firm voice again, looking into Lucy's eyes.

"Are you using Legilimency?"

"No, I'm projecting. I'm trying to convey thoughts _to _her, not take them from her. It doesn't usually work except between two Legilimens." After a moment he sighed and sat back. "Black. She needs Black. I can't get through. No one can but him."

Dinah bit her lip and nodded, unsure what would happen with the four of them in the same room again, but Lucy took priority over everything else right now. "Okay. Okay, we'll get him here then. But how, Severus? The storm is awful. An owl or a broom would be decimated the minute it tried to fly out in that. We can't apparate from Hogwarts; we'd have to walk through the storm until we were off the grounds."

"Patronus charm," Severus murmured. "You can send messages via Patronus."

"You can?" Dinah hadn't known that.

"Yes, if you have the ability. I am self-taught. Li – my Patronus can deliver messages for me."

"Okay," Dinah repeated, nodding nervously. She could endure seeing the beautiful white doe again, surely. This was an emergency, after all. And since she had never learned how to send messages she couldn't use her own Patronus. Plus, even though it was fine for Severus to know, at this point she really didn't want Lucy or Sirius seeing that her Patronus was a snake.

Severus stood and withdrew his wand; "_Expecto Patronum_!" A light burst forth from the end of his wand, but died away before it could take on its shape. He just stared at the spot where the light had been, a shocked look on his face. "What in the... _Expecto Patronum_!" he repeated, but again the doe would not form.

"Severus? What...?"  
He growled and shook his wand, a stressed look entering his eyes. "I don't know what this is. I've been distracted lately, I suppose. But I have to be able to conjure this. _Expecto Patronum_!" he shouted again, his face straining to maintain the light, "Lily, come _on_! You know you can do this! We need you now!" he encouraged the light, trying to force it to form its shape, and eventually it did, producing an oddly translucent form of the white doe.

Severus sighed, looking so exhausted that Dinah wanted to rush up, embrace him, and guide him to sit down somewhere. But his gaze was focused on the doe, nearly transparent now as it stood before him. "She's weak," he murmured, stepping forward and sliding his hand along the doe's bright neck; "Why is she weak?" He shook his head to clear the worry from his face and bring back the determined expression. "Lily. Go deliver a message to Sirius Black at the Lestrange Mansion. This is the message:" He stood tall, flicked his wand, and spoke clearly; "Lucy in trouble. Return to Hogwarts immediately." With another flick of his wand the doe was out the window, gliding through the tormented sky with ease.

"Thank goodness," Dinah murmured, walking over and placing her arm on Severus's. "What do we do now?"

He sighed. "Water. Try to give her water. I'm going to the dungeons to obtain a potion that might help. It won't do much mentally but it should ease the physical strain, at least."

"Okay," she kissed him on the cheek and let him run off, then summoned up some water and took a glass over to Lucy, placing it into her hand and kneeling near the chair's arm. "Lucy, you should drink this. It will help you feel better. Don't worry; you don't have to think about anything. Just drink." Hopefully, her words would get through to her friend.

Very slowly, Lucy's hand lifted, bringing the cup to her lips and drinking.

"Good, very good," Dinah encouraged, feeling a little like she was talking to a small child. "Keep drinking, okay?" Lucy obeyed and Dinah sighed, trying not to worry too much as she sat by her friend, waiting for Severus to return.

It wasn't long before he came back, leaving the door unlocked behind him so Sirius could get in. Lucy seemed capable of following simple commands, and so Severus was able to get a teaspoonful of the potion into her. Then he levitated the bottle over to a nearby table along with the teaspoon.

"What do we do now?" Dinah asked again, trying not to get too worried but having a hard time fighting it off.

Severus seemed to notice and came to kneel next to her, putting his arms around her shoulders and holding her close to him. "We wait," he said. "Black will be here soon. No matter what he's done to me, he cares for her."

She let out a long breath and nodded, resting her head against his as he took one of her hands into his own. "Thank you, Severus."

"For what?"

"Putting those things behind you for Lucy."

"You did the same," he reminded her, giving her lips a brief kiss.

"I guess I did a little bit," she agreed, watching her friend's blank face. "This happened to her before? Are you sure she's going to be all right? I don't like this. It's frightening."

"I know. But _he _can fix it. We just have to believe that."

"Right," Dinah agreed, and couldn't think anymore. She just sat there with Severus, both of them watching Lucy, waiting for Sirius to return. Although worried about Lucy, at least it was comfortable being pressed up against Severus in the storm, knowing that at least they were in this together.


	91. Reconciled

CHAPTER NINETY-ONE

Reconciled

* * *

It wasn't long before the door was shoved open and a disheveled Sirius burst in. He stared at Dinah and Severus for a split second, and then began looking around. "Luce?" he said to the room.

"In the chair," Severus murmured, not meeting Sirius's gaze directly but gesturing to Lucy.

He rushed around to the front of the chair. "Lucy?" he said, fear in his gaze. When she didn't respond he looked to Dinah and Severus. "What…what happened?"

"I don't know," Dinah whispered to the man she had smacked the last time she had seen him in human form. "She just stopped responding. She said she heard Bellatrix. She's been hearing her for awhile now, but I never imagined..." she trailed off and shook her head.

"She told me," he muttered, "and I didn't listen. She begged me not to go and I didn't listen." He growled and turned back to Lucy, grabbing her face, "Lucy! Listen to me. Tonks was there. She heard the message. She told me if I let anything happen to you she was going to kick my ass. So, you've got to be okay," he said, putting his forehead against hers, "You've got to be okay."

Dinah covered her mouth and bit her lip as she watched them, feeling a little bad for the first time for how she had treated Sirius. Not for hitting him, but for the words she'd said afterwards. He wasn't as bad as his family. He _was _a good person. The way he was looking at Lucy now, she knew that she had been wrong about that much.

"All right," Severus murmured soothingly, pressing his head against hers and squeezing her to him. "He's getting through to her."

Dinah watched, and indeed, as Severus said, Lucy began to tremble beneath Sirius's hands. Her hand slowly began to shake. "No," she said, her eyes squeezing shut, "I can't do this again. It was_ too_ hard before. I can't."

"But he's right there!" Dinah found herself exclaiming. "Lucy, he's _not _gone! Look at him!"

She just kept shaking her head, apparently not hearing Dinah's words. And then Sirius kissed her. It took a moment, but then Lucy let the glass she was holding slip to the floor and break as she wrapped her arms around his neck, finally responding to his kiss.

Dinah exhaled again, leaning back into Severus's arms and laughing a little with her relief that everything was okay. "Thank goodness. She had me nearly scared to death."

Severus smiled a little and nodded, running his hand through her hair. "It seems he got here in time."

When Sirius tried to draw back from the kiss, Lucy clutched him hard and whispered, "No."

He chuckled a bit, which didn't seem quite appropriate given the circumstances, but his actions indicated otherwise. "I'm not going anywhere. I just needed to breathe a bit." He stood, picked her up, and sat on the chair with her in his lap, where she buried her face in his chest and cried.

"You're okay," he murmured, rocking her. "We're okay." Rubbing Lucy's back in a comforting manner, Sirius's gaze locked with Severus's. "Thank you. If you hadn't been here…well, thanks."

Dinah couldn't hide her shock at Sirius's sincere words to them. Severus looked much the same as he considered his old nemesis. Finally, he nodded. "You're welcome. I gave her a potion that should help with the physical stress and Dinah provided her with water. The mental and emotional stress we needed you for."

He sighed, "I knew what she was like before. I mean Molly and Arthur told me, but I didn't…" he shook his head. "Will the potion help her sleep? Or do you have something that will? She probably won't take it," he smiled, "she can be stubborn like that, but I think it might be a good idea to have it near by just in case."

"I can provide such a potion. Yes," Severus's voice was very calm.

Even considering the circumstances, Dinah was even more shocked at how civil Severus and Sirius were being. She didn't think she'd ever hear them speak so many sentences to each other, let alone ones that didn't include insults. She knew she was staring, but she just couldn't stop.

Sirius nodded and looked down at Lucy, who now appeared to be asleep. "Snape," he said, looking at Severus again. "I know I can be an ass and I'm reckless; I don't always think things through and I'm sure you won't believe me but…" it looked like he forced the rest of the words out, "I'm sorry for what I did…back when we were kids, you know, that thing…"

_Finally _Severus was at a loss for words. Not that Dinah blamed him. She had expected at the most an apology with Lucy standing next to him telling him what he should say; and she _definitely _hadn't expected it this soon. But Lucy was not an active participant in this conversation and yet here he was saying those words. They sounded sincere.

"I... understand..." Severus said, his gaze hesitant and not quite believing. It wasn't quite an 'I accept', though, and Dinah didn't think it should be yet.

She spoke up. "We appreciate that, but... it's sincere, isn't it?" She stood up and pulled Severus with her, then looked Sirius Black straight the eye, their grey irises matched in a challenge that had to be played out properly. "I said before that you can't apologize for that thing and have it be sincere without also apologizing for the other ways in which you tortured him. You apologize for those too, right? I know boys will be boys but that only goes so far in explaining all of the unnecessary things you did. You know _why _what you did was wrong, right? You really understand that?" When Sirius appeared hesitant, she turned to Severus. "I know I should probably keep my mouth shut but I can't anymore. Here, Severus, help him. It's not only one-sided. You regret everything from your past, don't you? Tell him."

Severus sighed, staring at her, but after a moment he nodded and turned to Sirius. "There are things I should not have done as well, that I apologize for. Mocking you for your animagus status and for staying at Grimmauld Place in the Order years." He frowned. "Spying on you and your friends as a child. I realize now that I should not have followed you around like a..." his gaze shifted to Dinah; "how did you put it?"

"Psycho obsessed stalker," she stated, knowing exactly what he had been referring to. She noticed that Sirius grinned a bit at her statement and felt the corner of her own mouth twitch slightly. It _was _a little amusing.

He sighed again. "Psycho... obsessed... stalker. I also should not have used _Sectumsempra _– dark magic – on your friend Potter during that confrontation after the O.W.L.s. However, I do believe that a well-placed _Expelliarmus_ or even _Petrificus Totalus _or _Stupefy_ spell would have been appropriate at that time, seeing as he was essentially trying to drown me," he glared a little and then shrugged. "For the rest, I am sorry."

Sirius nodded, "We both did things we shouldn't have. And…I'm sorry for the other stuff too." He looked down at the still-trembling figure in his lap. She'd loosened her grip on him by the barest of margins, but seemed to be doing a tiny bit better. "Do you think she'll be okay?" he asked no one in particular, "She didn't tell me about the voice until Wednesday. It's not that I didn't believe her, Lucy's not one to lie just to get attention, but I assumed if she'd been hearing her and had apparently been fine…what changed this time?"

Dinah found her attitude towards Sirius instantly soften about a thousand degrees. "I think it's because you were gone and Bellatrix was apparently saying different words. She said 'I'll kill him' this time, I guess... Listen, I don't know if Lucy would want me to tell you, but there have been various points during the school year when she's been quite upset. Lonely, missing you, having little breakdowns. She seemed to be getting better though, until this..."

"I knew about a couple breakdowns…she seems to think by not telling me things it keeps me from worrying. If I'd just listened to her and not gone, we wouldn't be here. At the least we'd be in Hogsmeade and the storm is no where near as bad there. I'm not kidding; you can't even see the castle from outside the grounds."

"These dark storms are concentrated around the castle," Severus said in a low voice. "We have reason to believe a number of things are going on, and we're near certain that Lucy's hearing of Bellatrix is another of those things. I don't think you're actually in danger as she does, but I do believe that the voice is real. Oh, and..." his eyes drifted away, not meeting Sirius's gaze as he muttered the last part; "I accept your apology."

Dinah reached over and took Severus's hand with a smile, as Sirius nodded in acknowledgment and then sighed, "I wish she wouldn't worry so much. I mean I get why she does…partially anyway but…Her mum sort of abandoned her, like I did, and her father's never been much of a presence in her life. If there's anything I can do to help with whatever's going on let me know. I know I goofed off a lot in school but I'm not exactly a slouch. The Blacks do have a tendency to be rather powerful wizards."

"We don't know much yet," Severus said; "But if there _is _anything you can do we'll let you know. It might be useful for the three of us – you, Lucy, and myself," Severus addressed Dinah; "to meet with Dumbledore on Monday, if we want to include the Bellatrix situation in the discussion. Of course, if you wanted to join in, Black, I doubt the headmaster would protest, given Lucy's state," he finished, turning back to Sirius.

"We'll see," he said, adjusting Lucy in his lap. She'd quieted and he was pretty sure she'd fallen asleep. "I'm not taking her back to the house this weekend, we're staying here. Depending on how she is by Sunday night I'll probably stick around longer. Maybe as Snuffles, at least outside her rooms. So, if you want to come check on her over the weekend, we'll be here. Not that I'm kicking you out. Lu likes having you around. She missed you when you two weren't talking," he told Dinah.

Dinah felt herself smiling, and nodded. "I know. I missed her, too. I wish we hadn't have been so silly about it. Well, I guess if you don't need either of us anymore we'll go back to the dungeons?"

Sirius nodded, "All right," he stood.

"Good night, Sirius. Good night, Lucy," Dinah said, realizing that her friend was asleep but still feeling like she should acknowledge her presence. "We'll probably come sometime tomorrow to check on her like you said. I'm sure a good night's sleep will help."

"Mm, good night," Severus left his address non-specific and nodded at them.

Dinah and Severus were about halfway to the door when a sudden whim made her pull back on her boyfriend's hand and turn around. "Sirius, wait."

Sirius stopped in Lucy's doorway and turned to her with a questioning look in his gaze.

"I, um..." she found she was twiddling her fingers again and tried to force herself to curb the nervous habit for the moment. "I should also apologize. Not for hitting you," she clarified. "I think you definitely deserved that, at the time. But... well, when I said that you were 'no better than the rest of your disgusting family'?" she winced at the words, her mind flashing back to what Lucy had said about the approval of his parents, and then sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I was wrong. It's not true."

Sirius shrugged, "I've never said I was perfect. I'm sure I've acted like I've thought that at times but I've never said it. You're lucky to not have met most of them. There are a few I'll claim as relations and Regulus might have turned out all right, but as for the rest of them…thanks. For the apology. I appreciate it."

Dinah smiled a little. "You're welcome. Good night," she repeated, feeling a little more satisfied now, and left the room.

She and Severus were silent, both trapped in their thoughts, until they entered the dungeons and closed the door behind them. Dinah smiled and leaned against the firm wood; "That turned out all right after all, didn't it? I'm sure Lucy will be fine, and Sirius actually apologized to you and really meant it."

"Yes... that was unusual." He didn't seem very happy, which was odd. She thought he would be relieved.

"I know you two aren't the best of friends," she continued as they made their way to the bedroom, "But it'll be so much easier for all of us to get along now that you can both be civil. And you must be happy to know that he really _is _sorry for everything he did back then."

"Yes, I do appreciate that," Severus said, still looking distracted as he removed his nighttime robes from the closet, then made for the door so he could go change in the bathroom. "I'm also glad that I have reached the point where I was able to accept it. And... well, I'm glad that you came into my life. To set these things in motion that were long overdue."

"Severus," she smiled, feeling warm and cozy inside as he left the room and she got into her own nighttime robes – the purple ones that he had given her. She had grown rather attached to them. He came back with two of the dark arts books they currently had checked out, handing one to her and climbing in next to her with the other.

She tried to read, but just kept looking over at him. His face was set in a firm frown and he kept sighing as he read; pretty much every time he turned the page. "Severus? Is everything okay?"

"It's fine," he muttered. "Read your book."

"You know, we forgot to give Sirius a sleeping potion for Lucy."

"Somehow I don't think that's going to be a problem."

She nodded. Lucy had been pretty much passed out from the physical and mental exhaustion of the night when they'd left her. She continued reading for another hour or so, finding a whole lot of nothing useful in the book, before they put away their reading materials and got ready to sleep.

Dinah's eyes stayed open as she watched Severus toss and turn next to her, apparently unable to get comfortable. She'd never seen him like this before. He always just got in bed and went to sleep, set in his ways like the older Severus, but not tonight. Tonight he was completely restless. "Do you think you need the sleeping potion for yourself?" she couldn't help asking.

"Shut up!" he snapped, surprising her as he turned over onto his back from his side, staring at the ceiling and fluffing the black pillow behind his head, his motions aggressive and his face anxious. "I'm fine. I just can't get _comfortable_, that's all!"

"Is it the dark storm?"

"Has it ever been the dark storm?" he turned on his side to glare at her. "Do you think that I – Severus Snape – could be put into this restless mood by a bunch of threatening dementors and darkness when I spent eighteen years of my life in the service of the Dark Lord? And with Potter out there using his infernal Patronus to eliminate all of them with no assistance? Well, do you?"

"Well, I-"

"Lily is weak!" he blurted out, turning over onto his stomach.

Oh. So that was what he was worried about.

"Why? Why would she be weak? What have I done to make her weak?" he demanded, his emotional volatility from the past week rushing back to him as he pounded his fist on his pillow.

"I don't know," she murmured, feeling a little hurt even though she knew she shouldn't be. "Maybe it's just because you've been stressed this week, like you said."

"That's not a good enough answer!" He was on his back again, tossing his hands into the air. "I have been stressed before and this has not happened! I think of her as I usually do – my happy thought – and yet she comes out weak! She almost didn't come out at all! Is it because of the pensieve scenes? Because I keep watching her laugh at me and call me Snivellus? Is _that _why she won't appear as normal?"

"That pensieve has been stressing you out more than ever. It must be that. Please don't worry. Once we're adults again – once you're less out-of-sorts-"

"All right, enough! No more of your theories!" Severus turned back onto his stomach, exhaling loudly as his body went limp and he closed his eyes for a moment before opening them back up to look at her. "I must simply try to sleep."

"Severus?" she reached across and rubbed his arm in a comforting manner; "Relax, okay? How about we go out to the lake together as soon as the storm passes? That's always nice. It'll be fun. Get your mind off things."

"I suppose," he grumbled, reaching across and grabbing for her with his right hand, finding his way around her waist and pulling her up against him. He stuck his nose into her hair and took a deep breath, seeming to relax a bit more at their contact.

He managed to fall asleep, but it took awhile for Dinah to be sure. His sleep was much more restless than normal, his face not relaxed and peaceful but rather quite strained. Of course it would be that way for him when his precious Lily was weak, she thought sadly. But there was little she could do about the matter.


	92. Unease

A/N: So this is a pretty long chapter. I just wanted to say thanks again to all my reviewers, both those with and without profiles on the site! So glad you are all still enjoying the story. I confess that the mystery part is going to get a little long-winded in the future, so bear with me. There are quite a lot more chapters to go before I finish this up. This is actually my first attempt at writing any kind of a mystery story so I'm doing my best and this is sort of my guinea pig/practice story for that theme, lol. I know there are a lot of clues and red herrings floating around - though I'm not telling which are the clues and which are the red herrings ;) - and there will continue to be for awhile now. So just sit back and have fun with it if you can and I'll try to keep up the excitement to the best of my ability. Thanks again! :)

* * *

CHAPTER NINETY-TWO

Unease

* * *

"Do you think she's okay now? I really hope she's okay!" Dinah said to Severus as they stood in front of Lucy's door Saturday afternoon.

He smiled a little and put an arm around her shoulders. He hadn't slept well last night or eaten much today, so he wasn't looking his best, but at least he seemed to be in a better mood than he had been. "Dinah, you keep asking me that. The best thing we can do is to go in there and find out for ourselves."

"Do you think we've given them enough time alone?"

"Black said we could come today. He didn't give us a time. If they are too wrapped up in each other to think about whether we might show up or not when they know we might then it is not our problem."

"That's not exactly what I meant..." she frowned.

He sighed; "Yes, I know. But you're worried about your friend. I confess I also harbor some concerns. So just knock on the door, please."

"All right." She knocked.

"Afternoon," Sirius greeted upon opening the door. He was dressed but Lucy, standing next to him, was still wearing a pair of flannel pajamas. She looked a bit tired and washed out, but was otherwise in one piece.

"Good afternoon," Dinah replied with a cordial smile, and Severus nodded his greeting.

"How are you doing?" Severus, surprisingly, asked Lucy before Dinah got a chance to.

"Okay," she said, embarrassed, "Sorry, about yesterday. I just…"

"No, that's fine," Dinah shook her head. "I'm just glad you're all right. How about your hand, is that doing okay?"

Lucy looked down at the hand Sirius was holding, "It's pretty bruised but it doesn't really hurt. Or maybe it's numb," she smiled a little.

"What did you do to it by the way?" Sirius asked.

"I, uh, was trying to get to Dumbledore and the gargoyle wouldn't get out of my way," she ducked her head and tried to lead them into the sitting room. "Did you want to sit? We could probably send down for some lunch or breakfast or something. It's a little late I know, but I'm sure they'll send something up."

"Sure, if you're up for it," Dinah smiled, and then got a little concerned when she recalled Severus's eating habits lately. They had had breakfast and lunch but he had only really eaten a piece of toast and an apple. Turning to look at him, she couldn't help but think he didn't look much healthier than Lucy did right now. But, seeing him nod at her friend, she felt encouraged that maybe in the presence of others he would eat more. Dinah herself, embarrassingly, was never opposed to a second lunch if the opportunity presented itself and it had been more than an hour since the last time she'd eaten.

Lucy grinned. She waited until Sirius had closed the door before she led him to the couch and curled up next to him. After he had sent down for food, she glanced at the window, "The storm seems to have eased up."

Severus nodded, settling into the chair Lucy had sat in yesterday. "Hopefully it clears by the end of the day."

"If it does, we can go out by the lake like we planned," Dinah said with a grin, perching on the arm as Severus smiled at her.

"That sounds nice," Lucy sighed, playing with Sirius's hand. "Oh!" she said, looking down at the soup and salad that was sent up.

"Looks delicious! That's not what I – what we had for lunch. It was sandwiches. I guess they must be getting the dinner foods ready!" Dinah leapt from the chair, eyeing the soup which seemed to be calling to her. "Looks like minestrone."

"You just ate," Severus laughed; "Can you contain yourself?"

"Not really," she hoped his good mood meant that he would eat some too. "But, Lucy, I think we should eat this at the table, don't you?"

"Probably, yes. Most of us would probably like to eat like civilized people and not dogs."

Sirius hauled her up and growled in her ear, making her giggle. "I do have manners you know." He let go of Lucy and waved his wand at the food, which floated over to the table.

"Great!" Dinah stood, acting like a child she was sure, and pulled Severus with her over to the table, sitting down and spooning a gigantic bowl of soup for herself before taking some salad and a piece of bread to dip in the soup and salad dressing. She was pleased when Severus took about a half a bowl of soup and actually started eating it. It was unbelievably nice to be able to have a meal with friends... something she felt she had missed out on ever since becoming a child.

Lucy scooted her chair over so she was close to Sirius, grabbing his right hand with her left before serving them soup and salad.

"Um, Lucy? You're going to have to let go of my hand if you want me to eat."

"Sorry," she said, blushing and letting go of his hand.

"Snape? Mind handing me the bread?" Sirius asked. Severus nodded assent and and slid the bread bowl over.

Lucy, on the other hand, was staring at the two males with her mouth hanging open. "All right, what happened last night? I feel like I'm missing a large chunk of something here."

Dinah giggled and nodded, smothering her bread in vinaigrette dressing. "It seems that there were quite a few apologies being tossed back and forth last night. Not to mention thanks."

Lucy turned to Sirius, smiling, "Really?"

Sirius shrugged, looking embarrassed, "I think the general consensus is we were all idiots. Well, everyone except you," he said, sliding the bread over to Lucy.

"Thank you," she said, tears in her eyes.

He shrugged again, "It needed to be said."

"I'm glad we were able to reach this point," Dinah said, smiling at her friend. "I didn't think it would happen, let alone this soon. But this is so great, all eating lunch together. I'm really, really happy we can do this."

"Well, we don't have to make a habit of it," Severus muttered. "I think once a week, maximum."

She laughed and shook her head; "Well, you know. Mr. Anti-social over here."

Lucy grinned, "Yes, I do. Not to completely change the subject but this has been bugging me," she turned to Sirius, "Is there a particular reason you chose my flannel pajamas? I would have been perfectly warm in regular pajamas."

"They seemed fitting. After all I know what flannel pajamas mean."

Lucy snickered, starting to seem more like her normal self. "You fail to appreciate something about this style of flannel. There are buttons all down the front."

"Lucy!" Dinah exclaimed, having not missed a beat where her friend's hand had gone under the table while Sirius's were still busy engaged with his food, followed by the look he gave her a moment later. "I thought you told me that even _you _weren't that bold!"

"What?" Severus dropped his final spoonful of soup before eating it, shooting Dinah a confused look.

"You know, um..." Dinah muttered, flushing. "The Quidditch match at the beginning of the year and my, um... robe..." she nudged him with her elbow and made a pointed gesture with her eyes at the flushed Lucy, who how had both hands on the table busy pulling a piece of bread apart.

"I think I might be sick," Severus groaned, clutching his stomach and standing from the table before heading to Lucy's bathroom.

Lucy stared after Severus, "I think he might be overreacting. My hand wasn't quite where you thought it was."

"Close enough," Sirius muttered, taking a sip from some ice water he'd summoned.

Dinah chuckled a little, nervously. "I don't think he was quite overreacting so much. He hasn't been eating a lot lately. All that soup might have been a bit much for him."

"Did he have a big lunch?" Lucy asked, confused.

"No, no. He had a piece of toast and an apple. That was breakfast and lunch. Pretty much all he's been eating most days, really, since our trip to go see Rosa. Well, less so on Sunday. Eugene has been bothering both of us. This week he decided he was going to have us test a reversal potion and... well, let's just say it didn't work. That really set Severus off."

Sirius sighed, "Slughorn's easily taken in by pretty faces. I don't mean that offensively," he looked at Dinah, "You've met him. You know how he is. Eugene's got something about him that Slughorn wants to be connected with."

"But that's not the whole problem," Lucy argued, "Trying a potion and having it not work had to be upsetting. I know you both want to reverse the original one. Did something happen at Rosa's?" she asked, her hand disappearing underneath the table again.

Dinah felt better now that she knew Lucy's hand was nowhere more personal than Sirius's leg. After all, what they did in private was one thing but public quite another. "No," she shook her head; "That's the strange thing. _I _thought we had a perfectly nice visit. He seemed pleasantly surprised that Rosa was different from how he thought Muggles would be."

"Hmmm. And he won't tell you? I assume you've asked about it," Lucy thought out loud, before gesturing to Dora the cat, waiting patiently outside the bathroom door. "Well, maybe Dora will help," she said, grinning.

Dinah smiled; "Maybe. Yeah, I've asked what's wrong but you know Severus isn't exactly Mr. 'Let's Share Feelings.'" She shut up when the door opened and Severus exited, rolling his eyes at Dora and coming back into the kitchen with the cat on his heels. "You okay?" she asked.

"Fine," he grumbled, and gestured to Lucy and Sirius. "Are they done yet?"

She chuckled. "They were never doing much in the first place, turns out."

He shrugged and sat back down, pushing his bowl away from him and sipping a glass of water, while Dora jumped onto his lap and put her paws up on the table. He sighed, wiggling a finger in front of her, but instead of fighting like Godric she just rubbed her head against it. He managed to scratch her behind the ears once before shooing her off of him. "Don't let me stop you," he gestured to Dinah's half-finished food; "Eat."

"Okay..." she took a hesitant bite of salad and turned to Lucy; "Oh, by the way, not to bring the subject back to the negative, but I wondered if you wanted to join Severus and I to talk to Dumbledore on Monday, if he's back. I think this Bellatrix issue needs to be brought to his attention."

"Um," Lucy appeared suddenly tense and incredibly nervous. Her eyes darted around the table, coming to rest on Sirius, who had gripped her left hand, bringing it back up on top of the table.

"I'll be there. I'll come to the meeting if you want."

"But you're not supposed to be here then. I don't want you to get in trouble."

Sirius shook his head, "I will go as Snuffles outside these rooms. I don't care about getting into trouble. If you need me. I'm here."

Lucy turned back to Dinah and sighed, "I suppose you're right. I don't want to think about it or talk about it, but it has to be dealt with sometime I suppose. And since it's happening almost exclusively at the school the headmaster should be informed."

"That was what I thought," Dinah tried to sound reassuring. "Plus, the headmaster knowing can only help us, not hurt us."

"I agree," said Severus.

Sirius nodded, "Dumbledore will get to the bottom of it."

Lucy looked at Dinah, "Well, I suppose if those two are agreeing I have to do it."

Dinah laughed; "I know. Phenomenal, isn't it? I'll send an owl out to Dumbledore as soon as the weather looks good and then let you know what time the meeting is as soon as I hear."

Lucy yawned, struggling to keep her eyes open. "Yes, that'll be good. I'll be here in my rooms most likely if you want to let me know when you hear."

Dinah finished the last of her salad and stood, pulling Severus up by the hand with her. "Okay, that sounds good. You look tired, so we should probably go. Thanks for having us, though. We'll have to do this again. Although apparently no more than once a week," she smiled at Severus, trying to ignore the fact that he looked nearly as strained, physically, as Lucy did right now.

Lucy grinned and stood, dragging Sirius up with her, "I'll mark my calendar. Don't be a stranger," she said, hugging Dinah before she and Severus departed.

"I'm so glad she's all right," Dinah said as she and Severus headed back towards the dungeons.

"Yes. And addressing the problem of Bellatrix through Dumbledore should help... I hope... to prevent such problems in the future."

* * *

"I love how the dark storms always seem to end where it doesn't feel like they were here at all," Dinah mused, lifting her head to the sunny sky and letting the mild air of midday surround her on Sunday after lunch.

"Mm, I guess so." Severus, on the other hand, was still not in the mood she wanted him to be in. After his stomachache issue yesterday, which thankfully had _not _led to any vomiting, apparently just a few minutes of discomfort, he had at least been more diligent about eating. He was intelligent and knew how to take care of his health, and so Dinah felt a bit better now that he was eating more. Although not that much more. He had still been more or less picking at his food and eating only about half of what he usually would, but she supposed small steps were better than no steps at all.

"Come on, it's lovely out and we're by the lake," she tried to encourage, flashing him a smile.

He barely returned it. "Potter saw dementors hanging around in the distance last week and we saw the flayed baby at the lake that one day. It could be dangerous out this far from the school."

"You said the lake was fine before!"

"Well, I'm rethinking things..."

"No, you're just being irritable," she sighed and sat down in the grass by the shore. "I thought after Lucy was okay yesterday you'd be in a better mood but I guess I was wrong."

"Your friend still hasn't contacted your... mobile," he sneered a little at his mention of the Muggle object, sitting down next to her.

"She said it could take up to two weeks, Severus. She's good but until she finds the relevant literature she won't know for sure. There have been a lot of authors over the years you know."

He snorted; "She's probably forgotten all about it."

"Now, why would you say that?" Dinah turned on him, now getting a little bit annoyed. "You met her and you seemed to like her last weekend. Besides, how could she _forget _about what I told her? You yourself know that Muggles are particularly affected by the knowledge of magic, especially as it shatters so many of their paradigms about the world."

"Yes, well, maybe _my _paradigm was a little 'shattered' as well, did you ever think of that?" he demanded, almost yelling as he turned to glare at her.

She blinked, "What?"

"Your friend was the complete antithesis of everything I've been convinced that Muggles should be. Don't you think that might be a little bit disturbing? Her reactions veered completely away from expectation. Don't you see? If Muggles are actually nice then it means that _I _have been in the wrong this entire time and everything I've done is _my _fault!"

"What?" she repeated, "_That's _what's been bothering you all this time and why you've been sleeping so badly and not eating and – you're going through a paradigm shift? From our short little meeting with Rosa? I don't-"

"Of course you don't understand!" he snapped, misreading what she had been about to say; "No one understands; why should you be any different? Sitting around with your ridiculous ideals, assuming just showing me one friendly Muggle was going to make me change my views of the world to match yours. You don't want me the way I am; you want me to be just like you!"

"Severus," she murmured, his words hurting her more deeply than she had expected them to. "You know that's not true. I... _love _you for just who you are. I only want you to see that Muggles are kind because it will make life easier for you. It wouldn't change your personality. I don't want you to_ change_."

"Well, I don't buy it," he folded his arms and glared out at the lake; "Your friend may have been nice on that one day, but it will all change as she thinks more clearly on it. You'll see... she will be just like the rest of them, I'm certain of it. She'll either beg you to make her into a witch through utter ignorance of the laws of our world or she'll label you a freak and cut off all communication. That's _probably _what she's doing right now."

"I wonder..." Dinah began through gritted teeth; "if maybe you want to change _me _to be just like _you_."

"Don't be infernal, Dinah!" he snarled; "You're just twisting my argument back on me. I'm so sorry you're incapable of coming up with an original comeback. I suppose that just proves me the clear winner of this argument."

"You're being pig-headed!" she nearly shouted at him, frustrated to no end with this sudden attitude of his. Yes, paradigm shifts could be overwhelming but that was no reason for him to be this rude to her when she hadn't even _done _anything.

"Oh. Am I?" his expression was smug.

"You're going to say my lack of rational arguments means that I have _no _argument again, aren't you? Don't think I can't predict your train of thought, either! I may not be as smart as you but I'm not an _idiot_, Severus. And your attitude quite frankly is childish and offensive. In this case I think _ad hominem _arguments from me are _completely _valid!"

He scoffed, his expression as bitter as she'd ever seen it. "I see. I'm sorry you think so. I'm simply trying to clue your hopelessly idealistic mind in on how your friend _really _thinks of you. You're probably even reading your family wrong."

"Don't you dare bring my family into this! You haven't even met them!"

"I _know _how Muggles are, Dinah!"

"Yes, because you know _so _many more Muggles than I do, Severus. Right."

"Your idealism and wishful thinking traps you in illusions," he growled, his glare at the lake so intense Dinah almost wondered if he was trying to perform Legilimency on it. "Of course Muggle-borns want to think the best of their original world; that's why the reality of the situation can only be seen by those of us who fully embrace wizarding culture. We have no preconceived notions about how Muggles should be."

"Oh, I think you have _plenty _of preconceived notions, Severus," she growled right back, and then bit her lip when she realized what she had been offhandedly implying. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"No, please, by all means, say what you think," Severus said airily, shrugging. "But I am not the _only _one who thinks so, Dinah, so your argument can only go so far. Plenty of wizards realize how Muggles are, including those who are pureblood and have had no exposure to the Muggle world or to any individual Muggles; why do you think they put the International Statute of Secrecy into effect?"

"Mob mentality. Yes, Muggles can _collectively _pose a threat to us, but individually-"

"All of your infernal Muggle psychobabble theories are useless, Dinah. You went to school for this; all of your thoughts on the matter are not your own but are thoughts that you pulled from ridiculous, fallacious Muggle articles and papers on how to 'read' people. You think one person such as yourself can know so much about human nature that you can predict how people will react and all the reasons behind those reactions?"

"I _don't _think that!" she retorted, starting to get a bit insulted. "The theories are not one hundred percent accurate; everyone _knows _that, but it doesn't mean that there aren't strains of truth in them. We try to come up with theories so we can at least _try _to better understand-"

"Save it, Dinah. All Muggle Studies professors are the same, but I must say that _you _are the worst of them all. Try to understand everyone, try to read their motives, see the best in all people." He snorted, his tone filled with contempt; "An endless supply of rubbish gathered together by people who have had no exposure to any of the ugliness of the _real _world. In truth you care about no one but yourselves and your ability to be right all the time and tell other people what they're thinking. Well, it's all wrong and you are just as wrong as the rest of them. You don't know anything at all about reality, Dinah. It disgusts me."

Dinah abruptly stood, meeting Severus's glare with one of her own and clenching her fists at her sides. "Oh. So now I _disgust _you, then? Fine. I'm not even going to try to get through to you anymore. You can just sit here and glare at the lake for the rest of your life, feeling sorry for yourself. See if I care!" she whirled around and marched off, her face red in anger and intent on going back to her rooms for the rest of the night to boil off some steam. How dare he treat her like this? He was so utterly stubborn, bitter, insufferable...

"Dinah, no!" Dinah couldn't be sure quite what happened, but suddenly Severus threw himself at her, tackling her to the ground from behind and nearly knocking the wind from her as they tumbled into the grass, a tangle of arms and legs, his own arms locked firmly around her waist and his head buried in her stomach due to the awkward position in which they had landed.  
"Severus..." she shook her head, confused as all of this had happened way too fast for her brain to process; "What...?"

"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, his tone full of distress. He lifted his head and met her gaze, his eyes desperate and pleading and full of guilt. "I'm sorry!" he repeated, and it hit Dinah. She had heard those same words before, in that same tone and on that same face, when he had begged Lily for forgiveness that night in front of the Gryffindor common room after calling his best friend a Mudblood.

"Severus," she felt her heart soften a little even in her anger.

"I'm sorry!" he said again, gripping her more tightly and squeezing his eyes shut as he rested his cheek against her side. "I didn't mean it. Please... _please _don't leave! I'm sorry!"

"I'm not leaving, Severus," she murmured, gently laying her hand on his head as his eyes drifted up to gaze at her again, the tiniest glimmer of hope in them. "I was just going to my rooms for the night to blow off some steam, that's all. Just for tonight. You made me angry. I just needed to go and get over it. I was going to come back."

"Really? You weren't going... forever?" his eyes were pleading again, like a child's... like the young Severus in the park, desperate for a friend in the little red-haired girl he had always been watching.

"Of course not," she sat up, carefully guiding them both back into more comfortable sitting positions on the grass, reaching across to cup his cheek in her hand; "I told you I wouldn't ever leave you and I meant it, Severus. I accept your apology."

"You do? Really?" disbelief still shone in his eyes along with the beginnings of what looked like tears. He pressed her hand to his cheek and shook his head; "It's not time yet, then?"

"Time for what?"

"It's not time for you to leave..."

"What do you mean, time for me to leave? I told you I was never going to leave!"

He shook his head, his eyes normal again but his expression thoughtful; "No. I know you said that, but I never really believed it. I knew... it was only a matter of time. But it can't be that time yet. I'm not ready... to let you go yet. Stay a little longer."

"Severus, why wouldn't you believe me?" she demanded, so shocked by his statement that she didn't really know what else to say. Even that day on his birthday, he hadn't completely trusted her when she said she loved him and was going to stay with him no matter what? All this time he had been waiting for their relationship to abruptly end and for her to abandon him?

Severus sighed and stared at the ground; "Doesn't it make sense? You... _couldn't _possibly want to stay with me. Being in this child form has been impossibly difficult and this paradigm shift or whatever you want to call it has been every bit as hard as your stupid theories predicted it would be. I ... I've been so depressed lately and stressed and facing things that in some ways are worse than the things I dealt with in the service of the Dark Lord, but... but it's always better every time I see you. When you're there... everything is better. I see you and I just can't believe that it's true. That the most beautiful woman in the world really wants to be with... me."

"Oh, Severus..."

"So I know it can't last. After all... I'm sort of worthless."

It was time for tears to spring to Dinah's eyes now; "Severus, please don't say that..." she whispered.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, there are qualities which I value in myself," he muttered, not meeting her gaze. "I am proud of my intelligence and my strength and magic powers. I am pleased with the work I did during the war years. I just... can't see how I have anything whatsoever to offer a woman."

"You have plenty to offer, Severus, believe me," she leaned in and kissed him, feeling his fingers crawl up to the back of her neck, holding himself closer to her. She wrapped her arms around his waist, hoping to show him that she really meant what she'd always said about staying.

"You're not leaving, then?" he asked when they finally ended the embrace; "I mean, leaving now? To go back to your rooms?"

"No... I'll stay..." she sighed. "What you said did hurt me, though."

"I know. I really am... so sorry, Dinah," he sighed, staring at the ground again for a moment before looking back up at her with decision. "Do you want me to tell you why I hate Muggles so much?"

She nodded slowly. Maybe he was finally going to open up to her a little bit more; "Sure. Please tell me. I just want to understand."


	93. Sorrow

CHAPTER NINETY-THREE

Sorrow

* * *

"I know you do. So just listen, all right?" he took a deep breath and then rubbed his forehead, muttering; "This is going to be so hard..."

"You don't have to rush," she said, kneeling in front of him and placing her hands on his shoulders, squeezing once before letting go. "I'm listening. I'm not going anywhere. Just tell me however it's best for you."

"All right," he sighed, looking up to meet her gaze. "You know... about my home life."

"Yes..." she said sadly, "that much of it I had gathered."

He shook his head; "You nave _no idea _what it was like, Dinah. That man, he... he was the first Muggle I'd ever known and really the only one for ages. I'm sure your theories say plenty of things about that and in this case they're probably right, but... it didn't make it any easier to deal with."

"No, I'm sure it didn't," she murmured, shaking her head. "Theories only go so far. I know that much is true of what you said. And I know I can't even imagine... what you had to go through," she tried to hold back the lump that was rising in her throat. It was only the beginning of his story; there would be a lot worse left to hear, she was sure.

"He destroyed everything," Severus whispered, his eyes shifting toward the ground in thought. "From the very beginning, he ruined my life. My mother... she wasn't so bad; she could have been happy, but he wouldn't let her be. Wouldn't let either of us be happy. He hated magic. He resented it because he wanted to be the man of the house and rule over us. He just couldn't _stand _the fact that my mother had powers he didn't and that I had them as well. Which was why he forbade us to use them in his presence. Mum managed to keep some books from her Slytherin days, hidden in the basement, and taught me little things whenever he wasn't home. I learned the dark arts that way. I dreamt of the day that I would have the trace taken off of me and I could use the _Cruciatus_ curse on my father... to give him as much pain as he'd given us."

"Severus..."

"It was because of _him _that I ended up like this, you know!" he exclaimed, his eyes blazing as he looked back up at her; "He wouldn't let us do anything! Wouldn't even let us buy new clothes or good food! If I was a scrawny, greasy-haired, big-nosed, badly-dressed little freak then it was only because of a combination of his genes and his neglect! I knew more curses than anyone coming into Hogwarts because of him – because of the things I wanted to do to him! And because of that and my intelligence, even though I was half-blood, Lucius Malfoy and Mulciber and Avery and the rest of them... they wanted me because I was _of use _to them, just like Derwent Lympsham. And I fell for it. I fell for all of it just because I thought somebody finally accepted me! I was a complete fool, and I _still _hate myself for it!"

She nodded, not sure what she should say and still fighting back tears.

"Mum loved me, but I barely remember her ever showing it. The little, occasional moments in the early years drifted away the longer she spent with him and the worse he got. She was so ... _utterly obsessed _with pleasing him, but he wouldn't be pleased no matter what she did;" he snorted, "That didn't stop her from trying, though, and I resent her for it. Much as I hate myself for resenting her and although some part of me does still love her I resented her behaviors toward him. He was her whole _world _and he shouldn't have been. She couldn't even _see _the way he treated her! She kept saying he loved us and he was okay and he was sorry and... and it was all a gigantic lie! She lost everything because she was devoted to him! She had no enthusiasm for life or for anything around her; she turned into some kind of mindless zombie desperate for love from a husband who would _never _give it no matter what, and yet she couldn't see that! He didn't deserve any of the love and devotion she gave him!"

"I know he didn't..."

"He took my mother away from me," Severus whispered. "He took my mother away from herself. He destroyed her. That's what Muggles do. They destroy us."

"I know," she whispered. "I know how much that must have hurt. I can't imagine it personally but I know how much it hurts just to think of you suffering so much. And yet he was just one-"

"Just one Muggle. I know," Severus cut in, his voice bitter; "But he was just the beginning. It was bad enough that I had to live with him and that he made my mother lose all of her humanity and caused her to neglect me nearly as much as he did but I had always thought that maybe once I got to Hogwarts everything would be better. And then... and then I met _her_."

"Lily."

"Yes, and her sister. Petunia. The second Muggle in my life and hardly better than my father. She was a combination of both types of Muggle – the jealous type and the angry type. Her jealously of Lily and my incapability of seeing why Lily cared about her Muggle sister is what kept Lily from ever fully warming up to me. Looking in those pensieve scenes, I realize it was true. As soon as Petunia started being afraid of Lily and suspicious of me I labeled her as an evil Muggle and did everything in my power to make her miserable. Lily hated that, but once again I couldn't see how or why. Much as I hate to admit it, that also all started because of my father. And what sickens me the most is that I _do _still have bits of him inside of me. He's my father whether I like it or not. Do you have any idea how hard I try not to _be _like him? I _never _allow myself more than one drink at a time for fear of turning into him. It's become habit now, switching to water right away, but that's why it started. And yet it's a hopeless battle. He's the reason I get angry so easily, the reason I do things that I don't mean to! The reason I did all those things to Petunia and made her only more angry and jealous and bitter about the wizarding world!"

"You made a branch fall on her..."

"Yes, and Lily was angry. I didn't understand why, though. I had _no concept _of why what I was doing was wrong! All I could do was pretend I didn't do it, but she saw through me instantly. And yet she kept coming back. Now I wonder if it was me that she was coming back for or just the excitement she felt about becoming a witch, and I was simply her source of information."

"She did like you. I'm sure she liked you."

He shrugged; "Maybe. Either way, it wasn't only that. Lily's parents were the other type, you know. The kind that worships witches and wizards. They weren't so wonderful, either... they lavished Lily with attention and love and _worship _and didn't even realize that they were neglecting their other daughter and making her angrier and more jealous and more of the type of Muggle that thinks we're freaks and hates us! The entire family was a mismatch of horrible, stupid Muggles that only made everything worse and exacerbated the problems between our two societies in a vicious, endless cycle!"

"I see. No, that does make sense, Severus. I never thought of it that way, but it's true. Some Muggles don't see... don't understand. They can behave in ways that make things worse and they can be ignorant of our society. But that's human nature. Other Muggles aren't like that."

"It's the whole society that destroys us, Dinah!" Severus exclaimed, his gaze shooting back up to her with such conviction that she found herself silenced. "Don't you see? If... if it wasn't for the arguments between wizards and Muggles there would be no wars, no Death Eaters, no Dark Lord. I could have had a _life_, Dinah. A real one with friends and family and all the things I didn't have because I was so busy joining a cause that was sparked by the horrible actions of Muggles. If there _were _no Muggles... if we were all the same, none of that would have happened!"

"Severus-" she began, starting to realize just how deep his issues really ran.

"I know it sounds unreasonable, but it's true! It's the behavior of Muggles that creates people like me... and like the Dark Lord. If he hadn't hated Muggles so much, if his mother hadn't forced that Muggle to marry her and had him ruin her life then he might have been happy too, like your stupid Tommy and the missing good! It was Muggles that took that good away from him, that convinced him he had to destroy them and thus destroy _me_! It's ... it's because of my bad experiences with Muggles that I felt the need to join him... if I hadn't had those experiences I would have had no reason to do all the horrible things that I did. Not only that, but there would have been no reason to call Lily a Mudblood or repeat a prophecy that sent her to her death! There would have been no reason for my only friend to ask me to kill him! _None _of that would have happened if not for Muggles!"

"Severus," she repeated, softly, crawling over to hug him, feeling his arms clutching her as though he'd never let go. "I never imagined. But _everything _that you're saying makes sense. It's not your fault that all of this happened, though. And even without Muggles there would still be wars. Humans are always fighting and disagreeing. We have had wars with goblins and with each other; Muggles have wars as well. It isn't just them."

"But that's the worst," he murmured, shaking his head when they pulled aback to look at each other again. "That's what's closest to my life. Don't you understand, Dinah? If... if your friend is truly kind... if Muggles are _not _all evil, then it means that everything I've been doing is wrong. It makes _me _a horrible person! It means that everything I did is my fault, up to and including the things that I just said to hurt you. Either Muggles are evil or I'm a horrible person that doesn't deserve to live given all of the awful things that I've done!"

"But that's not true!" it was her turn to shake her head, vehemently, standing up and feeling herself begin to pace. "You make some points and I make some points. Neither of us is _wrong_! Some Muggles _are _bad people, but not all of them – same with some wizards. The circumstances of your life are horrible, Severus, but it's not really anybody's fault. These things happen and I wish with all my heart that you hadn't suffered so much and that life could have been different for you, but you can't blame yourself for that. Nobody should be blamed!"

"That's easy for you to say," he whispered, shaking his head with a sigh. "I never got to use the _Cruciatus _curse on my father, you know. He died before I got a chance. But I used it on other people. _Plenty_ of other people..."

She hated to think of her beloved Severus using that unforgiveable curse, even more than she hated the thought of him using the killing curse on Dumbledore, but deep down she had known it would be true. He had been a real Death Eater for awhile. But he had atoned for all of that and he was a good, even a wonderful person now, despite his views on Muggles. Why couldn't he see that? "I know... but that was a long time ago."

"No," he murmured. "It doesn't matter when it was, just that it was." He held up a hand when Dinah as about to protest and continued; "I hate all of the things I did back then. I'm lucky I wasn't a real Death Eater long enough to use the killing curse on anyone, but I watched so many die and did absolutely _nothing _to stop it. Men, women, children, the elderly... and all for no reason except that they were Muggles or Muggle-born. I didn't even care, because I thought they were the people who ruined my life. I realized later that they didn't deserve their fate, but I still always hoped there was enough truth in the idea that Muggles were somewhat horrible to at least justify a little bit the things that I did. And yet, I know... I probably always knew... that wasn't true. Seeing your friend made it painfully clear. Now I find that I'm desperate for her to do something horrible just to prove me right about Muggles. I shouldn't want that. Especially since she's your friend. And the comments I made about your family are just inexcusable. I'm so sorry..."

"Severus..."

"I was happy that he died. My father. I thought maybe my mother would be all right again, but she wasn't. She fell into an even deeper depression after that. After all he had put her through she still mourned his death, and not even _I _was enough to bring her out of it! She probably didn't even fight whatever Death Eater ended up killing her... probably because she had married a Muggle. All that was after I had driven Lily away from me and she was married and with child and I began to find that the people I worked with were just using me for my abilities. I realized then that I was truly worthless, and yet I still thought if I had enough power... I could change things." He snorted. "Clearly I was wrong."

"But you did change things. You changed so much later. You did so much for the wizarding world during the war-"

"A war that would not have happened were it not for Muggles!" he shouted, driving the conversation back to what Dinah now realized was the heart of the matter; "You know I always wished... I wished that I could somehow bring Lily back and live a normal life, take back all the things that I did. I thought doing what the headmaster suggested... watching over Potter, priming him for his mission, protecting her son... would be close enough to that, but it wasn't. I was still lonely and miserable and I still had to work with the Dark Lord who had taken so much out of my life. I had to watch more people die that I could not save, and I allowed myself to become attached to more people besides Lily. I allowed myself to have a friend, and then he asked me... _told _me... that I had to kill him. I went along with it because I knew it was the right thing and I knew that I had to, but it didn't make it any easier. I resented him for asking me to do all the things he asked me to, and I hated myself for that, too. It was the war... the fighting between purebloods and Muggle-borns... that forced us into that awful situation. The one time I ever used the killing curse was on the only person left in my life that cared about me."

"Oh, Severus," Dinah murmured, biting her lip and losing her resolve at fighting back the tears. "I'm so sorry."

"I didn't want to let Charity Burbage die either, you know," he almost whimpered, his eyes pleading for understanding and shimmering again with unshed tears; "I didn't, but I had to. I had to sit there and listen to her begging... _pleading _with me to let her live. For a moment, I wondered what would happen if I just did it. Would it have really been so bad? Couldn't Potter have fulfilled the prophecy _without _that sacrifice? She called me her friend when she was begging. Up until then I had never suspected that my colleagues considered me a friend, but then I knew... and I still had to let her die.

"So you see? It's because of... the Muggles and Muggle-borns and the fighting and everything else that I've always been alone. That my life has been nothing but one living hell after another, and now I've been given another chance at it but I can only imagine that no matter what I try to do everything will just... end up going wrong again. It's what always happens to me and I don't know if I can handle the pain again," he finished, as tears began to roll down his cheeks. He growled and wiped at them; "What? Why is this happening to me? Pathetic! It's just like... the day I saw Lily kissing James for the first time. I should have expected it... they had been dating and I knew it was only a matter of time but seeing it... seeing them so happy together and knowing that I could have had that and only drove it away was too much to handle and then I couldn't stop the tears. What's wrong with me?"

"Severus," Dinah whimpered, unable to prevent her own tears from falling as her hand came up to cover her mouth and she began to feel a little weak in the knees. "Please don't. It's all right. I'm here."

"Why?" he looked up at her, his expression one of true confusion. "Why are you crying for me?"

"Because I love you Severus. I love you so much and I can't stand to see you in pain like this."

"No," he shook his head. "It's just the natural progression of things. I'm used to it; it's fine. It was always pain. No one has ever really loved me; my whole life was meant to be spent alone. Everyone that might have meant something to me had to leave eventually. My mother abandoned me... and then I drove away the only girl that I'd ever loved...and then I had to kill the only remaining friend I had left. I'm used to it. I should be used to it. And yet it still hurts. It hurts so much. Dinah, it hurts."

"It doesn't have to hurt anymore," she whispered, leaning down and brushing a single tear from his cheek.

"It doesn't?"

"No. Because I'm here now. And _I _love you. I love you and I will never leave."

"You'll leave."

"No!" she screamed, and knew that it was true. His eyes lifted to her, and for the first time she felt that she might be getting through to him. "_I will not ever_," she insisted. "That's a promise, Severus. You know it's true; you have to believe me. Nothing you do could ever drive me away. I don't care _what _it is! I will stay by your side for the rest of my life. No matter what happens, I will _always _stay with you. Forever. I promise. No matter what."

"Dinah!" he screamed, standing in one swift movement and throwing himself at her, his arms flying around her and his face buried in her shoulder as he sobbed with the pain and agony that he had endured for his entire life, and yet also with relief.

Dinah found herself sinking to the ground with him in her arms, holding him as close as she could and stroking his hair as he cried. At that moment she realized the entirety of the depth of feelings she had for him. She had thought she had loved Dylan, yes, but now that seemed ridiculous in comparison to this. _This _was what real, true, all-encompassing love was. This was what it meant to be with the person you had been waiting for forever. The feelings she had for Severus Snape were so pure and so deep that they were utterly indescribable. All she really knew was that the words she had spoken were the one-hundred percent truth. No matter what happened she would stay by his side.

Forever.


	94. Recovery

CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR

Recovery

* * *

Dinah watched Severus sleep as they lay together in his bed in the dungeons. He had been out for hours and it was getting late, but she just couldn't bring herself to sleep as well. It was a relief that he was sleeping so deeply now, as restless as he had been lately, but she supposed after all that had happened it made sense. The revelations of the afternoon had taken a lot out of him.

Staring at him now, she realized how much he had needed this, and that it probably couldn't have happened unless he had been in his adolescent state. Yes, she thought, as an adult he could have _eventually _worked through all of those issues, but it would have taken years to do so. The adult Severus probably could not have released that much pent-up emotion all at once.

So maybe that was a large part of the reason why he had been sent back to this age. It made sense, and she was glad she had been there to help him deal with it. Now all that was left was to figure out why _she _had been sent back to this awful age. That seemed less obvious, but maybe it was just easier to see other people than it was to see yourself.

Severus shifted a little and his eyes opened, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth when he saw her across from him, and his eyes reflecting awe and wonder; "Dinah..."

"Shh, you should sleep," she found herself murmuring, brushing a few strands of greasy black hair off of his face and leaning in to give his lips a brief kiss. "You need it."

"Thank you..." That look hadn't left his eyes.

"You're welcome."

"Dinah," he murmured, coming forward and pressing his nose into her shoulder as she slid her arms around him. "Did I ever tell you... you are the most wonderful and amazing person in the entire universe and I don't know how I could live without you."

"Severus," she closed her eyes. "Thank you. But you don't have to say that."

"I do. I really mean it, Dinah. You are... I think that you're..." he stopped talking without finishing his sentence and she realized that he was out again. The poor guy was so exhausted, she couldn't blame him.

Leaning back a little so she could watch him sleep, his breathing even and comfortable, she finally allowed herself to relax as well. Soon, she also fell asleep.

* * *

When Dinah opened her eyes again it was to Severus watching her from across the way, his eyes clear and his expression thoughtful.

Recovered.

"Good morning," he said, smiling slightly.

"Um...morning," she flushed and smiled back at him.

"Dinah, I've been thinking... it's probably time that I made some real changes."

She shook her head; "You don't have to. I love you just as you are."

"I know," he murmured, reaching across to cup her cheek in his hand, regarding her with that same expression of awe, but a more conscious and focused version of it. "But you've been right. Things can change now... slowly. There are many things that can change. I have you to thank for showing me that."

"Whatever you feel like you need to do is fine with me," she said softly. "I'm here for you no matter what it is."

"I know," he kissed her, his fingers tracing her jawbone and his arm looping around her waist, pulling her close to him. "Right now we need to meet with Dumbledore," he concluded after drawing away.

She nodded.

"But first... I think we need to eat something, don't you?" he pushed the covers off of them and helped her into a sitting position on the bed, and then a standing position as he rather enthusiastically dragged her awake. "I was thinking we could request egg on toast from the house elves this time. That sounds good. With sausages as well. Maybe bacon. And rolls with butter and fresh fruit and potatoes!"

Dinah laughed, feeling a little overwhelmed with joy as her arms locked around his waist and she buried her face in his shoulder. He was hungry again. _Very _hungry, apparently. Everything was okay!

He chuckled as well, holding her close to him, his head pressed up against hers. "Thank you, Dinah. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I love you."

"I know you do," he kissed her and then took her hand, leading her out to the table. She wasn't worried about the fact that he didn't love her back. She _knew _now that she could deal with it. There would be sad times, certainly, but the love she felt for Severus would overpower them and keep her by his side just as she had promised.

They were still holding hands when they emerged into the hallway leading to Dumbledore's office. Severus had pointedly ignored every student that they had passed and their stares, but he managed to lock eyes with Lucy, who was standing in front of the gargoyle with a large black dog seated at her side.

"Good morning," Dinah smiled as they approached Lucy, reaching out and giving Snuffles a quick pat on the head.

Lucy giggled, "You might want to watch that. He's an attention hound."

She laughed; "Okay, I'll take note. Well, I guess we should just go up there." She faced the gargoyle and announced the password: "Lemon pie."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "_That's_ what it was. I couldn't think of it."

Snuffles stood and nudged Dinah. His head inclined towards Lucy.

"I'm _fine_," Lucy insisted, leading Dinah to guess that Sirius had probably been worrying over her a lot ever since the incident.

"Don't worry, buddy, she seems okay to me," Dinah smiled and scratched Snuffles behind the ears, her normal love for animals sort of starting to overshadow the knowledge that it was really Sirius underneath all that black fur.

Severus just rolled his eyes and led the odd group that was the four of them up the stairs into the headmaster's office.

"Dinah. Severus. Lucy." Dumbledore, looking a bit weary, greeted them in turn upon their entry, and then his gaze shifted to Snuffles with a slight raise of an eyebrow. "Ah. And I see we have another... guest here today, do we not?" his questioning gaze shifted to Lucy.

She looked down at the dog with an affectionate smile, "Yes, I told him he could come as himself, but he insisted he promised you the students wouldn't find him wandering the halls and Snuffles would be safer."

"Hmm," he murmured, looking slightly distracted. "You're looking well Severus."

Severus cracked a slight smile and nodded, taking Dinah's hand again and pulling her over to where they both usually sat. "There have been some positive developments recently. But, unfortunately, those aren't what we need to talk to you about."

"No, of course not," Dumbledore nodded. "I myself have some disturbing news to convey, but I shall let those of you who came to me this morning begin first. Lucy... if I may ask, what has brought you and Sirius to this meeting? Have things been going well between you?"

"Um, everything's fine…between us. We…um, we're engaged…if you didn't know…" she wandered over to one of the empty chairs and sat in it. Sirius followed her and put his head in her lap. He looked rather pathetic, "Dinah and Severus thought I should come to…um…."

Dinah decided to try and help her friend out. "Well, there was an incident this weekend, during the dark storm. We wanted to talk to you about something specific that led to it because I think it's not unrelated to all of the things Severus and I have been trying to solve. But this particular part of... whatever it is... has seemed to target Lucy."

Lucy flashed Dinah a grateful smile as her fingers idly stroked Snuffles' head, "Yes. Bellatrix…she talks to me. Only during the dark storms and the farthest from Hogwarts I've been is the Three Broomsticks. I know hearing voices is bad but I'm not crazy. I do hear her and I'm not going to lie and say I don't. I'm not sure why she's picked me. I wish she hadn't. I want her to stop, to go away."

"This is an interesting development," Dumbledore nodded, "I, for one, do not believe you are crazy, Lucy. I am curious as to what Dinah and Severus's theories are. Assuming you have some?"

"Well..." Severus hesitated. "That is... if you think it would be all right to convey some of our darker theories to Lucy."

"I believe that under the circumstances it should be all right."

"Well, then. Seeing as the dark energy that has been creating these storms is clearly connected to the Dark Lord in some way, then... I think it might be possible that Bellatrix's devotion to him in her life has connected her to him in some way in death. But I don't quite know how."

Lucy gasped. "So, you think she could…come back? Like he did? I don't…no. No. She can't do that."

"I do not believe that returning is a part of the equation," Dumbledore said, noticing Lucy's fearful tone as his gaze took on a comforting look. "Lord Voldemort's essence or energy... whatever has been hovering around Hogwarts, is non-corporeal at this time and I feel that it will likely stay that way. There may be dangers in the form of dark storms but nothing that I feel will target any specific person. Unless..." his gaze roved over Dinah for a second and then he looked away again, almost appearing guilty.

Dinah sighed. "There is a prophecy... a prophecy about me. We think it's coming true and that's why everything is happening right now. But I don't think Bellatrix is connected enough to Voldemort that she would come back even if he did. Which I hope he doesn't," she shivered and then relaxed a little when Severus squeezed her hand.

Lucy shook her head, "Me too. I guess the prophecy thing makes sense. I…I won't ask you to tell me about the prophecy if you don't want to. They can be personal. I know I don't always act like it but you know I used to be an Auror so if I can help…" She giggled when Sirius shoved his head further up her lap, "Okay, okay. I know you want more attention."

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Dinah smiled at her friend. She couldn't help but think how nice it was that after Severus's acceptance of the prophecy and her parseltongue and related issues, she was less inhibited about telling people about them. Things were getting so much better on that front. And, who knew, maybe eventually she'd even tell other people such as Lucy that she was a parselmouth. Not right now, of course, but perhaps eventually. "You know Tommy, that boy that I've encountered? Well, I think he's something like the prince from that third tale, which is why we want to find out more about it. I think he's the missing good from Lord Voldemort. If so, then maybe... maybe even Bellatrix had some good in her."

"She knew how to love," Severus spoke up, his tone thoughtful as he looked at Dinah for a moment and then at the headmaster. "You have always said that was a redeeming quality."

"I have indeed," it was Dumbledore's turn to shift his gaze from Dinah to Severus. "I also believe that there is some truth in a great many fairy tales. I am sure you own my annotated copy of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_, Lucy."

She nodded, "Yes. I'm sure, like a lot of wizard children, it's one of the first things I can remember my mum reading to me. I have a couple of copies. It's also one of the reasons I believe, and teach, that even in the most unbelievable story there's a grain of truth. And, like Severus, I believe Bellatrix knew how to love. Love is good," she shook her head and scratched under Snuffles's chin, "No matter how sick, twisted, and ugly love can become it's still good. People can do incredibly horrible things for love. If you know how to love though, there is something in you that is redeemable. That deserves life."

"That's a lovely way to put it, Lucy," Dinah smiled, and even Severus looked quite content with her friend's explanation. "You do have a way with words sometimes."

Dumbledore sat at his desk and steepled his fingers, looking at them over his half-moon glasses, "Yes, she does. That is one of the reasons I chose to hire her. I think we need more people with Lucy's kind spirit and way with words to help sooth some of the hurts that have been inflicted upon us. I also happen to think she's stronger than she believes she is. As are you," he said, looking at Dinah.

"Thanks," Dinah said quietly, hoping that it was true. After all, she was still unclear on what she would have to do to fulfill her prophecy. Hopefully she could handle it. Then again, she had been handling a lot more than she had ever expected to, after meeting Severus. "So at the moment you don't believe that Bellatrix is a threat?"

"I do not. However, there still may be some connection we need to understand. I think, Lucy, that you would help us all the most by taking on that part of the task at hand. Since you are the only one that clearly hears Bellatrix's voice, perhaps you might be able to come up with a reason for that, along with what that voice might want or desire. Do you think you could do that for us?" He seemed to know or suspect something, Dinah couldn't help but think. He _always _seemed to know something.

Lucy nodded slowly, and looked down at Snuffles, who was nudging against her knee. He nodded firmly and seemed to be encouraging her to tell Dumbledore the rest. "Okay," she whispered to him.

"I think I can do that," Lucy told the rest of the room, "Would it help if I told you I knew what she says?" When Dumbledore nodded she took a deep breath before continuing, "Mostly she just says 'I killed Sirius Black'," her voice was almost a whisper. "Friday it changed. She started saying 'Let me do it. I'll kill him'."

"'Let me do it?' She said that first?" Severus asked, looking surprised.

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "She said something else too I think but I can't remember it."

"That sounds like something she said at Malfoy Manor at the beginning of the last school year," Severus murmured. "She was offering to kill Potter for the Dark Lord. She never seemed to understand his flaw, which I saw and took full advantage of to maintain both my loyalty to Dumbledore and the Dark Lord's trust in me. He had to destroy Potter on his own. It was the one thing he always insisted upon. She still felt, though, that her offer would please him, and did continue to offer it. What you heard may have been her speaking about killing Potter and speaking to the Dark Lord, not you. It may simply be an echo of things she has said in the past that you are hearing."

Lucy turned sharply to Severus, "Really? You think so? But then why choose me? I don't have a prophecy. I'm just a nobody. Do you think she's after Harry?" she clutched her hand to her chest. "Why? Why would she do that? I don't understand."

"Miss Ketteridge," Dumbledore said, commanding her attention, "You may not have a prophecy but you are hardly a nobody. You are among the most accomplished of Hogwarts' students and you seem to have captured the loyalty of a rather wild beast," he inclined his head toward Sirius; "That is no small accomplishment and hardly the doings of a nobody."

"I don't believe she's after anyone, Lucy," Severus said. "If anything, she is attached to the Dark Lord. Well, here's a thought. She attached herself so clearly to him that somehow her energies still exist with his as they continue to float around Hogwarts. But... I don't believe he has any attachment to her. He never thought of her as she thought of him. _You_, on the other hand, are always thinking of her. You were even before you began hearing her voice, am I correct? Perhaps that resonates with that energy. You hear her because you have forged a connection, just as she forged a connection to the Dark Lord. I don't know what that means or what you are supposed to _do _about it but it seems quite likely."

"I agree with your insight, Severus," the headmaster nodded. "Although I confess that I also do not know what could be done about it or what it might mean. Yet everything we have seen this year seems to be related to these ideas of floating energies and individual connections."

Lucy sniffed, looking a little teary but not actually crying; "Great. I brought this on myself then. I hate having to sit around waiting for something to happen, for some incredible insight to strike me. It feels like I'm giving this whole thing permission to bring some sort of destruction down on us." She sat, picking at Snuffles's fur for a moment, before continuing. "Maybe I should go back and look at my copy of that first fairy tale. The girl in that story heard voices."

"Mm," Dinah agreed, thoughtful. "She needed to forgive her stepmother..."

"Saw her too. I don't see Bella. Now that would be crazy. I mean it was crazy enough seeing people come back from the dead. I'd rather not see actual dead people, excluding our resident ghosts of course."

"I've seen that flayed baby..." Dinah murmured, and then shook her head; "Either way, at least we have some potential insight and you can worry less, Lucy."

"Yes. I don't think Sirius is in any danger," Severus agreed.

"Sirius?" Dumbledore's interest was peaked as his gaze shifted to Severus. "I do not believe I've ever heard you refer to Mr. Black as such, Severus."

Severus looked a little embarrassed and Snuffles's head turned towards them, but Dinah couldn't hold in her childlike excitement as she grinned at the headmaster; "It seems Severus and Sirius have been able to work out their differences! We even all ate lunch together on Saturday!"

A small smile formed on the old man's face as he regarded the four of them, and then his gaze returned to Dinah. "That is a phenomenal occurrence. Thank you, Dinah."

"I didn't do it."

Severus chuckled and reached over, sliding his hand through her hair; "On the contrary, Dinah. This was all you. And, I suppose, Lucy had some influence on Black's side of the matter. And she did, after all, set in motion our returning to life," his gaze shifted to Lucy. "I think I should probably thank you for that."

"Oh, um, you're welcome I guess," Lucy flushed, "Not that I'm not glad everyone who came back did. I just…don't really know that I did anything."

"While it's true that it would have been set in motion regardless of who did so, I think the fact that you took on that role is something to be proud of," Dumbledore encouraged, smiling. "It says a great deal about the content of your character," his gaze shifted back to Severus. "It seems a great many things have changed for the positive since I saw you all last."

Severus smiled a little and nodded, taking Dinah's hand into his own once more. "Changes are being made. Slowly... but they are. Now, um," he cleared his throat; "You said that you had something to tell us as well?"

"Mm," Dumbledore agreed. "And I am afraid it is not so positive. There appears to have been someone in my office while I was gone."

"It wasn't me," Lucy seemed intent on denying for some reason. "That ridiculous gargoyle wouldn't let me in! I nearly broke my hand trying to see you," she held up her bruised hand.

"I did not mean to imply I thought it was any of you. Though I am curious as to why you felt the need to see me so desperately."

"Friday, during the storm," Lucy muttered.

"Ah," he said, waving his hand in front of him, "No need to elaborate. I do not know who it was, but they left... evidence of their presence," he frowned and removed a thin item from his robes, sliding it across the desk towards Dinah and Severus.

Severus reached for it and flipped it over, frowning and showing it to Dinah.

A Dumbledore wizard card.

"What is it?" Lucy asked, curious, and Snuffles left her side for a moment, trying to shove his inquisitive nose in there.

Dinah giggled and scratched his head again. Why did the man have to turn into such a _cute _dog? Severus rolled his eyes at them and handed the card over to Lucy. "We have reason to be suspicious of these. They have been appearing a lot in relation to our youthening potion. We think that Eugene has someone in this school that is responsible for it, and they have an odd attachment to these cards. That might have been the person in the headmaster's office."

"I'm certain of it," Dinah murmured agreement.

"That seems most likely," Lucy nodded. "I assume you've already told Harry and the other Aurors about this? And that's one of the reasons they're here? Even so I have to say that whoever it is probably wants you to find those, otherwise they're an incredibly incompetent thief, spy, or whatever they are."

"Yes, but _why_?" Dinah had to ask. "I can't even imagine, unless they want to harm the headmaster. And yes, Harry and the Aurors know, but they haven't found any evidence of someone in Eugene's rooms. I'm the only one who has seen anything there; the moment we were youthened Eugene had the place utterly cleaned out. Not only that, he's an Occlumens and Severus has been able to get nothing whatsoever from him in class."

"Don't remind me," Severus snarled, seeming grouchy again at the thought of Eugene, but Dinah wasn't worried. It would never get as bad as it had been again, she was certain. Plus, if Severus was cheerful about the man then he wouldn't be Severus.

"Interesting. It could be a warning, a clue, an obsession, a way of sending someone messages. I've really no idea. Maybe," she had thought, "we could see if Mr. Scratch-my-ears over there can pick up anything about the scent. It might lead us to the offender."

"It can't hurt," Dinah agreed, as Sirius stuck his nose on the card, living up to his namesake as he made a bunch of snuffling noises, sniffing at it for a good minute before pulling away. He started going around the room with his nose to the ground, not reverting to his human form and thus unable to tell them what he smelled.

"Well," Lucy said, "I guess I can tell you what he found when he decides to revert back. If that's okay? I mean I could always force a transfiguration but I'd really rather not."

"That's all right. Let us know when you know. I doubt it will be anything phenomenal at this point. Our next step is really to get more information from Rosa about those books and... well, it seems Slughorn has been acting funny. You don't think you could get anything out of him at meals, do you?" Dinah asked Lucy.

Lucy sighed, "He's been pointedly ignoring me lately. I think he's offended that we left his last party early, but I can try." She pet Snuffles as he came back to return to his spot at her side.

"Okay, thanks," Dinah sighed. "How long has it been since that party? Since I was the adult Dinah? It feels more like forever than a month and a half. Oh, headmaster... Eugene tried to give Severus and I a reversal potion last week but it didn't work. I guess he's working on it, though..."

"I certainly hope so," Dumbledore said, and then turned to Lucy. "I believe Slughorn has other things on his mind than being offended by you. But anything you hear from him or notice about him might be useful to us."

Lucy laughed at herself, "Sorry, it's not like I think the whole world revolves around me or anything. I'm sure he does have other things on his mind. Last time he talked to me for any length of time he was obsessing over the Blacks and whether or not I'd be quitting. If I see anything of note, though, I'll let you all know."

"Thank you. Now, I believe that at least three of you have classes to teach," Dumbledore said. "Please keep me advised of any key information you may discover."

"I just have one more question," Severus cut in; "Doesn't it bother you that every time you leave the school something dark seems to happen? I don't want to say you shouldn't leave, but... well, you've never taken so many side trips during a year before that I can recall and I just wondered... why."

Dumbledore sighed, looking weary again as he stood. "That is a question for another time, Severus. Another time."

Severus sighed, looking suspicious and concerned, but stood from his chair. "Well, then. I suppose we'll speak with you later."

"Yes. Later..." he trailed off for a moment and then fixed his gaze on Lucy. "If there are any more problems, please do not hesitate to come and find me. But if you are distressed, come with another, not alone. I would not like to see your hand take any further abuse."

"Yes, of course. I…" she didn't seem quite sure what to say, "I'll do my best."

"That is all we can ask for," he smiled and ushered them from the office.


	95. Interlude

CHAPTER NINETY-FIVE

Interlude

* * *

"Well, that wasn't so bad," Lucy said, as they walked towards the Great Hall, Snuffles following.

"No. Hopefully things are easier for you from now on. Me, I'm not so sure..." Dinah murmured.

"We can only do what we can right now," Severus said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "At least you have plenty of people on your side this time around."

"Yes, you do," Lucy confirmed, smiling as Snuffles again went over and nudged at Dinah's hand, "See, I told you you were going to have a problem on your hands."

Dinah laughed and scratched Snuffles behind the ears again. "I guess it's my fault for being such an animal lover."

"All right, that's enough, would you _please _stop petting Black so much?" Severus grabbed her hand and literally pried it away from the soft black dog. Snuffles growled his protest and Severus snarled back at him.

"Okay, okay, enough, we don't want a relapse here," Dinah laughed and stepped in-between them. "Severus, did I ever tell you that you're cute when you're jealous?"

Severus snorted. "Why would I be jealous of a dog?"

"If you aren't, then could you please let go of me? The blood in my hand is going to stop circulating and I'm not going to be much better off than Lucy pretty soon."

"Oh, sure, make fun of the desperate lady with crazy ghosts talking to her," Lucy grinned, and scratched at Snuffles's neck. Dinah felt the stares as their group walked into the Great Hall, but she couldn't be sure if they were staring at Severus who was still clutching her hand or if they were staring at Lucy's dog.

"Oops," Severus flushed and dropped Dinah's hand. "Well, I'm not sure why we're here. I'm not hungry. Then again," he grinned at Dinah; "I'm sure you are."

"Dinah's always hungry," Lucy joked, "Are you still not feeling well, Severus?"

Severus looked a little embarrassed but Dinah laughed, easing any tension. "Oh no, don't worry about that. See, we sort of had a big breakfast already. Severus insisted on it the moment we woke up."

"Oh, good. Why didn't I get breakfast before the meeting?" Lucy asked, looking down at her companion. Sirius cocked his head and just looked at her, making her giggle, "Oh, right."

Dinah rolled her eyes and chuckled. "I see. Well, that's how it goes I guess. Do you think it's okay for him to be here?" she gestured to Sirius. "Dogs aren't on the list of approved student pets..."

"Probably not," Lucy sighed and knelt down to be eye-level with her guard dog, "Why don't you go back to the room? I'll be fine here. Dinah and Severus will keep a close watch on me, I'm sure. The door's not locked and you should be able to let yourself in."

"It looks like Hagrid's not here this morning," Dinah offered, hoping that this would help Sirius feel a little better about Lucy. "Would you like to sit with us?"

"Sure," Lucy said, and watched as Sirius slunk off, "Well, I doubt he's entirely happy, but he'll live. Thanks for offering. This has the added benefit of delaying me having to talk to Slughorn. He could be a lot worse I know, but he's just…well, he doesn't seem to have much of a verbal filter, you know?"

"Except when he's trying to hide something or afraid of something, which is what we think is going on right now," Severus muttered, nodding.

"Good morning, Professor Ketteridge," Professor Vector, now seated at the end of the table due to the adjusted seating arrangements for Dinah and Severus, said in greeting to Lucy, and then, much to Dinah's pleasure, she seemed to steel herself to try once again to talk to her and Severus. "Professor Samson, Professor Snape."

"Good morning," Severus replied with a curt nod, spreading jam onto a corn muffin.

Dinah smiled at him, but he was focused on his food, so she turned her smile to Professor Vector. "Good morning."

"I trust all of your classes are going well this winter..." she addressed all three of them, still seeming hesitant.

"Yes, most of my students are receptive to the lessons. Though you can tell a real difference in the fifth and seventh years now that their exams are getting closer."

"Yes," Dinah agreed. "The seventh years are not all happy with having to take a forced Muggle Studies N.E.W.T."

"Perhaps next year you could make the N.E.W.T. portion optional," Seveur suggested. "I don't believe the headmaster considered that situation when he made your class required for that year. That is, not to say that a N.E.W.T. in Muggle Studies wouldn't be useful..." he trailed off and shrugged, clearly trying to make those changes he had mentioned but having a hard time going about it.

"No, you have a point. I don't think it's necessary for all jobs," Dinah agreed, taking a large omelet along with a corn muffin of her own. "It pleases me enough that they simply take the class. And the information does seem to be resonating with them. Perhaps I'll discuss the situation with Dumbledore at some point."

Professor Vector nodded. "He's usually receptive to those kinds of ideas when they are well-argued."

"It might be a useful N.E.W.T. for those who plan to go into the Ministry," Lucy speculated, "Possibly Aurors too, though they already have a heavy test load."

"Yes, in that case it would be useful," Severus agreed, and then frowned.

Dinah followed his gaze across the table to where Slughorn's face was buried in his food, appearing rather flushed. "He was looking at us?" she guessed.

"Yes..." Severus agreed slowly, "He was staring over here but when I met his eyes he went back to his food at great speed. I don't like it. I wish he would just get whatever it is out of his system."

"Professor Slughorn has been quite out-of-sorts lately," Professor Vector offered.

"It's true. I wonder if it has anything to do with Eugene assisting with your classes Severus," Lucy suggested.

"Possibly, but that would be odd," Severus said, and then added in a lower tone that only Dinah and Lucy could hear. "Unless he knows something and is concerned that Eugene will accidentally let it slip to me."

Dinah gave her head a firm shake; "I still trust him."

"His sixth-years class is right before mine," Professor Vector said. "The students say that he is very distracted, and has been since Eugene left him. That may have something to do with the... potion incident, though..." she looked hesitant again when she brought that up.

"It's likely," Lucy agreed, "He could just be feeling incredibly guilty about the whole thing. He does tend to feel that emotion intensely. Can you believe it's already March? In just two months it'll be a year since the battle and…"

"Yes. An entire year of life for Black and I... and the headmaster," Severus frowned again when he mentioned his friend.

"The school is better now that he has returned," Professor Vector murmured, and then stood and bid them farewell before heading to her class.

"Something's bothering him too," Lucy said, referring to Dumbledore. "I hope its something easily fixed. I'd hate to think he was brought back just to suffer."

"That," Severus agreed, "is my thought exactly."

* * *

Dinah felt a little silly 'checking' on Severus on Tuesday evening, but she just couldn't stand it anymore. So she ended her office hours early again and headed to his classroom to watch the tail end of his third years course. When she arrived in the doorway Septimus Peaks was shouting something, as usual.

"Er... Mr. Peaks, I don't think that shouting is..." Eugene trailed off, looking nervous as he shot a glance at Severus.

Severus sighed. Dinah was glad to see he was standing still this time and not pacing. He met Eugene's gaze and waved him off; "Just... take points from the student," he muttered.

"Okay. Um... how many?"

"However many you see fit!" Severus snapped, getting a bit loud himself; "You're the assistant here, you're allowed to do what you want, you know! Quit asking me every time! Honestly!" A few students snickered, but Dinah almost thought they were laughing _with _Severus rather than at him... at least a little bit.

"Fine, five points from Slytherin," Eugene said, causing Septimus to groan and slump down in his seat, shooting the front of the room a glare fit for a Death Eater.

"Your next assignment," Eugene began, "Is a rather unique one. We're going to have you write a twelve-inch essay on what you think the mentality of those who use the dark arts is and how best to counter it. You must know your enemy's mindset as well as their physical and magical propensities, right?" he turned to Severus again.

Dinah felt a surprised smile cross her face. Was it possible that she had inspired such an assignment?

"Yes," Severus growled; "We have discussed this, have you forgotten already?" He turned to the students; "And no babbling on incoherently thinking you can somehow make things up as you go and I won't see through it! Just because this is less concrete than some of your other assignments does not give you permission to slack off! I want real life examples! And well-formed arguments! Do you understand me?" The students sort of nodded and he turned around, finally noticing Dinah in the doorway. He gave her a sort of embarrassed, lopsided grin and nodded, and she knew at that moment that she _had_ inspired the assignment. She smiled back. His behavior was still volatile but it was also a little more focused, less chaotic. He was doing better, definitely. "Well, then the essay is due beginning of next week. Now leave," turned back to the students and waved them off, and they shuffled out of the room, Septimus dashing ahead of everyone else.

Dinah rolled her eyes at the boy and headed into the classroom, passing Eugene who left without a word and without meeting her gaze. She frowned at his back; "I wish that man made sense."

"Don't we all," Severus sighed, and then smiled at her. "Dinner?"

"Of course," she smiled. They were just starting to head out together when they were interrupted by a loud beeping.

Severus jumped, his suspicious gaze darting around to pinpoint the source of the offensive noise; "What in hell was that?"

She laughed at his reaction; "It's just my mobile. I bet that's Rosa finally," but her hand shot to her pocket to pull out her phone and make sure. It could be her parents. She had been avoiding them like the plague ever since the transformation and felt guilty about it, but she just had no idea how she could possibly explain this to them without worrying them and making her feel more like a child than she already did. She briefly wondered if she might be able to get Dumbledore to talk to them _for _her like he had done when she'd first met him.

Luckily, the caller ID identified Rosa. She ignored the bitter glare that Severus was shooting her phone and answered it; "Hello?"

"Dinah...?" the voice sounded uncertain.

"Rosa!"

"Oh, good, it is you!" her friend sounded a little relieved. "I wondered if I'd really reach you what with... well, all the stuff and everything. You know."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But it's really me," she smiled. "I'm glad you called."

"Me too! You won't _believe _the stuff I found, Dinah! If I didn't believe all the crazy stuff you told me last weekend I would now, that's for sure. But I just can't tell you all about it over the phone – can you come over tonight? I've got _so _much information for you!"

"Er, I think so. Hang on," she lowered the phone; "Severus, Rosa says-"

"I heard," he muttered, rolling his eyes. "How you Muggles do not go deaf through the use of such objects I couldn't guess at."

She laughed nervously; "So, can we go?"

"I suppose we'll have to, won't we. Is the husband there this time?"

"I assume so. Rosa, is Luke there?" she brought the phone back to her ear.

"He's here. I told him you were secondary school students that needed help with a report and that's what I was doing all this research for. But it's getting hard to contain myself around him, so you'd better just show up and spill the beans before I lose all resolve," she laughed.

"Sure. If you keep him out of the front room we can apparate there. It's fastest, but we'll just appear so..."

"Wow, really? Okay, I'll keep him out. How long do you need? When will you get here? I'll make dinner. You're bringing Severus, right? I like him. He should come." Dinah shot Severus a grin at Rosa's comment.

He rolled his eyes; "If we leave Hogwarts now we'll reach the edge of the grounds in fifteen minutes and then we can apparate. Just tell her we'll be there then."

"Yes, we're both coming. We're kind of joined at the hip lately, actually;" that got a smirk from Severus and a gleeful giggle from Rosa. "Okay, okay. We'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Great! See you then!"


	96. Author

A/N: Jonathan Yates is not a real author, I made him up – just in case anyone wondered :)

* * *

CHAPTER NINETY-SIX

Author

* * *

"It's true!" Rosa squealed; "You really did it! You just... appeared here! That's wonderful! I love it! It's amazing! Do it again!"

"We cannot simply just _'do it again_'," Severus growled. "There needs to be somewhere for us to _go _first. And we do not have time for this!"

Dinah's friend sighed, rather dramatically she couldn't help but think, and waved Severus off. "Oh, all right. You are rather moody, aren't you? Don't worry, though, I think it's cute. I guess I should call Luke down then and we can get things rolling."

"Yes," Dinah agreed, suppressing a giggle when she saw the snarl on Severus's face upon being called cute. He was just not used to this at all.

"Luke! Our guests are here!" Rosa called up the stairs.

In a moment her husband appeared at the top and came down, nodding briefly at Dinah and Severus before turning to Rosa. "I don't know what you're talking about. I can't find your old saxophone in the attic anywhere."

"Oh... you know what? Silly me, I sold it in the yard sale, didn't I?"

He sighed and Dinah had to suppress another giggle. "Lovely. Now, I assume introductions are in order?"

"Yes, these are my... friends. Dinah-"

"Ah, I thought I noticed the resemblance!" Luke cut in, turning to Dinah. "Are you Dinah's younger cousin or something?"

Dinah grimaced and shook her head as Rosa laughed and placed a hand on her husband's shoulder. "That's what I've wanted to tell you. This_ is _Dinah."

Luke stared at his wife for a few moments before asking; "Have you been drinking?"

She groaned; "No."

"Well, you've been acting very strange the past week. I didn't even know helping secondary school students was a part of your job description; and here you expect me to believe that your friend living in New Zealand has turned into a sixteen-year old girl?"

"Do one of your things, Dinah. That might be the best way to deal with this," Rosa said. "Oh, I know!" She pranced over to a shelf, grabbed a large, beautiful vase, and smashed it onto the floor.

Everyone just stared for awhile before Luke turned on his wife, demanding why she would break her grandmother's precious vase and if she had lost her mind. But a quick cast of _Reparo _had the stares shifted, and after another hour or so of explaining things and showing off their powers as they had initially with Rosa, Dinah and Severus were _finally _seated comfortably at the kitchen table eating spaghetti while Rosa ran off to get the books she wanted to show to them.

"Here we are!" she came back with a bag. "You're not going to _believe _who Raymond Scrump is, Dinah!"

"Who?"

"Jonathan Yates," she dumped a pile of books by the author out of the bag onto the table.

Dinah just stared. "_The _Jonathan Yates? He's Raymond Scrump? He was a wizard? A squib?"

"Apparently," Rosa grinned.

"Who's Jonathan Yates?" Severus demanded.

"A _very _famous eighteenth century British author! I had to read some of his works in school. This is just unbelievable! I knew it said he became famous but I never imagined he would have become someone _that _famous."

"Me neither," Rosa agreed. "That's why it took me so long to find. But that's not the _best_ part, Dinah! I did a little research and stumbled upon some of his lesser-known works. Look at this one," she grabbed a thin book and placed it in front of Dinah.

Dinah's eyes were wide as she read the title of the book, and she felt Severus leaning over her shoulder, as shocked as she was as she fingered the golden letters on the spine... "_What Happened to Kindness?_"

"Yes. There have been changes, obviously, but it's basically a re-done version of the same tales in the wizarding world," she pulled out _Where Does the Good Go?_ and stuck it in front of Dinah for comparison, opening both books to the Table of Contents sections. "See? They both have seven tales with the same basic theme. They're framed in different contexts, but it's very clear when you look at them both back to back that they're the same stories by the same author."

"This truly is unbelievable," Severus murmured.

"And that's not all," she took out another book and stuck it in front of them. "It seems he started out in the fantasy story market, but he did not do well. Granted, that genre of novel was not so popular back then, but... well, just look at it."

"_The Errant Wizard..._" Dinah gaped at the title.

"Knowing what I know now," Rosa said, "I cannot think that it could be anything but another autobiography, like _The Squib Did It_. I haven't gotten a chance to do much more than skim it at work today but it's about a wizard with less talent than his peers, trying to make it in a world where magic rules. His... disability... makes him into a very observant individual, trying to understand and fit into the world he lives in. As a consequence, he sees and notices things that others do not. He discovers new things about his world _because _he doesn't fit into it. In that case, I wonder if some of the things he describes in the fairy tales are things he observed after all, that others overlooked."

Dinah dropped her fork, leaped from her chair, and threw her arms around her friend. "_Thank _you!" she exclaimed; "You have _no idea_ how perfect this is, Rosa! _No _idea!" If Raymond Scrump's stories were true, that meant that Tommy was in the clear and she didn't have to hide her encounters with him from anyone anymore.

Rosa laughed and hugged her back; "You're very welcome. I think I have _some _idea how important this is to you, although not as much as you do, obviously. I'm just glad I was able to help, and I can see you more often too now that I know you're not in New Zealand!"

"I know," Dinah laughed, smiling at her friend after pulling back; "I'm glad about that, too. Now, all we have to do is get these books to Lucy for verification and we'll be well on our way to learning more about what we have to do," she addressed Severus.

He nodded. "You want to read them first?"

She shook her head. "I might try getting some of the old classics out and rereading them in the meantime but I think Lucy's more qualified than us so we should get these two key ones to her right away."

"Fair enough," he agreed, and they all went back to their meal.

After awhile Rosa spoke again. "So, Dinah... how does your family feel about this youthening thing?"

"Um..." Dinah looked up at her friend and bit her lip. "Well... they don't know about it."

"They don't_ know_?" Rosa's shocked look only made Dinah feel guiltier. "But isn't this something that they _should _know?"

"I don't know," she mumbled. "I can't really figure it out myself. I've been avoiding it because I keep hoping that we'll get a reversal and be able to put all of this behind us, but... the potion Eugene gave us last week did nothing at all and I'm afraid that even if he _is _making progress it will take him forever to complete. And it's been over a month since I talked to them last. They'll probably call soon and I can't not answer, but I don't know what I would say to them!"

"Oh, I see the problem," Rosa mused.

"Well, would it be better to just tell them after the potion is reversed?" Luke asked. "Then again, that won't take care of the phone problem. You do sound younger."

"I know; that's the problem. So either I pretend I'm sick or I tell the truth. I'd hate to lie, and then I worry that they might be hurt if they realized I kept it from them for this long. If I tell them after the fact they might also be offended. I just don't know _what _to do."

"Not to mention the fact that you told me first," Rosa agreed, nodding. "Then again, your parents are reasonable people. But you do have a habit of keeping secrets for a long time, Dinah."

"I've gotten used to keeping secrets," she agreed quietly.

"I know, with the being a witch thing and all of that."

"There were plenty more secrets than that," she sighed. "It's a defense mechanism, really. I had to hide so many things back then... the prophecy, my parselmouth abilities."

"Your what?"

"I can talk to snakes."

"Dinah!" Severus exclaimed.

She shrugged; "That's something I can tell Muggles. There's no stigma associated with it. My family knows that part, Dylan knew that part. It's the wizards I can't tell about that one."

"I see... yet another flaw in our society that I must acknowledge," he sighed and stared at the spaghetti he was twirling on his fork. "Either way, perhaps Rosa has a point. You seem to dig yourself into these holes, but you always appear to get relief once you tell others. At least now, as an adult."

"Exactly!" Rosa agreed. "You'll probably feel a great weight lifted off of your chest if you just tell your family now, Dinah."

She couldn't argue with their points. Not only that, but she was _desperate _for the day when she could feel secure enough in Tommy's goodness to tell Severus that she'd been seeing him. Hopefully that day would come soon now. "Okay... I guess I can call..." she withdrew her phone again and dialed her parents' number. It rang once before her wildly beating heart and queasy feeling in her stomach got the better of her. "No, I can't do this!" she pushed the end button and shoved the phone across the table away from her where it clinked against her glass of milk.

"Dinah!" Rosa sighed and grabbed the phone. "Do your parents have caller ID?"

Dinah stared at her friend and then groaned. "_Yes_! I forgot; what rotten luck! How am I supposed to keep up with all of these newfangled inventions they keep throwing at us? What happened to phones with cords?"

"Excuse me?" Severus looked utterly perplexed.

She laughed. "Yes, Severus, even we Muggles can get annoyed with our technology from time to time. It's called being old-fashioned."

"Yes, well, I suppose I feel vindicated," he sighed. "Either way, we still have a problem. Oh, your... phone is ringing again."

"Oh no," she moaned, cringing back in her seat, "Now what do I do?"

"I know!" Rosa stood from her chair and grabbed the phone. "Here, I've got this. Hello!" she plastered a huge smile on her face after answering. "How are you, Mrs. Samson? So nice to hear from you again! This is Rosa!"

"Rosa!" Dahlia's shocked voice came from the phone, which was still turned up loud enough that everyone at the table could hear. "What are you doing with Dinah's phone?"

"Well, it's a funny story, actually!" Rosa's voice was still as cheerful and conversational as ever. "Dinah's here you see, and she's told me and Luke _all _about being a witch!"

"What!" Dahlia shrieked. "But she can't! There's the International Statute of-" she broke off and there was a long pause while they all listened intently to see what would happen next. Finally, Dinah's mother's voice came back, quiet and a little nervous, "Wait a minute... this is a joke, right? Yes, yes, it must be a joke. Haha!"

"Oh no," Dinah groaned, rubbing her forehead, and then reached for the phone. "Give me it, Rosa, I'll take it from here. Mum?" she asked when she got the phone into her hand.

"Dinah! It really is you, thank goodness! What were you doing telling Rosa about being a witch? Oh... wait, you sound funny. Do you have a cold?"

"Uh... n-no... I just... um..." What was she doing? Why was she starting to cry?

"Dinah?" her mother's voice came back a little softer. "Honey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" she protested, angry with herself for acting like an idiot. "It's just... I have to tell you about..." she gasped when she felt Severus's arms wrap around her, pulling her against him.

"Shh, you're fine," he murmured, stroking her hair.

She sighed and cuddled into his arms, curling up with her head resting on his shoulder, everything slowing down and becoming a little easier to deal with. She noticed the smiles Rosa and Luke were giving them, and then was finally able to bring the phone back up to her ear, her voice firm and confident again. "Everything's fine, Mum. There's just something that I have to tell you. I should have told you sooner but I didn't, and I'm sorry. There's been an incident. Everyone is fine and nobody got hurt, but a very rare, very new piece of magic has done something to Severus and myself."

There was a pause before her mother replied; "This has something to do with that prophecy, doesn't it?"

"Um... well, a little bit. There's a connection, but... wait. You expected it would get fulfilled when I went to teach at Hogwarts?"

"Your father and I suspected," she admitted with a sigh; "We didn't tell you because you seemed so happy and so convinced that it was... invalidated, as you said. But that man Dumbledore... he had us convinced from the very beginning that it would be played out. The way he speaks... so certain, so reassuring... you know."

It was Dinah's turn to sigh, and she even heard Severus sigh a little as she was still resting against him. "Yes. I know. Believe me, I know."

"We didn't want you to put yourself in danger, but we also didn't want you to keep hiding from your past. You needed to heal that part of yourself and we thought maybe... fulfilling that prophecy somehow would do it. So we did sort of expect for something to happen... eventually."

"I see..." she didn't know what to say about that, and so blurted out what had happened. "Severus and I took a youthening potion and turned into sixteen year-olds and we don't know if or when it will ever get reversed!"

There was another long pause; "Your voice..." Dahlia finally murmured.

"Yes," Dinah sighed. "It's my voice from when I was sixteen. I'm at that age again. I'm sixteen. I'm a child."

"Severus is, too?"

"Yes. He is. We both are."

"Oh... um... well..." her mother seemed a little shocked to form a coherent response. "Well..." she said again. "now that's not so bad, is it?"

"Speak for yourself! Would _you _like to be sixteen again?"

"Well, no..." she chuckled slightly. "I do recognize that tone, though. You must be sixteen."

She sighed again. "I'm sorry. It's affected our brains and our hormones and everything, too, so yes... I'm going to be moody and cranky and yell a lot. You should see Severus."

"Hey!" Severus protested.

"Shh!" she shushed him. "Anyway, that's the truth. They're trying to formulate a reversal but we don't know if it will work or when it will be done. If it's not... I don't know, we'll age normally I guess. I get to live my whole life over again. I guess some people might consider that a blessing but right now it feels more like a curse."

"I'm sure a reversal will be made," Dahlia said, in a typical reassuring mother tone. Whether she believed her words or not Dinah couldn't guess. "What are you doing at Rosa's?"

"We needed her help for something. We needed to find information about an author that tried to work in both worlds... that's why we told her about our abilities, so she knew enough to help us."

"'We' meaning..."

"Severus and I."

"I see. Well, I'm glad to hear you two are still hitting it off."

"We are."

"If you're in London anyway today, you should stop by. That is, if you're up to it. I'm sure three are plenty of things to discuss, but I won't force you to."

"Thanks for the invitation, but..." she hesitated, considering. On the one hand it would be nice to just go and get it over with, but on the other hand there might be so much to discuss that she ended up staying later and after all there were still classes tomorrow. On the other hand, maybe the discussions would go quickly, but there were no guarantees. "Well, I'll definitely make sure to visit soon, but tonight might be pushing it. There are classes tomorrow and I don't know how long we'd talk for, so..."

"You're still teaching classes?"

"Yes... with supervisors... it's awkward, but Dumbledore is overseeing it. Really, everything is going okay. There are some things going on what with the prophecy, but..."

"I understand. I won't make you tell me everything. It's your prophecy, and I can tell from your tone that there's more to it, but... well, your father and I trust you. Just make sure to come and see us soon, okay?"

"I will. Maybe one of these weekends coming up. I'll try to make sure to see you by the end of the month. We'll figure something out."

"Okay. I'll tell your father everything when he gets back from the store. And don't worry too much, okay? You may have the brain and hormones of an adolescent, but you still have the knowledge and memories you've gained your whole life, don't you? I think that means you aren't _completely _a child again. But," she laughed, "what do I know about magic?"

"No," Dinah smiled; "Thanks, I've thought that too. It's hard to keep telling myself that, but I'll try. Thanks, Mum."

"You're welcome. Keep in touch. I love you."

"Sure. Definitely. Love you, too," she hung up and let out a long breath as her head fell back against Severus's shoulder.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Rosa said with a smile.

"No," Dinah laughed a little and gave her friend a slight nod. "It really wasn't so bad after all."


	97. Allies

CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN

Allies

* * *

"A note!" Dinah ripped off the piece of parchment that had been attached to Severus's dungeon door with some kind of weak sticking charm, and read it. "It's from Lucy. She wants us to stop over when we get back; seems Sirius wants to tell us what he smelled on that wizard card on Monday."

"Hopefully, that means that it's something useful," Severus said, leading them back up the stairs and down the hall to Lucy's room. "Do you think they're asleep?"

She shrugged. "The note said to just come in. They probably left the door unlocked for us in that case;" she turned the knob and they walked into Lucy's rooms just in time to see Sirius pulling Lucy's bra up over her head where they sat tangled together half-naked on the couch.

"Ah!" Lucy screeched, jerking her bra back down and reaching for her robes, turning her flushed face on them. "Dinah! Severus! I'm so sorry about that."

"Not as sorry as I am. Should have locked the door," Sirius muttered.

"Note... said to come in," Dinah managed to say, a little in shock at the moment. Severus wasn't talking at all, but she couldn't make herself turn and see the expression on his face. He wasn't moving though, and neither was she. She had walked in on an undressed Lucy over Christmas as well, after Sirius had told her to go upstairs and 'wake her up'. She was beginning to think that she shouldn't open any doors around this pair anymore, no matter who told her to.

"Right," Lucy said. "Sorry, again. I didn't realize it was still early." She shoved on Sirius to get him to move off of her and tugged her robes down into their proper place. "Would you get dressed?" she hissed at him.

"I'm not undressed," he mused.

"Well, then here," she said, wrapping a blanket around his upper half, "Now, at least, you don't look like you're going to freeze."

Dinah was able to break out of her stupor long enough to see Severus turn one hundred and eighty degrees and start walking away. She grabbed the tail of his frock coat and pulled him back; "Stop that."

"_Obviously _we should leave," he hissed.

"It's not like it matters anymore," she turned back to Lucy and cleared her throat, unceremoniously holding the bag she had been carrying out in front of her; "Um. Since we're here anyway I wanted to give these books to you. That is if you think you can find the time to... er, read them..." she flushed, not having meant to say that.

Lucy took the bag, looking incredibly embarrassed. "I'm sure I can find the time. He's going back to Hogsmeade Thursday morning. Did you want to, um, sit….over there?" Lucy indicated the chairs sitting across from the couch. The ones they hadn't just been laying half-naked on.

"Yeah, sure," Dinah mumbled, pulling the still-protesting Severus over to said chairs and sitting. "The author is Jonathan Yates and the two books on the top are the ones we're most concerned with. They're two of his lesser-known works. Turns out he was _extremely _famous in the Muggle world. I have some of his classics which I intend to read over again while you peruse those... if you don't mind."

Lucy grinned, "Why would I mind?" She pulled the two books out of the bag and looked them over, her eyes lighting with intrigue as they usually did when she had a book in her hands. Dumbledore had definitely picked the right person for Lucy's position, Dinah couldn't help but think; "Hmmm. They look interesting. I'll let you know what I figure out when I read them." She nudged Sirius, "Why don't you tell them about what you smelled?"

"Pomegranate shampoo," he said, crossing his arms in front of him, clearly not happy.

"Oh, stop pouting. He found the same smell in this hall towards the dungeons yesterday and a good amount of it in the halls outside your rooms tonight, Severus."

Severus frowned. "I'm not surprised that he or she is spying on us in some manner. After all, that person is presumably the one who youthened us. But... pomegranate shampoo?"

"Do they have to go together?" Dinah asked as a sudden thought occurred to her. "I mean, could you have been smelling pomegranate _and _shampoo as opposed to pomegranate shampoo?"

Sirius shrugged, "It's possible. It can be hard to separate distinct smells. Sometimes it's obvious when two scents are distinct. For instance you wouldn't have shampoo that smelled like a burnt ham but you might have pomegranate shampoo."

"Right..." she agreed slowly. "It's just that pomegranate juice is one of the key ingredients in the youthening potion. Maybe _the _key ingredient, really. I wonder if the person is... taking it. I kept seeing half-consumed glasses of red liquid in Eugene's room the days that I sort of... ended up back there."

"If the person is drinking it then why did they need to give it to _us_?" Severus asked.

"I don't know... to test it?" she just threw the idea out there.

"But why us?"

"I don't know! We were always hanging about with Slughorn and Eugene in the earlier part of the year, maybe we were simply easy targets. Come to think of it, Dumbledore is the one that suggested we stop going there so often, remember?"

"You're suggesting that he knew someone was plotting to do this to us?"

She sighed. "Not exactly. He was clearly shocked when he saw us. It's just... I think he expected _something _to happen, with my prophecy probably. I mean, honestly we know now that even Mum and Dad expected something to happen. I'm apparently the only idiot left in this world that thought it could be invalidated."

"You're not an idiot," he murmured, his gentle tone relaxing her and making her smile again. She was so lucky to have him on her side. "And besides, the headmaster told us to stop seeing them, not continue."

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I can't figure it out."

"I feel like he has to know something," Lucy cut in, "He always seems to know. But then he's made sure to keep to himself more than usual this year."

"Yes, which is what concerns me," Severus agreed, nodding. "You don't have any suspicions, do you? I can only think that it might be related to the fact that it bothers him so much... being reborn, that is."

"I don't know," Lucy frowned. "Maybe he's trying to figure out his purpose in being reborn…I always assumed it had to do with teaching and the students here, but maybe I'm wrong."

"Mmm..." Severus muttered, looking a little strained as he thought this through. Finally, he shook his head. "I don't have any answers. Perhaps he will speak with us. He did say we could discuss things of that nature at another time. What do you make of the shampoo portion?" he asked Dinah.

Dinah shrugged. "Well, if it's separate from the pomegranate, I don't know. Maybe our suspect is simply vain about his or her appearance."

"Perhaps," Severus's eyes shot to Sirius with what looked like a slightly threatened expression, as though he was expecting the latter to make some comment to him about being greasy.

"Or maybe they just didn't rinse their hair well enough. Or washed it too much. For all I know this person could have rubbed the card on their head," Sirius said. He looked a bit tense. It didn't seem like he was trying to be insulting, but just throwing out any number of wild possibilities.

"They could have even dropped it in some shampoo and then some pomegranate juice or something…that would go along with them being incredibly clumsy and leaving the cards all over the place," Lucy added

"It might be a good idea, if you find more cards, to put them in a bag or something until I can smell them."

"All right, that sounds reasonable," Dinah agreed, standing from the chair. "It's getting late and I for one am exhausted after the events of the day. I hope you find some useful stuff in those books. I'm really hoping you can come up with evidence that the author's stories have some truth to them..."

"I'm sure I'll find something that'll help," Lucy said.

Dinah chuckled; "Yeah, now that I've biased you. Well, good night... I guess..." she shot them a Severus-style raised eyebrow, not expecting them to go to sleep right away and trying not to be jealous.

Lucy smiled, blushing again, "Night. I'll, uh, get right to this," she said, tapping one of the books.

"When you can," Dinah laughed and led Severus from the room. "Well, that was nice."

"Nice that it's over," he muttered. "Now, I think we should stay in your rooms tonight."

"We?"

"Yes. After everything that happened today, I see no reason why not to."

"Of course," she agreed, pleased, and they headed to her rooms. When they were comfortably settled in bed, she could no longer stop herself from asking the question that had been plaguing her mind ever since he had said 'everything that happened today'. "So... how did you feel about our second trip to see Rosa? Better than the first?"

"It was all right," he shrugged. "There are still a lot of things to get used to. Seeing Luke's reactions and hearing you on the phone with your mother... all of it so friendly and casual and non-judgmental..."

"That's a good thing, Severus."

"I know. I know it is. I just... I need to think about it, that's all. I just need to think about it," he murmured, closing his eyes and shifting into a more comfortable position.

"Think as much as you need to," she said, and then smiled a little, snuggling into his arms; "Just don't think _too _much."

He opened his eyes and smiled, nuzzling his forehead against hers; "No. I won't. Not anymore."

* * *

"My, this _is _interesting," Dinah murmured, her nose buried in one of Jonathan Yates's classic novels. "Now that I know who he really is I can totally see the similarities between this and _The Squib Did It_. He certainly _seems _to love writing about his own experiences."

"Mmhm," Severus agreed idly, his nose buried instead in one of his preferred dark arts books. Dinah suddenly had a vision of them as a married couple and him behind a newspaper just saying 'yes' to everything she said even if it was something along the lines of 'I'm thinking of cooking a burnt shoe for dinner'. But that was silly.

"Hello, Professor Samson!" Mae Yates popped up next to their table in the library, as cheerful as ever, with Speasy in tow.

"Oh, good evening, Mae. Andrew," Dinah had decided to try to call the young boy by his first name as well from time to time. Perhaps treating him as she did Mae would help him realize that he was better off with that group than with the Cantrell and Peaks one.

"Oh, are you reading Jonathan Yates?" Mae pointed to the book.

Dinah remembered that the girl was Muggle-born, so had probably seen his work in primary school and the like. "Yes. Come to think of it-"

"Yep!" Mae interrupted cheerfully, looking like she had captured Dinah's train of thought before it had even finished forming; "He's one of my ancestors. My great-great-great... well, lots of greats grandfather!"

_That _got Severus to drop his book.

Dinah gaped at her young friend. It was true, then? Mae Yates, the kind young Muggle-born Ravenclaw had wizards in her past. Even if Scrump-Yates was a squib his family wasn't, and neither presumably were his parents. The genetic conditions for magic had disappeared for a long time and sprung up again in this young girl. Looking at Severus, she could tell his thoughts were similar.

"Um, is that okay?" Mae now looked hesitant.

"Well, you see, it's just something that we discovered..." Dinah groped in her pile of books for _The Squib Did It_.

"Dinah, are you sure we should be telling...?" Severus began slowly.

"I think it should be all right. After all, it _is _her heritage. Mae, some friends and I have determined that Jonathan Yates was a squib. He was born into a family of Slytherins as Raymond Scrump and wrote this book and another... then when he was ostracized he moved to the Muggle world to start a new life there as your ancestor."

"Really?" Andrew sniffled from his ever-present cold and spoke up, his tone slightly excited as he stared at the about the author section of the book Dinah opened to with Mae. "Then that means Mae's magical? And a Slytherin?"

"I'm a Ravenclaw," Mae protested.

"Miss Yates was magical before you discovered this information, Mr. Speasy," Severus cut in, looking a bit agitated. "You are not going to stand there and say that this makes her more valid in your eyes as long as I am at this table."

"That's not what I meant," it was Speasy's turn to protest. "It's just exciting. What does that mean, Professor Samson? Do all Muggle-borns have wizard ancestors?"

"Um... well, that's a good question, Andrew. I guess... well, I don't know, it's hard to tell. It's possible that some or many of them do. But one can't possibly keep track of all of people's relations across time. I have treated Muggle-born magic as a random genetic mutation in class, because that's how magical ability originally came about and it seemed the most valid option with lack of empirical evidence for ancestry factors. But... well, it's actually more scientifically likely that the same genetic mutation doesn't happen over and over again, unless its one of those common ones like RNA editing or certain birth defect mutations..." she flushed at Severus's stare; "Yeah, I've really thought this through."

"Amazing. And you aren't even a scientist in the Muggle world," he looked thoughtful.

"They seemed like good things to know," she shrugged.

"I don't understand," Mae murmured. "So does this mean that I'm _not _Muggle-born?"

"Does it really matter either way?" Dinah gave the girl a reassuring smile. "You are a talented young witch; your abilities have been proven regardless of your birthright. And we already know from class that purebloods aren't really purebloods either. People will find a way to mix no matter what, even if that information is not known to others. When you love somebody you'll find a way to be with them; so a lot of mixed marriages have occurred, but have been hidden because of the stigma. From both sides. After all, why do you think as a squib Raymond Scrump – or Jonathan Yates – well, you know... why do you think he had to leave the wizarding world and hide his identity from both sides? Even so, he was clearly a very talented man. His squib status didn't affect his writing."

"She's right," Andrew nodded, tapping Mae on the shoulder. "I don't care if you are or not. I just thought it was interesting is all. It doesn't change the fact that you can perform magic... really good magic. And you're smart, too... that has nothing to do with your birth either way."

"Thanks, Andrew," she smiled at him.

"Yet more for me to think about..." Severus murmured, his eyes locked on the two first years but his expression different from usual. It held some realization; it looked like a positive realization, Dinah thought, but it was hard to tell since his expression was so subdued. But he was definitely thinking about something.

Something occurred to Dinah. "Hey, Mae? Do you have any special knowledge about Yates? If you know anything special or different about him through your family connection it would be really useful to us. Anything about him, from his family life to his personality to extra information about his career or his works would help."

"Sure. I think I could tell you some things. Just let me send an owl to my Dad about it and I'll get back to you as soon as he does. My granddad and my Great Aunt Betsy know a lot, too."

"Thanks, I appreciate it," she smiled, and then looked at the time. "Oh, it's nearly lunch hour. You two had better hurry if you want to get the best food." The two students ran off and she turned back to Severus; "Do you want to walk to get a really quick bite to eat and then walk around outside? It's a nice day."

He agreed, and soon they found themselves full of soup and sandwiches and wandering around the grounds in the sunlight. "The snow is finally melting more permanently, I think," Dinah said with a smile. "Or getting there, at least. Soon it will all be green again."

"Mm, nice," Severus agreed. "Dinah, do you think now would be a good time to look for snakes? The weather's been so nice lately they may have seen plenty of things since last time. And we need all of the information we can get."

"As long as it's far away from the students..." she murmured, and then looked over at Severus, feeling suddenly overwhelmed with joy. She was sitting here having a casual conversation with him about being a parselmouth and he was treating it as a part of business as usual. He didn't care. He accepted her. She was doing something she never imagined she _could _do and it was all because of him. "Severus, that sounds like a wonderful idea!" She ran over and looped her arms around him, burying her face in his neck, unable to stop smiling.

"I'm glad you think so," he chuckled, holding her close to him for what felt like hours, until a whisper of 'Psst' brought them both out of their reverie.

"What's that?" Dinah demanded as Severus dropped his arms and took a large step back. Her gaze darted about the grounds but she saw nobody.

"Psst!" the voice hissed again, more urgently this time. "Dinah. Severus."

"Over there," Severus pointed to a nearby tree with robes sticking out from behind it.

"I'm sorry. I had to make sure you were alone first," the voice murmured, before an older man stepped out from the other side of the large trunk.

"Slughorn!" Dinah exclaimed, and then flushed. "Er, I mean, Professor Slughorn."

"No, it's fine," he waved her off, wringing his hands as he approached, his eyes flitting around the grounds as though he were about to be attacked. "I've been meaning to talk to you both, but I ... well, I can't really..."

"Please, just tell us," Dinah murmured, trying to sound reassuring to her old potions master.

"Oh, I should have told you this so much sooner!" he moaned, wringing his hands more intensely. "But you must understand, I just couldn't ... too risky. Even now it's too risky, but I feel so bad about what happened to you both that I... well, you understand, don't you?"

"Not yet," Severus shot him a skeptical look.

"Oh, I'll just have to show you!" he threw up his hands. "Please, Severus, _please _don't tell Eugene about this. If he were to find out..." Slughorn looked terrified again.

"Is Eugene some kind of a monster?" Dinah had to ask.

"I don't know," Slughorn murmured, shaking his head and looking so confused she couldn't help but feel bad for him. "I do know now that if I had foreseen any of these circumstances I would not have hired the boy. But it's too late for regrets now," he drew something out from his robes. "Severus, you do not receive _Potions Weekly_, do you?"

"Not regularly," Severus shook his head. "I pick up a copy from time to time or I skim the contents to look for articles of interest, but I prefer textbooks and my own experimentation to that sort of thing. Seems most of the articles are mere speculation and celebrity hype anyway."

"Right. I didn't think so. I am much the same, and...well, here," he handed a copy of _Potions Weekly_ to Severus, opened to a page at the back. "If you look there you can see the classified advertisement Eugene submitted to them outlining his plans for human testing."

Dinah leaned over Severus's shoulder and peered at the advertisement. It listed the plans for the potion and humbly requested volunteers to contact Eugene at Hogwarts if they were interested in helping him to test it. "I see," Severus said. "It looks fairly generic to me."

"That's the magazine that Eugene gave me. _This_," he pulled out an identical magazine and handed it over, "Is a copy I retrieved in Diagon Alley some weeks ago. You'll notice a difference right away, I think."

"'Finest quality chopped caterpillars for sale'?" Dinah read aloud the words that occupied the space where Eugene's advertisement was in the first magazine.

"He transfigured the advertisement," Severus said, shocked.

"Yes," Slughorn murmured. "Eugene never advertised for human test subjects."

"So... so _that's _why no one ever saw the supposed subjects and there has been no publicity whatsoever with regards to the youthening potion!" Dinah exclaimed, everything coming clear in her mind.

"Yes," Slughorn replied, looking nervous again. "I'm sorry. Had I but known-"

"This isn't your fault, Slughorn," Severus cut in. "But you should have told us sooner."

"I know," he hung his head a little. "So what does it mean?"

"Well, it means..." Dinah thought on this for a moment. "It means he never wanted human test subjects. Probably because he already _had _a test subject!"

"The one in his rooms, making the noise," Slughorn agreed. "Yes, but there is no longer any evidence of such a person. As soon as Harry came by to examine my rooms everything of that nature had been cleared out."

"There is plenty of evidence, just not in your rooms," Severus said. "We have every reason in the world to believe the suspect is still wandering around Hogwarts. And this is even more proof that Eugene is up to no good."

"But Severus, we can't- if you were to confront Eugene about this-"

"I have no intention of confronting Eugene," Severus snapped. "Rather I intend to take these magazines straight to the headmaster."

"We should take them to Sirius," Dinah suggested. "Perhaps he'll be able to smell something."

"Mm, maybe," Severus agreed reluctantly.

"Black!" the normal excitement finally returned a bit to Slughorn's eyes; "Is he still around Hogwarts?"

"On Wednesdays, as usual," Dinah raised an eyebrow at him. She seemed to be doing that more and more lately.

"You say he may be able to _smell _something?" Slughorn look confused, and Dinah was just starting to worry about her little misspeak when he waved her off and changed the subject. "Well, no matter. We have more important things to consider. If the headmaster suggests we confront Eugene and my assistant finds out that I am the one who conveyed this information..." Slughorn actually appeared to be _afraid _of Eugene.

Severus sighed. "You won't be brought into this Slughorn, so you can stop worrying. We're grateful at least that you finally got the courage to deliver this information." At Slughorn's slight relief he continued; "As far as Eugene is concerned, I think rather than confront him about _anything _at this point, the best course of action is to gather more evidence. I don't believe he is the type that we can shake until we have a full case against him."

"Yes, he is strong," Slughorn murmured agreement; "He lives up to his reputation as a Durmstrang graduate, that is certain. Yet something else I should have considered before hiring him."

"Right, he attended Durmstrang," Dinah sighed. "They_ teach_ the dark arts there, don't they? Like not just defense against them."

"They do," Severus agreed; "Still they produce no more dark wizards overall than Slytherin does. But I would not be surprised if they also taught Occlumency and Legilimency in some of their classes, which we do not do at Hogwarts.

"They do," Slughorn said, always knowledgeable about this sort of thing. "They teach both subjects. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Durmstrang graduate that did not possess the abilities."

"Which explains why Eugene has them. Well, thank you, Slughorn. I assume we can keep these?" Severus held up the magazines.

"Oh, please do, please do," Slughorn murmured. "Again, I am... _so _sorry that all of this happened to you. If there is anything more that I can do-"

"It's not your fault," Dinah cut in with a reassuring smile. "And don't worry, I can't think of anything else to ask of you at this point. What you _should _do is relax and go back to your normal behaviors. I'm sure Eugene is going to do nothing to any of us. Whatever his game is, he's laying low for now and I don't find him threatening at this point. Just ask Severus." When her boyfriend growled agreement, she laughed a little and continued. "He'll be less suspicious if you don't give him anything to be suspicious about."

"Ah. Yes. You are right," he smiled and finally appeared to relax a little. "Thank you, Dinah."

"No, thank you."

"No, thank _yo_ – well, I should go," he laughed and headed away from them.

"What?" she had to smile a little as Severus was regarding her with a lopsided, amused one.

"Still love everybody, don't you?" he asked, laughing.

She grinned. "I do. What can I say, I'm a hopeless idealist. You had me pegged right from the beginning. Besides, I'm so glad I was right about Slughorn."

"I figured you were; I just wasn't certain. It's true... he is a bit of a coward when it comes to the dark arts and things that are potentially threatening to him."

She nodded; "His heart is in the right place, though. Well, it looks like classes are about to begin again so we won't be able to find any snakes. When do you want to meet with the headmaster?"

"First thing after dinner. I'll take these until then. We also need to catch Lucy before she leaves on Friday, if we're going to have Black smell them."

"Right. That sounds like a plan."


	98. Experiences

CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT

Experiences

* * *

"This is a truly disturbing development," Dumbledore said, his voice solemn as he slid the two near-identical copies of _Potions Weekly _back across his desk towards Dinah and Severus that evening.

"Yes. It means a great number of things, but I'm having a hard time sorting through all of them," Severus admitted.

"First and foremost, he already had a volunteer. This advertisement was for show only, so that – presumably - when he had the potion completed he would be able to explain its formulation without revealing the identity of his _true _test subject," Dumbledore offered, outlining the basics for them.

"Because he has a very serious reason for hiding this person's identity," Dinah added. "But why? And why did that person choose to use us as secondary test subjects? Eugene didn't want them to."

"What makes you so certain of that?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

"A snake I met on the grounds told me that Eugene was arguing with someone it couldn't see right after our transformation. That must have been the test subject. I thought I must have told you that..."

"Dinah," Dumbledore said, his voice soft with surprise; "You have told me no such thing and I presume that is because the only times I have met with you you have been with Severus. Are you insinuating that you have finally shared with him your secret?"

Dinah flushed as Severus's hand reached for hers. "Yes. Yes, I have."

"And your assessment, Severus?" Dumbledore looked genuinely curious as he regarded his young friend.

"It does nothing to change who she is and why she is important to me," Severus murmured, his fingers tightening around hers and his gaze gentle as he regarded her.

"Oh, Severus..." Dinah whispered, the love and gratitude she felt for him causing a lump to rise in her throat as she looked into his dark but soft eyes, unable to wrench her gaze away from his.

"I am... so glad of that," Dumbledore said softly, his eyes twinkling with true joy when Dinah was finally able to look at him again. "And so, you are certain that Eugene at the very least is displeased with his test subject's actions."

"Yes," Dinah said, her voice firm. "That is the impression I got from the snake, and I have no reason not to believe it. I also think that was why Eugene was so quick to volunteer himself to help Severus teach, once it became clear he had no choice. And perhaps why he is trying so hard at it."

Severus snorted. "Perhaps. But his incompetency in class is nothing short of unspeakable. I can't imagine that any human being could be less cut out for teaching than him. It almost seems deliberate – as though he is overdoing it on purpose to try and keep me distracted. And much as I hate to admit it, it seems to be working."

"Well, whatever he's doing it seems that he can't control his test subject," Dinah said, again using what seemed to be their new most-convenient term for Eugene's mysterious friend. She shook her head; "Leaving wizard cards all over the place, not to mention their scents."

"Scents?"

She briefly described Sirius's discoveries to Dumbledore, and their plans to have him sniff the magazines. And then they filled him in on their discoveries about Scrump-Yates as well.

"Well, I trust that you are both on the right track," the headmaster said when finished. He seemed to consider for a moment and then sighed. "It should please you both to know that I have no plans to leave Hogwarts in the upcoming weeks. After the invasion of my office last weekend, I believe it is advisable for me to refrain from these trips for the time being."

Severus sighed; "That's excellent, headmaster. So... you no longer need these trips?"

"I did not say that," Dumbledore said softly, again appearing distracted. "I suppose now is as good a time as any to explain myself to you both. You see, I have not responded to so many requests for my assistance in the past years. I have always received many requests, but I have declined most of them to remain at the school. However, I am afraid this year I have been rather restless."

"Restless," Severus repeated, not so much a question as a statement, his gaze thoughtful.

"I am sorry Severus, for not having told you in so much detail. But you do recall our discussions of our rebirths, before your reasons became more apparent. I am afraid I am still endlessly searching for a reason. I respond to every request because of a hope that I will receive some revelation as to why I was reborn. But I confess, I have as yet found no reason."

"Headmaster..."

"I am sorry," Dumbledore said again, sighing. "I am sure you do not want to hear this, but I can find no reason for my rebirth, and I am not happy as I am. I was prepared for death, accepting of it, comfortable in it. It is as though I have been reborn from the ring... as though I do not belong here..."

"Ring? What ring?" Dinah asked when it became apparent that Severus was confused about his statement as well.

"Ah, please pay me no mind," he stood from his chair, waving them off and beginning to pace slowly back and forth behind his desk, his expression strained but thoughtful. "I am afraid I am saying things that I do not mean to. Suffice it to say that I believe I have no purpose in returning to life."  
"You have plenty of purpose," Severus said fiercely.

Dumbledore chuckled and turned a smile to him; "Thank you, Severus. You are a good man and a good friend. I realize that although I may appear to have much to offer this school and those that I advise, those purposes are not enough to warrant this return to life that I have been given. I fear the old magic may have made a mistake."

"I will not do it again," Severus murmured out of the clear blue, his voice very slow and firm and trembling just a bare fraction in its conviction, and Dinah's hand immediately moved to cover his again. She knew what he was talking about.

"Severus," Dumbledore fixed her young companion with a firm gaze. "You must know that I would not ask that of you. I would never ask that of you again. The need for that is gone."

"Well, I was simply checking," he muttered, but his muscles relaxed once more.

"I was merely explaining to you both the reason I have been so distracted and so... absent from school as of late. Do not worry. I shall simply continue to persevere and search for my reason for being reborn. I only fear that it will be a futile search."

Sufficiently subdued, Dinah and Severus could do nothing but bid Dumbledore a reluctant farewell and leave his office.

* * *

"Dinah! Dinah!" Dinah was interrupted from further analysis of her survey during her second break on Friday by Lucy's voice screaming her name and her fists banging on her office door.

Dinah shook her head to clear the shock and hurried to the door, opening it to see her friend standing there, flushed and excited-looking as though she had run all the way there from London or even further. "What?" Dinah couldn't form a more eloquent question than that.

"I've found something!" she said, pushing her way inside, "Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you or be rude, this is just so exciting!" She dropped her stack of books on the desk next to Dinah's laptop.

"Really?" Dinah felt her face light up at the possibility of another breakthrough and sat down across from Lucy in her desk chair; "Do tell."

"Okay, well first of all, look here," she opened up _The Errant Wizard_ to a marked page, "This is where _The Squib Did It_ leaves off and given the dates on it we know this was written after the original anyway. So, I'm guessing if this is at all biographical it was written later in life as he had more experiences.

"Anyway what's really cool is this," she flipped to another page, "it seems Scrump, or the character in the book, was a friend of one Flavius Belby. Went on vacation with him to Papua New Guinea in 1782. Recognize the name?" She looked up at Dinah.

"It sounds familiar..." Dinah murmured. "Is he on a wizard card?" She hadn't read enough of _The Errant Wizard _to realize that it contained parts of the plot of _The Squib Did It _in it, and Rosa hadn't mentioned anything like that either. Granted, her friend hadn't had a chance to skim the entire book either. It was interesting that Scrump-Yates was so intent on publishing alternate versions of his wizard novels in the Muggle world.

"Yes! Though not one of the more sought after ones I believe," she shifted the books to pick up a history one, "He's mentioned in this, but I don't know why I brought it. It's useless to us," she set the book aside and opened _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_, "Here's what we're concerned with. Flavius Belby discovered how to repel a Lethifold! Sounds like he saved Scrump's life, too! And he wrote about it! In his book! Do you know what this means?"

"Um... no," Dinah was sure her adult brain would be able to grasp the connection, but her adolescent one was causing her to look like an idiot in front of Lucy. Lethifolds were scary and all, but it wasn't as though they had any connection to Tommy or the flayed baby or to what was happening at Hogwarts.

"It means he's written from real life experiences! Probably that a good portion of the two books are true!"

"Oh!" Dinah's face lit up again. She had been thinking about the wrong kind of connection! How stupid of her! "Lucy, that's amazing! And his writing style? It bears that out as well? You saw some of the Muggle classics, too. They're mostly about real historical events and the like..."

"From what I've looked at, yes. I admit I haven't looked at much, being busy and all with….my guest…He didn't leave until just before my office hours on Thursday, which meant I didn't have a break all day, then I went to the library and found Derwent and Amedeus, which I need to talk to you about, but _this_," Lucy said, taking a breath and indicating the books, "is fascinating."

"Oh, this is wonderful!" she stood from the desk, pacing in her excitement; "I wonder what kind of missing good he found! Did he figure out how to help it after the book was published? And did he know that Horcrux wizard? Or the stepmother girl? He knew Flavius Belby! Oh, I suppose some of these could be true stories from other people. I wonder what kind of new information Mae will bring into the mix!" Was this enough information for her to be able to tell Severus that she had been sneaking off to see Tommy?

"What does Mae have to do with this?" Lucy said, confused.

Dinah laughed; "Would you believe she's a descendent of Scrump? Scrump as Yates, that is."

"Oh!" Lucy caught on to the connection, "That's wonderful. I'm sure she'll have something for us to work with. She and Andrew seem to be doing better this term."

"They do," Dinah smiled. "I'm really pleased about that and so is Severus. Oh, you said you wanted to talk about Derwent? Severus and I also really need to get something to you before you leave to go to Hogsmeade tonight. We have something for Sirius to smell."

"All right," Lucy said, her brow furrowing a little at Dinah's choice of words, "I'm supposed to head out right after my last class, I had to promise, and that's right before dinner, but I'm sure I can delay it a few moments. I'll have to pack and catch Dora anyway. About Derwent…I caught him and another Muggle-born Slytherin, Amedeus Flint, doing the homework of about ten other boys, some seventh years. They said they offered to do it because the boys complained about having too much coursework and it has the added bonus of the boys letting Derwent and Amedeus hangout with them. I was thinking you, me, and Severus could set up a meeting with them. Derwent and Amedeus that is. I told them we'd find a way to do it without the other boys finding out."

"Ah, so that's what's been happening," Severus's voice said from where he had appeared in the doorway. "It's lunch hour," he said in explanation when they just stared at him. "My class just let out and you told me to meet you here," he looked at Dinah.

"Oh, right, I guess I got so distracted I lost track of the time," she laughed. "Anyway, if you heard Lucy's speech then what do you think?"

"If either of you think I'm going to shorten my assignments because of this then you are grossly mistaken. Otherwise, yes, we can discuss this with them. Those seventh years are going to be the recipients of lower grades for not doing their work on their own. I'll be glad to get their names from the Muggle-borns."

Lucy grinned a little. "I don't think you should shorten your assignments, no. It also seems that Derwent doesn't think he's broken up with Agrona. He's just been too busy to tell her he's too busy to talk to her," she sighed, feeling sorry for the poor girl.

"Infernal Muggle-borns," Severus growled, walking up to the desk.

"I don't think it has anything to do with him being Muggle-born," Dinah laughed.

He smiled a little, coming up behind her and putting his arms around her. "Yes, well... force of habit. Either way, those boys are going about everything wrong. Though I don't know what we could do to change that I will go along with this meeting if you both insist on it."

"I just don't want to see them go down this road. I'd hate to think of them going through life thinking they have to do other peoples' homework just so they have friends."

Severus sighed. "Yes, that would be unfortunate. Although why all of these types of people had to appear this year along with the both of you and the youthening..." he rolled his eyes, "The universe is insisting upon changing me all at once, apparently. Well," he drew away from Dinah and examined the books on the desk. "What do we have here? Did you discover something?" he addressed Lucy.

"Yes!" she said, excited again and moving to point out the right spot in the Muggle book to Severus, "Flavius Belby!" she announced.

"The Lethifold defeater?" Severus stared at the page.

Dinah sighed and shook her head; "He knows _everything_." Severus smiled slightly at her statement.

Lucy grinned, "Yeah, you definitely get that impression as one of his students." She turned back to Severus, "Yes, the Lethifold defeater. Seems he and Scrump went on vacation together when Belby happened upon the way to get rid of the creature."

"So he writes from experience."

Dinah sighed again. Apparently it wasn't because she was an adolescent. Apparently she was just dumb. "It certainly seems like it."

"Don't feel bad Dinah," Lucy said. "We've both grown up learning this stuff. I just happened to recognize the name is all. I didn't instantly know it or anything."

"That's not really it, but thanks," Dinah grinned. "Anyway, I think this combined with the truth in his Muggle tales is enough to say that he likes incorporating quite a bit of reality into his writings. We can still see what Mae has to say, but..." she shrugged.

Severus nodded. "It's enough to conclude that there is _some _truth to that missing good story. It's likely enough that Tommy is such a person that I think it would be good to..." he looked like he had to force the rest out as he shot Dinah a concerned glance, "investigate the boy more. If we can find him."

"Um, yes..." Dinah agreed, feeling quite awkward. She should tell Severus that she had seen Tommy. After all, there was information that the boy had given her that might be useful, especially if other people had a chance to weigh in with their perceptions. But maybe she didn't have to tell Severus right away. Maybe she could wait until the next time she found Tommy and act like it was the first time.

"Well, now that we've decided about that…do you two want to go to lunch? I'm _starving_."

"Sure, let's go," Dinah closed her laptop and hurried toward the door, forcing Severus and Lucy to rush to catch up. Her thoughts had taken a bothersome turn, and she found that she was feeling quite nervous all of a sudden. Yes, it would be easier to just pretend like she hadn't been keeping anything from Severus this whole time. But was it the _right _thing to do?


	99. Honesty

CHAPTER NINETY-NINE

Honesty

* * *

"These magazines were given to us by Professor Slughorn," Dinah said, handing the two open periodicals over to Lucy after classes let out that evening. "See? Eugene's advertisement for human testing that he showed to Slughorn is a fraud. He's never tested the potion on anyone more than his mysterious test subject and... us," she frowned, referring to herself and Severus even though Severus was not currently with her. She had told him she'd meet him in the dungeons for dinner after she delivered the items to Lucy.

"Hmmm. That's…disturbing. I guess that explains why Slughorn's started talking to me again. Today he asked me if I'd ever met a werewolf and also if I'd ever been to Durmstrang. I wasn't really sure what to make of those questions so I just tried to avoid answering them."

Dinah sighed. "He's not taking my advice about acting normal. Though, I guess, what is 'normal' with Slughorn? Maybe that is normal. Well, avoidance is good. I accidentally said something to him about Sirius smelling the magazines but he seemed to forget about it right away."

Lucy grimaced, "Well, he didn't mention anything about Sirius or the Blacks, which is a bit unusual. I think he's trying though. He was certainly back to his chatty self."

"Well, that's good," she smiled. "Since it was a long time ago that Eugene gave the magazine to Slughorn I don't expect Sirius will get _too _much out of it, if anything, but it's worth a shot. Here, though, Severus had a great idea," she withdrew an empty potion bottle in a bag and handed it to Lucy. "He got Eugene to touch this, so it has Eugene's scent all over it. I figure it can't hurt for Sirius to learn Eugene's scent. Maybe he can snoop around some more in dog form and see if he notices anything useful."

Lucy's lips turned up in a big grin, "Oh, we are going to have fun this weekend. It's fun running around together in our other forms. It might be more fun if we were the same animal but that's okay. Plus, he's got a better nose than I do but I can also go places he can't so who knows I might be able to help that way too."

"That would be great!" Dinah smiled, thinking that it was so cute that Lucy and Sirius liked to run around playing together as animals. It might be fun to be an Animagus. "And it's supposed to be nice this weekend, provided there are no dark storms. I checked online," she grinned sheepishly. "The snow should be melted for good now. It's so nice that it's finally March."

"On what line? You mean you checked the _Daily Prophet_?" She sighed, "I'll miss the snow, but I agree it'll be nice to have some green and warmer temperatures."

"I suppose the snow is a lot more fun when you have a fur coat for it," Dinah nodded. "Online is a Muggle thing... I'll have to show it to you one of these days, I'm surprised I haven't already. But you have to get going now, don't you?" she looked down at where Dora was pawing at the door to her crate, looking more agitated by the minute.

"Yeah. I really would like to stay and chat, but with everything that happened last weekend…" Lucy trailed off awkwardly, "We should plan another movie night though. Maybe we can con Severus into watching it with us…or Sirius, or both. That might be too much too soon though."

"Yes..." she agreed, thinking that it would be hard enough to get Severus to agree to see a movie alone, let alone with his old nemesis. "Well, we'll see. We'll have to think about it. Meantime, enjoy your weekend. Maybe I'll see you out on the grounds. And this time I won't run away!" Definitely not. She wanted to pet the dog and the fox that she had avoided last time, especially as they were so adorable.

Lucy laughed, grabbing her things and heading towards the door, "That'll be nice. I promise I don't bite."

Dinah laughed; "I know. I'm an animal lover, remember? Well, see you later," she bid Lucy farewell in the hallway and watched her friend until she disappeared around a corner. Stalling.

She knew she was stalling, but she just couldn't help herself. The tightness and heavy thumping in her chest and the queasy feeling in her stomach were drawing this out longer than necessary. She had been dwelling on it all afternoon during her classes, trying to figure some way out of it. Her natural instinct was always to clam up, to hold onto her secrets. But she knew she _had _to get over that. She _had _to tell Severus about her visits to Tommy, and she had to do it tonight. No more digging holes!

Which was, of course, easier said than done. She had to fight years of instinctual behavior and coping mechanisms. Her normal desire to hide away was locked in a vicious battle with the part of her who remembered how it had bothered Severus that she hadn't told him about her prophecy or her parselmouth abilities sooner. If she kept holding things in from him, he wasn't going to trust her anymore. This was going to be bad, but if she was bold enough to tell him now maybe that would earn her some brownie points.

And, of course, when she had finally confessed to him about the prophecy and about being a parselmouth everything had gone so well. He had been so sweet and understanding in both instances, which was especially wonderful considering that when he found out about the prophecy he was still his old, stoic self and they had only barely kissed once. Even if he was angry with her, he would forgive her and they would move on. She trusted him. She had to show him he could also trust her.

And all of those things _still _didn't make it any easier, she thought miserably as she opened his office with her key and made her way towards the light on the other side of the door leading to his private quarters, slowing down with each step she took.

No matter how slow she went, she couldn't postpone this forever. Eventually, she made it to the doorway.

"That took a long time," Severus looked up from the sofa wearing a grouchy expression, holding a book in his lap. "Dinner has been here for ten minutes. It's going to get cold," he gestured to the table where two untouched chicken pot pies sat across from each other.

She stood up straight, took a deep breath, and said in a surprisingly firm tone given her nervousness; "Severus. There's something I have to tell you."

"What?" his change in tone suggested that he knew something big was coming, and he set the book aside, meeting her gaze directly. "What do you have to tell me?"

"I... I've seen Tommy."

He shook his head, looking confused. "Just now? But there's no storm."

"No, not just now. Once... um..." she took a shaky breath and continued; "once during that dark storm when I had a dream about the flayed baby and you came the next morning wondering why I hadn't come to the dungeons, and..." she had to force herself to continue as his eyes narrowed at her; "once during the dark storm before the last one. Right before you came to my rooms and started snooping around for Valentine's Day."

There. She'd said it. Now she just had to wait for the explosion.

"You kept it hidden from me," he murmured, his gaze harsh. "You have kept more secrets from me."

"Yes," she moaned, desperately hoping she wasn't going to start to cry. "I had to. Please tell me you understand why I had to. You wouldn't let me see him. I needed to see him. This is my prophecy; my mission. You didn't trust Tommy, didn't understand him. He doesn't show up for other people. I had to go alone and if you knew you wouldn't let me and..." _Breathe, Dinah, breathe._

"Dinah, this is unbelievable!" he stood from the couch and began pacing. She hated to see him pace. It reminded her of how he used to be in class, back when he was more depressed. "You lied to me! Twice! Do you have any idea what could have happened to you?"

"Nothing could have happened to me! We know now that at least Tommy is harmless. You said we could start investigating him now. You said so at lunch."

"That is irrelevant, Dinah! We did not know that then!"

"_You _didn't know it. I did."

He growled at her. "I don't care. You knew that I would worry and you knew I didn't want you around that boy alone. What if something _did _happen to you and I did not know where you were? Tommy may be harmless but he's still _associated _with things that are harmful. You were not cautious; you frivolously threw yourself at that boy without even-"

"How do you know I wasn't cautious?" she yelled, tears stinging her eyes. "I didn't do anything frivolously! I know what I'm doing, Severus! I am not _incompetent_, you know. This is _my _prophecy, not yours! And you can't tell me not to talk to Tommy!" Great, now she sounded like a petulant child.

"I see," he snarled; "So you don't need me after all. If you can handle this all by yourself then stop asking for my advice and my help! Go and solve it on your own. Clearly I am only standing in your way."

"You know that's not what I meant," she said, a little hurt. "You just wouldn't trust Tommy. You didn't understand that part of it. I couldn't include you in that until you did understand. Please tell me you understand!"

"This isn't about that anymore. If you had simply explained that to me at first, I'm sure we could have worked something out. But you didn't. You just hid things and did them behind my back."

"I'm sorry..."

"You told me we had no more secrets," he murmured, ignoring her apology and shooting her an accusatory glare. "You do not trust me. What other things are you keeping from me, Dinah?"

"Nothing," she insisted, whimpering a little and wiping her eyes. "That's all. I haven't kept anything else from you, I promise. I _do _trust you."

He just raised an eyebrow at her.

"Severus, I... I know I'm like the boy who cried wolf or something-"

"Like what?"

"Never mind, it's a Muggle thing. But I told you right away. I was just waiting for confirmation from you and from our research that Tommy was safe and then I was going to tell you. I wanted to wait; everything inside of me all afternoon told me to just not tell you. To hide the fact that I had been keeping things from you so you wouldn't be hurt or yell at me or so that we wouldn't fight..." his gaze softened slightly and so she rushed to continue, a small hope sparked in her chest. "But I didn't. I made myself come and tell you right away even though I was scared. I know you're mad at me and I don't blame you, but... I told you. I've been waiting to tell you. I've hated hiding this from you and I've felt so guilty. But I felt like I had no choice. Maybe I was wrong, I don't know, I just..." she trailed off.

"Dinah," he sighed, his right hand sliding through his hair, and sat back down on the couch; "I'm just tired of this. Do _you_ understand _that_? I'm tired of always finding out new, dramatic things about you. I'm tired of you feeling like you have to hide things from me. I would love to finally think that we're equal or even or on the same page, but you keep throwing me for a loop over and over again. That is... frustrating."

"I know. I'm so sorry."

He shook his head; "No. I suppose I can see why you felt you had to keep it from me. I wish that was not the case but I suppose the fact that you're still in one piece and the fact that you did manage to get up the courage to come and tell me as soon as you felt you could are positive things. I also understand that your past has predisposed you to hiding things about yourself, but you have to understand that I will not judge you, Dinah. I feel like I've proven that time and again. At this point there is nothing you could do that would bother me enough to stop being... with you."

She flushed. Well, it wasn't as dramatic as her telling him she loved him and would stay by his side forever, but still... coming from him, it was pretty meaningful, not to mention moving. "I know," she repeated. "Believe me, this time it's the truth. There is nothing more that I'm hiding from you."

"_This _time?" he teased.

Dinah had to laugh; "I know how it sounds. But it's the absolute truth. Now do you want me to tell you the things Tommy said those two times or not? After that we'll be even... just like we probably should have been ages ago."

"All right,' he smiled. "Come over here." She nodded and headed to the couch. The instant her bottom touched the piece of furniture Severus had her pulled into his arms. "I'm sorry for yelling. I simply... hate thinking of the fact that you were doing those things without my knowledge. Yes, you were safe but had you not been... well, do you have any idea how I would feel if I had lost you?"

"Mm," she closed her eyes, allowing herself to be enveloped by his warmth. "Probably something along the lines of how I'd feel if I lost _you._ I really am sorry, Severus."

"I know you are," he kissed her, his lips lingering against hers for a long time. "It's not that I think you're incompetent. You're strong Dinah; stronger than you think just as the headmaster has said. But that doesn't mean I don't get concerned. You are the most precious living thing in this world to me."

Living thing, which excluded Lily from that statement. But it didn't matter. Dinah had accepted that part of Severus, the part that loved Lily. It would still hurt sometimes, but the warm happy feeling she got inside when he told her how precious she was to him outweighed that hurt. Her decision to stay with him had been made a long time ago. Probably much sooner than it had ever crossed her conscious mind; but there was no need to try and pinpoint that time. All that mattered was how she felt now.

"Thank you," she let herself kiss him again before sitting back in the couch. "From now on you will know whenever I seek out Tommy, but I still have to go alone."

"As long as I'm aware, so I can try and find you if you are away for too long," he agreed with a sigh, still not looking like he felt the most comfortable about it, but to his credit respecting her enough to let her do what she had to do. "Now, what has he told you? I hope you haven't been withholding anything crucial from us just because you didn't want me to know about your visits with the boy."

"I don't think it's _that _crucial," Dinah shook her head. "Probably should have told you, but I don't think any of it is going to be such a revelation that it brings all our questions together to some ultimate answer or something. It's just ... well, Tommy says all of the darkness is brought about by despair. Everything is happening because the evil things... the flayed baby and the whispering voices... like despair."

"Tommy knows about the flayed baby, too?" that part really seemed to surprise Severus.

She sighed and nodded, explaining to him everything that Tommy had told her about the flayed baby as an evil storm-bringer and the parseltongue voices and the other voice that spoke in English and was also threatened by the evil but untraceable to Tommy, and of course the despair again.

"You're right," he agreed when she'd finished. "All interesting but nothing crucial. Yet. What strikes me is the despair. If there is that much despair at Hogwarts then where is it coming from? Everyone seems happy this year. I mean... well, we've all had our moments but I don't think that was enough despair to summon the dark storms. I suppose... the intensity of despair when we spoke last weekend," he flashed a reassuring smile when she looked worried, and took her hand into his. "It was intense, but very short-lived, thanks to you. I suspect the moment when I learned of your parselmouth abilities was similar on your part, considering your reactions."

"Um, yeah," she admitted softly, grateful when he squeezed her hand. "But, like yours, short-lived. Lucy, though... what about Lucy?"

He frowned. "Yes. That was... very intense. And she _has _been lonely and worried about Bellatrix ever since arriving here. Still, I don't think that's enough. Not enough to summon dementors anyway."

"But it has to be someone or some people who have been sad since the beginning of the year, which is why the two of us are unlikely candidates and Lucy has potential. Though I think you're right, she hasn't been _that _bad and not all the time. Well, what about Dumbledore?"

Severus sighed, looking like he didn't want to think about the headmaster's distress any more than necessary, but gave a reluctant nod. "It's possible. But at the same time I think the headmaster would be more aware of what he was doing if he was doing it. Although I suppose in his distracted state it may have escaped him."

"Well, don't worry too much yet. There's one more candidate to consider. And the one I think is most likely our culprit, as he – or she – is in everything else, it seems."

"Not the test subject?"

"Yes. The humming that I heard from that person... back when we were still adults at Slughorn's party. It was sad. There was so much despair. I felt it."

"But that person is the enemy. Why would the enemy be sad?"

"I don't know," Dinah thought back to the sad singing she had heard, and how deeply it had touched her and how connected she had felt to it at the time. "Maybe they aren't the enemy after all," she said softly.

"If it was up to you nobody would be the enemy," Severus muttered, looking defiant.

"Most likely," she shrugged. "Either way, until we find out who this person is and exactly what it is that they want, we won't know. But their despair does seem to be strengthening the flayed baby and summoning the dementors. Why else did I hear all that whispering and my prophecy right after that person stopped singing?"

He nodded. "Well, that's another step in the right direction, I suppose. And yet... there are still plenty of questions that don't have answers."


	100. Intimacy

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED

Intimacy

* * *

"See? We could stay out here forever with _Incendio _fire and our food," Dinah said to Severus with a smile on Saturday, as they sat out by the lake together eating lunch, kept warm in the already mild late winter air with a small fire they had made.

"Yes, I see, but I still can't believe you wanted to eat outside again. After what happened to us the last time."

She laughed. "Maybe our beloved test subject will take this opportunity to put a reversal in our drinks."

"Not likely," he gave her a half-smile, half smirk and then turned his gaze back out to the lake. "The year is heading towards its close. If we don't change back or solve this problem over the next three months, what happens over the summer?"

"I don't know," she sighed, thinking that the conversation had taken quite a solemn turn all of a sudden. It was also strange to be planning their future together, in a way. Hopefully, he did still want to associate with her over the summer. She would miss him terribly otherwise. "Who's to say the dark storms and issues won't continue to exist at Hogwarts while we're gone? We could ask the headmaster to stay. Although as I understand it the only person who stays at Hogwarts over the summer is Filch. He's not exactly my favorite company."

"Indeed," he frowned. "The more logical choice is to make periodic trips here to check on things. Also, we should determine where Eugene goes for the summer. It might be possible to get Auror's to keep an eye on him, too. You would go back to your Muggle home, I presume?"

"Yes, that was the initial plan. You as well? I mean, your own home?"

"Yes, I return to Spinner's End summers. Not the most attractive of places but it is home and it has served me well. Still... we should keep in touch, regardless of the situation at Hogwarts or with Eugene."

"Really? I'd like that, too;" the thought should have been a thrilling one, but she found that the happiness she felt was a bit vague. She shivered; "Odd. Has the fire gone down?"

Severus turned to examine their source of warmth. "Perhaps. _Incendio_!" he shook his wand when the flame that left it did little to rekindle the fire, coming out thin and weak, and repeated the spell. Again, it didn't do much good. "_Very _odd."

"It's cold. It wasn't supposed to snow this week;" she sighed and closed her eyes; "I don't feel good, Severus. I feel funny. I don't know if we're going to be able to do anything at all to solve these issues. It feels hopeless."

"I know," the hand holding his wand went a little limp as he seemed to lose the will to work on the fire any longer. "We'll probably never be adults again either."

"Never," she whispered, staring out at the lake, shivering again and bringing her glass of hot tea to her lips, hoping it would make her feel better. What touched her mouth was like ice. She gasped and bit her lip, looking down into her cup at a frozen block of tea. "Severus, something's wrong."

"The lake is freezing," he murmured, pointing to the edge of the water, where little curlicues of white were forming, frost spreading across the edge, cracking as it seeped into the liquid, turning the top layer to ice.

"Severus!" Dinah exclaimed, turning around in one swift movement and looking up the path leading back to Hogwarts to see a gathering of at least three thin-shrouded, floating figures, hovering over the grass and making their way towards them.

Dementors.

"No," Severus hissed, standing up and rushing towards them, his wand outstretched. "They're not supposed to be here now! Not this many of them and not this close to the school! There's no dark storm! _Expecto Patronum_!" he shouted, but the light leaving the tip of his wand disappeared before it could even gather much intensity let alone take on a shape. "Not again!" he snarled, running up the path toward the grass where the dementors were gathering. Now there were at least five of them.

Dinah stood to run after him, following him towards the abominations rather than away from them. It seemed so illogical and yet she couldn't tear herself away. Neither from Severus nor from the dementors. There was no point in trying to escape anyway. The despair was real and all-encompassing. They would reach them whether they ran or stayed, so why not go to them? Let them take the pain away... Accept that there was no longer anything good in life...

She knew the dementors were getting to her now. Those thoughts were not her own, and yet she couldn't stop them from growing. She slipped and fell on the wet grass just as she was nearing the top of the hill where Severus was still violently struggling to produce a Patronus that refused to show up. But the presence of the dementors was decreasing his will-power, making his efforts worse rather than better.

"Dinah!" he managed to wrench his gaze from his wand long enough to see her on the ground. He took a step towards her but she held up a hand.

"I'm fine," she murmured. It wasn't as if it mattered, anyway. More dementors were coming and one of them had apparently singled her out already and was floating in her direction.

Severus growled again and turned back to the dementors, stretching out his wand; "_Expecto Patronum! Expecto Patronum! _Expecto Patronum!" But it was no use. The light would not form.

Dinah watched him in distress for a few moments before remembering somewhere deep inside of her that she had a Patronus, too. A snake one. She could use it, and it wouldn't matter anymore. Severus knew she was a parselmouth and he needed her help right now. She had to fight these horrible creatures; had to remember that all hope was _not _lost.

She stood, forcing herself to summon a happy thought, _any _happy thought, as she rushed towards the dementors, her wand outstretched.

An image of Severus accepting her parselmouth abilities and telling her that it didn't matter and that he understood entered her mind, her lips formed the shouted phrase "_Expecto Patronum_!", and the silver snake erupted from the tip of her wand.

She watched with wide-eyed awe as its sleek form darted amongst the dementors, driving them back and away from her and Severus.

"A snake," Severus murmured, his eyes watching as it slithered in and out of the collection of dark creatures; "Your Patronus is a snake."

"Yes," she replied, a small smile forming on her face as she continued to observe its form, directing it with her mind to swirl around Severus a few times before heading back into the fray of dementors.

Severus watched the ribbon of white and silver light circle him, and turned a smile to Dinah. A smile of acceptance and of true happiness, and she smiled back.

They had an understanding.

Severus's smile widened and he turned back to the dementors, raising his wand again and shouting "_Expecto Patronum_!" And this time, the doe appeared. Her light joined the snake's and she also began darting in and out of the dementors, slipping through and around them with ease, keeping pace with Dinah's Patronus. "She's moving differently," Severus mused as the dementors continued to shrink away. He didn't seem upset, only contemplative. "Does don't normally move like that. It's like she's trying to match your snake."

"You're right; she's almost _slithering _among them!" Dinah exclaimed, realizing that Severus was correct as she continued to watch the team of Patronuses drive off the dementors. Only three remained, and they were backing off towards the forbidden forest.

He laughed; "It's true, she is. It feels natural. And right. They're a perfect team."

"Severus," she smiled and he returned it again. Everything was perfect; their Patronuses were matched, they were matched... and all of the darkness and despair was gone as the last dementor disappeared into the distant trees.

"Wow..." Dinah lowered her wand after her snake returned to her, and tucked it back into her pocket. "We did it. We took care of them."

"No thanks to whatever Auror is stationed here this weekend, that much is certain," Severus chuckled, putting his own wand away. "I suspect it's Longbottom."

"Well, I don't know who Longbottom is, but knowing _you _Severus, I'm going to guess it probably _isn't _Longbottom."

"And exactly what is that supposed to mean?" he teased.

She laughed; "Well, your tone suggests that you dislike them. And, honestly, you're more inclined to dislike people for your own bizarre reasons than you are to dislike them for faults that are actually their own. If you think this Longbottom is incompetent, it's probably just because you don't like him or her."

"Thank you for your assessment," he rolled his eyes, but his tone was good-natured. "Well, he _was _incompetent in his earlier years, that's certain. I suppose I could give the boy slightly more credit since he _did _destroy The Dark Lord's last Horcrux and my murderer, Nagini."

"Oh," Dinah frowned, remembering that it had been a snake that had killed – or sort of nearly killed – Severus last year. A snake controlled by a parselmouth.

"Speaking of snakes," Severus smiled, and she had a feeling that he suspected her train of thought and was trying to be cheerful on purpose; "Perhaps we should find one. It's certainly warm enough and you told them to keep an eye out for dementors. We could ask if they've noticed anything like this before; come to think of it, we didn't end up finding one on Wednesday because of Slughorn. This is a good time to continue."

"Um, okay..." she agreed hesitantly, walking up to him and taking his hand, wishing to be in contact with him. She tried not to worry about his thoughts on snakes because of Nagini. After all, hadn't he just been happy about her Patronus, enough to where his Patronus even started moving like hers? Still, she was feeling worried.

His hand, warm in hers, squeezed for a moment, comforting her as he led her back down the path from whence they'd come, towards the lake again. The frozen affect was gone, and everything appeared normal. They found a snake sunning itself in a patch of dirt not too far from where they had been settled for lunch earlier.

"Do you know this one?" Severus asked her.

"No," she looked straight at him, making sure her gaze did not turn to the adder even peripherally. "But that's not necessarily a bad thing. It might have seen things either way."

"Why are you staring at me like that?" he backed up a little from her intensity.

"Sorry. If I look at the snake what I say will come out in parseltongue. It's not something I can control. Because I hid my ability for so long, I never managed to learn to direct it properly."

"Ah. I see. That makes sense. Well, perhaps you can learn now," he smiled.

"Perhaps," she smiled, a little uneasily. After all, Severus accepting her was one thing. The whole rest of the world was another. "Well, I'm going to talk to it now. Don't mind me," she knelt down on the ground. After he had nodded and joined her, she turned to the snake. "Hello?"

The snake flinched and its head shot up to her, a curious look coming over its eyes. After talking to them off and on for twenty-two years, Dinah had become quite good at identifying snakes and individuals and reading their facial expressions, which they did have even if they weren't as extreme or easy to read as humans' were. "You can speak!" the snake exclaimed. It was male.

Dinah smiled at him; "Yes, I can. Don't worry, I like snakes. I'm not going to hurt you; I just wondered if you had seen any of those creatures before. I don't know if you saw them; they were on top of the hill there," she pointed.

"I saw them," the snake murmured. "They are here sometimes. We animals can see them, but they do not affect us much. They like humans more. We can tell they are evil, though. They live in the forest."

"The Forbidden Forest? All of them?" Dinah was surprised.

"I think so. They always come from there, especially during the storms. There are more of them now that hibernation is over. There were less back in autumn. I think they are increasing."

"That only makes sense," she sighed. "Do you think they like any specific person? Anyone they follow around a lot?"

The snake seemed to consider this for a moment, and then nodded. "There is one person they like to follow, but I don't see him a lot."  
"Him. It's a male?"

"Yes, I think so. It moves like one, but he has always been very far away."

"It's not... a tall, muscular man with short hair and glasses, or an old man, is it?" she asked, describing Eugene and Slughorn.

"No," the snake shook its head. "The man has long hair and does not move as though he is old."

"Long hair," Dinah's gaze shifted to Severus, but she knew it couldn't be him. The only other man she knew with long hair was Sirius. But she knew better than to ask for more details. Snakes were quite near-sighted and if the man was far away it would not be able to tell much besides what it had already mentioned. And animals were very straightforward. If the snake had noticed anything else of note about the person he would have said so. Besides, it wasn't as though the snake had known he was supposed to be noticing anything.

What concerned her more right now was the uneasy way in which Severus was watching her. She swallowed back her worry and returned her gaze to the snake. "Thank you. That information was very helpful."

"You're welcome. The evil things like the windows around that side of the castle, too. They like that side the best," it nodded its head towards the castle and titled his head to indicate one of the sides. The side where Eugene's room and Dumbledore's office were situated.

"I see. Thank you. If you see anything else or if you see one of those other people I mentioned, do you think you could try to find me and let me know? I'll be outside far from the school on occasion. Don't come too close to the students... most people don't trust snakes."

"I know," the snake said, and Dinah knew that he did. Snakes were very aware of how humans felt about them, and the old adage 'they're more afraid of you than you are of them' was one-hundred percent true. Why could so few people see that?

"Well, thank you," she smiled at the snake, showing her gratitude.

"Sure," he nodded. "I will tell you if I see anything," and he slithered away.

When he was far enough away that Dinah knew her words wouldn't default into parseltongue she sighed and turned back to Severus. "Well, that's that then."

"I see," he looked even more uneasy as he nodded at her. "Well, what did it say?"

She quickly conveyed the information that she had gained, and he nodded along with her. When she was finished she couldn't help but tack on in a whisper; "It bothers you, doesn't it? Hearing it?"

"Um," he looked a little guilty. "Well, a bit. I'm used to hearing it from the Dark Lord, and the hissing sounds are strange. Coming from you, especially. But-"

"I'm so sorry," she murmured, trying not to cry. "I know a snake killed you or nearly did. I know your old master was a parselmouth, but I-"

"Dinah," he moved swiftly to her side and gathered her into his arms, pulling her against him and whispering into her ear; "Don't read too much into that. Yes, it's awkward to hear for the first time and yes I have to fight with some of my preconceived notions but I have already told you that it changes nothing. I meant that."

She flushed, his close proximity to her a little intense after everything that had happened this afternoon. "I'm so glad. But, still... you don't think I could be evil? I mean, Herpo the Foul, Salazar Slytherin, Voldemort..."

"Dinah," he laughed a little, tightening his grip on her, his lips curved into a smile against her ear. "Stop that," he murmured, his fingers gently sliding up to caress her face. "There is no way I could _ever _consider _you _to be evil, Dinah. The idea is utterly preposterous."

"Mm," she murmured, her eyes dancing with joy as she moved to gaze into his; "Really?"

"Of course it is," he pressed his lips lightly to hers, his kiss teasingly soft as though promising much, much more. "You're silly to worry. Now, shall we go and finish our meal? We can restart the fire now that the dementors are gone."

"Yes," she let her fingers entwine with his. "But will they come back?"

"Not after the beating they took from us today," he shook his head, leading her back to their mini picnic site and relighting the fire with _Incendio_. He settled down next to her, one warm winding around her waist and the fingers of the other sliding through her hair. "What happened today was amazing, Dinah. Our Patronuses like that. I had been unable to conjure anything more than a very weak one for at least a week as you know, probably longer. But as soon as I saw your snake and realized... how perfectly aligned we two were, I was happy enough to summon her. _You _did that for me."

The sincerity of his words was almost overwhelming, but she smiled and shifted in his embrace so that she could more easily see him, letting the fingers of her own right hand reach up and trace his cheek, losing herself in the soft intensity of his gaze. "It was right like that, Severus. I'd never felt so whole when using my snake Patronus, so accepted, so powerful. It was like I could do anything with you by my side. I've never felt like that before. I usually feel like a useless coward."

"You are so much more than that, Dinah," he whispered, pulling her close to him for a long kiss, his lips moving against hers effortlessly, her arms reaching up to clasp together behind his neck, pulling his head closer to her.

"Our lunch," she murmured when he finally pulled away from her.

"I'm not hungry," he purred, his hands sliding from her hair down to her shoulders, then down her arms where they broke off and clutched her waist, pulling her against him as he kissed her again.

She wasn't worried about him not being hungry this time because neither was she. She felt a moan escaping her throat as his fingers found the small of her back, and she leaned forward, her body moving of its own accord as she slid her fingers down his shoulders to rest on his chest, and then found his buttons again, this time successfully undoing the top few as his hands slid along her hips to her thighs.

"Mm, Dinah," he murmured, flinching slightly when her fingers first rested upon the tiny bit of bare chest that had been revealed underneath the neck of his frock coat. Dinah found herself staring, a little open-mouthed. This was the most she'd ever seen of his body, save his arm with the dark mark on it that he'd shown her once as an adult to make a point about Voldemort.

She'd felt him before, though, and she was feeling him again now when he pulled her to him onto his lap, his fingers searching for the buttons on the back of her dress, undoing them to the point where he was able to slide the top down, revealing her bare shoulders and the straps of her bra.

"Dinah, I have never- " he stammered, an expression of awe on his face which quickly vanished and was replaced by determination as his head came forward again, his lips kissing her neck in a thousand places, wandering towards her collarbone.

"Severus. Severus," she moaned, clutching his waist, pulling him to her, her eyes shut in ecstasy and her foot again creeping up his leg, while a tiny voice inside of her tried to warn her of something. What was it trying to warn her about? She couldn't think, couldn't think of it at all. The most that managed to occur to her was that they were still out on the Hogwarts grounds, and she forced herself to draw back from him to meet his eyes. "Severus... public place..."

He growled and cast a few quick protective spells, drawing his wand in a circle around them, and adding a bit more _Incendio _to the fire to perk it up, heating up the cold air to the point where it felt more like summer than late winter. "There. We are protected. No one will be able to see or find us. Not today. Not now," his lips caught hers, his tongue forcing them open, and she responded willingly, unbuttoning the rest of his shirt and pushing it back off his shoulders, her fingers tracing the muscles of his stomach, chest, and arms as she slid the sleeves down. Her own dress, by this time, was removed to her waist.

Severus's body trembled slightly at her touch and he pulled away from her face, his dark, awestruck eyes meeting hers for a few silent, glorious moments. Then his gaze traveled down to see what he had revealed and his fingers ever-so-gently traced her bare skin. She reciprocated again, own fingers reaching for him. He was beautiful, she decided. Yes, his adolescent body was gangly and awkward, but she could feel the muscles' tightness underneath his skin, preparing to finish growing and add mass, to form into those of a grown man. The man she had known a few months ago and whose body she had still not seen. He was already on his way towards that body.

Severus frowned after a moment, letting his fingers leave her waist and travel to his left arm, tracing the faded dark mark. "Dinah, it's still there," he said softly.

"I know," she murmured, placing her hand over his, tracing it with him; "Don't worry. It means nothing. The youthening potion, then, isn't taking us back in time, it's simply reverting our bodies to a younger form. That's why we still have our memories and knowledge, and you still have that. We're still us. That's the main thing."

"But it's permanently... a part of me. What's the good of sending me back to this age if I can't erase it?"

"We're not supposed to erase it," she took his arm into both hands, leaning forward and placing a tender kiss on the dark mark as he moaned a little and flinched again. "It's all right. I accept this part of you. I accept every part of you. Just as you have done for me."

"Oh, Dinah..." he murmured, pulling her body to him, tangling his fingers in her hair. "You have no idea. I've never felt like this before, Dinah... this is amazing. Why... why did we wait this long?"

"I can't remember," she admitted, wrapping her arms around his bare waist again and pressing her lips to the skin of his neck, feeling his body flinch with pleasure at her touch, his arms tightening around her, wandering across her skin with a light, sensual touch.

"You know," he murmured with a slight chuckle after a bit more kissing and exploring each other. "If you don't mind, I think I'm going to say that I lost my virginity at sixteen. I think that's valid, don't you?"

She laughed, her fingers tangled in his own black hair; "Whatever you want. You do realize that we are doing _exactly _what we would be punishing the sixth-years for. Suspending them, even."

"Mm, but we have authority that they do not, regardless of what age we appear to be. It's very... satisfying to break the rules..." he smiled and pressed his lips to her neck again.

"So glad you think so," she murmured, pulling him to her as they continued their extended foreplay. After awhile they were both undressed on the damp, cool grass. But Dinah felt too warm to notice. "Oh, um...wait, Severus. Protection."

"I have protected us," he hissed, drawing away from her lips long enough to make an agitated gesture with his head at the space around them where he had placed the spells.

"Not _that _kind!" she exclaimed, and after a moment he got the message.

He sighed and flicked his wand once, muttering the incantation and then tossing the stick aside where it landed near their long-untouched food, taking her back into his arms. "There," he murmured into her ear, igniting more desire within her. "Now there is nothing left to hold us back."

"Yes!" she exclaimed her agreement, turning her head and kissing him, her arms wandering back around his waist as his wrapped around her shoulders, the intensity continuing to build. They were just about to complete the final step when the little voice that had been poking at the back of her head finally got through. She forced herself to release his shoulders from her embrace and leaned back to meet his questioning gaze. "Wait, Severus – what about Lily?"

He considered her question for the briefest moment and then met her gaze with a warm smile. "You are all that I see right now."

Dinah wasn't sure if that was entirely true or not, but she didn't let it bother her. The words were enough, and he had shown no signs of stopping for a long time now. She would give him her trust. She smiled and nodded, reaching her arms out for him again and letting him have all of her.


	101. Afterglow

A/N: Thanks to all of my readers for their nice reviews for the last chapter and for their congratulations on 100 chapters! Wow, I cannot believe I wrote this much. My current prediction is that this story will reach 150 chapters or so, making it 2/3 complete at this point. But my prediction could change :) I hope you are all still enjoying the mystery. Again, it's my first time trying my hand at such a plot and I know it might seem a little ... confusing at times what with all the stuff going on but I'm trying to start bringing stuff together now. Still, it will be a little slow-going, so bear with me.

So now that Severus and Dinah are involved in a more intimate relationship I have been debating expanding on their intimate scenes and posting them on the website in an M-rated fic called "The Serpents' Kiss – Bonus", just containing those scenes along with references to the chapter from which they have come. I want to wait until I have more than one scene so that's still a little down the road, but would anyone be interested in reading such a thing? I don't want to change this story to an M rating because I really want it to be available to a wider audience and to be found in normal searches. Anyway, let me know what you think.

Keep enjoying and thanks again!

* * *

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND ONE

Afterglow

* * *

The breeze felt cool on her heated skin, but it was a pleasant coolness, Dinah couldn't help but think as she lay in the grass by Severus's side, their unclothed bodies resting against each other and their breathing slow and even. Her fingers stroked his shoulder as his slid along her waist, their bodies entwined. Resting and relaxing after the greatest moment of their lives.

Severus's head was resting against hers, his hair soft as it brushed her face and his eyes closed. He looked more peaceful and happy than she had ever seen him. "That was perfect," he murmured. "You are perfect."

"Mm, you too," she whispered, closing her own eyes, feeling the gentleness of his touch, thinking she would be perfectly happy if they could stay here forever just like this.

They were silent for a long time again, just listening to the breeze rustling the surrounding grass, the sounds of the lake as tiny waves lapped up against the shoreline, and the flickering of the slowly-dying _Incendio _fire.

It had been so long since Dinah had enjoyed such a moment, and she hadn't realized just how much her body had wanted it. Severus, of course, had never experienced such a thing before, and his astonishment at how glorious it truly was had been voiced quite a lot throughout the experience. She felt her face flush with pleasure again when she thought that she had been the one to give it to him. It was always good to know that your partner was just as satisfied as you were, and she had no doubt whatsoever after that experience that Severus was satisfied.

And he had been amazing as well, of course. More than amazing. Just as she had said, he had been perfect. The whole experience had been perfect. Maybe part of it was the adolescent hormones, but she had never known that sex could be that wonderful. Yes, with Dylan she had thought she'd seen and felt it all, but Severus... Severus was another story entirely. He had opened up an entire new world of pleasure for her, and she didn't think she could be any more satisfied with an intimate encounter than she had been this afternoon. Unless, of course, it happened again.

And again... and again...

She resisted a giggle and snuggled into his arms, wanting to say I love you, but feeling that the words weren't needed right now as his arms tightened around her, his lips curving into a smile as they kissed her hair. Yes, it had been perfect because she loved him this much. An encounter such as this with the person you _truly _loved was better than any fling or one-night stand or even long-term relationship with the wrong person could ever be. Love... real love... made sex perfect. Took it to a level that was deeper than physical or even emotional. It was spiritual as well. She had connected with Severus so perfectly and so intimately that she felt in many ways as though they were one. And _that _was what had been perfect.

"How late is it?" he murmured into her ear after another what felt like hours of just lying in each others' arms.

She opened her eyes and looked up at the sky. At the sun which was starting to lower itself toward the horizon, although there was probably a good hour left before it made it there.

"Maybe four?" she shrugged, shifting a little so that she could meet his eyes and his smiling face. "I guess we should probably head in before it gets dark. Dinner and all... I confess, I'm _finally_ starting to get a little hungry."

He laughed; tracing her cheek with a finger and kissing her lips, letting their mouths linger together for what felt like more hours. "Are you? Well, I think I am as well. You took quite a lot out of me this afternoon."

Dinah flushed and tried not to take that literally. "Me too. But I was happy to give it."

"Me too," he smiled, nuzzling her neck. "We should eat, then. And there is probably research we can do afterwards and then maybe..." his voice slowed a little and he drew back, letting their eyes connect again. "Maybe... maybe tonight. Again...?" his gaze was hopeful, questioning.

She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his, wrapping her arms around him as a smile and a flush of pleasure crept into her face. "Yes. Again."

* * *

Dinah and Severus wandered the grounds looking for more snakes on Sunday, holding hands and ignoring the stares of any and all students that passed by. This time they were taking a route closer to the school, tracing the path they had previously wandered on their first lunchtime debate and near where they had sat and talked by the castle wall on two separate occasions when they were still adults.

The sun was shining and Dinah felt a fresh spring in her step like nothing she'd ever felt before. As planned, she and Severus had enjoyed each other a second time last night, and then a third time this morning. She flushed as she thought about it and turned to her companion.

Severus also appeared to have a very healthy glow on his pale face, and he was half-smiling, not something he usually did when there were this many students around. "Yes?" he asked, his gaze teasing.

She chuckled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear; "Just looking at you. Anyway, I hope that if there are snakes this close to the school they might have seen some things. Do you think whoever this person is will hang around the grounds more now that the weather is nicer?"

"If so, then they don't feel much need to be cautious. Plus, I can only assume they've noticed that dementors like to follow them around. That would be... disturbing."

"That's an understatement," she agreed, pressing in a little closer to him when they reached a spot where there were fewer students. She smiled as his hand squeezed hers and then his grip loosened and he let it wander up and down her arm, lightly stroking her skin. She shivered with pleasure and rested her head on his shoulder, turning to him and briefly hugging his waist before letting go and smiling up into his eyes.

The student population in the area grew and so they went back to just holding hands again, wandering towards the lake when the snakes around the school proved to be sparse. Not that Dinah hadn't expected it, what with all the students around.

She was broke out of her thoughts by a flash of black as a large animal ran at them at top speed, coming from the lake. They had to step sharply apart to avoid it crashing into one of them, but that didn't stop something else from running into Dinah's legs with an indignant yip. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she looked down to see a bright red fox, sopping wet as though it had been swimming in the lake, shaking itself off as the large black dog came back to investigate what had happened.

Dinah gasped; "Lucy! Sirius!"

The fox looked up and yipped in greeting, standing with both paws resting on Dinah's legs while the dog sat nearby, his tongue hanging out and breathing heavy after his run.

Dinah took one look at the fox and squealed in delight. "Ahh, you two are _so cute_! Severus, _look_! Isn't she adorable?"

"Whatever, now would you please stop _squealing_?" he demanded, his eyes darting around the grounds to see if any students had heard them, but the coast appeared to be clear.

She sighed. "I can't help it. Lucy, really, you _know _how I react to cuteness," she giggled, unable to resist scratching her fox friend behind her pointed ears and patting Sirius on the head. She paused, considering the fox: "Why are you all wet?"

Lucy exhaled in what seemed to be a sigh and turned her head towards Sirius, who barked and came over, pushing on her with his nose and shoving her over.

"He pushed you?" Dinah guessed, enjoying this game of charades.

Lucy nodded, nipping at Sirius. His response was to shove at her a little harder, causing her to stumble.

"Oh, now stop it, that's not nice!" Dinah put her hands on her hips and scolded Sirius. "Bad doggy!" Severus snickered behind her, looking like he was enjoying this. Sirius quite clearly turned an agitated look on Severus, but the latter wasn't perturbed.

Lucy nudged the black dog with her head. He looked at her and nodded, and then Lucy walked back up to Dinah and pawed at her legs for attention.

"Aww!" Dinah squealed again; "You are so _cute_! This is so exciting! I never got to play with a fox before, the real ones are so skittish, but not you! This is so-" she broke off when Severus covered her mouth with his hand.

He sighed when Dinah narrowed her eyes at him. "You've made your point, Dinah. Now enough about cuteness!"

She sighed right back at him, and then her eyes glinted as she got an idea. She lightly nipped at the palm of his hand.

"Ow!" he drew back, flushing as he met her gaze. "Not _now_, Dinah..."

She giggled and turned back to the animals. "Do you think Lucy is trying to tell us something?"

"Why don't you just ask her?" Severus muttered, rubbing at his hand where she'd bit him.

"Are you trying to tell us something?" Dinah asked Lucy, who was now staring at Severus with a curious expression on her face.

Lucy nodded and turned in a quick circle, her tail twitching in excitement.

Dinah squealed again but managed to cut herself off when Severus glared at her. She turned back to Lucy; "Okay, what is it?"

Lucy sat for a moment, looking thoughtful and watching her dog companion. After a minute she stood and sniffed around at the ground, Sirius following her lead.

"Oh, they must have caught the scent of something!" Dinah exclaimed, clapping her hands together as the animals' message became clear. "We should follow them!"

"If you insist," he sighed and they followed the two small creatures' lead. It took them a little bit but they soon found a pace that seemed to work well for everyone. Passing the lake, Sirius again used his nose to shove Lucy into the water. She got out quickly and nipped at his ear that was still in reach.

Dinah sighed and laughed; "We're never going to get anywhere if these animals don't stop fooling around."

"Black, do you really think this is necessary?" Severus muttered, pointing at Lucy. "It's not exactly summer, you know."

"Ah, that's right," Dinah agreed, concerned for her friend's welfare. "Isn't it a little cold out to be wet? Even with a fur coat?"

Lucy shook herself out, walking a short distance away so that she didn't soak Dinah and Severus, and nodded. She walked under Sirius and rubbed her face against his leg in an effort to dry off.

Dinah turned away and buried her face in Severus's neck, repressing another squeal of delight at the sheer cuteness that she was being forced to witness.

His arms slipped around her waist, a little bewildered, and he whispered; "What are you doing?"

"Suppressing," she muttered. "If I look at them anymore I'm going to squeal and I know you don't want that. So hide me."

He laughed, leaning his head on hers so that he could murmur into her ear, "I'd love to, but I don't really think that's going to help you much right now."  
She flushed and drew away, nodding, and then turned back to the animals. "No more lake pushing! In fact, you should lead us down a path away from it, okay? Do you need me to cast a hot air charm?" she addressed Lucy.

Lucy shook her head and ran off towards the forest, Sirius keeping pace with her.

"Wait, slow down!" Dinah exclaimed after awhile, as she and Severus were having a hard time keeping up. Animals certainly had a level of energy that humans did not, after awhile. The dog and fox slowed near the Forbidden Forest and began sniffing around as though searching for something. After a moment Sirius's ears perked up and he took off towards the edge of the forest.


	102. Clues

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWO

Clues

* * *

They all stopped where the dark trees began, and Dinah exchanged a glance with Severus. This was where the snake had said the dementors came from. "In the forest?" she asked the animals.

Lucy nodded and darted into the forest, Sirius close behind. Dinah and Severus followed, the soft layer of leaf litter on the ground muffling their footsteps as they climbed over logs and stones and through various plant life and small tree saplings, the forest dark save for the occasional tiny bits of sunlight that made it through the trees and dappled spots on the ground. It was quiet and peaceful, and Dinah thought it might be a nice place to come to with Severus alone, if not for the fact that there were dementors around.

Finally, they all settled near a fallen log and some rocks, the darkness of the trees sheltering them from the view of anyone on the Hogwarts grounds.

"Well?" Severus asked, his hand wandering to sit on Dinah's hip in a fairly intimate gesture; "What are we looking for here?"

Dinah tried not to squirm too much, but couldn't help shifting her feet a little in the soft earth. "Yes. What's up?"

Lucy looked around, and transfigured back into her human self. Dinah tried not to be too disappointed at the disappearance of one half of the cuteness. Taking a moment to straighten herself up and cast that hot air charm Dinah had mentioned earlier, Lucy grinned at her friends. "Sorry about that. Can't have someone seeing, you know. Besides it was fun to have you chase us around."

Dinah laughed; "Yes, I'm sure. Um... sorry if I was annoying. You know me and animals. I don't think that's really going to stop anytime soon..." she felt a little awkward looking at her friend in human form after she had been fawning over the fox for the past fifteen minutes.

Lucy giggled, "Oh, you weren't annoying. I thought it was fun. People don't generally like to interact with fox…with a few exceptions, so it's nice to get pats and such. Sorry about running into you earlier. I was trying to avoid hitting you but then you moved to avoid hitting him," she said indicating Sirius, still in his dog form and sniffing idly around.

"He's not going to turn back?" Dinah asked, gesturing to the dog.

"Probably not," she said, looking over at him. "He likes running around as Snuffles and he might be able to pick up on something this way too. Um, so we got Eugene's scent off that potion bottle. He must work with pomegranates a lot. They were heavily mixed with his scent. Severus's scent was mixed in there too. Sirius was able to differentiate them better than I could, but we're both able to recognize the scent."

"Eugene's scent!" Severus exclaimed suddenly, his hand tightening a little against Dinah and causing her to shift again. "That's what you followed into here, isn't it?"

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "I'm afraid we lost it when we came in here though. So many creatures roam here…"

"We need to be careful," Dinah murmured. "There are dementors in here, too." She turned to Severus, "You're thinking that the test subject is in here often enough that this is where the dementors like to be. And Eugene must come in here to communicate with the test subject."

"Exactly," he looked pleased, and Dinah felt a little vindicated now that she'd come to the right conclusion about something for once. "That's exactly what I was thinking. Lucy, did either of you notice the pomegranate shampoo scent in here?"

"Well, no we—" Lucy was interrupted by Sirius's barking and scratching at a large tree.

"He must have found something!" Dinah said, and the three of them hurried over to see what Sirius had discovered.

Lucy knelt on the ground next to her companion and gingerly picked up a partially broken glass. In the bottom were the remnants of a brownish-yellow liquid. "What is that?" Lucy asked, looking a bit disgusted. "Do you have any clue, Severus?"

Severus reluctantly let his hand slip away from Dinah and knelt down, taking the glass from Lucy and sniffing inside of it. "A touch of lemon, I think... the color appears to be the result of the decay of some sort of plant material. Perhaps daisy roots?" he looked at Dinah.

"Daisy roots," she repeated. "And lemon? You're thinking it's the youthening potion?"

"That's my train of thought. A very old batch, out here for quite some time. Black, do you get any pomegranate out of this? It may be quite bitter and old, but if there's any in there..." he held the glass out to Sirius.

Lucy watched her fiancée stick his snout into the glass to sniff it. "Careful," she warned him when he quickly pulled his nose out of the glass. He looked at Severus and nodded. "He did smell the pomegranate and I'm guessing it smelled…oh! You did cut yourself!" Lucy said, catching him trying to lick at the wound.

"Aww, the poor puppy," Dinah's animal-lover mode kicked in again, causing Severus to roll his eyes. "Will he be okay?"

"Come here," Lucy said, grabbing his head and forcing him to look at her so she could see the cut better. She took a handkerchief out of her pocket and dabbed at the wound, "It doesn't look too bad. Head wounds do tend to bleed a lot," she said, continuing to fuss over Snuffles.

Dinah sighed and sat back; "So what does it all mean?"

"A number of things," Severus listed them with his fingers. "Number one, the test subject and Eugene have been here. Number two, the potion is old enough that it has to have been out here since before winter, implying that even though he was staying in Eugene's rooms at the time he still came out here on occasion. Number three, the test subject is very much a test subject and has always been and is probably still taking the potion regularly, trying to keep himself at whatever age the potion takes him to, within days at least, maybe closer. I sense some desperation there along with the despair."

"But why?"

"That's where our deductions always stop it seems," Severus said with a sigh. "The why."

Lucy sat back and sighed, "Why is always the hardest question to answer. That's probably why it comes last."

"Last?" Dinah turned a curious gaze to her friend.

"You know; you're basic investigative questions. Who, what, where, when, and why," Lucy explained, "What, where, and when tend to be the easiest to answer. Who's usually not too bad but why is almost always the hardest to answer."

"Oh," Dinah laughed a little. "You're right, of course. And sometimes 'how' is also included in there. I think it's often as hard to answer as why, although not always. It probably depends on the context."

Lucy nodded, "Yes, probably. This is all rather frustrating and I'm not even that involved," she sighed, hugging Sirius, "Sometimes I just wish everything was normal again. Of course I guess nothing's ever really normal and even with all the weirdness this year hasn't been that bad," she conceded, twisting her engagement ring around her finger.

"Yes," Severus murmured agreement, reaching his arms around Dinah's waist again and pulling her back to him, resting his head over her shoulder as she sighed and leaned into his embrace. "This year has not been all bad."

Lucy tilted her head as she regarded them. "Is there something going on?" she asked.

"Oh, um... nothing, really," Dinah was sure the color of her face revealed her as a complete liar.

Severus sighed; "You can share if you wish."

"Really?" she turned her head to stare at him, surprised.

He shrugged, smirking a little. "Well, I assume it would only be a matter of time before you told your friend at any rate. I've learned a thing or two about women since you and Lucy came to this school."

Dinah chuckled and nuzzled her head against his for a moment; "You have, I'll say that much. But... even in front of _him_?" she pointed at Sirius, who looked a little offended at her remark and stalked off to sniff around the tree some more.

Severus's smirked a little more. "Perhaps especially in front of him."  
"Ah, I see. I know something about men as well," she teased, realizing that Severus apparently did possess that normal behavior which pit him competitively against other men in his quest to appear virile. And he and Sirius were already rivals of a sort.

Lucy pursed her lips, "Well, are you going to tell me? You already chased away my fur coat," she teased, glancing over at Sirius, "and I'm afraid I'm not quite wearing the proper robes for the weather conditions."

"All details are not necessary, however," Severus murmured into her ear, so low that only she could hear him, and she had a sudden idea that he was getting second thoughts.

"Don't worry; I would never divulge more than necessary," she murmured back in the same low tone. "I don't have to tell at all, if you're so inclined."  
"But it is going to eat at you and drive you crazy whenever you're around Lucy and especially if we were to... walk in on them again," he grimaced a little. "I'd hate to have all that strain to your system on my conscience."

She laughed, her fingers entwining with his once more. "Thank you, that's sweet of you."

"Hurry before I change my mind," Severus grumbled, causing Dinah to laugh again.

"Okay, okay," she turned to meet Lucy's still-curious gaze, her face still flushed she was sure. She tried to come up with the best way in which to word this, and then smiled when it came to her. "Do you see this outfit that I'm wearing right now?" she gestured down at the Muggle shirt and skirt she was wearing.

"No, Dinah," Lucy teased, fighting to keep her face serious, "I don't see any outfit, in fact you've been naked this whole time."

Of course her friend had to use _that _choice of words. Dinah sighed and shot her an annoyed glare.

"What? I was just teasing."

"You're ruining it!" she almost whined, her adolescence coming back to her.

Severus chuckled into her ear and she felt him shaking his head. "Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea after all."

"Sorry!" Lucy said, feeling bad, "I didn't mean to. I promise not to tease now, but if you'd rather tell me later or something that's fine."

"No, now I have to tell you," Dinah pouted, trying to force her old excited mood to come back, which wasn't hard when Severus leaned in to her again. She grinned. "Well, it was very, very easy for me to find this outfit in my closet this morning, and do you know why?" Severus drew away and shot her a very confused look and she playfully placed her fingers over his lips, shushing him before turning back to Lucy.

"Um, no," Lucy said, confused.

"My clothes are now organized!" Dinah exclaimed with glee, a huge smile spreading across her face as she leaned forward, pressing her palms together and waiting for Lucy's reaction.

"They were disorganized?" Lucy was still confused. Dinah raised a single eyebrow at her, and it finally registered; "Oh! Well, congratulations I suppose!"

Severus sighed, rubbing his forehead; "We're still using that metaphor?"

"It's a good metaphor," Dinah stated, turning to him with a nod.

"Whatever you say," he laughed a little.

Lucy nodded, "It's certainly useful for when the students are around. You can come back now," she called to Sirius, "it's just sex." The dog ambled back so eagerly that she smiled, "Not our sex, you goof. Theirs."

Dinah felt her face flush when Lucy was so blunt about it, and Severus looked much the same.

Sirius walked over to the couple and sniffed Dinah before turning his nose to Severus and repeating the action.

"All right, this feels a little invasive," Dinah murmured, backing away from the dog, her stomach churning a little as she wondered what on Earth he could be sniffing for and what on Earth kinds of scents he might get.

"Very," Severus agreed, glaring at him.

"What's he trying to do; check to see if we're lying? Can he do that?" she turned to Lucy, pleading with her eyes for her friend to either explain or do something about this.

"I don't think so," Lucy said, looking confused, "I've no idea what he's doing." To Dinah's relief, Snuffles's sniffing came to an abrupt stop and he ambled over to sniff at his fiancée instead. "What are you doing?" Lucy asked. "You don't have to sniff me. If anything I smell like_ you_."

After he was done he sat and regarded the three humans. Lucy considered, "Maybe he was trying to get our scents. I mean I don't know that he's ever sniffed either of you. Is that what you were doing?"

Snuffles stuck his nose in the air. Either refusing to answer or sniffing the air, Dinah wasn't sure.

Laughing, Lucy said, "Oh, fine. Be that way. Come here and keep me warm. You got me all chilled, dumping me in the lake like that."

Dinah had to laugh, feeling a little better now that Sirius's keen nose was not stuck in her face. Besides, he _was _very cute, she thought as he snuggled back up to Lucy. "Well, I guess that's all for now? If you come out here again, be careful. We have reason to believe that dementors frequent the forbidden forest. Um... but if you catch any more of Eugene's or the test subject's scents in here can you try to investigate or let us know? It would be nice if we could figure out where the test subject's permanent encampment is." Severus nodded agreement.

"Yeah, no problem. Um, I should warn you we didn't follow the scent trail to its origin. We didn't want to end up too close to the school but it seemed to come from that direction. Oh, and we got nothing but the smell of whiskey and mints off the magazines," Lucy said, reaching her hand around Snuffles and rubbing his chest.

Dinah chuckled and shook her head; "Slughorn, probably. Well, we knew it was a long shot. The main thing with those is that we know Eugene's been lying about everything."

Lucy nodded, "Yes, we do know that. I'll see you tomorrow then? I'm back tonight, but I assume you'll be busy…" she blushed.

Dinah blushed as well, starting to think that maybe sharing hadn't been such a good idea after all. Then again, Severus was right, she probably would have blurted it out to Lucy very soon anyway, especially as they had sort of been talking about it all year and Lucy had been quite curious about it... plus the incidents over Christmas and Dinah telling Lucy that it would probably never happen, and not to mention walking in on Lucy and Sirius all the time...

"Yes, well then," Severus said, a little louder than normal, standing up and brushing himself off before holding his hand out for Dinah. "I assume you want to transform back if you're going to Hogsmeade. This would be the best place in which to do it."

"Yeah. I can't exactly leave the grounds if I haven't entered them," she turned back into her fox form, taking a couple steps over to Sirius and licking at his wound.

Dinah opened her mouth but was cut off by Severus's firm, "Don't."

She laughed. "Fine, fine," she wandered over to the animals and petted them both. "Ready to head out of the Forbidden Forest?"

Lucy nodded and started trotting out of the forest, back the way they'd come.

"Well," Dinah inhaled the fresh air when they emerged back onto the sunny grounds. "I'd suggest we try and follow Eugene's scent all the way to the source now but I guess that's probably something Snuffles should do alone. It would be easy enough passing him off as our pet dog but people don't generally have pet foxes."

Lucy sat and nudged at Sirius, but he did not move. She appeared to roll her eyes and then nudged him again to no effect.

"Don't worry about it," Dinah said. "We can always do it on Wednesday or something. There may be new smells by then, too."

Lucy stood and rubbed against both Dinah and Severus before sticking a paw in the air, trying to wave.

"You know, I'm starting to think you're doing this on purpose," Dinah giggled, leaning over and hugging the fox good-bye, as Sirius came over and nudged her with his nose, jealous, so she grabbed him too. "You two are so adorable! We have to do this again sometime!"

"Merlin, what have I gotten myself into..." Severus muttered, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "Dinah, let them go, please, we're not adopting them, do you understand me?" he pulled at her arm, trying to drag her away from the animagi.

"Oh, all right," she drew back from the creatures, now wagging their tails up at her, and then pat them both on the head once more before standing and letting Severus take her possessively back into his arms. "Maybe Snuffles isn't the only one who's jealous, huh?" she teased.

Lucy gave them what looked like the fox version of a grin and nodded, before the pair ambled down toward the gates guarding the entrance to the school.

"I am not jealous of animals," Severus snarled into her ear. "I'm simply thinking about... the unique individual I've managed to capture as my own."

She laughed, closing her eyes and enjoying the feeling of his hands wandering over her hips as his mouth moved to the bare skin of her neck; "I hope that's a good thing."

"Mm, you are... wonderful," he agreed, kissing up to her ear and then nipping lightly. "A bit strange, but that way there is always something new and exciting to discover."

"Liking cute animals is not strange!" she retorted.

"Maybe not to you," he chuckled. "Besides, those are not real animals. How you can so easily differentiate between forms is beyond me."

"Yeah," she flushed a little, but at least half of it was because Severus's hands were wandering a little lower than they probably should be considering that they were out of the forest again in broad daylight. "Well, I don't know what it is. The cuteness overrides all logic, I guess. It is weird when you make me think about it. So stop making me think about it."

"What would you like me to make you think about instead?" Severus asked, moving again.

Dinah gasped and had to bite her lip to keep from making a noise that might be heard over a great enough distance to attract student attention. She laughed; "I've created a monster, haven't I?"

He laughed and moved away, giving her a momentary reprieve. "I'm sorry. We should continue this indoors."

"What about finding snakes?" At his raised eyebrow she flushed. "Okay, I think it's best to avoid bad puns. Right. Okay, let's go inside."


	103. Fairytales

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THREE

Fairytales

* * *

Dinah was relieved when classes ended on Wednesday. Now that she and Severus were making love on a fairly regular basis she found that she was restless during the menial tasks of the day. Yes, the novelty would wear off eventually, but she was going to enjoy the time before that happened and milk it for all it was worth. She and Severus had both believed it would _never _happen and yet they had been wrong! But she wasn't trying to analyze that part too closely, for fear of messing up whatever delicate balance might have been achieved. Just enjoy, that was all she could do.

And it wasn't very difficult.

Hopefully her distracted thoughts weren't affecting her teaching behaviors too much. Grubbly-Plank had already made some comment about her 'glowing' and being extra cheerful in comparison to normal. Usually that term was applied to pregnant women, which was definitely not happening! They had been exceedingly diligent with protection charms. She had no idea how a situation like that would play out as a sixteen-year-old, especially if the effects of the youthening potion were to get reversed somehow. But that wasn't really a worry. The spells were effective, and their time together was amazing.

Of course, today she couldn't just go indulge. She and Severus were meeting Lucy and Sirius for dinner and then for a romp around the grounds, sniffing for clues. It would be dark outside, which was better for being discreet. And who knew, maybe the test subject was especially active at night.

She hurried from the room, dropped the papers that had just been turned in off in her office, and headed to Lucy's rooms. She waited outside until Severus appeared. She grinned and waved as she saw him heading down the hall toward her; "Hi!"

"Hello," he caught up to her, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek briefly before letting go. There were no students in the hall anyway.

"_This _time, I'm knocking," Dinah joked, holding her fist in front of the door.

"Excellent idea," he rolled his eyes and she knocked.

"Come in!" Lucy's voice called from the other side. Dinah opened the door and she and Severus entered to find the other pair seated on the couch, some distance between them but both of their faces flushed and their hair slightly disheveled.

Severus sighed. "How unusual."

Lucy giggled, "Surely this is an improvement?"

"I'll gladly go back to what I was doing before you came in," Sirius offered.

"No thank you!" Severus exclaimed.

"Well, you should talk," Sirius retorted, grumbling a little and adjusting his robes before standing from the couch. "You two and your mingled scents... I wouldn't be able to follow one without finding the other."

Dinah flushed. So that's what he had noticed on Sunday.

"We at least know the meaning of discretion," Severus muttered.

"What's that?" Dinah teased.

He gave her a look; "If you don't know, I might have to cut you off."

"No, don't!" she almost yelped, giggling and grasping his arm.

Severus chuckled. "Don't worry; I don't think I'd be able to."

"It can be quite addicting," Lucy chimed in, eyes sparkling, "Though I think you should note we are in my rooms and sat at least two feet apart before you entered."

"You're fine," Dinah shrugged; "So, ready to eat and then get started?"

"Um, hungry, yes," Lucy said awkwardly, smoothing her robes as they fell back into place when she stood.

"I'll send for the food," Sirius said, putting his hands in his pockets and trying to reposition his robes.

"This socialization stuff was less awkward when we were animals," Lucy murmured, going over to inspect his cut from Sunday before kissing it quickly, "It seems to be healing well."

"Well, I'm sure Dinah would not object to you both transforming into animals," Severus said wryly as Dinah followed him over to the dining table.

Lucy smiled, "Probably not, but then we'd have to deal with her squealing all the time. That and it's probably easier if one of us can still talk. I can interpret most of his signals, he can smell better than I can, and if we come across any unfriendlies while he's transformed he's better able to fight them off than I am." She rubbed the back of her head where Septimus Peaks had hit her with a rock earlier in the school year.

"No, that's fine," Dinah said, settling into her chair. She wasn't so disappointed in truth. After all, now that they were all friends – or uneasy acquaintances in the case of Sirius and Severus – she was sure she'd be seeing both animals quite often from this point forward. "I really only expected Sirius to transform this close to the school, after what happened. Oh! Beef casserole and currant pie with cream for dessert!"

Lucy laughed, taking a chair, "You and your food fixations. Anyway," she said, "Are you two still sure tomorrow works for you to meet with Derwent? I told him after dinner in my office. His buddies think he's got detention. Amedeus might back out of coming but he's supposed to be there too."

"That's fine," Severus muttered while Dinah began devouring her delicious food. "I still don't know what you expect us to do. You will lead the meeting."

Sirius opened his mouth to say something but Lucy elbowed him before he could get any words out, "Don't you say a word," she hissed, turning to Severus, "I expect you'll be able to help with the dynamics of Slytherin House. I've no idea how things work in there. I know Ravenclaw. If Derwent was a Ravenclaw I could use reason to get him to realize these jerks are just yanking his chain. Plus this way he knows you're aware of the situation. I'm hoping Dinah's Hufflepuff side will come forth and help Derwent not to feel like a bloody idiot…among other things."

"Um, as a general rule Slytherins are rather sickened by my Hufflepuff side," Dinah joked, grinning at Severus.

He laughed; "Well, perhaps initially..."

"Well, maybe you can convince Agrona to come and play referee or something," Lucy said, growing slightly agitated, "I don't know. I'm sorry. I just…I don't do conflict well. Quite frankly, and please don't take this the wrong way, I've also been avoiding being alone with Slytherin students as much as possible after the incident with the rock and my head."

"I suppose that's understandable," Severus sighed. "At any rate, whatever will happen will happen. And these are Muggle-born Slytherins. You're already beginning to prove that there's a difference," he turned to Dinah.

"Yes, quite a bit of one, actually," she agreed, having finished two servings of beef casserole in record time and already moving on to her pie. Having regular sex certainly stimulated one's appetite. She was eating a lot even for her. "I've got some more data and I've even considered starting my write-up. But I think I'll save the rest for a surprise," she grinned.

As she shoveled pieces of pie into her mouth, Dinah heard Lucy sigh; "I hope you've found some things that will help. I don't mean just with the Muggle-born Slytherins either, with all of them. I don't remember if I've mentioned this before or not but do you think it would be worth it to do a similar study with half-bloods and pure-bloods?"

"Lucy, you're being depressive," Sirius said.

"Sorry. I don't know what's with me all of a sudden."

"I'd have to redesign the questions to do a survey of half-bloods or purebloods," Dinah said, finally lifting her head from her pie to see that Sirius was giving Lucy an odd, concerned look and Lucy had shoved away her half-eaten beef casserole and was now poking her fork at her pie with a frown on her face, completely abusing the lovely piece of food. She resisted her desire to rescue the slice from her friend and continued; "But they're viable future options. I have to finish the first one first though."

"Oh, of course. I didn't mean to imply you should do them now. I know those things take time," she shoved the pie around on her plate, taking a couple bites before pushing it away; "I think I'm done."

Sirius's hand came up to feel her forehead, "You feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," Lucy said, shaking his hand off, "I've just got things on my mind. Derwent and…things."

"Things? Is there something else going on?" Dinah asked, concerned. Her friend was acting quite a bit more restless than usual, she couldn't help but think. And the poor mangled pie was now inedible.

"Oh, I've just been rereading Scrump's fairytales. Voice-ghosts…it's no big deal. I'm just thinking too much. Although," Lucy said, grinning and slipping her hands beneath the table, "I was being successfully distracted from my thoughts earlier."

"Clearly," Severus muttered, and when Dinah shot him a questioning glance he narrowed his eyes at her and responded with a firm; "No."

She sighed. No under-the-table-fun for _her_, apparently. "Ah, well, it was worth a shot." She grinned at Lucy and pointed to Severus, "My boyfriend over here can be a real hypocrite when he wants to be."

"And my girlfriend can be annoying," he rolled his eyes, but Dinah's eyes lit up. She was pretty sure that was the first time he had referred to her as such.

Lucy giggled, "At least you'll be allowed to sit on the same side of the table at the Three Broomsticks."

Sirius gasped and blushed slightly, "Lu, could you um, put your hand _back_ on my knee?"

Dinah burst into giggles as Severus turned back to stab at his food with an annoyed expression. At least her boyfriend still had beef casserole. It was sturdier and more resistant to abuse than currant pie generally was. "It's nice to see you get flustered, Sirius. That's unusual."

Sirius looked down at his plate, scooping up pie in large quantities. "There are some things I'm going to regret teaching you," he muttered.

Lucy laughed and leaned into him, "Oh, come now. I may not have been very experienced, but I do have a brain and could have figured most of this out on my own."

"Not to mention instincts," Dinah grinned, and Lucy nodded.

"All right. Since it seems everyone is done focusing on food," Severus stood abruptly from his chair; "Shall we get started? No, you do not want another piece of pie!"

Dinah laughed. How he had noticed the tiniest shift of her head towards the remaining slices she couldn't say. He was quite observant, that one. "All right. I'll wait and have it later."

"We'll split it with you," Lucy offered, "Pie can provide a good deal of distraction." She nuzzled and then blew on Sirius's ear.

He jerked away and left the table, "I'm transforming now. Unless you'd rather keep it up and cause your friends to leave."

Lucy giggled, "No, no. I need Severus on my side at least until after this meeting with Derwent."

"Okay," Dinah stood from the table, abandoning the luscious-looking pie and trying to ignore her friends' apparent obsession with food sex, and headed for the door, Severus following close after her and Lucy and Sirius trailing behind. When the latter two made it to the door Sirius leaned in to give his fiancée a peck before transforming into the large black dog, his triangle-shaped ears pointed forward and ready to investigate.

"Well," Lucy said, looking at the other couple, "I suppose you can lead us wherever you'd like to start."

"Ideally, we will explore the halls around the Potions room, the headmaster's office, and the kitchens. Following that, if we leave via the main doors we should be able to search around for scents, preferably Eugene's or the pomegranate-shampoo scent of the test subject..." Severus paused, thinking. "But if you notice anything earlier we should follow that to completion first."

Snuffles sniffed around the places Severus mentioned. They found Eugene's scent but it only led them to and from places he was expected to be. His room, his office, the DADA classroom. Outside they followed Eugene's scent to the forest, much like they had before. This time though, Snuffles was able to pick up on the test subject's scent. They picked up the pace at that point, and Dinah was hopeful that they might discover this strange person at last. Unfortunately, though, the trail seemed to end at the lake.

On the shore was a soaked and badly damaged book. Lucy bent to pick it up, using Snuffles for leverage as she did so. "How could someone do this?" she sighed, "I know books get damaged and unusable from wear but to just dump it in the lake…" she leafed through the pages and stopped at one in the beginning, "Look here, it was a fairly new copy. It couldn't have been that damaged."

"What book is it?" Dinah leaned over, but was unable to make out any of the water-logged words save for the publication date of 1997 where Lucy was pointing on the left, and a few isolated but not interpretable words on the right. It was the middle of some kind of sentence about a wizard who brewed potions for many people.

"Well, this chunk here," Lucy pointed to the smeared and faded words, "is the beginning of "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot" from _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_. A children's…well you probably know."

"Yes, I read them a long time ago when I was at Hogwarts, just to familiarize myself with some of the wizarding traditions. But it's been so long I forgot most of the details of them."

"Is that the headmaster's annotated version?" Severus asked, turning a few pages as if seeking the answer for himself.

"I think so," Lucy nodded, "See here. There's something smudged in the corner. In the places where some of Dumbledore's notes were. I don't get it. Why would the…I mean it has to have been the test subject that left this here, right? Why was it on the shore? If he didn't want anyone to find it why not throw it out farther into the lake?"

"Maybe he didn't care if anyone found it or not," Severus murmured. "Maybe it's not important."

"But it has to be," Dinah found herself protesting as all of the puzzle pieces struggled to fit together in her mind. "If it's Dumbledore's version then it at least fits with the Dumbledore wizard cards the test subject has been carrying around. Plus it's fairy tales again. Why does everything always come back to fairy tales?"

"Fairy tales are some of the oldest literature there is. They started out as an oral tradition. People tend to use the term to describe something blessed with unusual happiness. You know, a fairy tale ending, and the like. I'd say most fairy tales end happily, though not all do," Lucy murmured.

"Oral tradition..." Dinah mused. "I wonder if that's where Scrump got his tales from as well. But not all of his stories ended happily. They were closer to truth. Really, even the happily ending fairy tales in the Muggle world are quite gruesome in parts of the story." She laughed a little; "You know, in the original Cinderella the stepsisters actually cut off their toes and their heel just to try and get the slipper to fit so they could marry the prince..."

"Really?" Lucy asked, turning to Dinah, "Mae didn't mention that."

Dinah assumed from that that Mae had told the story to Lucy's class at some point. "Most children aren't told that version. Not anymore. I think the modern-day fairy tales in both worlds are a little sugar-coated to fit with the times. Scrump's tales are like those unedited types of fairy tale I guess. They don't hold much back. I don't know about _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_. I can't remember..." she fingered the water-logged book again.

"Most of them are sugar-coated I'd say," Lucy said. "There are two that aren't so nice in some areas, but I'm guessing parents either don't read those or gloss over the facts. In the end the good prosper and the wicked are punished so I suppose that's the main point."

"I suppose so," Dinah agreed, turning back to the book. "Life isn't always so clear-cut though, is it? I sometimes wish it was. For instance, Voldemort was _supposed _to be destroyed," she sighed, looking at Severus.

"Indeed," he slid an idle hand through her hair, his eyes distant. "But that doesn't mean he can't be again."

"I don't know how to destroy anyone," Dinah shook her head. "But I do wonder if there is something to these fairy tales that will help. The flayed baby is connected to the despair of the test subject. Maybe something in the book is connected to whatever is bothering him, and that's why he tossed it."

"It's possible," Lucy sighed, "Unfortunately this copy is too far gone for you to use and I'm afraid I left mine at Grimmauld Place over Christmas. I was teaching it to my first years," she explained, "Using this and Muggle fairy tales to show how we might be from different backgrounds but we still have the same basic principles."

"That's nice," Dinah smiled a little at that, but her thoughts were still distracted. The look Severus was giving her suggested that he knew and sympathized, and for that she was grateful. "You don't happen to know who might have a copy, do you?" she addressed Lucy.

"Hermione should have a copy. Exactly where she would have it I don't know but most likely it's here. She does like to be prepared for any eventuality."

"Great, I'll ask her. Severus, stop that, she's fine!" she swatted at Severus who was muttering things about 'that insufferable Granger girl' under his breath. "Of course, I suppose I should check the library first. That's most reasonable."

"That's very Ravenclaw of you," Lucy smirked.

Dinah laughed; "Well, people do tend to cross house boundaries. That's why I wonder about sorting sometimes. Even Severus here is brave enough to be a-"

"Don't say it!" Severus exclaimed, growling a little as Dinah remembered what a sensitive subject this apparently was for him. "Well, now are we finished here? Because it is rather cold at night and I'm sure we'd all be more comfortable indoors. Besides, you wanted to finish that pie, didn't you?"

"Oh, pie!" Dinah grinned, his mention of food snapping her out of her somewhat gloomy state. There were plenty of still-intact pieces just waiting for her back in Lucy's rooms.

"Mmm, pie," Lucy said, closing her eyes and blushing a bit, "I do like pie."

"I'm guessing she means not to eat," Dinah muttered to Severus.

"Huh?" at her raised eyebrow he flushed and nodded. "Oh! Right... well, can we eat this one, please?"

"Oh the pie gets eaten. Trust me," Lucy teased.

"_Eat it without-_" Severus growled again and broke off trying to get through to them, instead spinning around and marching off toward the school, not waiting to see if they were following.

"Sorry," Dinah giggled. "He's not used to this topic of conversation. He's more of the... private type, I'm sure you've guessed," she flushed a little.

"Yes, I've noticed," Lucy grinned, "Really I was just trying to push his buttons. It's kind of fun now that we seem to be on equal footing. Who knows I might just eat the pie regularly. I didn't eat much dinner after all."

"Well, glad you're feeling better, at least," Dinah smiled and they all hurried to follow Severus back inside.


	104. Students

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR

Students

* * *

"Oh, and the copy of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard _that the library has is checked out," Dinah sighed, finishing up the last of her dinner in the dungeons with Severus on Thursday. "So I'm going to have to ask to borrow Hermione's."

"Wonderful," he groaned; "Just keep me well out of it."

"Why _does _she bother you so much? All of the students for that matter? Do you actually _like _teaching?"

"If I did not like it, I would not do it," he rolled his eyes. "One can enjoy teaching without enjoying the students."

"I don't see how," she shook her head.

"The intelligent ones don't bother me. I simply have very high standards."

"Clearly. I'm glad I meet your standards."

His eyes went from bored to teasing; "I'm sorry, was that an assumption? You'd have to take a class with me before I could truly decide if you meet my standards."

"Class, indeed!" she feigned indignance, shoving her chair back and standing from her seat, unable to resist his teasing gaze and general attractiveness any longer. She wandered over to his chair and entwined her fingers with his, pulling him from his seat and dragging him towards the bedroom. Granted, he wasn't resisting very much. "Teach me now."

"Dinah, we have to meet Lucy for that meeting with the infernal students in just a few- Dinah, are you even listening to what I'm-" he stopped his half-baked attempts at protest when she pinned him to the bed.

"Lucy can wait," Dinah murmured, trailing her fingers through a strand of greasy black hair close to his cheek. "Right now I want you more."

"Dinah, this is – you can't simply-" he groaned in pleasure when she leaned over to kiss him, her fingers reaching for his buttons again and undoing the top few. "Well, perhaps you can," he finished when she let him breathe.

"Oh, I definitely can," she laughed, ignoring the voice in the back of her head that told her they were supposed to be in Lucy's office now. She could do nothing about her adolescent hormones now that she'd given in to them that first time last weekend. So since she knew she couldn't turn them off, she decided she wasn't even going to bother trying. And of course, there was still a part of her that wanted to make this happen as much as possible for fear that it might suddenly go away. She tried not to focus on that part too much, though.

"We really are going to miss your friend's meeting..." Severus mumbled, his hands moving along her hips, pulling her body to him.

"Mm, but I'm sure she can handle it," Dinah purred, sliding one hand down his bare-chest, creeping underneath his shirt, while her other hand wandered to stroke his soft hair. "Did I ever tell you how much I really like your hair? I'm so glad you keep it long. It's beautiful and silky and gives me something to hold on to," she nuzzled his long nose with her own, and then pressed her cheek to his flushed face. "You are so amazing. I can't stop looking at you..."

"Dinah, wait," he murmured, his blush deepening to crimson. "I'm flattered that you find me attractive for some inexplicable reason but-" again he couldn't finish his sentence when she kissed him. "I give up," he laughed when she pulled away and grabbed her in one swift movement, shifting positions with amazing strength and dexterity, so next thing she knew they were reversed and he had pinned _her _to the bed.

She laughed and received his urgent kisses, her laughter turning to moans of pleasure when he began undressing her. His skill at this was undeniable, especially for someone who had been a virgin up until a few days ago. She would never have guessed it now. His shirt was fully unbuttoned and he was working on the zipper of her jeans when a knock sounded on his office door.

"Oh, no!" she groaned when Severus broke away from her and shot an agitated glare in the direction of the knock.

Severus sighed; "It seems we are late enough that she felt the need to come and get us."

"But I wasn't done," Dinah almost whimpered, wanting more from him so much that she didn't care one way or another at this time what Lucy wanted.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, stroking her cheek and giving her lips one last kiss. "We'll finish this later. That's a promise," he sighed again and withdrew from on top of her, starting to re-button his shirt but his hands were too agitated to do the job right. "Oh hell!" he shouted, tossing his hands in the air and pulling Dinah with him to the door, yanking it open and glaring at Lucy with his chest bared for the whole world to see. Dinah herself hadn't fully gotten a chance to pull the shoulders of her shirt back up, and was doing so now under the scrutiny of Lucy's bewildered expression.

Lucy cleared her throat, "Well, paybacks I guess."

"Um, yeah, sorry," Dinah, her face bright red, finally managed to get her shirt back into place, looking over at Severus. "I somehow think he's not going to be happy about this when he starts thinking straight again."

"I'm thinking straight," he growled, still glaring at Lucy.

"Are you, really?" she murmured, turning him around and starting to button his shirt back up, a small smile on her face. "You might present a better image to the students if you don't walk out of the dungeons like this..."

His eyes drifted down to her fingers and he flushed. "Ah, perhaps... I wasn't thinking straight after all," he said softly, smiling a little and placing his hand on her wrist, running his thumb back and forth over it as she finished making him presentable again. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome," she kissed him briefly and turned to Lucy, "There. Sorry about being late. It was my fault."

"It's all right," Lucy said, blushing, "I mean, like I said…paybacks. Though Sirius and I have never actually been late for a meeting since it's usually been you coming to us."

Severus sighed. "I suppose revenge shall have to be my consolation for being caught like this. Now, let's get this over with, because we all know how seriously the students take us in these forms."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much," Lucy said, leading the way back to her office, "I'm not sure Amedeus is inclined to take me any more seriously than he would you. I'm not even sure he'll be there when we get back."

"He _is_ quite flighty and impulsive for a Slytherin," Severus muttered agreement. "Even a Muggle-born one."

"I'm not sure that that last part means anything, Severus," Dinah rolled her eyes and he shrugged. They soon arrived at Lucy's office and entered to find Derwent arguing with Amedeus.

"But Amedeus, maybe they can _help_! They're our friends, yes, and we're helping them out with their homework but I'd like to spend time with my girlfriend. Professor Ketteridge practically said Agrona thinks I've dumped her. I know they said she's just a half-blood, practically a…"

"Do you think, Mr. Lympsham, that you should perhaps not refer to your 'girlfriend' by a derogatory term that most would use against yourself?" Severus cut in, his voice raised slightly and his expression agitated. He was somewhere halfway in-between the older Severus who was perfectly in control of his students and the adolescent version struggling to behave the same way he did as an adult but only half-succeeding. It was better than he had been lately, though, and the students both turned to look at him.

"Professor Snape!" Derwent squeaked, "I-I didn't mean I thought she was a…well, you know…that's just what they said." The poor boy looked about ready to cry, and stared at his shoes so they couldn't see his face, "They let us hang around them. They're our friends."

"Do you normally make friends of people who insult your girlfriend? You know eventually you'll have to choose, right? You should think about that decision," he sat down in one of the two chairs Lucy had placed next to hers on the other side of the desk from the boys with a firm frown planted on his face and turned to Lucy. "Well? You're the one who called this meeting. Please don't let me steal your thunder."

Dinah smiled slightly and sat down in the remaining chair on the end, effectively sandwiching Severus between herself and Lucy. But if he didn't like it that was his problem; he had sat down first.

"Derwent," Lucy said, softly, contrasting Severus's stricter manner, "Those boys couldn't care less about you. If they liked you at all they wouldn't be asking you to do all their homework. They wouldn't be calling your girlfriend names in front of you. And they certainly wouldn't be encouraging you to drop her because of her blood status. Blood status only matters to the people who think it makes them better than others."

"But you don't understand!" Amedeus shouted.

Derwent nodded and continued in Amedeus's stead, "You don't know what it's like to have no friends. To be ignored by your entire house. It's almost worse than being picked on. At least if they were picking on us then they'd know we existed."

"Yes, being ignored can be the worst thing in the world," Dinah murmured, noting Severus's eyes as they shifted to watch her, his expression slightly softened but him clearly not going to make any moves in the presence of the students. "Your mind comes up with a million things the other students might be thinking about you behind your back, only you can never tell... because the most you ever hear is whispering. No one can even say things to your face. In some ways neglect is worse than mistreatment." She had a flash to Severus's family life and to Lucy's comparison of it to Sirius's. At least his parents had cared enough to be disappointed in him. Severus's hadn't cared if he existed one way or the other.

"Believe it or not you two," Lucy said, "We were all teens once. Some of us did not enjoy the popularity of Ginny Weasley or Draco Malfoy. Personally I had one friend and two cousins who were here with me. None of them shared my house. It was a lonely existence. Fortunately for me, I was not in Slytherin. I imagine that makes the whole experience a little harder. Which is why I asked Professor Snape to join us."

Severus sighed. "I cannot change all of the dynamics of Slytherin house in one year. It would take many, many years to even begin that."

"But it has to start somewhere," Dinah said, looking at the two boys. "You two could help that. I administered those surveys at the beginning of the year to get an idea of what it's like for Muggle-born students at this school, and being Muggle-born Slytherins you two are in an especially difficult position. You could try making friends of some of the Muggle-born Slytherins in other years. You would be stronger together than separated. I also think you were lucky to meet someone like Miss Huntingdon," she looked at Derwent. "She seems quite unique, especially as she's half-blood."

Derwent smiled as he thought of the girl he'd been mistreating, "Yeah, she's…she makes me happy. She's ambitious, like a lot of Slytherins but it's not about power for her. She wants own a shop of some type and be the best shop around. She wants to be independent of others, to not have to rely on relatives. Her parents are dependent on her Aunt and Uncle for a home and support. They lost everything in the first war. I'm not really sure how or if they were involved with You-Know-Who. They won't talk about it," he sighed and looked at Dinah, "I've screwed up big time with her, haven't I? I didn't mean too. I've just had _no_ time…"

"Well," Dinah began, thoughtfully, glad that somehow even in her teenage body she seemed to be getting through to at least Derwent; "I'm sure she would forgive you at this point, but it's no good if you keep doing what you've been doing. We need to come up with a solution for this that works best for all parties. What if..." she turned to her right; "Severus, do you think that if you gave the other students bad grades they would stop asking these boys to do their homework for them if they don't think they can do it properly?"

Severus smirked; "Oh yes, and then they can hex these two young Slytherins as punishment. Excellent notion."

"Well, I was _only _trying to help," she snarled, irritated with his classroom attitude again. On the other hand, maybe he did have a point...

"Now, let's stay calm. I think the other students should be punished but I'm not sure that would help these two. Do you think encouraging them to socialize with others outside their house would help? I'm sure Agrona would be willing to help. She's surprisingly well-liked outside her house for….well for being a Slytherin."

"More socialization between houses would be a wonderful thing," Dinah said with emphasis. "Problem is it's so hard to get people to do it. I wonder if there is some sort of good way to go about it..." she trailed off for a moment, thinking, but nothing immediate occurred to her. Still, she would have to keep that in the back of her mind and maybe an answer would surface eventually. She shook her head; "Either way, if Agrona does have friends outside of Slytherin you two should spend time with them. She must also have Slytherin friends, more moderate ones. Those are the students that will help to start changing Slytherin house. And if you do that, then not only do you get to spend time with Agrona but you also get to have friends that want to be your friends just because of who you are and not because of what you can do for them."

Finally Amedeus spoke up, "But I like doing their homework. It's challenging and I don't know Agrona. I barely know Derwent. We only started talking when we started doing those kids homework."

Derwent looked at the other boy, "We should have talked long before then. We've had conversations over homework and I like you. You're a crack job at charms. I've thought of you as my friend."

Severus looked a little sickened by all this emotional bonding that was going on but Dinah smiled. "You see? This is what I've been noticing in the surveys. Muggle-born Slytherins tend to keep to themselves, but if you all spent more time with each other you'd not only make friends but you'd also become a force to contend with in the greater dynamics of the house. Um... not that I'm trying to label or generalize you two or anything. "

"Whatever," Severus rolled his eyes. "I'm more concerned with Mr. Flint's comment. I commend your apparent enjoyment of doing seventh-year essays, but I'm afraid if you two keep this up, now that three professors have become aware of the fact that this is happening... well, eventually someone is going to be punished. You should not be doing other students' work. Either it stops or the whole thing is brought out into the open. You _know _how bad that could get," he raised his characteristic eyebrow at the two members of his house, starting to seem quite a bit like the adult Severus indeed. Dinah was afraid she was blushing a little because of it, and so pretended to be examining a book on Lucy's desk.

"Yes, sir," Amedeus muttered, "but we can't just say no! And if they start getting bad grades because of us, they'll hex us like you said!"

"Then you tell them that the literature professor has become suspicious of all the papers she's getting that appear to have the same tone," Lucy said.

"That'll only work if they're in your class, Professor," Derwent said, "most of them aren't."

"I can easily do the same thing," Severus murmured. "However, if Eugene were to accidentally 'mess things up'..." he scowled at the mention of who was quickly becoming the group's shared silent antagonist.

"Ah, yes, our friend does present a bit of a problem," Lucy said, "Is there a way we can work around him?"

"Could we stage some sort of intervention?" Dinah suggested as the idea occurred to her. "If one of us were to 'discover' the boys giving Derwent and Amedeus their homework it wouldn't be like anyone told."

Severus shook his head; "I don't know. That many Slytherin boys would be something I could easily take on in my adult form, but like this we'd need at least all three of us present to confront them properly, and the odds of all of us randomly stumbling upon them at once is... low. They would suspect. And if they ever find out that these two told us what's been going on it would be very, _very_ bad."

"I understand what you're saying Severus, and by no means do I wish to put the boys in any danger but it's not exactly unknown that Dinah and I are friends. Perhaps if the three of us were seen together more often it wouldn't seem so odd," Lucy said slowly.

He shrugged; "It would take time to properly build that image, but I'm not opposed to it. Meantime, there are small things that can be done to at least discourage this. Changing the natures of our assignments may help. Perhaps we can give these boys a reprieve from essays for a week or so while we work on spending more time together in public. At least that slight decrease in workload would give Mr. Lympsham time to patch things up with Miss Huntingdon," he flushed a little and scowled when everyone was staring at him. "What?"

"Nothing, that's so... nice," Dinah smiled.

"It is simply the most efficient way to solve this problem; it is not 'nice'!" he stood abruptly from his chair. "Oh, and you boys both have detention when this is all through, for having the cheek to even consider assisting others in academic dishonesty. I may let the Quidditch cheating slide, but academics is another story." His punishment seemed more a desperate attempt to eliminate any appearance of kindness than anything else, and Dinah covered her mouth to hide a giggle. Lucy seemed to be doing the same.

The boys, on the other hand, groaned at being given detention. "Sorry, boys," Lucy said, "I think the detention is fair. I can do my part and not assign essays for awhile. My grades are mostly based on class discussion anyway."

"Mine as well," Dinah nodded. "For the seventh-years of concern, at any rate. Really, I can't believe you two have been doing this and we haven't noticed. It must take extra effort to try and make all of the essays sound different. You know, you both might have a career in politics someday, writing speeches for all the geniuses that can't come up with them on their own," she laughed.

Amedeus perked up at that, "I've been considering a career in the Ministry. I've applied for internships for the summer."

Lucy grinned, "I'm sure you'll do well there. Now, it's getting late. You should probably return to your common room now. We are going to work on solving this and if something comes up you need to know we'll tell you. Remember though; if you need anything you can always come to one of us."

"But not Grubbly-Plank or Mr. Wilkins," Severus was quick to add. "Especially not Mr. Wilkins. Keep him out of this."

"Yes," Lucy agreed, "Let's not bother them with this. The three of us would be preferable but if we aren't available then I think Professor McGonagall would be a good choice to confide in. Don't you?" she looked at Dinah and Severus for confirmation.

"Perhaps," Severus muttered as Dinah nodded. "If absolutely necessary. Now get out of here," he waved the boys off.

The pair scrambled out of the room, eager to get away from their Head of House.

"Well," Lucy said, "That wasn't too bad. I suppose I should let you get back to…what you were doing before. I appreciate you both helping with this. It means a lot to me."

"Of course," Dinah beamed. "That wasn't so bad after all. Especially you, Severus. You were quite intimidating."

He managed a slight smile; "Well, perhaps it's returning."

Lucy grinned, "I think it might be. Now, I think I might copy you two and go to bed. Too much on my mind has worm me out apparently."

"Copy us?" Dinah teased, her eyes twinkling as she walked over and looped her arm into Severus's. "But how could you seeing as it's not a Wednesday?"

"I thought I was intimidating," Severus murmured, leaning over so that his lips just brushed her hair and making his voice a little lower than normal, as though he was taking to students.

Dinah felt herself flushing again and grinned; "I like intimidating. Well, good night then, Lucy!"

"Night," Lucy responded, and Dinah and Severus hurried from the room.


	105. Hallows

A/N: Thanks again to all my continued reviewers! I've written a bit ahead of where I'm posting at this point, which is why I've been shelling out chapters so fast (granted, I've been writing them pretty fast too). So you can all keep expecting a couple of new chapters every other day or so. But please keep reviewing! I really _really _love to hear your comments! Thanks! :) Oh, and a bonus story is definitely in the works for the near future - please keep an eye out for it!

* * *

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE

Hallows

* * *

"Severus?" Dinah asked later that night, cozy under the cloudlike mound of black and Slytherin-green blankets and comforters which kept her unclothed body warm enough even in the dungeons in winter

"Mm. What?" he murmured as though he had been halfway asleep before she'd asked the question. They had been lying there for so long, curled up against each other with his arm wrapped around her waist and their heads pressed together, that it didn't really surprise her.

"That really _was _nice of you. Suggesting that we cut back on essay assignments so Derwent would get a chance to talk to Agrona..."

He sighed; "Do we have to talk about that again?"

"I'm sorry," she smiled a little. She was starting to find that she secretly enjoyed annoying him about little things like this. Or maybe it wasn't really that new to her. It sort of kept him on his toes, when she made sure to try and temper his usual grouchy behaviors or nag him about the details whenever he did something slightly out of character. Plus it was fun. "I was just thinking about it. I didn't know you cared so much about the two of them maintaining a happy relationship."

"I don't," he snarled, and then sighed again, propping himself up on one elbow so that he could look down at her and finger a strand of long blonde hair near her face; "I simply... think that he deserves to be able to find the acceptance in Agrona that I was able to find in you."

"Oh," she whispered, feeling her face flush and her heart melt as she looked up at him. Sometimes the things he said to her were so sweet like that. She truly loved these moments, and it made her happiest that she really _had _been able to do that for him. "Well, I think he will find that. Now. Thanks to you."

Severus growled a little; "Your accursed empathy seems to be rubbing off on me."

She laughed; "That's not a _bad _thing, Severus. Although it will take some getting used to, I'll say that much."

"I've noticed," he sighed. "What does please me is that I finally seem to be getting used to this body. Not that I like it or would stay in it for even another second if I had the choice, but..." he shrugged; "Well, I suppose it has become tolerable."

"Mm," she agreed, brushing away a loose strand of hair that had fallen over his eyes. "I'm glad."

"What about you?" his expression changed to one of concern; "Are you all right like this? I know it's different for you. You haven't been as obvious about it as I was at first, but... I don't think you're comfortable like this yet."

"I'm all right," she murmured, biting back the lump that rose in her throat. When he just stared at her she sighed; "No, I'm... well, I _am _all right, mostly. If we were sent back to these ages for a reason then I really don't know what my reason is yet, aside from the prophecy. And that is unfolding so slowly. It does bother me, but I can handle it. For now..."

He didn't reply at first, but his eyes took on a slight sad cast and he stroked her cheek before gently kissing her and pulling her into his arms. "It will work out. I promise it will all work out eventually."

"I know," she sighed, closing her eyes and trying to get comfortable, tilting her head back to look into his eyes and managing a tiny smile, tracing the edge of his face with a single finger; "It's better because you're here with me. I love you, Severus."

His eyes softened and the lids lowered slightly, but she sensed the tiniest bit of discomfort or confusion in his expression. He didn't say anything, just pressed a kiss to her hair and took her back into his arms, stroking her hair and back as they lay there in the bed together.

Dinah sighed, hopefully quietly enough that he wouldn't hear, as her thoughts decided to light on what she now knew that they had secretly been avoiding for the past few days. Yes, that first day of sex with Severus had seemed like the most amazing thing in the world, and it was in a way, but... the longer it had been going on the stranger it began to seem. How could she think of it as making love when he didn't love her?

She was warm, she was comfortable, in so many ways this was perfect, and yet... it was still one-sided.

She sighed again. This was going to be one of those sad moments, wasn't it? She had known they would happen, so she just had to fight through it, that's all. She could live in his almost-loving embrace, listen to his almost-loving words, for the rest of her life. She could deal with him never saying 'I love you' as long as he always stayed by her side. But sometimes... it would hurt like this.

She closed her eyes and let the tears that had been welling up in them slide down her cheeks. It was too hard to resist right now. This sad moment would pass, and she would be all right again. As long as Severus didn't know she was crying, it would be all right. And he had already fallen asleep.

* * *

Dinah felt quite a bit better on Friday. Yes, if those moments stayed scarce and happened no more than twice a month she could recover from them and feel fine again. That was the main thing. She felt good enough to hunt down Hermione at lunch and ask if she could meet with her during her office hours, assuring the ridiculously studious girl that no, she wasn't in trouble and there was nothing wrong with her essays.

Dinah chuckled slightly as she walked into her office, settling down behind her laptop to do some survey work before Hermione came in. Lunch was nearly over but she had been involved in some sort of deep discussion with Ginny about their relationships and so Dinah had known well enough to let them finish. After all, in her current state and age, she could definitely relate.

She didn't have to wait long, though, before the girl showed up at her door. "Please, have a seat," Dinah said, closing her laptop with a smile and gesturing across from her.

"Thanks," Hermione smiled and sat. "What was it that you wanted to see me about?"

"Well, Lucy mentioned to me that she thought you had a copy of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard _that I might be able to borrow. I need it for some... research, and she left hers at Grimmauld Place and the copy in the library has been checked out. I thought I'd ask you before I tried to go to Flourish and Blotts."

"Oh, is that all?" the girl grinned and fished in her bag, withdrawing an old book. Dinah was starting to wonder if Hermione didn't carry every book she'd ever owned around with her. "Here it is," she said, placing the book between them. "But you see, and I don't think Lucy knows this which is probably why she didn't mention it, but this is Dumbledore's old copy and it's all written in ancient runes," she opened the book to a marked page to show the odd symbols that covered it. "I've been working on a translation, but it's not finished yet, so unless you know the language I'm afraid you might need to go to Flourish and Blotts after all, she finished apologetically.

"Oh," Dinah frowned, leaning over to examine the page, "Well, I took the class a couple of times but I'm afraid I don't really remember enough to-" she stopped when she recognized something. An odd symbol drawn into the book near what appeared to be the beginning of one of the tales. "That's strange. I've seen that symbol somewhere before," she traced the outer triangle surrounding the circle and line with her finger.

"Oh," an odd flush crept into Hermione's cheeks and she drew the book back towards her. "That symbol? It's nothing. Nothing, really... some strange people have been known to draw it or collect items in that shape from time to time..."

"I guess Eugene is strange, then," Dinah mused, now recalling where she

"Eugene?" Hermione's interest seemed spiked.

"Yes," she nodded. "I saw it drawn in the front of one of his books. An old one, written in a different language. Probably Bulgarian since that's where he's from."

Hermione bit her lip and seemed to be considering something. "Harry has said that Eugene is suspicious and part of the reason the Aurors have to come here. Maybe... maybe you need to know about this symbol after all. You should ask Dumbledore for the details."

"Oh, that was his book wasn't it?" Dinah exclaimed, the implication finally coming clear; "So _he_ drew that in?"

The girl sighed. "Yes. Well, I suppose I can tell you a little bit. You know the basics of _The_ _Tale of the Three Brothers_, right?"

"Um, vaguely. Don't they meet a troll on a bridge and the grass is greener on the other side or something? And they have to choose whether they dropped the plain invisibility cloak or the golden one..."

"Er..." Hermione giggled. "Not quite. I think you're getting your fairy tales all mixed up."

"Probably," Dinah flushed a little. "So what is it then?"

"They meet Death on a bridge they created by magic and he gives them each an item as a reward for evading him. The first wanted a wand that was undefeatable in duels, the second a stone to bring back the dead, and the third an invisibility cloak to hide from death. Well, as expected, only the third brother made the right choice. He keeps the cloak until he's quite old and then gives it to his son and greets Death as an equal. The other two brothers died through murder and suicide, respectively, very early on after receiving their gifts."

"Ah, yes, I think I recall all of that now. Lucy was saying at least some of the stories in the book were rather gruesome. But she and Dumbledore have also said that fairy tales are often used at least as metaphors for some kind of truth. I've discovered that about at least one other set of fairytales..."

Hermione shifted and gave a vague nod, looking a little uneasy. "Well, you only have to read Dumbledore's commentary in his annotated edition to know that there are plenty of legends about the wand being real – they call it the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, or the Wand of Destiny... it apparently traded hands through the ages from wizard to wizard as they defeated each other and gained the wand's allegiance. But the other two items are known only in legend. The part of the legend that... ah, people usually get obsessed about, which of course has no backing in reality, is that if all items were brought together the bearer would become Master of Death, whatever that means. Together, the items are called the Deathly Hallows, the cloak, stone, and wand in the symbol," she traced the triangle, circle, and line in turn. "People who use or wear the symbol are those who consider themselves questors of the Hallows and think it part of their life's mission to 'find' them. I suppose Eugene must be one of those."

"And Dumbledore..." Dinah said softly, her curiosity now spiked more than ever.

Hermione flushed. "Look, I really shouldn't say anything anymore. I've probably already said too much. You'll have to talk to the headmaster."

"I will. Don't worry, I won't bother you about it anymore," Dinah offered her student a reassuring smile, resisting following the conversation to her next train of thought. Hermione's behavior suggested that there was more reality to the legend of all three items than she had implied. But the headmaster would reveal more.

* * *

"The wand is real," Severus said. "I do not know about the other two items, but the wand is real and the headmaster had it then and has it again now."

"What? He _has _it?" Dinah just stared at her boyfriend later that evening when she told him what was going on in her rooms. They had decided to spend the weekend there because she had felt that she had been horribly neglecting her pets, simply feeding them and wandering back to the dungeons all week ever since the increase in the intimacy of her relationship with Severus.

"Yes. The whole reason The Dark Lord had me killed was to try and take possession of it. You saw it in the pensieve."

"Oh, yes... I'm sorry," she murmured, biting her lip at the memory. "I was focused on... other things when I watched that scene."

Severus's gaze briefly softened before he continued; "His logic was that I killed the headmaster and therefore if he killed me then he would have dominion over the wand. But Draco Malfoy had disarmed the headmaster before I even arrived to perform the killing curse. Harry Potter later disarmed Draco Malfoy, became the wand's master, and was subsequently able to destroy The Dark Lord because if a combination of that and The Dark Lord's ignorance of the matter."

"I see. So that's how it was done."

"Yes. Only the people standing very close to that final battle know much about it, and even then Harry and the headmaster tried to keep the published details to a minimum. That has certainly been difficult with journalists such as Rita Skeeter running around..."

Dinah frowned. "Yes, I've read some of her articles. I didn't even look at her book on Dumbledore. She strikes me as quite... gossipy."

"You have no idea the understatement you just made," Severus growled. "Did you know that she came _this _close," he showed the small amount with his fingers; "to writing another book entitled _Severus Snape – Scoundrel or Saint_? If it hadn't been for the quick efforts of myself and the headmaster I'm afraid that monstrosity would have been released by now. Honestly, Dinah, sometimes the distance you've put between yourself and the wizarding world over the years is appalling. One would start to think you were simply ignorant or unintelligent if they didn't know the details."

She sighed and looked away, his comment coming dangerously close to one of the most sensitive subjects for her, especially in her adolescent state.

"I didn't mean anything by it," he murmured, placing a hand on her shoulder, his voice gentler.

"No, I know," she turned back to look at him and flashed a smile. "Sorry, so um... you were saying?"

"Well... the rebirth... thing was not something anyone could have planned for. Potter had rightly decided to simply return the wand to the headmaster's grave and allow its power to die away – presuming, of course, that Potter would someday die a natural death."

"I see... but then the headmaster was reborn..."

"Yes. They came up with a compromise. Potter is still master of the wand, but it has gone back into the headmaster's hands by the boy's permission... until such time as the headmaster passes away and the previous solution can be re-enacted. Having the wand out is another thing Dumbledore has been uneasy about lately. But they assume the safest place it can be is with him. The other option would be Potter either using it or hiding it somewhere and him being an Auror and a very obvious target for former Death Eaters..."

"Yes, that makes sense. So if the wand is real-"

"The invisibility cloak in the tale bears striking resemblance in its nature to Potters. I never thought about it until now but I very much suspect that it's the one."

"We should talk to the headmaster to make sure. Do you think it's too late to do so now?"

"Under the circumstances? No. We should go up now as you say."

She nodded, and they left her rooms to head toward the gargoyle statue, announcing the password of 'lemon pie' at the gargoyle before being granted access.


	106. Revival

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIX

Revival

* * *

"Dinah. Severus," the headmaster looked up from a book he had been perusing and offered them a welcoming smile. "Am I to assume that your late visit indicates that something of note has been discovered?"

"I think so," Dinah sat down in her usual seat and Severus followed suit. When he nodded at her she began, first describing the things that Sirius had sniffed from the beginning pomegranate-shampoo scent up until the copy of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_. She also mentioned the dementor incident and the snake's comments about the nature of the test subject and the dementors.

"Well, quite a bit of information has been found since I spoke with you both last!" the headmaster smiled, pleased. "But I confess that I have no idea what the water-logged collection of fairytales may mean."

"We didn't either," Dinah shook her head, "Which is why I had the thought that reading the tales might give me some idea of the test subject's motivation. But Lucy's copy wasn't here and the one in the library was checked out. Lucy told me Hermione had a copy, but then I found out she received your ancient runes version..."

"Ah, I am afraid that I did give her that version," Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling innocently. Dinah had the sudden feeling that the headmaster had _no idea _where she was going with this, and that was quite unnerving. Severus didn't look particularly comfortable either as he watched the headmaster with a wary eye.

"Yes, well," Dinah continued after shaking her head to bring her thoughts back to the matter at hand. "I probably should have noticed this sooner, but I didn't know what it meant. Hermione told me when I saw the symbol in your book. The Deathly Hallows symbol..." she trailed off as the headmaster's expression changed in an instant.

It was more at the level of his eyes than anything else. He was always so in control, and yet their clear blue twinkling died away and the color seemed to darken, his gaze shifting to land more directly on her, his expression barely changed but she could see the tiniest hints of shock, disbelief, and careful scrutiny. It was all so calm though, that it was even more unnerving.

When it became clear that he was not going to speak she forced herself to continue. "Well, that first day that I found myself in Eugene's rooms back in September... so long ago it seems now..." she drifted off for a minute before Severus reached over and grabbed her hand, bringing her back into the present. She gave him a grateful smile and then turned back to the still-silent Professor Dumbledore. "I had seen that symbol before but I ignored it because I didn't think it was important. It was in one of Eugene's books. Drawn in the inside front cover... it looked like a potions book in Bulgarian or some other language..."

Dumbledore sighed, his gaze changing from the silent, scrutinizing one to the distant one he had been showing them so often as of late, and he put his head in his hands for a short moment before standing up from his chair, pacing back and forth behind his desk; "Thank you for telling me this, Dinah. I only wish you had done so sooner."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know. Hermione told me a few things but she seemed quite nervous. She said we ought to ask you about the rest."

"I did not expect this. How could I not have seen this?" he sighed, and his voice grew distant to match his expression; "But when it is the Hallows I never do see it. Never until it is too late... just like the last image in the mirror..."

"Headmaster?" Severus's voice held a tiny hint of harshness, snapping his friend and mentor back to reality.

"I am sorry," he sat back down and faced them. "This makes our situation very grave indeed. Hermione told you the legend of the Hallows, I take it?" he looked pointedly at Dinah.

"Parts of it, yes. Although she said the wand was the only item that was real..."

"You do not believe that, do you?"

"Her tone made it quite clear that she wasn't being completely honest with me. And then Severus mentioned Harry's invisibility cloak and-"

"Yes, you are both correct," he held his wand in front of them, its gnarled appearance which had always seemed so innocuous and simply fitting of the old man's nature now held a deeper meaning to Dinah. "This, the Elder Wand, and Harry's Cloak of Invisibility. Objects created by two of the three brilliant Peverell Brothers and immortalized in a metaphorical tale about Death. As for the Resurrection Stone-"

"The ring," Severus cut in, his voice a distant murmur and his eyes wide with realization.

Dinah shot him a confused glance but Dumbledore's eyes understood. "I see," he said. "Tell me then, Severus, what led you to that conclusion?"

"You said at our last meeting that you felt as though you had been brought back by the ring. I didn't understand your meaning then, but now that I think about the stone and its purported powers... bringing back the dead but only as mere shadows of their former selves that don't belong in this world... now I can see it. But you did not say stone, you said ring. The cursed ring Horcrux that you destroyed... the stone on the ring was the Resurrection Stone, wasn't it?"

"Ah," the headmaster smiled; "As expected, Severus. You need only be given all of the resources and you are able put the answer together, even in your youth."

"That is... irrelevant, as always," Severus said, his voice growing louder with each word until he abruptly stood from his chair, staring down the headmaster; "You used it!"

Dumbledore's smile turned sad; "You see everything now."

"Quite clearly, as a matter of fact," he growled. "Destroying the Horcrux was necessary yes, but putting the ring on? The only time I ever saw you do something _stupid_," the headmaster chuckled slightly at this word but Severus's glare deepened and he continued in a slightly louder voice; "and now I find that it was because the ring was the Resurrection Stone? You were trying to... bring someone _back_?"

"I told you at the time that I was only being foolish, Severus."

"But if you had not been foolish you would not have sentenced yourself to death!"

"Severus, please think about this. If I had not done that, then you would have had to perform the killing curse on someone who was not dying anyway. Is that something you would have wanted?"

"You would have still asked me to kill you," Severus murmured.

"As soon as Lord Voldemort asked that terrible task of Draco, our fate was sealed, Severus. Could you have denied Narcissa Malfoy her desperate request on that day, had I not asked you to kill me beforehand?"

"I-" Severus looked stricken. "I don't know, I- wait, you're asking me if I would have agreed without prior knowledge to killing you – Bellatrix Lestrange standing there breathing down my neck about the unbreakable vow – my acceptance or denial directly affecting the maintenance of my role as a spy," his hands moved to claw at his hair and he fell back into his seat. "Helping Draco avoid his fate versus protecting you- if you had not already asked me – what would I have done? I don't know. I can't answer that! How can I answer that?"

"Stop it, headmaster," Dinah murmured, standing form her chair and moving to put her hand on Severus's shoulder. "Please, stop. He doesn't need this."

"Dinah," Severus looked up at her and his breathing slowed a bit, his eyes reflecting some relief and his hand coming up to lay on top of hers as he pulled her towards him.

She leaned over and hugged his shoulders, resting her head against his; "It's all right."

"I am sorry, Severus," the headmaster murmured. "Dinah, I am sorry to you as well. Those days are over. I no longer need to ask you those types of questions... I should not be doing so. I'm sorry," he repeated. "I am not the same as I was. It seems to be getting worse as the year drags on. At first I was confident I would find a reason for my rebirth, but now it is becoming painfully clear that there is none."

"Aren't you perhaps just thinking too much?" Dinah had to ask. "Maybe the answer will come to you when you stop searching for it."

"Under normal circumstances, I would say you have a point, Dinah. But I can't think like that now..." he shook his head and steepled his fingers in front of him, bringing his normal cheerful expression back with what looked like great effort; "But no matter. We need to return to the situation at hand. Durmstrang students generally know of the symbol..." his voice drifted off for a short moment but it didn't last. "However, most of them do not know what it actually means. I am afraid, though, that Eugene likely _does _know what it means through his test subject, given the clear connection the latter has shown to the dark storms and the evil flayed baby."

"But what can he do with the information?" Severus asked.

"My fear is that the two of them have been attracted to the idea of the joining of the Hallows... of becoming 'Master of Death'."

"Which means what exactly?" Dinah asked.

He sighed. "I was under the impression that it meant little of anything in reality. That it was simply the product of legend and wishful-thinking. But those who become enamored with the tale tend to think of it as becoming all-powerful, invincible, or...immortal," he looked pointedly at Severus.

"Immortality... The Dark Lord's ever-present goal," Severus said, looking as uneasy as Dinah felt. "Yet you don't believe there is any truth to that."

"I believe that becoming the true 'Master of Death' means just what is implied in the story with the third brother: accepting death gracefully when it is your time to go. It is what I have told Harry and what we have mutually agreed upon since the final battle. But I do not think that matters to Eugene and the test subject's goals."

"But I don't understand," Severus interceded, snarling in his frustration; "If they cannot truly do anything by uniting the Hallows then what does it matter what their goals are?"

"It matters because I am not one hundred percent certain that something will not happen when they are brought together. We have theorized, but none of us know the truth. The three objects, as far as I know, have not been in direct contact at any one time. Harry and I have both possessed all three objects at one time or another, but never at the _same _time. And we cannot know what other powers the three Peverell brothers may have placed into their creations, or even if they discussed their creations with one another. For all anyone knows in fact, the objects may indeed have been created by Death himself."

"I truly doubt that," Dinah murmured. "But you do have a point... if an item as strong as the Resurrection Stone actually _exists_," she shook her head. "How could any human being have created something with such a power? If we were to have it... Severus, would you try to bring back Lily?" she gasped and covered her mouth, not sure why or how that had popped out of it. She was reminded again how her inability to censor her thoughts was perhaps her greatest curse.

Severus just stared up at where she still stood next to his chair, his expression blank and unreadable. Finally, he sighed and looked away from her. "No. No, I would not do that. As the headmaster has clearly stated, that would be a foolish move."

"Excellent, Severus," the headmaster murmured, eyeing his young friend with admiration. "You are indeed stronger than me in many ways. Able to resist even your deepest desire in order to do what is right."

"Maybe that's not my deepest desire anymore!" Severus shouted out of the clear blue, looking a little indignant.

"What?" Dinah asked at the same time as the headmaster, both of them turning shocked glances on her boyfriend.

He shifted under their joint scrutiny and sighed again; "Perhaps I have already accepted Lily's forgiveness. Is that so hard to believe? Dinah, you told me... that she has certainly forgiven me for the indiscretions of my past. And Harry – er, that is, Potter," he flushed a little; "her son has forgiven me and told me so on countless occasions whether I wanted to hear it or not. Perhaps that, in a way, is close enough to her forgiveness as to indicate it..."

"Severus," Dinah whispered, still not quite believing what she was hearing.

"I don't know," he sighed a third time; "Either way, I do not want to use that stone. Bringing her back under false pretences to a place where she doesn't belong and could not be happy? That would not be... right. I don't want that for her."

"Of course," the headmaster nodded his approval. "You are right, Severus."

Dinah felt her lips turn up in a small smile and nodded. It was amazing. The words she had never expected to hear from Severus were words that she was now hearing. It seemed he was finally starting to move on a little. Could that mean...?

No.

She shook her head to clear that thought and sat back down in her chair. She could not get her hopes up. It was good enough that he was achieving some sort of inner peace about the situation. If anything, this meant he cared enough for Lily that he would not want to cause her unhappiness no matter what that meant for him. It showed kindness and selflessness, but not much more. Not clearly, anyway.

"Um, either way," she forced herself to change the subject back to the matter at hand; "Is it even feasible for them to obtain all three items? Where is the ring located?"

"The ring is lost," the headmaster's response is firm.

"Lost?"

"Harry dropped it somewhere and cannot recall the location. We thought it best that way. Ideally, no one was to ever know again where it is."

"Lovely," Severus said; "So if it's lost to everyone in the world do you mind telling me why you let me go on that tangent about whether I would use it or not?"

"I was simply curious what your thoughts were on the matter."

"Typical," Severus scowled, folding his arms and getting another smile from the headmaster.

Dinah had to hide a giggle; "So... the conclusion seems to be that there is no threat, then?"

"No," Dumbledore's pleasant expression changed back to one of firm gravity as he turned back to her; "I believe the threat is very real. We already know that the flayed baby is no longer the pitiable creature it appeared to be in King's Cross. It is possible that the existence of Tommy is sustaining it enough that it can remain evil, and it seems to have goals. If there is any part of its consciousness that is still Voldemort then it surely wants to be revived. It maybe be using the test subject and Eugene for this purpose."

"Through finding the Hallows? Does Voldemort even know about them?" Dinah asked.

"He did not when he was alive. He only knew of the Elder Wand. But if his form has been hovering around Hogwarts it may have heard things. Harry and I discussed the issues in great detail after the rebirth. Depending upon the flayed baby's mobility, it may be able to guide Eugene or the test subject to obtain the three items. It may even be able to find the ring. And if the three are united, we still cannot predict what will happen;" his expression turned graver; "Even if nothing happens with all three Hallows, discovery of the ring alone..."

"May revive The Dark Lord," Severus finished in a low voice.

Dinah drew in a sharp breath, her heart pounding wildly in her chest; "The prophecy!"

"Yes," Dumbledore looked at her, his expression slightly apologetic; "This seems to be what we have been waiting for this whole time. Your prophecy says that you will meet the last incarnation of The Dark Lord, return that darkness to light, and be the first to bring peace. You will likely have to defeat the flayed baby, that last incarnation, and preferably before he can be returned to his former state."

"I thought Tommy was the last incarnation," Dinah murmured, feeling so overwhelmed now that that was the only coherent thought her mind seemed able to produce.

"Differentiating between Tommy and the flayed baby may not be as clear as we originally thought."

"But Tommy is different form that thing! He's good! He's just a victim of it like everyone else! And what will happen to him? What happens if I destroy the flayed baby?"

"I do not know."

She tried not to, but was unsuccessful as a whimper left her lips and she sat back in the seat; "What if I... don't want to? Can't I talk to Tommy first? Maybe he knows of some better option. Maybe I can help him. If I destroy that thing he'll be stuck crying in that bathroom probably forever. I can't let that happen to him!"

"Dinah," it was Severus's turn to stand from his chair and walk over to hers, placing a hand on her shoulder and forcing her to look up at him; "Don't. It's too early for these types of assumptions. Perhaps everything will be fine."

"That's easy to say to somebody who has had this prophecy hanging over her head for the past twenty-two years!"

"Have you forgotten what _I _have done for the past eighteen years? Do you think I want The Dark Lord revived? Do you think I like the idea of _you_, my Dinah, having to defeat him?"

"No," she bit her lip as a few tears rolled down her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by that, I just... I never wanted to do this, and now that it's happening I don't know if I'm going to be able to. I don't know what the right thing to do is."

"Dinah, I-"

"If I may," the headmaster interjected, and Dinah wiped her eyes on her sleeve before turning to look back at him again as Severus's arm crawled around her shoulders. "I think we need to take this slowly. I do not think we can come to all of our conclusions as of yet, but I do think that if you have the opportunity you should speak with Tommy again. Ask him directly if he knows anything. I believe," he turned and nodded his head at the windows behind him, revealing a slowly-darkening sky; "that you may very well get the opportunity this weekend."

"A dark storm. Wonderful," Dinah sniffled once and then forced herself to take a deep breath and face the headmaster. "Fine. I'll talk to him. But you have to let me try and figure this out on my own at first. Unless there's some kind of obvious danger, I-"

"If you wait for the obvious, then it may be too late."

"Headmaster," Severus murmured, squeezing Dinah's shoulder when her face looked stricken again at the headmaster's comment, momentarily soothing her as he asked his question; "Can you tell us _where_ Potter dropped the ring?"

Dumbledore sighed; "I suppose I must, given the circumstances. He dropped it somewhere in the Forbidden Forest."

"Ah," Severus nodded.

"Oh no," Dinah whispered, everything coming clear to her. "Then it's true, isn't it? The dementors, which we already know are connected to the flayed baby, and the test subject, hanging around The Forbidden Forest all of the time..."

The headmaster nodded. "I believe they are searching for it."

"But can it really revive Voldemort? I thought it only brought people back as pale shadows of their former selves!"

"People who are truly dead. Given that Tommy's existence has kept the flayed baby on this Earth before it had a chance to move on, I do not know what will happen."

"So this is Tommy's fault, then?" she stood from her chair, her voice beginning to falter; "Can I leave now, headmaster? This is... a lot to take in."

"Of course. You may go at any time," he said, his gaze sympathetic. "But you may want to examine _Secrets of the Darkest Art _in more detail at some point this weekend. There is a small section on the Hallows that may prove useful to you."

"Fine. I'll look at it. If we discover anything else I'll let you know," she had to turn around then, unable to look at the headmaster or his office or the dark storm brewing out the windows any longer. She hurried from the room as fast as she could, with Severus rushing at her heels. She couldn't' bring herself to look at him, though, until she made it into her rooms and heard him close the door behind them. Then she turned around, and found herself fighting back tears again. "Well... that's that then, I guess."

"Dinah," he took a step toward her.

"I'm fine," she lied, forcing herself to laugh. "It's actually _good _that it's all out in the open now, right? I have to fight the flayed baby or Voldemort, destroy it before it gets all the Hallows or the ring and revives itself, and probably doom Tommy to an eternal, lonely existence while his other half turns back into that pitiable flayed half-human thing with no hope of help from anyone. But at least _I _know what I have to do, right? Who cares about them?" she felt tears on her cheeks once more.

"Dinah, I-"

"Please, Severus!" she ran up to him, grasping the front of his coat and gazing up into his eyes while her chest tightened in desperation, barely feeling his arms wrapping around her waist and holding her against him. "Please don't make me do this," she whispered. "Don't make me fight him."

"I don't want you to fight him," he murmured, his voice fierce with conviction, withdrawing a handkerchief from his coat pocket to dry her eyes; "But Dinah... if The Dark Lord is revived... if another war begins..."

"You know I don't want that. But isn't there another way? There just _has _to be another way."

He sighed; "I don't know. I don't know if there is or not. But... if anyone can find another way, it would be you. That's why we need your sort of empathy now. That's why this is _your _prophecy."

She clutched his robes tighter, willing no more tears to fall, and nodded; "Thank goodness I have you. If I had come here and been alone... faced the prophecy by myself... I don't think I could have made it even this far. Thank you, Severus. For being here."

"I'm here... for you," he said, his tone strangely thoughtful, as though he were considering something that Dinah couldn't even imagine.

"I know you are," she buried her face in his chest, letting her arms find their way around his lanky but firm waist, wishing that she might be able to just dissolve into him and hide from everything for awhile.

"Dinah," he tilted her chin up to him and cupped her face in both hands; "I think it's time I told you... about everything."

"Told me... everything?" she wasn't sure what he meant.

Severus nodded. "Everything I've experienced since Potter came to Hogwarts, everything that happened during the second war, and everything I know involving The Dark Lord. Everything that's been going on in the wizarding world. You'll likely need the information and you've been hiding from it for so long that you still know so little... I have told you some things, but hardly everything. You need to know all that Potter faced, all that we've all faced, so that you are properly equipped to face that same darkness."

"Is that okay?" she murmured, toying with one of his buttons.

"Of course it's okay," he laughed a little, making her smile; "The headmaster has told us about the Hallows and has entrusted _me _of all people to read _Secrets of the Darkest Art_, so I think we are privy to all important information at this point. And if it's me you're worried about I've already told you everything important and worked through it. That much is in the past. Now it's all you. And _you _need to know everything."

"So that I can kill things..." she whispered, looking away.

"Perhaps," he shrugged. "Or maybe so that you can save things. Here," he guided her to the couch and sat her down, sliding in next to her and facing her, taking both of her hands into his. "It was always Potter's presence that made these things happen from the very beginning. That's one thing that's nice about what's happening this time."

"What?" she was confused.

"At least this time it's all happening because of _your _presence. You're much better company than Potter. Not to mention more pleasing to look at," he kissed her.

His words made her feel better and she grinned; "I guess I must kiss better than he does, too."

"What kind of an implication-!"

"Shh," she giggled and cut him off with a well-placed finger to his lips before he could go off on a loud rant. "I'm only messing around with you."

"Do you want me to tell you this story or not, you infernal witch?" he growled at her, but he was almost smiling.

Dinah smiled and squeezed his hands; "Yes. Go ahead. Thank you for this."

"You're welcome," he replied gruffly, and then cleared his throat and began telling her about Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts and Voldemort's quest for the Philosopher's Stone.


	107. Uncertainty

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN

Uncertainty

* * *

"I have to go," Dinah said, turning around after Severus grabbed her hand from behind; "You know I have to."

"Why can't I go with you?" he demanded, his fingers tightening on hers, not letting go. She'd never seen him look so worried.

"Severus, you know you can't. Tommy won't show up unless it's only me," she sat back down on the couch, running the fingers of her left hand across the back of the one that clutched her right; "I'll be fine. I promise. Tommy is harmless."

"But look outside. Look at the storm. The flayed baby hangs around Tommy and it's always strongest during these storms," Severus gestured with his head towards her window, where rain poured in sheets swirled around by the violent wind and lightning struck on occasion, lighting up the sky. Occasionally the sky lit up with a different light, that of a toad Patronus which Severus had grudgingly admitted belonged to Neville Longbottom when they first saw it this morning.

"I know, Severus. I know. But nothing bad has ever happened before during my meetings with Tommy and I don't think it's going to start now. I don't think the two are quite... in sync yet... or something. I'll know if that happens. I'll know if I'm in danger."

"Fine. Go, then. But you have to come back immediately or I'll-" he broke off and pulled her to him, kissing her with a sort of desperate ferocity she'd never witnessed before and then leading a trail of kisses across her cheek and down her jawbone. When he reached her neck he stopped for a moment, tightening his grip around her and resting his head in the crook of her shoulder, his face pressed into her neck and his eyes tightly shut.

"Severus," she let her arms find their way around his shoulders and slid her fingers into his hair; "I'll be fine."

"I know. You have to be fine," his voice was a sort of low growl of conviction, and his lips moved again, treating the bare skin of her neck to a tender, open-mouthed kiss and causing her breath to catch in her throat; "I am going to give you so much when you come back. So you have to come back. Do you understand me?"

She flushed and tried not to squirm too much. "Severus Snape, are you using sex as an incentive to make me come back to you?"

"If that's how you want to see it, then yes."

Dinah chuckled; "Who'd have thought," she gently leaned back and guided his head away from her shoulder, brushing strands of black hair from his still-worried face and giving him a final kiss; "I will most definitely come back. Don't worry."

"I'm going to worry," he said, pressing his forehead to hers and sighing once more, before reluctantly letting his hands slide from around her waist. "But I trust you. Just don't make me wait any longer than I have to."

"I won't," she stood from the couch and gave him a smile and a little wave before turning around and heading for the door. This time he didn't grab her and she didn't look back for fear that seeing more of his nervous expression might change her mind. She'd never had anyone beg for her not to go before; in an odd way it was sort of flattering.

She made it to the bathroom in record time now that she had no one to hide from, and found Tommy in his usual stall.

"I found out a lot of new things since I saw you last," she told the small boy after their customary greeting. "But I need your help to make sense of it all. Can you do that for me?"

"I... I can try," Tommy nodded his agreement.

"Great," she smiled and knelt down across from him, placing what she hoped was a comforting hand on his shoulder. She had to think for a moment about how best to begin this line of questioning in order to get the most information out of the boy. It would have been easier, she couldn't help but think, to figure it out if she still had her adult mind. But finally she hit on something that she thought that she could use. "Is the sad person... the one in despair... is he looking for something?"

Tommy's brow furrowed for a moment as he considered this; "He's looking for something. He's looking for something desperately. He has been all year. He wants it so badly... but he can't find it. He just can't find it."

"Is the evil thing looking for the same thing?"

"I... I don't know. It wants _me_. That's all I can feel. It just wants to get me."

Dinah didn't blame the boy for only being able to focus on that part of it; it was the part he was connected to, in a way that she still didn't fully understand. But that didn't mean that the flayed baby wasn't still looking for the Hallows. His comment about the test subject looking for something was enough to tell her that at least they were. Although why they were sad about it she couldn't guess.

"Do you know what it is the sad person is looking for?"

"Something... something important... something he could have had before but lost... something very... something sort of..." he sighed and shook his head; "I'm sorry. I don't know. I don't know any more than that."

Dinah nodded; "It's okay." She took a deep breath. Time for the more difficult questions. "The evil thing... do you know what it wants to do to you exactly? Isn't there any way you can get rid of it?"

"It's better when you're here. Can you get rid of it? You said you would try to help me," tears shone in Tommy's eyes again as he looked at her. Tears of desperation and loneliness.

"I'm trying," Dinah whispered, feeling tears in her own eyes as well. "I really want to help you, Tommy. I just don't know what to do."

"It's okay. You'll figure it out," his gaze was encouraging but uncertain... and hopeful. How could she deny this boy help? How could she do something that might hurt him? How could she just waltz in and destroy the flayed baby without even knowing how that might impact her young friend? How could she do that and still have respect for herself as a human being?

"I'll try," she sighed and stared at the hard cement floor, trying to figure out what to say or do next that might help... might give her some direction. "Tommy, _do _you know? What it wants to do to you, I mean?"

"Take me away," he trembled and cringed back in the seat, his eyes quivering with terror; "It wants to turn me into what it was... to trade places, I think. So I can be empty like it was supposed to be; and so that it can live again."

Dinah bit her lip. The flayed baby. The _real _flayed baby. Not the evil one but the lost, empty, pitiable one. The one that couldn't be helped. Just as she had feared time and time again, her small friend was headed down that path if the evil flayed baby got what it wanted. "If I make the evil thing go away before it can get you... what will happen to you then?"

"I don't know. It was always there, it just wasn't actively trying to get at me like it is now. If it goes away I'll probably just stay here... probably..." he began to fade.

"Wait, Tommy!"

"Yes?" his body was hovering on the edge of transparency, as if one wrong word from Dinah would make him disappear again.

"Can't you try to change it?" she wasn't sure where her words were coming from, but she let them leave her lips and form whatever sentences they wanted. She had a feeling she had hit on something potentially useful. "Can't you try to take it away instead of having it take you? If you just... tried to get through to it, tried to beat it... maybe you can save yourself from it all on your own."

"I don't know... I've never been able to change anything before. It always got to me, even when it was a part of me. It's why I always used to do bad things."

"Tommy-"

"But maybe it won't be so bad here in the bathroom, after all, if you make the evil thing go away," he smiled a little. "I could stay here forever. It's lonely, but at least I won't do bad things. And you would be here. I'm glad you're my friend, Dinah..." his voice faded into the distance along with his smile and then he was gone.

Dinah sighed and stared at her fingers resting in her lap, trying not to cry again. So those were her two options? Let the flayed baby run free and risk it taking over Tommy or destroy it and send Tommy back to his normal life with only Myrtle and herself as friends? The latter wasn't as bad as the former, if Tommy's thoughts were correct about it.

But he had said probably. He didn't know for sure. And she didn't know if it was worth the risk in some ways. Yet with the other option being him turning into the empty lonely flayed baby while Voldemort regained power, did she really have much other choice?

She stood and walked back towards her rooms, thinking those questions over. The only other thing that might work was what she had said – Tommy beating the flayed baby instead of the other way around. But nothing like that had worked in the fairy tale and Tommy himself had essentially written off her suggestion, saying that changing things had never worked for him before...

Dinah hated this feeling of helplessness, she thought as she opened the door to her rooms.

Her thoughts were temporarily put on hold when Severus saw her. He stood from the couch and rushed over in one swift movement, relief shining in his eyes as he gathered her into his arms. "What took you so long?" he murmured into her ear, before returning to his earlier motion of kissing her jaw and neck.

She laughed, tilting her head to allow him the access he needed; "I can't have been gone more than ten minutes."

"You're all right?" he drew back just as her pleasure was beginning to intensify, his eyes searching her body from top to bottom for any signs of harm.

"I'm fine. I told you I would be."

"Perhaps," he conceded with a frown, grabbing her arm and dragging her towards the couch; "but we're going to make sure. Sit."

She could do nothing but obey as he summoned a vial over to him along with a spoon, both of which had been sitting on the dining room table. "What's that?"

"I summoned this up from the dungeons," he poured the thick potion into the spoon and firmly planted the utensil's handle into her right hand. "Eat it. It is a general health potion. If anything at all has happened to you... physical harm or stress, certain types of mental harm or stress, dehydration, anything... it should help. Now take it."

"Yes, Sir," she laughed and took the potion, frowning at its bitter taste before handing the spoon back to him. At least his concern was a pleasant distraction from all that she had discovered and the confusion it had sparked inside of her.

"Good," he folded his arms and regarded her, looking satisfied.

"Okay. Well, Tommy said-"

"Is it absolutely one-hundred percent crucial that I receive this information right now?" he cut in, now appearing agitated.

"Um... well, no, I don't think so."

"Good," he repeated. "Then I believe that I promised you something before you left."

She felt a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth; "Severus?"

He smiled, his fingers reaching out to trace the line of her face and jaw, and he leaned over, a few strands of his dark hair brushing against her face before his lips gently moved against her cheek; "Then shall we go to the bedroom?"

Dinah felt her face grow hot as she entwined her fingers with her boyfriend's; "Let's."

* * *

"The Dark Lord must never have made it to this part when he read the book," Severus said, fingering the last page of _Secrets of the Darkest Art _and where the final paragraph about the Deathly Hallows was recorded.

"I'm not surprised," Dinah tried to keep from throwing up again when she thought back to some of the other things they had read along the way there. "How anyone, even Voldemort, could have read that whole thing is shocking. I still can't believe we managed to do it."

"It was rather gruesome," he frowned. "If my mother had owned it perhaps I would not have become so attracted to the dark arts after all."

"I don't think any normal people own this," Dinah murmured, closing her eyes for a moment, her head nestled into Severus's shoulder as they sat on the couch, still unclothed from an early morning enjoyment and wrapped in a blanket, neither of them having seen fit to get dressed yet since they were clearly not going anywhere until the dark storm passed, and it was still lingering from yesterday. "Still, most of the discussion in this book is pure speculation. How those three brothers could have made such impressive objects and not received more publicity than cryptic legend is beyond me."

"I confess that part strikes me as odd, too," Severus nodded, pulling her closer to him and snuggling against her; "All I can think of is that it's the times they were made in. But in the 1200s books _were _being published, although I suppose oral tradition may have lasted longer in those days..."

"Well, Lucy would know those details. Maybe I'll ask her."

"Perhaps."

"The one thing that bothers me – Severus, stop that, I'm trying to talk here!"

He laughed and drew away from where he had been nuzzling her neck. "I'm sorry. You are, occasionally, very hard to resist."

"Only occasionally?" she teased, squeezing his hand and meeting his eyes with a smile. It was hard to believe that their relationship was on these terms now, when she really thought about it. That Severus Snape, even a young version, was really all over her like this, and enjoying every moment of it. In some ways it was sort of miraculous.

"Mm, yes," he smiled slightly, teasing her right back, and then pointed to the spot in the book that he knew she had been referring to. "The bothersome part. Of all the things it suggests might happen with the three Hallows joined, this one is the most reasonable."

"Exactly. That's why it's so bothersome. The other suggestions are bothersome, of course, but so unlikely... but it's not so hard to believe that if all three Hallows joined their powers would be thrice multiplied. 'Imagine an Elder Wand that could destroy all living beings within a mile radius, a Resurrection stone that unearthed multiple tormented souls at once, an invisibility cloak that made you all but disappear...' she read the words from the book and shuddered. "I hate to think of that happening, and of Voldemort being revived in the midst of it all."

"You _have _to stop it, Dinah," Severus murmured, his eyes turning distant as she knew he was thinking about his former master. "Even Tommy would be grateful if you did so... given what he told you yesterday."

"Yes, but," she sighed as his long, wiry adolescent fingers closed around hers, wishing that she could somehow please everybody at once but starting to wonder if there was any way to do that; "We don't know what will happen to him if we destroy it either..."

"Isn't it better than letting it live?"

"Yes, but... what if there's a special way to destroy it? What if I can save it instead of-"

"Speculation," he cut in, sounding agitated. "I know you want to save everything and everybody but I think Potter has already proven that neither the Dark Lord nor the normal flayed baby can be saved."

"I need to try."

He sighed. "Then try. But don't let it interfere with what you have to do if what you try doesn't work."

"I guess," she murmured, not sure what to think about that. "Either way, though... Severus, I've never fought anything before. I've taken Defense Against the Dark Arts and I know how to produce a Patronus but I've never... I mean, I don't know what I'm doing. I've never practiced hexes or curses... I don't even know the first thing about how to go about defeating an evil flayed baby demon child! What am I supposed to do?"

"You are strong," he stroked her cheek; his eyes shining with admiration and making her feel a bit better. "But you're right; you have had no experience or practice. Maybe that's what we should do next. I can get some of my books from the dungeons and we can go through them, and then when the dark storm blows over we can go outside and practice."

She looked outside at where the storm already seemed to be calming. "You won't make me do-"

"Of course not!" he cut in, looking appalled that she would even suggest it, and somehow knowing what she had been suggesting in the first place. "You do not need to learn unforgiveable curses in order to defend against darkness. Potter did nearly everything without using them. I'm not even teaching you _Sectumsempra _unless it is absolutely necessary. But there are plenty of other offensive and defensive measures that we can learn."

She smiled a little. "I like how you say 'we'. As if you didn't already know this stuff."

"We're in this together, Dinah. Always."

Always. It was the word he always used to refer to his feelings for Lily, and she had never heard him use it when speaking of her before. It made her feel very warm inside. "Thank you, Severus," she laid her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. "There's no one I'd rather be in this together with than you."


	108. Teamwork

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT

Teamwork

* * *

"_Stupefy_!" Dinah shouted, pointing her wand at Severus and sending the light of the stunning charm flying his way. He blocked the jet of red easily with his wand and the spell dissipated with nothing happening. She sighed; "You're no fun to duel with."

He chuckled; "The charm is excellent quality. Anyone else would have been knocked back easily. My shield charm is simply... strong. Not that I'm bragging."

"Yes, well... at least my defenses are good and you haven't knocked me away yet," she grinned. "I must be more talented than Gilderoy Lockheart, huh?"

"A flobberworm would be more talented than Gilderoy Lockheart," Severus muttered under his breath.

"After what you told me about that year, I don't doubt it. Still, you'd better change what you just said before I start assuming you think I'm as talented as a flobberworm."

Severus groaned. "Dueling used to be easier when I didn't have to worry about the dynamics of a male-female relationship and women's strange tendencies while trying to fight."

"We take the bad with the good," she shot him an innocent smile.

"I suppose so," he smiled back slightly. "No, you are quite a bit more talented than a flobberworm, Dinah. I have said you are strong and you are proving me correct. _Expelliarmus_!"

She gasped, having been taken so much by surprise by his spell that she was barely able to deflect it in time. She glared at him after catching her breath; "You tricked me!"

"Always be on alert; you never know what your enemy might do," he smiled at her, turning his wand over in his skilled fingers and looking quite smug.

"A good lesson to learn I suppose," she grumbled, and then stretched her wand out again; "_Bombarda_!" she sent the explosion spell that had been on the list of effective spells used in practice duels, but as usual Severus deflected it. She sighed; "Was that strong, too?"

"Very. But, as usual-"

"You're stronger," she snorted; "Not bragging, indeed! If I could just get that wand out of your hands then..."

"Good luck with that," his smug expression was starting to make her mad.

"_Expelliarmus_!"

"_Stupefy_!" Dinah watched as the spell left his wand just before hers knocked his out of his hands. She was so pleased with her success that she forgot to deflect or evade his stunning spell, however, and the next thing she knew the wind was knocked out of her and she was sent flying back onto the grass.

"Dinah!" he was at her side immediately and when she caught her breath and opened her eyes he had already begun plucking dead leaves from last winter out of her hair. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," she sighed. "That was stupid of me."

"Very," he looked her over and then exhaled. "You look to be in one piece. That was a strong spell I sent at you, though."

"I appreciate the fact that you really did it," she smiled. "You didn't go easy on me."

"Of course not. That helps no one. Besides, I respect your abilities."

"Severus!" she was so pleased that she threw her arms around him, hugging him tight.

Severus laughed; "This is definitely not a normal duel, however," he smiled and kissed her after returning the hug, then stood and extended his hand to help her up. "You can't falter even for a moment. Just because you made a successful hit doesn't mean you can let your guard down right away. That's why you lost there."

"I know," she nodded. "But I did succeed in disarming you."

"Yes, because I chose to return an offensive spell to you instead of defending against your _Expelliarmus_. If I _had _chosen to defend you would not have succeeded."

"So you let me win, then?" she couldn't hide her look of disappointment.

"Hardly," he chuckled. "I'm not the one whose bottom slid across ten feet of grass just now."

"Oh, fine!" she huffed.

He had to laugh again; "It appears I can't please you no matter what I do. Battles are all give and take, Dinah. Only when it's finished can you truly tell who has won and who has lost."

"That makes sense," she sighed. "I wonder if I'd do better at this as an adult."

"Surely we both would, but that is irrelevant, isn't it? We have to work with what we have. Don't worry about things that don't need to be worried about right now. You'll just distract yourself from the matter at hand," he lifted a finger to stroke her cheek.

"Speaking of distractions," she murmured, placing her hands on either side of his waist and pulling their bodies closer together.

"I do indeed like dueling with you, Dinah," he whispered, leaning over and capturing her lips in a kiss.

"Professors, I'm so glad I – Oh!" a young girl's voice shrieked.

Dinah gasped and drew her hands away from where they had been tangled in Severus's hair, pulling his head closer to her to try and deepen the kiss. She took a giant step away from him as he also scrambled back from her, and they both turned to see a dark-haired girl in Slytherin robes standing there with her hands covering her face, her ears tinged a deep shade of pink.

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea!" she squeaked. "I mean, I didn't think- I didn't expect- didn't even know you two were- more than friends, I mean- I was just coming to- ahhh, I'm sorry!"

"Miss Huntingdon," Severus snarled, his own face just as pink but his normal teaching scowl set firmly in place, as it seemed he recognized all of his Slytherin students even without seeing their faces.

She drew her hands away from her face so that Dinah could see that she was indeed Agrona Huntingdon, and murmured; "Professor Snape, I... um... I'll just... leave..." she took a few steps backward, but Severus held a hand out to stop her.

"Not so fast, Miss Huntingdon. You are to speak of this to no one, do you understand me?" his eyes bored into hers, and Dinah sensed him using Legilimency, probably to make sure that she understood very clearly what he was saying.

"Of course, Sir! I would never – not to you – probably detention for life..."

"Probably," he sighed. "But since you came all the way out here would you like to tell us what you wanted?"

"Oh, sure..." she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her gaze floating away from Severus and towards Dinah, probably looking for somebody a little less threatening to stare at; "I just really, really, _really _wanted to thank both of you. Derwent told me everything and he told me what you two and Professor Ketteridge are doing and what you're going to do... it's made everything good again! So thank you, thank you, _thank you_!" she smiled, looking more comfortable now that her eyes had firmly landed on Dinah.

Dinah smiled; "You're very welcome. I'm so glad you two have been able to work things out."

"Yes, and it's only because Professor Snape decided to back off on essays that he had time to tell me! That was just about the nicest thing ever, you know! Derwent said you didn't think it was, but it really was!" she turned back to Severus, a hesitant smile on her face.

Severus's half-smile was more of an uncomfortable smirk; "Fine, Miss Huntingdon. I shall let those comments slide for now and say you're welcome, but if you thank me or call me nice again I'm going to give you that detention."

"Oh, absolutely!" she jumped, and made as though to lock her mouth; "My lips are sealed," she turned back to Dinah. "But is it okay if I thank _you_ again, Professor Samson?"

Dinah giggled; "Yes, but you should spend less time thanking me and more time with Derwent, don't you think? After all, until we stage our intervention he _is _still going to be busy from time to time."

"You're right, of course! Thanks! I'll go see him right now. Um, I hope you two are very happy together!" she flashed a quick smile and then turned and escaped from them in a rush, probably afraid that if she stayed she'd get detention for that last comment.

Severus sighed; "Yet another person who knows."

"Yes, well, we're usually safe by the lake but then I didn't expect a student to come seeking us out for anything either," Dinah said, nervously tucking a strand of her own hair behind her ear. "She's rather unusual for a Slytherin, isn't she? Especially a half-blood one."

"Exceedingly unusual," he agreed with a frown. "Disturbingly, even."

She laughed; "Come on, don't act like it's a bad thing. She seems very nice. She can help change the dynamics of your house."

Severus's sigh was rather long, loud, and drawn out this time, but he reluctantly nodded; "Perhaps she can."

* * *

Dinah grinned at her computer screen as she sat on her couch Tuesday evening with Helga crawling around on her head and Godric curled up on her lap, sandwiched between her and the keyboard. At least the wonderful results she was getting were distracting her from her thoughts about Deathly Hallows resurrecting flayed babies and how Tommy fit into the mix. She looked up as a knock sounded on her door.

It definitely wasn't Severus, she knew as she set her computer aside and forced her cat off of her. He had a meeting with Eugene tonight and it had only just started. There was no way the annoying potions assistant could be done with him yet. So it was probably Lucy.

Sure enough, Dinah opened the door to reveal her friend standing there in front of her, looking nervous. She _had _been acting a little strange lately, come to think of it. "Hi!"

"Um, hi. Did you know there's a rat on your head?" Lucy asked, gripping Dora the cat more tightly in her arms, probably as a safeguard in case she decided to attack.

Dinah burst into giggles, realizing that she probably looked ridiculous to her friend. "Oh, that's just Helga. Don't worry; she'll stay there until I take her off. Rats are very intelligent. Although I guess as a fox she might look tasty to you, right?" she joked.

"Yeah," Lucy grinned, "I've never been partial to rat myself. You might have to watch her around Sirius though. I think he lived on rats for awhile before he started staying at Grimmauld Place. He ate them as Snuffles of course."

"Of course," Dinah grinned back and stepped aside to allow Lucy access. "Come on in. It's just me and the survey data tonight. Severus has a meeting with Eugene; you know how much he loves those."

"I bet he'll be in a wonderful mood later then," Lucy teased, coming in and sitting in a chair, "How's the survey coming?" She seemed flighty, like she was evading an issue of some sort, but Dinah wasn't going to come out and ask her about it. It seemed like Lucy would get it out when she was ready.

"Great!" she answered, plopping down on the couch and turning the computer so Lucy could see the screen, where she had a positive correlation with significant regression graphed. "See, as expected more people are told with an increase in the students' age! Also, would you believe that Gryffindors are the _most _likely house to have had some Muggle they accidentally performed magic in front of _Obliviated _by the Ministry? That house may be courageous, but they're definitely rash!"

"Yes, they can be if Sirius is anything to go by," Lucy murmured, letting Dora settle into her lap. The cat eyed Helga but made no move to leave her comfortable spot. "Listen about Sirius…"

"Is everything going okay?" Dinah asked, keeping her tone conversational.

"Mostly, yes. There's something I have to do," Lucy looked all over, not making eye contact with Dinah, "I don't want Sirius to know until after I've come back. I don't know. I might need your help. You have to help, it's all your fault I'm doing this," she smiled slightly.

"All my fault?" Dinah repeated, trying not to be too hurt at her friend's accusing tone because Lucy was smiling, but she _was _confused. "Why? What have I done?"

"Oh, just introduced me to those fairytales and encouraged me to read the first one again. It's probably a good thing though. I-I don't really want to do this but it's all set and it's time, you know? It's just time."

Dinah shook her head; "Lucy, I'm still confused. Do what? Time for what? You mean the fairytale about the girl forgiving her stepmother?"

"Yes, that fairy tale. I think it's time I go to the Department of Mysteries. I'd rather go alone but that's just not going to be possible. Kingsley's okayed it and Tonks has agreed to go with me. She's pissed but she's going."

"Wait... that's where Sirius was killed, right? In the Department of Mysteries? And that fairy tale? You think you need to forgive Bellatrix Lestrange for what she did to him?" Dinah was pretty sure she'd gotten all of that right as the pieces started to fit together in her mind.

Lucy nodded, looking a little relieved, "Yes, that's where he died. I think trying to forgive her is the only way to go. I'd rather not wait until I start to see her. No," Lucy shook her head, "no. I really don't want to see her. I don't want him to know. If he knows he won't want me to go or he'll want to go with me and I think this is something I need to do on my own. It's sweet and I appreciate him worrying about me but I want to go by myself. I don't want to force him into go before he's ready either. If he wants to go he should when it's his time and not just because he's worried about me."

"Forgiveness might be the best option," Dinah nodded. "At least it would take care of one of the crazy things hanging around during these dark storms," she sighed. "But you don't want to hear about that. Are you really sure you've thought this through? That it's okay not to tell Sirius? I'm only saying so because when I've kept things like that from Severus I've always felt horribly guilty. That said, I think sometimes we do have to do things on our own. I'm not trying to discourage you, I just... want to make sure you've made the right decision."

Lucy sighed, "I plan to tell him after. I just want some time to deal with whatever I need to deal with, to process things. I don't think I can do that with him around worrying that I'm going to have a breakdown. I was hoping you'd understand. Tonks doesn't. I don't expect people to agree with me but I need someone to understand. I need to do this on my own. I used to do things by myself all the time. Did you know I went to Turkey on a mission for the Order, alone? I want to be able to do things like that again. I don't want to hear her anymore and if that means trying to find ways to forgive her then so be it."

"I'll try to understand then. As long as there's no danger involved in this, and there shouldn't be, and you tell him you went right away, then I think you're fine. As for the forgiveness part, you're already halfway there, I think," Dinah smiled. "You were the one that said she was redeemable because she could love. Just take that feeling and go with it. Try to imagine what it must have been like to be her. Try to find something that you can relate to. I know it isn't easy and can often be difficult, but I think it can be done. Sirius knew her as a child, didn't he? Do you know anything about her home life?"

She shook her head, "No, not really. Nothing more than she was just as obsessed with blood status as the rest of the family, excepting Andromeda of course. I know there was good in her somewhere but that's going to be really hard to find. She changed my life and that makes me feel selfish. That makes me upset and I just…I'm so angry about everything that happened because of what she did that I don't look beyond myself. Tonks lost her cousin, Remus lost his best friend, Harry lost his godfather and all I can ever think about is how it affected me."

"I think it's normal to have a bit of selfishness within all of us," Dinah murmured, thinking for a moment to the part of herself that still wanted Severus's love and got sad from time to time when she remembered that he really wouldn't – or couldn't – give it. But she pushed that out of her mind quickly. She was good at doing that now. "The best thing to do is to find the right balance for you. We have to think about ourselves, but we also have to think about others. That can get hard and... conflicting at times..."

"Yeah. I mean I don't want to lie and sneak around Sirius but I feel like if I don't he won't let me go alone. I know he's nothing but good intentions, at least when it comes to me, but sometimes…"

Dinah thought back to all of the worries Severus had been lavishing on her about the Tommy thing, but smiled when she also remembered the fact that he hadn't gone easy on her in their practice duel. "We have to forgive our men, I guess. They're always torn between protecting us and giving us the respect and autonomy we need as equals... it must be a challenging role."

That got Lucy to laugh, "It must be. Oh Merlin, I almost can't wait to see what he's like when I'm preg…" Lucy stopped and blushed, realizing where her mind was starting to go.

Dinah smiled, trying not to let the sting of the fact that she'd never have children hit her and being pretty successful; "That will be a sight to see, I'm sure." When Lucy just smiled and didn't reply Dinah continued; "Oh, by the way, Agrona Huntingdon found Severus and I out by the lake yesterday. She thanked us for everything we've been doing with Derwent. It was quite nice, except that she now knows that Severus and I are involved..."

Lucy covered her mouth to hide her giggles, "Oh my. I think I would have liked to see your faces then. She actually ran into me and Sirius on our way back to my rooms. Nearly hugged me to death and thanked us profusely. She said she was going to try and find you by the lake. I tried to catch her before she ran off again but then I figured you two wouldn't be doing anything too embarrassing outside where anyone would come across you."

"Well, people don't usually come to the lake," Dinah muttered, feeling her cheeks grow pink. "I guess we thought we were safe. We were just practicing dueling together – you know just in case I have to face something because of my prophecy – and things wound up a little heated. We were just kissing, but... well, yeah... Agrona narrowly escaped detention about twelve times."

Lucy blushed too, "Yes, similar things are what led to you walking in on me with Sirius's hands being the only thing keeping me decent not too long ago. I know how it goes. I'm glad Agrona didn't end up with detention though. She's really sweet, not at all what I would expect from most Slytherins." She glanced down as Dora hopped from her lap to circle around Dinah's couch before settling herself next to Godric.

"It's true, I was thinking the same thing yesterday," Dinah agreed. "So is there anything else you needed to tell me? When are you actually going to the Ministry then? You said you might need my help. Was it just to tell me so that I understood or...?" she trailed off.

"Oh, well, I was planning on going next Tuesday evening. I don't want this hanging over my head during Easter break. Obviously if I'm not telling Sirius I can't go on a weekend or Wednesday and I don't want to miss all my classes and force Dumbledore to look for yet another substitute. The thing is…I was wondering…do you think you might check on me on that Wednesday? I just, I don't know how I'm going to react and I'm afraid I'm going to get all zombie crazy lady."

"Oh, I see," Dinah said softly, unnerved by the memory of what had happened to Lucy a few weeks ago. "You mean in the morning before Sirius arrives?"

Lucy nodded, wringing her hands in a nervous gesture, "If you wouldn't mind. Maybe during the day too, depending…" She kept her eyes on the ground, looking embarrassed.

"Of course I will. That's not a problem at all," Dinah insisted. "And you know if you need to talk you can always come here too, right? You're welcome any time, and in the dungeons too I'm sure... well, as long as you knock first," she flushed a little.

"Yes, thank you. And don't worry knowing what you're probably doing in there and my desire to not see Severus's bare bottom, or yours for that matter, will most likely ensure knocking first."

Dinah laughed; "Good. And for what it's worth you _do _realize that that time you _had _told us to just 'come in'."

Lucy blushed, "I honestly don't know what got into me. I knew it was a possibility you'd be coming over. It's just he does this thing with his tongue," she covered up a spot on the back of her neck, "and I sort of got carried away. So did he."

Dinah laughed and rolled her eyes; "You two are honestly the king and queen of too much information, did you know that?"

She grinned, flushing again, "It was on my neck, woman!" she pointed to the spot on her neck she'd been covering. "Really, you should be glad you don't know Tonks. She gave me rather detailed descriptions of Remus and the things they did…"

"Can we change the subject?" Dinah asked suddenly, shifting in her seat as images of Severus's tongue doing various things started floating through her mind. "I imagine talking about things that you can't do right now must be tormenting you as much as it is me. Wouldn't we both be happier distracting ourselves?"

Lucy sighed, and after a moment of thought began to shift around in her seat as well. She blushed deeper and cleared her throat, "Um, yeah, we should. So, anything in particular you'd like to talk about?"

Dinah smiled; "Well, I've got all evening pretty much. Want to watch a film? Or I could show you the internet this time! Or both, even."

"Oooh both! Dad's going to be so jealous," Lucy grinned, excited.

"'Dad'?" Dinah blinked, confused. "I thought you and your father didn't get along."

"Sorry," Lucy said, shaking her head, "My father and I don't get along. Henley is my father. Arthur's my dad. He and Molly both are like my parents. She could never replace my Mum and she's never tried. She gets it but Arthur's been my Dad where I needed one. I don't call him dad often but if you hear me say something about my dad I mean Arthur."

"Oh," Dinah smiled; "Well, that's very nice. I liked him a lot when I met him. Very curious about the Muggle world... almost amusingly so, he seemed." She also knew now that Arthur Weasley had been attacked by Nagini during Harry Potter's fifth year at Hogwarts, solidifying in everyone's knowledge the fact that Harry and Voldemort's minds were connected. It always seemed to be about connections...

Lucy grinned, "Yeah, he's fun. Aunt Molly finds him exasperating at times but he's a good man. The Weasleys in general are a rather tight lot, even Percy now that he's come to his senses."

"That's nice," Dinah nodded. "I had heard that he was working very closely with Minister Fudge and later Scrimgeour during the second war, making bad choices along with them..."

"Yes, he was…wait, how did you know about that?" Lucy asked, a little surprised.

She grinned; "A few days ago Severus sat me down and told me _everything_ that had happened in the second war. Pretty much all the details since Harry Potter first came to Hogwarts and Voldemort started making things happen. He thought it was important since I have things that I may have to face as well. I must admit I feel very well-informed now. Probably for the first time in my life."

"Everything?" Lucy asked, looking worried. "Even about what happened after Sirius…about what I…?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Dinah frowned. "He said you went through a really hard time and spent a lot of it in that zombie state and that it was disturbing to see, even then. Because he was definitely disturbed last time; but he had told me that when it happened to you, and I had seen that already, so... well, I'm really sorry you had to go through with that. But Sirius is alive now and I am one-hundred percent certain that he is going to stay that way. I won't bring it up again if you don't want me to," she hoped she sounded reassuring. She hadn't realized just how much that part bothered her friend, although she supposed it made sense.

Lucy sighed. "Thanks. I don't like that that's how I reacted to everything and it's not pleasant to think about so I try to avoid dwelling on it."

"I can understand that," Dinah smiled. "Well, I think you'll be okay on this trip. But if you need anything just let me know and I'll check on you on Wednesday. Ready to learn some more about Muggle technology then?" she turned her computer around again with a grin.

"Yes!" Lucy said, moving so she sat next to Dinah and could get a better view of the computer.


	109. Tenuousness

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINE

Tenuousness

* * *

"You look exhausted," Dinah murmured, wrapping her arms around Severus's shoulders from behind when she met him in the dungeons for breakfast on Wednesday morning. "That meeting with Eugene must have lasted a long time. You didn't even come over last night."

"Mm, I'm sorry," he murmured, leaning back as she began massaging his neck, closing his eyes and looking a little relieved as his fingers reached up to stroke hers; "I meant to, but the minute he left I sat down to look at a book for just a moment and promptly fell asleep."

"It's all right. You did say you might not come, I just sort of expected you would. So what happened with Eugene then?"

He sighed and pulled on her arms, forcing her chin to come down and rest on his shoulder; "Everything and nothing, as usual. Although I think I may have made a very small breakthrough with him."

"Do tell," she let her arms slip from around him and sat in the chair next to him at the table, pulling her plate over from where she would normally sit on the other side.

"I seem to finally be getting some slight reactions out of the man. Specifically when I mention Bulgaria or the Forbidden Forest. His eyes turn nervous and he changes the subject." Severus growled, "Did you know that the one time I asked whether the Forbidden Forest reminded him of the forests of Bulgaria he immediately grabbed a book and actually suggested that we teach the _seventh years _a hands-on method of controlling Cornish Pixies?"

"Oh," Dinah bit her lip but couldn't hide her slight grin; "He must know about Lockheart then, somehow. That suggestion must have annoyed you to no end."

"This is no laughing matter, Dinah!" Severus exclaimed, glaring at her. "Do you know what all of that implies? Number one he knows all these things somehow, number two he realizes that we're suspicious about the forbidden forest and probably also about his partner, number three the test subject is most likely someone he met in or knows from Bulgaria, and..."

"And?" Dinah prodded when it seemed like he wasn't going to continue.

"_And _the worst thing of all," he continued in a rather dramatic tone. "Eugene is _purposefully_ messing up my classes just to keep me from digging too deep into him!"

"Well, I think we sort of knew that already..."

"Not like this! Every stupid tangent and tedious meeting he's led me down – every time he does something _stupid _in class – all on purpose! I'm telling you, Dinah, the man is trying to_ sabotage_ me! If he really feels bad about his partner youthening us like you suggested then he certainly isn't showing it by destroying the sanctity of my classroom when I am _barely _equipped to deal with it! Not to mention I have to meet that infernal imbecile in ten minutes-" he shot the clock on the wall a death glare.

"Hmm. Ten minutes, huh?" Dinah murmured, thoughtfully reaching up to massage his neck again with one hand.

"Mm. Darling?" he turned, his eyes glinting with anticipation as he called her that name for the first time outside of sex.

She flushed; "Well, I think ten minutes is enough time for me to relax you."

"What did you have in mind?" his eyelids lowered.

"Well, you can't very well meet Eugene in this state, nor can you teach in it. The best thing to do," she grinned and climbed into his lap, facing him and sliding her fingers into his hair as his hands slid up her back, pulling her closer, "is to annoy Eugene by _not _being annoyed with him. And you will be incapable of annoyance once I'm done... 'relaxing' you."

"You know ten minutes means you won't have time to finish your breakfast, right?" he teased as he brushed his lips against hers.

"I'm hungrier for you," she lowered her lips to his neck and began the enjoyable task of relaxing him.

* * *

"I did mention the Elder Wand to Eugene," Severus said to Dinah in the library Thursday evening as they perused some books on dueling battle strategies together; "Rather, I mentioned it as 'the headmaster's wand' in passing."

"And?"

"And no obvious reaction," he frowned. "I just don't understand it."

"Perhaps now that he knows that you have an idea about what he and the test subject are doing he's tempered his reactions," Dinah suggested. "Or maybe he isn't aware of that part of it. I do think that the test subject is more of the culprit here, if Eugene's argument with him and guilt about the youthening potion is any indication."

"I don't know. It's too hard to determine," Severus glared at his book, as if hoping the answer would pop out of the pages, which was probably going to be difficult as the book was about famous duels in history, of which Dumbledore's famous duel with Gellert Grindelwald was one.

"I also keep remembering the sadness and despair of the test subject. I just keep faltering there," she admitted. "It's hard to put those things together with them being evil and trying to revive Voldemort."

"The flayed baby could be manipulating them for its purposes I suppose," Severus admitted. "But I still don't trust them."

"Mmm..." Dinah chewed on her lip, not really knowing what to make of any of it, and so just continued reading about offensive spells in her book.

"Professor Samson, Professor Snape!" a voice chirped, and they both turned to see Mae Yates running up to them, holding what looked like an old wooden cigar box in one hand and dragging Andrew Speasy after her with the other.

"Hello, Mae, Andrew," Dinah smiled at them each in turn while Severus made a distracted grunt in the way of a greeting and continued reading his book. She nodded at the box, "What do you have there?"

"My Mum just sent it by owl!" she beamed. "Dad got Granddad and Aunt Betsy to send their stuff from Great-granddad," she flushed, "I've just started calling him that because it's easier than trying to remember however many 'greats' he's supposed to be."

Severus lowered his book and fixed both first-years with a stare and a raised eyebrow. "Things from Jonathan Yates slash Raymond Scrump?"

"Um, yes," Mae shifted under his scrutiny and slid the box onto the table, pulling back the lid to reveal a lot of very old papers and letters; "See? We've kept some of his story notes as well as letters he sent back and forth with Great-grandmum... you know Melinda Yates?"

"No," Severus scowled.

Dinah kicked him lightly under the table and he glared at her, but forced his expression into a more amiable one. "Yes," she said to the two first-years. "The history books say that Yates listed his wife as one of his greatest helps and inspirations. She apparently gave him a lot of ideas and feedback on his works."

"Yes! That shows up in a lot of these letters!" Mae grinned. "I think she must have known about who he was, too, though she was probably the only one. See, she keeps calling him Ray. Now we finally know why. Granddad and Aunt Betsy were so shocked when Dad told them about who Yates really was that he just _barely_ stopped them from telling local Muggle historians and thus getting _Obliviated _by the Ministry," she giggled. "That would be something for your survey, Professor Samson."

"Probably," Dinah smiled. "What do the letters and notes contain?"

"I'm going to let you borrow them, of course, but here are the more interesting parts I thought about when I saw it..."

"I like this one," Andrew grabbed one of the letters and showed it to them, "He's always talking about his trip to Papua New Guinea. It's even in _The Errant Wizard_. He actually says in that book that he went with Flavius Belby. The bloke on the wizard card!" he added as an afterthought as though they wouldn't know to whom he was referring.

"We know," Dinah smiled, and even Severus looked like he might do the same as he regarded the boy. They had both noticed as of late that Andrew had been talking less with Cantrell in class and had generally begun behaving better. This was even more proof of that. "It's quite impressive."

"What I don't understand is how after Great-granddad wrote most of his books somewhat based on real life why the Muggles who read it didn't think that all this stuff might be real, too," Mae said, frowning.

"Because Muggles do not believe that 'stuff' as you so eloquently put it," Severus sneered at her, "They can't unless it is performed in front of them. You listened to Dinah – to Professor Samson's paradigm lectures," he flushed and turned back to his book.

"Yes, Professor Snape, you're right," Mae murmured, not in the least bit surprised at his use of Dinah's first name. "And they were very good lectures, right Andrew?"

"I guess so," he shrugged. "Tell them about the tribes!"

"Oh!" Mae perked up, "Yes, in this letter he's asking Great-Grandmum if she thinks he should write in more detail about the stuff that the people from the tribes he visited in Papua New Guinea told him about."

Dinah drew in a sharp breath, startling both the first-years and Severus as she stood from her seat, her eyes wide with growing realization. "Tribes told him? You mean that explains why the things that he's seen are not recorded anywhere else in wizarding culture?"

"We think so!" Andrew exclaimed, nudging Mae. "Mae says that the tribes were probably magical ones if him and Belby were visiting them. They probably saw a lot of things and wrote them down in legends and just never told anybody. Except Scrump, apparently."

"Yes," Mae smiled. "In one of Great-grandmum's letters she suggests that the tribesmen liked him because he was an outcast sort of like they were."

"Then our answers are here!" Dinah shrieked, spontaneously throwing her arms around Severus, who flinched, much like he used to before he'd gotten used to their relationship, but then couldn't resist smiling at her enthusiasm.

"Exciting," he murmured, gently guiding her off of him, "I know."

Andrew blinked, looking confused while Mae just smiled at them. "Anyway," the boy said after a quick sneeze; "I don't know what answers you're talking about, but there's a lot more in here."

Mae nodded, sliding another letter over to them along with a page of notes. "In this one he's really concerned. Seems he went back there for a visit after he was living in the Muggle world and heard more about one of the stories in the fairy tales from one of the people. He asks Great-grandmum what might happen if the prince had split in two like the wizard."

Dinah was surprised she could breathe as she turned to the students, her right hand pulling a 'Lucy' of its own accord and finding its way onto Severus's thigh. He cleared his throat and had to guide her away again, but he didn't let go of her hand as she spoke to the students; "What?"

"Well, I don't understand all of it, but there's a lot of stuff jotted down on his notes. "It's quite mysterious. I thought it might help you."

"Thank you, Mae," Dinah didn't think her words had ever held as much sincerity and gratitude when speaking to a student before, as she fell back into her seat; "Thank you _so much_. You have no idea how much this helps us."

"I'm glad I could help," Mae said, looking very pleased. "Andrew really loves learning about my past."

"Just 'cuz it's interesting!" Andrew said, his guilty-looking gaze shifting to Severus; "Not because it makes you better or something."

"Cantrell keeps saying that it doesn't make a difference," Mae said to them quietly; "That being descended from a squib is just as bad as being descended from Muggles, even if the squib's parents were also wizards."

"Cantrell doesn't know what he's talking about," Andrew said, shooting her a pointed stare; "Your family is your family, right? That's what you keep telling me. No matter what they are. If it doesn't make a difference then it doesn't make a difference, but I don't think that's a bad thing either way."

"You don't talk to Cantrell so much anymore," Mae murmured, smiling at him.

"Well," he flushed, his always red nose now looking rather cherry-like; "I mean... he keeps doing stuff to Wortham and Lee. If I stop talking to him and he keeps doing stuff to them maybe they'll stop bothering me and switch to him instead."

She giggled; "Maybe. But that might not be nice if he starts hexing them."

"Eh, I think eventually they'll all give up. I hope. Anyway, we still have that essay to write for Professor Snape's class, so we should go do it and let them read this stuff on their own."

"Excellent notion," Severus was giving them both a perfectly raised eyebrow, but his expression was different, considering. He looked like a million thoughts were running through his head, but they weren't disturbing ones. They seemed more... thoughtful.

"Right," Mae flushed and pushed the letter, notes, and box closer to them. "Please return these when you're done?"

"Of course," Dinah smiled, waving as the two students left for other parts of the library.

Severus's face relaxed as he watched them disappear, his hand tightening around Dinah's before he murmured; "Maybe those two are not quite like me and Lily after all..."

Dinah felt herself smiling and scooted her chair closer to him. "Maybe not. Maybe they're just them."

"Maybe..." he shot her an odd, considering look.

"Care to read the rest of these in the dungeons?" she asked, laying her head on his shoulder for a brief moment when it was clear no one nearby was looking.

"Of course," he agreed, standing with her. "That would be more relaxing indeed."

* * *

The notes and letter dropped from Dinah's hands as her fingers' grip on them disappeared with the weakening of her muscles. She turned her gaze toward Severus, sitting next to her in his usual spot on the couch.

"What?" he murmured, his gaze filling with worry as he took her chin in his fingers, and Dinah knew that he had noticed the unshed tears she felt filling her eyes. "Dinah, what is it?"

"The notes... and the letter... it's horrible... I can't even-" she cut herself off with a whimper; unable to prevent the words she had just read from filling her mind, overwhelming her with despair. She was surprised the flayed baby and the dementors weren't leaving the test subject right now to hover in on her.

"Shh," he murmured, taking her into his arms and pressing her head into his shoulder.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his neck, letting the tears flow, her shoulders shaking as she tried to forget the words she had read, but she couldn't. They just couldn't be true.

"What?" he whispered, stroking her back, holding her as tightly as he could. Yet she still felt cold even in his warmth. "You have to tell me or I can't understand."

"I'm sorry," she wiped her eyes and forced herself to pull away, everything colder when she did so. "I'm sorry," she repeated.

"Don't," he nuzzled her forehead, his eyes reflecting pain upon seeing her, his fingers brushing away more of her tears; "Please. None of this is your fault. Just tell me."

"What I read... if it's true, then it's horrible. Maybe even hopeless."

"What is?" he asked gently.

"He first... um... poses the question to his wife whether pure evil and Horcrux creation ever happened in the same person. It seems the wizard who split in two and the prince are both people in the tribe's legends. I guess the one who split in two must have heard about Horcruxes from some of the more civilized wizards that visited from time to time..." she took a few breaths. Telling this was making it easier. Maybe it would get just a little bit easier this way.

"Good," Severus nodded, looking satisfied that she was calming down a bit; "Please continue."

"The prince's tale... well, most of the details – the warring kingdoms and the like – were probably embellished to make it more fairytale-like for its intended audience." At his second nod she continued; "But it seems that somebody in the tribe did turn evil and that legends spoke of one of the tribe's women seeing the missing good form of him. The basic theory is that in order for somebody to become pure evil they must lose that good part of them, but it has to go somewhere. I mean, I guess it's possible to be born pure evil, but those aren't really human in the first place, and we already know from Tommy that he could have been okay if he'd just had a better life. If his mother had loved and raised him..."

"Yes. Yes. Continue."

"Well," she took another deep breath, "Scrump-Yates says that he and the tribe postulated that there is a sort of... tenuous thread that still exists, connecting the missing good to its original vessel. Which I guess makes sense because it explains why Tommy is acting as a Horcrux and holding the flayed baby in existence..."

"Indeed," he agreed. "Go on."

Dinah clutched his arm, shooting him a grateful smile. His calm encouragement was making this _so _much easier. "Well, that's why he thought in the fairy tale that somebody could somehow rejoin the good to its original vessel. Heal the missing good, get rid of the evil, make everything okay, but it's still only speculation. He thought maybe that was the tribal woman's job, but she couldn't figure out how to do it right... so nobody ever healed the person who lost his goodness."

"And?"

"He died and nobody ever saw the missing good again. Nobody knows what happened to it," she bit back more tears and continued; "The other one, the one who split in two... I guess he never felt remorse. He never went back together. The Horcrux was killed and then he was, and then the tribal shaman had visions of something like the flayed baby. But a fuller one, because the person made only one Horcrux. He saw what he thought was the spirit of that man as a lonely, empty ghost. Like a zombie... probably like what Lucy looked like before... but unhelpable this time."

"So if someone dies after splitting their soul and without feeling remorse, their soul remains in an empty state even when it moves on," Severus said, outlining what she had said in a brief, concise manner. "And if the missing good is never returned to its vessel it seems to disappear."

"Yes," she whispered. "But Scrump was smart. He saw the similarity between Horcruxes and missing goods. That's why he was asking his wife about it in the letter. He was trying to work this out. He didn't think the emptiness was a natural state, so he wondered if maybe the emptiness was a reflection of the death of someone who was pure evil. I mean, if these notes here mean what I think they mean he theorized that anyone who was capable of feeling remorse would be able to do it. So if someone who makes Horcruxes dies without showing remorse it means that they _can't _show remorse, meaning that they're pure evil and there has to be a missing good floating around somewhere. I don't know if that's right or not. It's kind of confusing..."

"But what is he _asking_?" Severus asked, his brow furrowed as he tried to figure this out. It was indeed confusing. "Is he suggesting that no Horcrux makers except perhaps this tribesman were ever pure evil? I find that hard to believe. We read the instructions on how to make a Horcrux. I can't imagine anyone doing that but someone who is pure evil."

"And yet we know that's not true. Look at Cedric Monteith and Lucinda Asgard. They both felt remorse. Neither of them ended up in an empty flayed baby state."

"I'll give you that. But what about Herpo the Foul? It is suggested that he did not feel remorse. Or at least it is never stated anywhere that he did feel it."

"Well, Scrump thinks that it's possible for the soul pieces to go together at death or even after death if the person is not pure evil, even if no obvious remorse is shown. He seems to think that once one piece moves on all of them do as well, which makes some sense I think. It's all speculation, though. The thing he keeps alluding to is what happens when something that _can't _feel remorse dies and is kept in this world by some kind of missing good. It can only feel remorse if the missing good goes back to it. And nobody knows how to do that."

"I suppose that makes sense..." Severus still looked like he was struggling through all of the implications, but the only thing that really worried Dinah was the next part.

"Maybe that part is all speculation, too. I don't know. But if it's true..." she broke off, unable to finish.

"If what's true?" Severus smoothed her hair, his voice still calming.

"Scrump-Yates thinks that if the tenuous connection is broken then it is _impossible _for the pieces to go back together. He also thinks that if that happens _both _the missing good and the original vessel will enter the same state. That of the lost flayed baby that I saw in my dream. The helpless, empty one. No matter what I do that's what's going to happen to Tommy!" That final comment was enough to send her spiraling into tears again.

Severus held her for a long time, not saying anything but soothing, comforting. She wasn't really sure how long it was, she was so caught up in the despair of her discovery. But finally she was able to calm down enough to speak again. "If I don't destroy it, it will make Tommy into the empty flayed baby. If I do destroy it, it will do the same. I can't save my friend."

"I know you care about this Tommy," he murmured, his thumb stroking her cheek; "I understand how difficult this must be for you. You had hoped he could remain at the very least in his current state in the bathroom... not ideal, but better than the alternative. And yet..."

"And yet it's hopeless," she wiped at more tears that were forming, not letting them fall as she turned back to stare at the letters and notes in her hands, holding them out to look at them. "This would be so much easier if his thoughts were in a direct narrative instead of a bunch of letters and jotted notes," she slapped the papers with the back of her hand in an accusatory manner, "But that's what I'm getting out of it. You can look too," she shoved them at him, looking away and whispering again; "But that's what I get out of it."

"I'll look later," he set them aside, turning her shoulders so that she could face him. "We have to give this new information to the headmaster."

"I guess so," she agreed, not meeting his gaze. "If only there was a way... _some _way to figure out how to return the missing good to its vessel. The vessel can't feel remorse on its own; it needs Tommy to do it. But they never figure out how to make it happen. It doesn't tell me how to help Tommy go back to it..."

Severus sighed; "Just because Scrump and the tribesmen in the story never found a way to return the missing good to its vessel doesn't mean that _you _can't find a way." It was an odd turn of the tables, him suggesting to her that she could help the flayed baby instead of destroy it. He still looked doubtful about that, though.

"But – but I don't know how! I don't even know where to start!"

"Perhaps the headmaster will have some thoughts on the matter," he said, kissing her. "At least it's another perspective."

Dinah sighed and nodded; "I suppose it's better than sitting here and wallowing in my misery. Let's go talk to him now."

* * *

A/N: So it has happened! I have published an M-rated fiction called "The Serpents' Kiss - Bonus", accessible from my profile, which discusses Severus and Dinah's intimate moments in more explicit detail. It's my first time trying such a thing so if you are up to reading it please do so and leave some feedback - be kind though, I'm not entirely sure that I know what I'm doing - lol. Of course, please only read it if you are of the appropriate age - I'm not sure but I'm throwing that disclaimer in there just to be safe, in case the site requires it . Anyway, there are currently two chapters up - one that explores a bit more detail from their "first time" back in Chapter 100, and the other from this chapter describing exactly what happens during Dinah's ten minutes of "relaxing" Severus. More will of course be posted as the story goes along and I will let you know when such things come up. Thanks! Hope you're all still enjoying the main story, which is, of course, most important! :)


	110. Discomfort

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TEN

Discomfort

* * *

Dumbledore had been singularly no help yesterday, Dinah thought glumly as she tried to grade papers during her last break on Friday after office hours. He had been unable to come up with any ideas for her to change things and had been in such a distracted mood that he had for all purposes shuffled them out of his office after taking in their information. He said he'd talk to them again later once he had time to think, but she wondered if it would even help.

Well, maybe she was just being depressive. Her mobile that she had just recently hung up sat next to her, still warm from use, and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat, thinking that just too much was going on at once for her to handle.

"Dinah?"

She looked up to see Severus standing in the doorway, carrying a basket of fruit and bread. "What are you doing here?" she didn't mean to sound accusatory, she was just not in the best of moods today. She rubbed her forehead and tried to focus on him; "You're supposed to be in the middle of classes."

"Yes, well, I let my most recent class out early," he marched over to her and slammed the basket down in front of her.

"What are you doing?" she asked, landing a suspicious eye on the food.

"I am _trying _to do what you tried to do for me some time ago, isn't it obvious? You barely ate anything at breakfast and lunch, so I brought this up from the kitchens. You are to eat it."

"I'm not hungry," she looked away.

"Dinah," he growled, and the tone of his voice forced her to look back at him. He was staring at her, his eyes wild with demand and his teeth gritted as he snarled his next order out at her; "You are going to eat and you are going to eat _now_!"

She stared at him, blinking once. "Okay," she said meekly, reaching out to take an apple from the basket and biting into it.

"Good," he grumbled, sinking into the chair across from her. "Do you have _any _idea how unnerving it is to see you not eat?"

"As unnerving as it is to see _you _not eat?" she suggested, forcing herself to swallow another bite, reminding herself that he was only doing this because he cared and that she should be grateful.

"Probably worse," he sighed, "Considering your normal eating behaviors."

"Mum and Dad called," she changed the subject, inclining her head toward the phone that sat next to her; "It's a little after the end of the month but what with everything going on it ended up being the best time. I'm going to go visit at Easter."

"Ah," he nodded. "That makes sense. You'll be gone during break then?"

"Not all break," she shook her head; "Just Easter weekend. There's too much going on here for me to leave for a week."

"Yes... that also makes sense."

"Severus, I'm scared. I want to see them, I just," she shot him a pleading gaze; "I don't know how much I should tell, you know? Maybe with any luck everything will have blown over by then or something, but that's ridiculous to think and at the same time I'm not sure I want to deal with all of this horrible prophecy stuff in the span of two weeks. Yes, scratch that, I don't want that to happen. It probably won't anyway."

"Dinah-" he began, but she cut him off.

"I just want to be honest with them especially if there's a serious threat to the world, but I don't think they really need _all _the details so I don't know how much I should reveal! And you _know _my mouth sometimes just goes off without me thinking. Plus, I'm an adolescent again, that's going to be so strange. I mean I think they'll be pretty understanding if their tone on the phone was any indication, but it's still strange!"

"Dinah, if it worries you that much, I'll come with you," he finally managed to get in a sentence.

Dinah just stared at him; "What? You'll come with me?"

"If you want me there," he hesitated, "If you think it will help, then yes. I'll come with you. If it's all right with your folks, I suppose..."

"Of course it will be, they keep wanting to meet you!" she insisted, still not sure that she had heard him right. "You'll really come with me? You'll meet my parents?"

"Yes," he stared down, poking at a piece of bread in a manner that would normally make it appear unpalatable to others; "I think enough time has passed, don't you? Besides, I've met Rosa and it seems your family knows all about me anyway..."

If his shy behavior was any indication, then he _really _really meant what he had just said. Dinah felt a smile forming in spite of herself; "Oh, Severus, thank you! I really appreciate that. I think they'll like you... don't worry about that. Sure, you can be grouchy and stubborn and prejudiced and snarky, but-"

"Are you trying to flatter me here, Dinah? Because it's not coming out right," he looked back up at her with a slightly amused half-smile, half-smirk.

"I'm sorry," she giggled; "I was going to say but I love you, and so I'm sure they will, too. After all, I _am _thirty-eight... well, sixteen... oh, whatever," she sighed. "Either way, thank you. This really means so much to me. Everything will be easier if you're there."

"Well, I'm glad you're feeling better," he leaned over and kissed her. "I do have to get back to class now, but what we should do tonight is spend some time with Lucy."

"Oh," Dinah frowned; "Really? You want to? But I'm sure since its Friday she and Sirius will be... busy," she cleared her throat and turned a flushed gaze down to her apple; "Plus I don't really feel like socializing much..."

"Darling, you seem to be forgetting something," he said.

Her flush deepened as she looked back up at him. She was finding that she _really _loved it when he called her that; "Forgetting what?"

"Our intervention. We need to be seen with her unless you want Derwent Lympsham and Amedeus Flint doing all your seventh years' homework for the rest of the year."

"Oh. Right. That. Well, I guess so, then..."

"Good. Besides, you'll feel better if you socialize. It will help get your mind off of things."

"Maybe. I was thinking something else might help better..." she raised an eyebrow at him.

He flushed; "Please, can we talk about this when I'm _not _about to go straight to class? And don't worry... we don't have to socialize _all night_ or anything. This is Lucy and Sirius, after all. You know that they will be feeling the same way we are."

She smiled and nodded, pleased that he had used Sirius's first name again. He seemed to be approaching about half-and-half with that at the moment. She actually wondered if the two might be able to be friends someday. "Okay. Then socialization it is."

* * *

Dinah wandered over to Lucy's side of the table at dinner upon Severus's request; "Hi," she smiled at her friend, who was apparently being hounded again by a much more cheerful Slughorn.

"Dinah!" Slughorn exclaimed before Lucy had a chance to open her mouth; "So nice to see you! You seem to be so much more comfortable in your adolescent body now!" A few of the surrounding professors turned and looked at her when he spoke.

"Um... yes," she fidgeted, not having expected this much attention being drawn to herself. There were definitely both positives and negatives associated with Slughorn being back to normal. "Do you mind if I steal Lucy from you? It's kind of important."

"Oh, no matter, no matter," he waved her off and stood. "I was just heading back to my rooms anyway. You may take my seat if you like."

"Thanks," she nodded at him in way of farewell and sat down in his chair, shooting Lucy a grin and a roll of her eyes.

"Thank you!" Lucy groaned, "I was afraid he was going to launch into another tale about how wonderful Regulus was. That's Sirius's brother in case you didn't know. I do think his contribution to the first war was commendable but really there's only so many times I can listen to it."

"Yes, I'd heard about it," Dinah beamed, pleased that now she knew these things. She'd have to thank Severus again for telling her the whole story. "Anyway, Severus and I thought we should all go to the library together today. You know? That is, if you have a little bit of time. I know it's your weekend with Sirius and all but we haven't got a chance to do so yet."

"Oh, sure! I'm better about not having to rush off straight after classes are done. Maybe I'll get a bit more reading about the Department of Mysteries in while we're there."

"Great! I'll let Severus know and we can leave after dinner," Dinah returned to her side of the table and managed to finish about half of the amount of food she would normally consume before the meal was over. Severus was watching her with some concern but seemed satisfied. Truthfully, she was feeling a little bit better. As long as she didn't think too much about her newfound knowledge about Tommy, she was mostly okay... although she knew it was a very precarious position she sat on. One wrong push and she might lose it again, so she was being very, very careful.

Dinah and Severus met Lucy at the entrance to the library after dinner, and when they came up on their friend she was tugging uncomfortably at the turtleneck shirt she was wearing under her robes. She looked itchy and put-off by it. "Everything okay there?" Dinah asked, pointing with a small smile.

"No. I hate turtlenecks," she said, tugging at the neckline some more. The fabric there was already starting to get loose and saggy.

"Then why, may I ask, are you wearing one?" Severus rolled his eyes as they walked into the library and began searching for a table.

"Because of this stupid thing," she pulled down the neck of the shirt as far as she could, revealing a large red spot made from quite obvious teeth marks.

Severus visibly winced and jumped back, groaning and rubbing his forehead as he pulled back a chair at the table they had gravitated towards. "_Why _did I have to ask?"

"I told you they're always too much information," Dinah muttered, sliding into the chair next to him. She couldn't help but laugh though, and shook her head at Lucy; "Lucy, Lucy... you really must learn to be more discreet. I'm _sure _some kind of spell or potion could have taken care of that. And doesn't your hair cover it anyway without the turtleneck?"

Lucy considered that and pulled out a chair across from them, "I'm sure my hair could have covered it but there's no guarantee it would have stayed covered. Besides that's not the only one, just the most obvious. Had I stopped and thought about it I'm sure a spell or potion would have been the better option. Unfortunately I was distracted and the turtleneck was the first thing that came to mind."

Dinah chuckled. "Well, I suppose you'll have to deal with it at least until you go back to your rooms, then. I didn't realize you had such... rough tendencies. I'm more partial to tongues than teeth myself. Then again, a little nibbling now and then can be quite fun."

"Dinah!" Severus exclaimed, his face beet red and his glare dark enough to send the first years in the library screaming back to their common rooms if they saw it; "Shut... up!"

She flushed; "Uh, sorry, darling. Lucy's contagious, it seems."

"I hate women," Severus grumbled, opening up a book and glaring down at the pages.

Lucy grinned, blushing as well, "Judging by Dinah's comments I doubt that. I do have a limit regarding how rough things get, and frankly Sirius's limit is in about the same place. Everyone has a limit between pleasure and pain it's just a matter of finding it." She paused to roll her eyes at Severus, whose face had gone farther into the book the more she'd talked. "Really Severus, if you want this to go over at all we should probably appear to be enjoying each other's company."

"I will enjoy each other's company as soon as each other changes the subject," he muttered.

"Somehow, that doesn't sound grammatically correct," Dinah smiled, giving his shoulder a quick squeeze. "Anyway, what say we talk about something else before he melts into the book? Did you need help finding something to read on the... subject matter at hand?"

"What are you two talking about?" Severus lifted his head to shoot them both an odd look.

"Um," Lucy hesitated, chewing on her lip and looking away before finally turning back to them and explaining. "I'm going to the Department of Mysteries Tuesday. I've been reading up on it and the…the room, trying to prepare myself. I'm not particularly looking forward to it but, as I told Dinah, it's time to put it behind me and let it go."

"I see. Then the books you're likely looking for are in the restricted section. I wasn't there on that day... I was being... detained," he rolled his eyes, and Dinah had to smile. She was certainly glad _she _had never had the privilege of meeting Professor Dolores Umbridge.

"Ah, right. Umbridge. I occasionally had to deal with her at the Ministry but thankfully not often." She tapped the books she'd brought in with her, "I've already checked out a couple of those restricted section books you're referring to, but thanks just the same. I understand you told Dinah….everything about Harry's years here? Caught her up with what's been going on?"

"Yes. She needed to know for the sake of her own prophecy. Plus it was... nice to finally have somebody know all of the things that happened to me during those years. Except it only makes me wish she had been there more," he took her hand under the table and flashed her a smile.

She smiled back and had to resist hugging him right there in the library. Although she had made that mistake in front of Mae and Speasy already and it hadn't been all bad. "I'm glad I know your history, too. It helps me understand you more."

Lucy sighed, looking relieved about something. "I'm glad." She paused, looking uncomfortable, before quickly opening up one of her books only to be confronted with the image of someone falling through that veiled archway.

"Lucy?" Dinah stood quickly, worried when a fearful look crossed her friend's eyes that she might drift into that mode she had been in before. "Are you all right?" she gently placed her hand over the image on the page, hoping it might help her friend to tear her eyes away.

Lucy looked up, "Yes," she murmured, "I'm just…I'm suddenly not so sure I can do this." She bit her lip, "I told you Tonks was coming. She was there. I've heard it before. I asked her to tell me again, but I…I don't know."

"It has to be your decision," Dinah said gently, then leaned down and lifted her hand so just she could see the picture. It was rather overwhelming, but from what she heard at least beyond the veil there was some sort of peace to be had. Harry Potter had heard voices whispering beyond it. And the old magic that prevented death and allowed Severus and Sirius to live again even worked through this object. "It's not so bad, really. That old magic still reached him there. He fell into the veil but he was protected. He came back." Tommy, on the other hand, could not come back nor could he – apparently – achieve peace. It was Dinah's turn to bite her lip. Severus shot her a concerned glance but she shook her head at him. She could hold it in for now. She didn't need to lose it in front of Lucy.

Lucy nodded, looking like she felt a little bit better. "You're right. He did come back. I might not want to do this but I need to. From this point on the longer I wait the harder it's going to be to go and I don't want this to turn into something I avoid for the next twenty years. Oh!" she gasped, realizing what she'd said, "I didn't mean it like that Dinah! I'm sorry."

Dinah took a small step back, letting her hand slip from the page. It was getting harder to maintain her control now. "No, I know you didn't. It's fine," she offered Lucy a strained smile. "It's true, you definitely don't want that. No one wants that. I-"

"Dinah, maybe we should-" Severus began, but stopped when a large owl appeared over their heads, dropping a note down onto the table. He reached across and looked at it, then sighed. "The headmaster wants us to meet him in his office right now. Emergency meeting, apparently. Perhaps he's come up with something."

"Oh. Good," she let out a breath and turned back to Lucy. "Are you okay if we leave now? Sorry about that... prophecy and everything... kind of important..." she was sort of trailing off in a mumble now. That wasn't a good sign.

Lucy nodded, looking a little worried about Dinah's reaction, "Yes, I think so," she closed the book, "I'll just leave this until Monday, head into Hogsmeade. Figure out a way to put this from my mind and not make Sirius suspicious something's going on…"

"Okay. Best of luck to you," Dinah smiled, and they bid Lucy farewell before heading upstairs to the headmaster's office.


	111. Conviction

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN

Conviction

* * *

They were greeted by something that made Severus scowl; "Potter."

"Professor Snape," Harry nodded uneasily, his gaze shifting to Dumbledore.

"I asked him to come," the headmaster explained slowly. "I have already filled him in on everything. I feel he may be able to help us think this matter through. I hope you don't mind, Dinah."

Dinah shrugged it off. It wasn't as if she had much choice in the matter anyway, it seemed. "No, I don't mind. It's fine. Hello again, Harry."

"Professor Samson..." the boy's gaze when he looked at her was quite odd, almost uncomfortable.

"You'll have to forgive Harry," Dumbledore said, gesturing for Dinah and Severus to take their usual seats. "I'm afraid the latest information has been quite disarming to him. I assure him that none of this invalidates his initial defeat of Lord Voldemort, but I can imagine how he must feel nonetheless."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Dinah sat down, staring at the floor and feeling miserable and sorry for herself and not very unlike a worthless pile of dungbombs. She wasn't sure why she was apologizing but that's what she was doing.

"You have done nothing," Severus snarled at her, his tone defensive as he had apparently read her mind. When she tilted her head up enough to see him he was glaring at Harry. "Potter, if you for one minute blame this on Dinah or think that she somehow wanted this to happen then so help me I shall find a way to give you a weeks worth of detention and take five-hundred points from Gryffindor, student or no student."

"Uh," now Harry looked mildly amused and cracked a smile. "No, Sir, of course not. I wouldn't dream of it. I'm sorry, Professor Samson," he turned to Dinah. "I didn't mean to imply that I was annoyed with you. I'm not. It's simply the situation that disturbs me. But at the very least it seems you two are getting more comfortable with your current forms, if Professor Snape was able to threaten me so effectively."

"That is irrelevant, Potter!" Severus bit out, his arms folded and his face quite nearly livid.

Dinah had to cover her mouth to hide a giggle, and found she was feeling quite a bit better already. "Please don't mind him. Yes, we do seem to be doing better. Of course, if you Aurors can find some way to hurry Eugene along on the antidote I daresay either Severus or I will protest..."

"I'm sorry. We have noticed nothing more suspicious than what you have. The dementors near the forest..." he sighed, "But if I had imagined they were searching for that stone... the one I intended to have no one ever find!" he shook his head, looking overwhelmed again, and turned back to the headmaster.

"We still do not know if they will succeed in finding it," Dumbledore assured, but he looked concerned. "Our foremost concern today is discussing how best to destroy the flayed baby before it can be revived."

Dinah felt a whimper leave her lips and they all turned to face her. She looked at the headmaster; "So, what? You're convinced there is no other choice?"

He sighed, his eyes sad; "I can think of none."

"I tried to get Voldemort to show remorse, Professor Samson," Harry said quietly. "I offered him the option in the last battle. He couldn't do it. Didn't even understand it. In fact, he openly mocked it."

"Because he's still missing Tommy! If we could return Tommy back to him-"

"How?" Dumbledore cut in. Severus was remaining rather quiet this entire time, Dinah couldn't help but think.

"I – I don't know," she moaned a little, shaking her head in her hands.

"Then we must simply return to the matter at hand," Dumbledore turned back to Harry. "Harry, do tell us your recommendations for defeating Voldemort."

Dinah just stared as Harry began, quite methodically, explaining how he had defeated the man. "I think the best option is to attempt to repel one of his spells back on him. That was what I did. I don't even know if the killing curse would work on the evil flayed baby before it is revived; but returning its own spells will probably work. Whatever magic it can use it is probably susceptible to, that's the logic they teach us at-"

"Wait, stop!" Dinah shouted, standing from her chair, tears stinging her eyes; "What are you doing? You two are just going to stand there and talk as though this is a normal defeat of a dark wizard? As if you're just repeating what happened last time? What about me? What about my prophecy? What are you _doing_?"

"Dinah, there is nothing more we _can _do but plan attack and defense strategies," Dumbledore turned to look at her, his tone and expression almost conversational; "Surely you must realize that."

"Mm," Dinah whimpered again and sunk back into her chair, feeling almost betrayed.

"Headmaster, I don't think this is-" Severus began after shooting a worried look at Dinah.

"Severus," Dumbledore held a hand up and shook his head, leaving Severus looking quite confused. He seemed to be staring at the headmaster, trying to get inside his head, but surely Dumbledore was a strong enough Occlumens to block him.

"Professor Samson," Harry looked more sympathetic than the headmaster. "I know how you feel about this. It disturbs me, too, but... when I saw the flayed baby - the real flayed baby at King's Cross - it was disturbing, and I felt bad for it, but after a while I didn't quite so much anymore. Because there was nothing I could do. The headmaster said so too. That is the fate of someone who makes Horcruxes and doesn't feel remorse. It's unfortunate, but there is just nothing that can be done for it."

"No," Dinah found herself murmuring, her fists clenching at her sides as she listened to The Boy Who Lived talk and stared down that the floor, remembering the flayed baby on the hill before it had opened its red eyes, how empty it was, and how much she had wanted to help it, the feeling not disappearing at all. She remembered Tommy and his loneliness, the camaraderie she'd felt with him, the hope in his eyes when she had promised to try and help him, him saying he was glad that she was his friend...

"What was that, Dinah?" Dumbledore asked.

"I said 'no'!" she stood up in one swift movement, nearly knocking the chair over as she stared down Dumbledore and Harry Potter. Meanwhile Severus watched her with wide eyes, mild shock and surprise in his features. And also what appeared to be a bit of admiration. "I won't hear it anymore! You can sit there and talk about destroying the flayed baby and dooming Tommy forever but I won't have it! I will do it! I don't know how, but I will! _I will save him_!"

They all just stared at her for awhile as Dinah stood there watching them, feeling the conviction flowing through her veins, knowing that she spoke the truth. Finally, Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling as he regarded her; "I expected nothing less from you, Dinah."

Dinah blinked once at the headmaster, for a moment not sure what had just happened. She heard Severus let out a long breath she hadn't known he'd been holding and looked over to see him smiling slightly and half-nodding, half-shaking his head, and it all came clear. She turned to Dumbledore; "You did it again! You were waiting for me to say that!"

"Well, perhaps not exactly that, but something along those lines," the headmaster chuckled. "I had no doubt you would come across that conviction on your own. That is who you are, Dinah."

"Indeed," Severus murmured, smiling at her. "That... is you." Dinah's eyes softened as she returned his smile. He had believed in her this whole time.

"Wait, you really think she can do it?" Harry looked back and forth between the three of them, his gaze finally landing on the still-smiling headmaster; "You think she can get it – him – them – to feel remorse?"

"If anyone can do it, it is Dinah. That is her prophecy."

"You tricked me," Dinah sat back down, a little overwhelmed by all of this as she stared at the headmaster.

"Yes, he does do that..." Severus agreed, looking slightly amused.

Harry snorted; "Constantly."

Dumbledore simply continued to smile.

"Well," Dinah finally found her voice again; "If right now is any indication, Professor Dumbledore, I don't think you're out of practice or don't belong here at all. You've still 'got it', as they say. Clearly..."

The headmaster's smile turned distant at her words; "That is something to discuss at another time. Meanwhile, what needs to be done now?"

"Well, we still have to worry about Eugene and the test subject, don't we?" Harry asked, his gaze on Dumbledore a little concerned, leading Dinah to conclude that he'd noticed the old man's recent strange behavior as well. "I mean, even if Professor Samson can get them to feel remorse we don't know what will happen along the way. There's still the risk of them reviving Voldemort before she can do it, and if he has even the slightest chance to cause more harm to the world..."

"Yes, we still may need to fight," Dumbledore murmured. "We are still in danger."

Dinah sighed; "I suppose. I will try to stop it before any of that happens, but since I have no strategies or even ideas right now... nothing but my conviction..."

"Yes, and I believe you must focus on your part," Dumbledore said to her. "That's why the Aurors should stay involved in this as much as possible. I prefer to keep the majority of the wizarding world from knowing about this for the time being, and I believe this year we have done that quite well, especially in comparison to previous years. It helps that most things happen only to you, Dinah, and that the dark storms are quite concentrated to this area..."

She snorted; "That's the first time I've heard it phrased that it's a good thing these things only happen to me."

"I do not quite mean it that way," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at her; "I am sure you understand. That is why I was not afraid you would come to your conclusion soon."

"Much sooner than I was ever able to grasp the things you were trying to tell me," Harry said, looking at Dinah with a little bit of surprised admiration.

"That is because Dinah is an adult," Dumbledore said.

The corner of Dinah's mouth turned up at that; "I am?"

He chuckled; "Indeed. Youthening potion can only do so much, Dinah."

Harry, on the other hand, looked annoyed as he faced the headmaster. "I'm an adult now too, you know."

Severus rolled his eyes.

"Ah, Harry," Dumbledore smiled at the boy. "You are of legal age, yes, and you have done many great things. But when you are much older you shall realize how truly young eighteen actually is."

Harry still looked agitated and Dinah couldn't help but smile slightly; "Well, I suppose... what do we do now?" she asked the room at large.

"Well," Severus stood and walked over to her, taking her hand and helping her stand from the chair. "Since your part is no longer offensive I believe we should continue our research with a focus on defensive strategies against dark magic so that you may fend off this flayed baby or The Dark Lord as you attempt to bring it remorse."

She smiled, squeezing his hands; "Thanks, Severus... for understanding. For being on my side."

"I have always been on your side," he lifted his hand and fingered a long strand of her hair before pushing it back behind her ear. "And... you have no idea how much I have admired your strength today. I've never met anyone like you. The headmaster is right. If anyone can do this, you can... your empathy is truly a force to contend with," he leaned over, taking her face into both hands and kissing her right in front of the headmaster and Harry Potter.

She heard the latter draw in a shocked breath, but didn't care much. She was essentially in heaven right now as his lips moved against hers and his fingers slid through her hair, his words from before still warming her heart and the shock that he was doing this without shame in front of both of these people still causing her utter disbelief. But it was a very pleasurable sort of disbelief.

"Well!" Dumbledore clapped his hands together when they were finished and unable to take their eyes off of each other. "Now that all that is settled, shall we call this meeting closed? Harry?"

"Um... yes, Sir?" Harry had to quite literally wrench his gaze away from the two of them to look at the headmaster again.

"Please keep the Aurors _quietly _informed of the potential threat, especially those patrolling Hogwarts. If anything happens, you will let Dinah know first. Myself and the other Aurors come in second."

"Yes... right... very well, Sir. Um..."

"You may go," Dumbledore dismissed them and Dinah and Severus found themselves trying to follow a very slow-moving Harry Potter down the stairs.

"Next time we leave his office we go first," Severus grumbled. "When the boy is in shock he moves at the pace of a slug."

Dinah covered her mouth to stifle a giggle; "Yes, well, I confess I'm in a bit of shock myself."

"Pleasant shock, I hope," he murmured, smiling and tightening his grip on her hand.

"Of course," she murmured, resting her head on his shoulder as they came to the bottom of the stairs.

Harry took a deep breath and turned to face them, his gaze finding Dinah as he most certainly considered her less threatening than Severus. "Professor Samson... have you two noticed the odd behavior of the headmaster lately?"

They exchanged glances and Dinah nodded, lifting her head from Severus's shoulder. Harry looked oddly relieved when she did so; "Yes, we've noticed it. He's not happy here... thinks he shouldn't have been reborn..."

"I know. I've discussed it at some of my meetings with him. I'm concerned..."

"As are we," Severus began in an annoyed tone as he glared at the boy, "but there is nothing that worrying will do and complaining to us about it is not going to change-"

"Professor Snape," Harry cut him off, his gaze shifting back and forth between them for a moment before resting on Severus; "Look, about what just happened in there. Um... I know you two are happy together and I'm glad about that, it's just... your love for my mother and everything that happened during the second war..." Harry looked quite uncomfortable.

Severus sighed; "Potter, my feelings for Dinah now do nothing to change the past and what I did for and how I felt about your mother. Now if you are finished trying to uphold your strange image of me on some kind of pedestal, could you please leave us be?"

"Yes, er... sorry... didn't mean anything by it," he mumbled, turning and walking away at a hurried pace.

Dinah sighed, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. She knew how much Harry admired and appreciated Severus's love for Lily. Did he actually not _want _Severus to get over her? Did he not care about their happiness? It's not what he'd said, but...

"Don't mind him," Severus said softly, stroking the side of her neck with his thumb. "He is simply young and attaches himself to idealized images. We are adults, apparently, according to the headmaster, so we can see and avoid that. At least we're adults in some ways. I hope."

She had to laugh; "Yeah, I know how that feels. Okay... I guess I was just worried."

"That is one thing and this," he tilted her face towards him and kissed her, "is another. Please don't think too much on it. You are very precious to me, Dinah."

She smiled, laying her head in the crook of his shoulder again. "As you are to me."

He still didn't love her, though. And he was still uncomfortable with public displays of affection, it seemed, as he drew away much faster than he would have if they were in the dungeons or her rooms. "Dinah, there's something I'd like to suggest to you," he said as they made their way leisurely back towards the dungeons.

"What's that?"

"I have quite a few defensive books at home that I think we could use. I've been thinking... perhaps we could go there this weekend."

"Home?" she turned to look at him, surprised; "You mean Spinner's End?"

"Yes... that is, if you don't mind. I would like you with me. It isn't the loveliest of places nor is it located in the most ideal of locations but... it is home and it has served me well. I've been to your Muggle house, so I just thought..."

She felt a huge smile spread across her face and planted a kiss on his cheek when the hall cleared of students; "Of course! I would love to see your home!"

He chuckled; "Fine. Then, you should go pack. Meet me in the dungeons as soon as you're ready."


	112. Epiphany

A/N: So after publishing the 'bonus' story on this site I seem to be on a roll shooting out supplementary materials! Another bonus chapter will be published to go with this one (more detail about their intimate experience at Spinner's End), and I have also released a new story, which you can see on my profile, entitled "His View of Things", where I re-write some points in the story from Severus's point of view, which is something I kind of always wanted to do, but this story is strictly Dinah's POV. Please check it out if you can! Also, I have posted a lot of drawings of Severus and Dinah (and some of Lucy and Sirius) on my deviantART page (my deviant name is sakuralum52) so I hope you'll all check those out! You can see one of my images on my profile page, which I just updated. I draw mostly either anime-style or a stylized half-realistic half-anime style, but I hope to get better at realistic pictures in the future. Would LOVE to be able to draw Severus as he looks in the movies but I'm just not quite there yet. Still, I hope you'll enjoy! Incidentally, the picture on my profile is part of a larger wallpaper-style pic (the full version is on my deviantART) entitled "Love is a Battlefield" because I totally think of Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield" as Dinah and Severus's teenager theme song, lol. Too bad this isn't a songfic. I have a lot of other songs that I associate with them but they're mostly Japanese seeing as that's the music I usually listen to. Okay, I'll stop babbling now, I promise! On to the story!

* * *

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE

Epiphany

* * *

When Dinah entered Severus's office she found him standing in front of the pensieve, lifting his head as though he had just been observing something in it. She frowned and stepped up to him, a little worried, but his face didn't look upset, just thoughtful. "Severus?" she placed a hand on his shoulder, noticing that the picture of Lily and letter with her love he normally kept in his robes were sitting on the table next to the stone bowl.

He didn't seem startled in the least as he turned to her, a small smile on his face. "Don't worry. I was simply thinking about something... I haven't looked in the pensieve much lately. There was just something I wanted to see. But I'm finished now," he used his wand to remove the memory from the vessel and place it back into its vial. Dinah saw the label; 'Incidents: 1976', and realized it was the same one that he had shown her which included his moments with the Marauders and his discovery of their secrets. It also included the time they saw each other unwittingly as children on the grounds, but there was no way she could tell if he had been looking at it for that or for Lily, and she was afraid to ask.

He placed the vial directly on top of the picture and letter and then slid his arm around her waist; "Well. Shall we go?"

"Wait, Severus," she drew back, her mouth opening of its own accord as her finger moved to point to the paper and photograph; "What about those?"

"What about them? They can stay there."

"But... you keep them with you all the time... always... you told me so..." _All right, you can shut up any time now, Dinah! _Her inner monologue was positively screaming at her.

"I don't anymore," his response was direct, casual, and without any hidden emotion or implication.

"You... you don't?" she just stared at him.

"No. Not for some time now. Shall we go?" he smiled again and offered her his arm.

Dinah smiled at him, feeling a little ridiculous as her eyes filled with tears. He was truly moving on. He was doing so much better. He could leave his precious pictures behind without having them with him all the time. Of course they were still precious to him, but at least he was happy enough that he could put them away somewhere and focus on the present. "Yes," she took his arm, "Let's go."

* * *

Dinah looked around the front room of Spinner's End after they apparated in – at the gray tone of everything around them, the dark colors of the old books lining what seemed to be millions of shelves in the walls, at the minimal décor and utter lack of any paintings or photographs. Then she shivered. It was cold in here.

"All right?" Severus asked, sliding an arm around her shoulders.

"Yes," she smiled a little. "It's just cold..."

"Lack of heat while I've been gone. Here," he cast a hot air charm and then bewitched it to fill the room, and everything felt a bit better. He took her hand and led her into a small parlor with a sofa and a couple of chairs. Everything was still quite dark and the colors were all very subdued. The mantle over the fireplace held a few minimalist knick-knacks and a single lamp sat on a small end table next to a black chair. The shelves were still lined with books. "Well?" he asked, his slight smirk amused as he watched her look around.

"It's um... nice. It's cozy, anyway, now that you cast the charm. A little gloomy, perhaps, but..."

He laughed. "Well, it is _my _home after all. You don't know me to embellish much, I am sure."

"No, not at all," she laughed a little. "But I really appreciate you bringing me here."

"It feels quite a happier place with you in it, I confess," a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "We'll read in here tomorrow and Sunday, but it's late. We should go to bed," he led her into his bedroom.

It was big, and had quite a few windows on the wall behind the headboard, in sharp contrast to his dungeons room. The bed itself was large, with a black headboard and frame and dark gray sheets. She sat hesitantly on the end of it and he joined her. The bed was so big that she felt rather small on it in her adolescent state. Maybe it wasn't any bigger than the one in the dungeons, but the larger room and lack of the warm orange glow made it feel so.

"Hm," he frowned, his thoughts mirroring hers. "It feels strange here when I'm not an adult. Perhaps it's only because I haven't been since then."

"Mm," she agreed, drawing her knees up onto the bed and leaning against him, her hand wandering to rest on his chest, fingering the buttons of his frock coat. "But it's not so bad. At least we're here together."

"Yes, there's that," he ran his hand through her hair and rested his cheek on the top of her head. He was quiet for a few moments as they just sat there, peacefully resting against each other. Finally, he drew his head away and tilted her face towards him so he could kiss her, his tongue gently grazing her bottom lip before she gave him entrance. Slowly, she unbuttoned his coat and when she was about halfway finished he lifted her shirt above her head, his hands wandering to rest comfortably on her bare waist. After a moment he ended the kiss and smiled at her.

"What?" she murmured, tracing his freshly-revealed collarbone with one finger, enjoying the warm soft feeling of his skin and the wiry muscles beneath.

"You're here..."

"Severus," she chuckled, looping her arms around his neck; "Of course I'm here. I'm always here. Just like I said I would be."

"I know. But having you in my own home, happy and content with me... with this place... I had no idea it would please me this much."

Dinah smiled, pressing her face into his neck, the tips of his hair tickling her cheek; "I love you, my darling Severus."

"Dinah," he whispered, pinning her back onto the bed, and then neither one of them could think anymore.

After awhile they were both warmly buried under the grey sheets as the sounds of industrial England roared outside of the windows. Still, it felt as peaceful as the quiet of Hogwarts when they were together like this. "Your bed is warm," Dinah murmured, her head resting in the crook of his shoulder and her arm draped across his bare waist. "It's nice. Large, dark, intimidating, but also warm and soft. It reminds me of you."

"I suppose I should take that as a compliment," he murmured into her hair, his hand stroking her neck and helping her to feel sleepy.

"You should," she smiled, kissing his shoulder and letting out a sigh of contentment. "Good night."

"Good night," he turned over and pulled her more closely to him, snuggling against her. "You know what you remind me of?" he asked after a long moment.

"What?" Dinah asked, yawning as sleep was about to overcome her.

"What it means to be happy..." he whispered, his breath slowing down into a rhythm of sleep.

Dinah felt a wave of warmth and wanted to reply, but soon she was asleep too.

* * *

Severus sighed; "Dinah was it _really _necessary for you to buy three whole cases of your mint bubble chocolate?"

"It's _Aero Mint_," she insisted stubbornly, "And yes, it was necessary," she took a big bite of her current candy bar to make her point.

"Honestly..." he shook his head, his hand massaging his forehead in disbelief as they sat at her dining room table on Wednesday morning. "I can't believe you've had that infernal green candy for 'breakfast' three days in a row! You are turning into Eugene and his chocolate frogs!"

"Yes, except that he never actually ate the frogs. Not regularly, anyway. He bought them so his test subject could collect Dumbledore cards... probably because of the Elder Wand..." Dinah said thoughtfully, finishing the second to last piece of the candy bar and holding the last one out to Severus; "Want?"

"No, thank you," he glared at it, but she knew he was just trying to maintain his reputation.

"Aw, come on, you know you like it," she grabbed his hand and placed the piece in his palm before closing his fingers around it.

Severus sighed; "Are you trying to make me melt it before I can consume it?" He withdrew his hand and ate the chocolate. "I'm only doing this to humor you and because I already finished a _real _breakfast."

"Yes, yes, keep telling yourself that," she grinned. "If you hadn't agreed to go visit Rosa and Luke Sunday evening I couldn't have gone out and bought these beautiful bars..." she lovingly stroked the empty wrapper, "So thanks."

"Whatever," he watched her fingers as though she was mental; "I actually enjoy your Muggle friends' company, although I do wish Rosa would stop calling me cute. It's quite infuriating."

"But you _are _cute – uh oh, don't kill me!" she shrieked and hid her face when he shot her a death glare, but couldn't stop giggling. After awhile, he joined in her laughter.

"Oh, I need to go and check on Lucy," she said when she could breathe again, standing from the table. "She should have gone to the Ministry last night to look at the veil."

"Yes, you should do that. Classes will be starting soon. She'll either be in the Great Hall or her rooms or office. Would you like me to come with you to check the hall?"

She smiled, walking to stand in front of his chair so she could lean over and kiss him; "No. Thank you, though. It's a little easier for both of us now, I think. I can be in there alone for a few minutes and I'm sure you need to get to class. Beat Eugene there before he does something stupid and all that."

"Yes, that would be ideal..." he murmured, shaking his head and rolling his eyes at the thought of the potions assistant. He stood as well and they bid each other farewell in the hall before Dinah went off in search of Lucy.

She finally found her friend in, of course, the last of the three places she looked: her office.

Lucy was staring down at a barely-touched breakfast, looking sad and perhaps a little pensive, but not extremely so. Dinah knocked on the open door and her friend looked up; "Oh. Hi, Dinah."

"Hey," Dinah smiled and stepped inside, wandering over to the desk; "How did it go yesterday?"

"Not nearly as bad as I thought it would," Lucy said, forcing a small smile, "Did you know you can hear the voices, whispers, of the people beyond the veil? Or I could anyway, Tonks too. They sounded peaceful."

Dinah nodded, still smiling; "I had heard that before. That's a good thing. I'm glad. You sound like it turned out okay. But you still look a little upset..." she trailed off, considering her friend.

"Yeah, but its okay," Lucy sniffed, taking a tissue from a box on her desk. "It's just now that I've been there and I've heard and seen…she didn't torture him. He wasn't in pain. He got distracted and she got inside. He fell through the veil and that was it. I've just held on to this for so long that it's almost a part of me and I don't know how to let go. I'm trying. It's always sad when you have to let a part of yourself go, but in this case it's a good sadness I think."

Dinah nodded, walking around the desk and giving her friend's shoulder a comforting squeeze; "Yes, I can understand that. It will get better. Moving on from something... it's always difficult. Sometimes we spend so much of our lives attached to something it's like we don't remember what it was like without that attachment..." she thought back to Severus's feelings for Lily, an obsession that had lasted for at least thirty years, and could understand why it took him this long to even be able to stop carrying her picture around. It had taken her two years to get over Dylan and she had only known him for four years. Getting over someone's death would also be difficult – and, in a way, probably worse if they came back than if they didn't. Because there was the added fear of losing them again.

Lucy nodded, "Yes, exactly. I suppose I do have something I can thank Bellatrix for though," she shrugged, "I didn't know I loved him until he was gone and I don't know how long it would have taken me to realize that otherwise."

She smiled. "Yeah. We never know how that's going to work out, do we? How we find out we love somebody. I think I loved Severus long before I knew I did. It's weird when you can feel something but not know that you feel it."

Lucy grinned for real this time and took a few bites of her breakfast, "I should have known it was something more than a little flirtation when I let him teach me how to…" she blushed, "never mind."

Dinah laughed; "Well, I can't blame you. These days everybody's been conditioned not to make the connection anymore. You know, between love and sex. Really, I mean sex without love is fun, but when you do love the person it's so much better!"

Lucy giggled, looking more cheerful by the minute, "I wouldn't know. Truthfully the main reason we engaged in the…extra-curriculars, if you will, was because I refused to have sex before marriage. However, we were both extremely attracted to each other and rather frustrated…that was probably too much information again, sorry."

She grinned; "It's all right. For what it's worth, I _thought _that I loved Dylan at the time. But now that I have real love to compare it to..."

"That I know something about. I thought I loved Gawain, but that couldn't come close to how I feel about Sirius. Oh, Dinah if you could have been a fly on the wall during the time the Order used Grimmauld Place as headquarters…"

Now Dinah flushed; "I don't know how I feel about that one," she laughed. "Except maybe for the times Severus was there. Okay, this is a dumb question but I just thought of it... are you getting used to us like this? Do you remember what we used to look like? Sometimes I feel like I don't..."

Lucy considered for a moment, "Yes, I'm used to what you look like now. I remember Severus more clearly but I've known him longer. It's not too hard to remember though. See?" She withdrew a picture from her desk and held it out to Dinah. "Dennis Creevy gave this to me not long after the match. I understand his brother, Colin, used to take pictures all the time. He died in the final battle."

"Oh my..." Dinah reached for the picture and took it carefully into her hands. What she saw was an image she hadn't known had been taken. She was standing between Severus and Lucy in the Quidditch stands at the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff match, a full thirty-eight years old, and laughing about something with her friend. Severus was half looking at them and half looking at the pitch, a smirk on his adult face, looking bored and uninterested and yet at the same time not unhappy to be there. His scarf was around Dinah's neck. "Wow..." she found herself reaching for Lucy's tissue box, the whole thing a little overwhelming. "I mean, I guess it's silly of me to be so shocked. I mean I know what I used to look like, right? I have old pictures in my rooms, for goodness sake. And Severus... he doesn't really have any pictures of him but there's the portrait in the headmaster's office. The unmoving one since they're both alive still... but I never... you know, this is the only picture I've ever seen of both of us together. Not that we're really doing anything together..." she wiped her eyes and crumpled up the tissue. "Sorry. Fine now. This is just... wow."

Lucy grinned and lifted one shoulder, "Take it," she offered.

"Really? I can?" she was probably emphasizing her childlike state the way she was looking at Lucy right now, her fingers clutching the edges of the snapshot possessively, her eyes probably shining with hope; "Can I really keep this? I bet we can make a copy somehow so we both have one."

Lucy nodded, "Sure you can. I've had it for awhile now and it's reminded me that I'm not alone here in times when I needed that reminder. I don't find myself needing it so much anymore, but if we can get a copy made I'd be pleased."

"Okay. Let's try and do that soon. I bet we can have it done in Diagon Alley. Maybe over the summer if we're all still... yeah, well, you know. All this weird stuff that's been happening. I just hope I can get through it, that's all," she took one last look at the picture and stuffed it into her dress pocket.

"I'm sure we can," Lucy said reassuringly and stood, "Unfortunately I now have to teach my fifth years instead of dwell on what I'm going to tell Sirius about last night."

"Good luck. I'm sure it will be okay, since you're still in one piece. Even if he's mad, you'll work it out. Severus and I did when there was something I was keeping from him..." she shrugged. "Thanks again for the picture. I'm really glad we were able to become friends this year."

"Me too. It's probably kept me from going into a coma-like state, or at least kept me from doing it much," she said, walking to her door.

"Good," Dinah smiled and nodded. "Speaking of which, did you need me to check on you again today? I think you mentioned you might when you asked me before..."

Lucy shook her head, "I don't think so. I mean you can if you want but I think I'll be fine. Thanks."

"Okay, just checking," she grinned. "See you at meals or tomorrow then? We should spend some time in the library tomorrow. I think some of the boys noticed us when we were there on Monday."

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "Of course. Just let me know when you want to meet and I'll be there."

"Sure. I'll let you know after I talk it over with Severus," Dinah smiled and bid her friend good-bye, heading to her classes with a new spring in her step.

Yes, it was definitely good to have friends.

* * *

Dinah hurried toward the dungeons after her classes got out on Wednesday, intent on showing Severus the picture. She hoped he liked it as much as she did. After all, she realized he had literally no pictures of himself anywhere that she had ever seen before. She had never asked him about it, but now she was curious. Did he dislike looking at himself? But that was silly! He was beautiful, and she didn't care what anybody said about greasy gits or dungeon bats or Snivelluses. By now he knew that she thought he was a very handsome man; it always made him turn bright red when she complimented his looks, anyway. Then again, he always dismissed her comments. Honestly, the boy needed a shot of self-esteem sometimes!

"_There _you are!" she was surprised to see an agitated-looking Severus running towards the dungeons from the direction of his classroom, grabbing her arm when he made it to her. "Come on!" he pulled.

"Wait, what?" she asked, stopping in place and holding him back. "What's going on?"

Severus sighed; "Eugene. Apparently he has another 'antidote' prepared that he wants us to take. I'm not holding my breath, though. I threatened him with death in no uncertain terms if this one doesn't work any better than the last one."

"Oh," she consented and followed him through the halls towards the other side of the castle, smiling slightly. "I'm sure Eugene takes your threat quite seriously."

"Well, at the very least he seems to be getting properly nervous in front of me as of late," Severus mumbled.

"Which I'm sure pleases you," she grinned.

He laughed a little, flashing her a smile, and soon they emerged into the potions room, Slughorn pacing and wringing his hands off in the distance, a shout back to his behavior before he had told Dinah and Severus about the fake advertisement, and Eugene stood at the table before two glasses of still-red liquid, looking quite pleased with himself and not at all like Slughorn.

"Apparently he's not nervous anymore," Dinah leaned over and murmured in Severus's ear.

"Apparently," he muttered back, and then shrugged and stepped forward. "Well. I trust you aren't wasting our time then, Eugene."

"I think you'll be pleased," Eugene slid the glasses over to them, an anticipatory expression on his face.

Severus's fingers closed around the glass in slow-motion, his glare never leaving Eugene's face. Dinah hesitantly took hers as well, watching Severus until he finally looked back at her. "Ready, then?" she asked him.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose. You?"

"Yeah... my thoughts exactly..." they raised the glasses to their lips and drank.

They stared at each other for a few moments, both waiting, their expressions unreadable but their expectations quite clear. And yet, nothing happened.

Dinah sighed; "Eugene, I don't think this is-" she stopped and her eyes widened. Severus was also staring at her with wide eyes, because the voice that had just come out of her mouth had been... different. Deeper, smoother... not exceedingly different from normal but quite obviously changed. "I..." she began slowly, marveling at the sound of her voice as Severus continued to stare along with Eugene and Slughorn; "I sound like I did as an adult."

"Yes..." Severus began slowly, and Dinah thought her heart might stop in her chest as her eyes bugged out like a billywig's. Severus himself stopped, an odd look on his face as he turned to Eugene, but he didn't speak anymore.

"Severus... your voice..." Dinah murmured, feeling a little light-headed all of a sudden.

He sighed and spoke again; "Changed... as yours has." The deep baritone of his adult voice felt like it was filling the room, utterly overwhelming Dinah. She had forgotten how smooth, how low, how... almost _sensuous _it could be. She shifted uncomfortably, finding that she was slowly being turned on by this odd potion effect.

Severus, on the other hand, looked annoyed. "Eugene, I hardly think that this is useful!"

The potions assistant flushed, looking guilty. "I'm sorry. Was so sure I had it right this time..."

"Well, clearly you did not," he snapped, as Dinah was still transfixed listening to the glorious music of his adult voice; "Although I suppose I should give you some credit for making it different from the last one – Dinah, are you all right?" he turned, finally noticing her expression.

Speaking her name in that voice? Yes, she was definitely going to pass out. "Um, fine... just fine..." she replied in her own adult voice. "So do you think that if he was able to turn our voi... ces..." she trailed off as at about the word 'able' her voice had changed back into its adolescent one."

"Hm, it seems that your voice has... returned to normal," Severus's alighted back on the word 'seems'. He sighed and turned to Eugene with a roll of his eyes; "Yes, aging our voices for an entire two minutes. You must bottle and sell this immediately."

"I will keep working on it," Eugene murmured, taking the glasses back from them. "You should probably both go now..."

"Leaving now, thank you," Severus replied huffily, walking around the table and taking Dinah's arm, pulling her out of the room with him. She managed to shoot the apologetic-looking Slughorn a wave before they emerged into the hall and let the door shut behind them.

"So..." she began. "That was quite productive."

"You think?" he groaned.

"Um, Severus..." she grinned. "Did I ever tell you that your adult voice is rather... sexy?"

He flushed a little and raised an eyebrow at her; "Really?"

She giggled; "Yes. It's why I was squirming in there. You know if we do ever change back to adults I think I'm going to have to ravage you immediately."

Severus chuckled, shaking his head at her; "You are so amusing, Dinah. Well... I wouldn't be opposed to such a thing. Your adult voice is quite lovely as well."

"Thanks," she grinned and slid her hand into his as they continued down the hallway together at a leisurely pace. "Well, Eugene is as incompetent as ever, isn't he?"

"Quite," Severus rolled his eyes again. "If he ever comes up with an antidote that _works _it will probably be in about... one-hundred years."

"How about a thousand?" she laughed, and then frowned. "Actually, it is pretty annoying. How much do you want to bet his next iteration of the potion is going to make our _voices _age permanently without our bodies?"

"I'd bet that," he groaned as they stopped in the middle of the hallway, both subdued again with the realization that their predicament wasn't much changed.

"Yes, well," she leaned against the wall, "Much as I like your adult voice I think that changing our voices alone would make things-"

"Even more awkward than they are now," he finished for her, resting his elbow on the wall and regarding her with a nod. "Yes, adult voices in child bodies are quite laughable, really, no matter what they sound like. I suppose we could keep the student body amused, though," he cracked a slight smile, and Dinah was glad he could joke about this instead of being bothered by it as he used to be. In fact, it felt very natural, just casually talking about this with him. It felt good.

"Very," she grinned, and then it was her turn to roll her eyes. "You know, if we ever _do _get the potion reversed we should throw a huge party."

"And not invite Eugene?" he joked.

"Oh, absolutely not," she laughed. "On the other hand, you probably aren't one for big parties adult or child, so maybe we'll just have a party with the two of us alone. We can eat Aero mint chocolate and you can make snarky comments at me."

Severus laughed for a brief moment, and then suddenly stopped and stared at her, his eyes widening again, and then without warning a huge smile spread across his face and he laughed again. "Dinah!" he grabbed both of her hands in his.

"Um... what?" she laughed, not sure what he was doing, but for some reason it made her happy.

He shook his head, still looking as though he'd had some sort of gigantic epiphany he wasn't going to tell her about; "Come on! Let's go back to the dungeons – we may still be children but we can still play wizards chess, right? I think I'd like to give you another chance to beat me!"

She laughed and let her pull him, running to match her pace with his, his sudden good mood contagious. "I don't think I can beat you."

"Neither do I! That's what's good about it!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just what it sounds like it means. I'm not one to speak using hidden meanings, am I?"

"No, you're definitely not," she chuckled.

"And you know that! And I know you know that! So that's why! That's everything!"

"Everything?"

"Yes," he took her into the dungeons, closed the door behind them and pinned her to it with a passionate kiss. "Everything."

She had no idea what he was talking about. All she knew was that for some unknown reason their love-making that night was the best she'd ever had.


	113. Everything

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN

Everything

* * *

"Professor Samson!" Hermione slammed her books on Dinah's desk after class on Thursday and stared her down; "_What have you done_?"

"Huh?" Dinah cringed back in her chair under the scrutiny of her student's gaze, Grubbly-Plank frozen behind her, the older woman also looking perplexed at Hermione's behavior. The girl had been acting sort of stunned all class period and only answered one question in as vague a tone as Luna Lovegood might. But now she seemed quite focused. "What did I do?"

"Professor Snape gave Gryffindor ten points today!"

"What?" Dinah and Grubbly-Plank shouted at the same time, Dinah's guide professor's hands also slamming down onto the desk. She'd never seen the old lady in such shock. Clearly, Severus's house prejudices had a huge reputation that extended to the entire faculty.

"You heard me. He was very casual about it. 'Good, ten points to Gryffindor'. That's what he said. To _me_!"

"Wow... um, look, I'm sure this disturbs you, and it kind of disturbs me too, but it's a good thing right? And what makes you think that _I _am somehow responsible for it?" she blinked as both Hermione and Grubbly-Plank shot her skeptical looks. "What?"

"Professor Samson, I'm afraid it's quite obvious to those of us in the know – especially observant folk like Miss Granger here and those of us who are not students – that essentially any positive changes in the man that have happened this year have been a direct result of your action," Grubbly-Plank said with a slight smile.

Dinah found herself blushing and fiddled with the papers on her desk; "Yes, well, don't misinterpret that. It's not like I'm trying to change him. I love- er, right... just the way he is... although giving points is nice..." her flush deepened and she thought about slamming her face into a drawer.

Hermione laughed, finally seeming to relax. "That's sweet, Professor Samson. It was just very strange, that's all. I half think he didn't even realize he did it."

"I do agree that that's unexpected. Then again, since yesterday he _has _been in a rather good mood..."

"I don't think I've ever seen that man smile more than once in one day, and those events were exceedingly rare," Grubbly-Plank said. "At meals today I lost count."

Dinah chuckled; "Next thing we know he'll be holding my hand in public."

"Yeah, I heard from Ginny that she heard from Harry that he kissed you in front of him and the headmaster last Friday."

"No! Really?" Grubbly-Plank demanded, and Dinah suddenly thought the old and young woman looked like a very strange pair of gossiping biddies.

"All right, that's enough you two, I have a class to teach you know," Dinah tried to sound authoritative but figured it probably didn't work very well when she looked like she'd spent a week in the tropics without sunscreen.

"Yes, right, back to work. You should head to your next class, Miss Granger," Grubbly-Plank shooed the student off and Hermione graciously complied, although they were both still grinning like madwomen.

Dinah sighed and tried to ignore it. Severus would not be happy if the gossip got any more widespread than this. Although all of it was really his fault. Then again, the way he'd been acting lately maybe he wouldn't mind after all. And his sudden happiness _was _rather nice, not to mention contagious.

She needed to stop thinking about this. The fourth years would be arriving soon and she had to teach them about computers. She could address these issues with Severus at dinner.

* * *

"So," she cordially teased as she and Severus sat down next to Lucy at dinner when it became clear that two seats were available on her side; "I hear you gave Gryffindor and Hermione Granger ten points today."

Lucy looked over at him in shock, "_You_ gave points to Gryffindor and Hermione? I may faint," she said, putting the back of her hand on her forehead and pretending to faint.

Severus flushed and piled his plate with bread; "I did? Well... I suppose I was distracted. Besides, it's not as though I won't balance it out by taking some away later, right?" he turned and smiled at Dinah.

It was Dinah's turn to flush. Grubbly-Plank had been right. He _was _smiling an awful lot in public today. "Yes, but you'll still always be ten points ahead of where you'd be if you never gave them," she giggled, and he sighed. She turned to Lucy; "Hope you don't mind if we sit here. We were thinking we hadn't done nearly enough hanging out recently. Both for... certain reasons and just because we enjoy your company."

"Oh, sure! I like your company too, even if certain ones of us are currently all smiley and weird," she grinned, "Do you know what you're going to be doing for Easter week? We were planning on staying at Hogwarts for most of the week since some students are staying over break but we've been invited to the Burrow and it'll be the first time we've seen everybody since the engagement…"

"You should go there for some of the time, at least," Dinah smiled. "I'm going to visit my family in London, but just towards the end of break around actual Easter. It'll be my first time seeing them as an adolescent, so it'll probably be kind of weird, but Severus has agreed to come with me, so..." she shot Mr. Smiley another smile, which he happily returned, apparently oblivious to Lucy's comment.

"That'll be nice! Meeting the parents for the first time, huh? That's a big step. I suppose that's one good thing about having three out of four parents gone and not being on speaking terms with the fourth. No having to meet the parents. Of course, Sirius does still have to deal with Aunt Molly."

"Hm," Severus chuckled, "Yes, that is quite something to endure."

"Well, you haven't met Aunt Mildred yet," Dinah grinned, taking a bite of soup; "I confess my slightly vindictive side really wants to see what you two make of each other. She might not make it to town, though. We'll see."

"You keep mentioning this woman," Severus said, regarding her thoughtfully; "I confess I'm curious if she's really as bad as all that."

"Curious now, curious now..." Dinah said mysteriously, enjoying the anticipation. If Aunt Mildred did to Severus what she normally did to new significant others then Severus was going to consider Rosa calling him cute a blessing.

"Aunt Mildred? Is she the one who wanted to meet _Seveurs_? She sounds…interesting."

"'Interesting' is one way to put it," Dinah laughed; "Perhaps you'll meet her someday, too. Just hide your sparkly ring if you do, that's my number one piece of advice."

Lucy grinned, "Oh, she steals then?"

Dinah burst out laughing; "If she steals anything it's your privacy and any hidden thoughts you might have about significant others. She's just obsessed with romantic things. If she thinks you're engaged the questions will _never _stop," she turned back to her food only to notice that Severus was watching her with an odd little smile on his face, his gaze seemingly focused on her left hand which was currently tilting the bowl of soup up so she could better access it. She shrugged. He was just acting strange lately all-around.

Lucy spooned a bit of soup, smiling a little at Dinah's words. Then she looked out over the students and when Dinah followed her gaze she saw many Slytherins sneaking glances at them, a scattering of students from other tables doing the same. "Uh oh, I think we've been spotted," Lucy murmured.

"Good, and it looks like a rather large group of them, too," Dinah grinned. "Probably Severus smiling all the time today is what's attracting so much attention."

Severus groaned and forced his face to fall, turning back to his food and rolling his eyes.

"Ahh, much better," Dinah teased, squeezing his arm. But her touch seemed to end all his efforts in one instant because he turned back to her and smiled again, briefly nuzzling his forehead against hers before pulling away. Dinah felt her face grow hot and her heartbeat quicken while Lucy just stared at them. She had to resist burying her face in her napkin, as red as she obviously was; "Severus... so risky... everyone is staring at us." But she couldn't stop smiling.

"Um...sorry... right," he growled a little, seemingly more annoyed with himself than anything else, and turned back to his food, his normally pale face tinged pink.

Dinah giggled and shook her head at him, but didn't touch him again. Once this bizarre string of giddy happiness passed he would thank her for saving him from eternal humiliation in front of the students. Or at least... from any more humiliation than he'd already given himself.

* * *

By the time Saturday arrived Severus had managed to put his normal public face back on display, and seemed to have avoided any permanent damage after the incident at dinner on Thursday. Still, whenever they were alone he was just as happy and affectionate as he had been on that day, and the sex was still unbelievably good. Dinah had no idea what had gotten into him, but she wasn't complaining. It wasn't like he still wasn't snarky and stuff... he was just snarky and happy at the same time. It was like the best of both worlds. Everything she loved about him...

She knew she should probably be concerned about any weird personality shifts, but this was such a positive one she didn't really see any reason for concern. Besides, he was still acting like himself. Just a ... happy self.

"So," she joked as they walked around on the Hogwarts grounds, surrounded by students taking advantage of the great weather and the fact that some of the trees were already starting to sprout buds and flowers; "You think we're getting used to these bodies yet? You've been in such a good mood lately..."

He laughed, watching her with that same affection he'd been staring at her with for the past three days. "It's not so bad anymore. Besides, we _are _much older."

"Right," she giggled. "We're sixteen years and two months old now. Wise beyond our years."

"You do make a point, though," he nodded, following her train of thought with ease. "It's like what the headmaster said at our last meeting. We're still adults in some ways. We can approach these... circumstances that we've been faced with this year with a better perspective than even Potter can, and he _is_ technically two years older than we are."

She nodded. "I'm getting used to it like this. Although I still think our dueling skills would be better if we were thirty-eight again. On the other hand, being sixteen means we won't tire out as easily..."

"Mm. It's a delicate balance. I don't know which is better for our intended purposes," he smiled and inclined his head out towards the edge of the grounds. "Well? Should we go to the lake and continue to practice? We should try those out those defensive spells we've been learning."

"There you go with the 'we' again," she laughed, taking his hand and happily pulling him along towards the lake. "_You _are already a first-rate, well-experienced-"

"Wait!" a voice yelled, and they both turned to see a young man running across the fields toward them, his dark red robes trailing behind him, giving off a clear Gryffindor vibe. He skidded to a stop in front of them, his freckled face flushed and ginger hair a wild mess, but it didn't stop his eyes from bugging out when he saw Severus; "Professor _Snape_?"

"Weasley," Severus's happy mood of the past few days was replaced with an instant scowl. The kind that he usually only reserved for particularly smug Gryffindor students and Harry Potter.

Dinah now recognized the boy as Ron Weasley, the Auror, Hermione's boyfriend, and Harry's constant companion and best friend. His face flushed, and he looked like a student that had gotten caught out in the halls after hours. Severus did have that power over people; "Sorry, I heard you two had this youthening thing but I never expected-"

"What do you _want_, Weasley?" Severus bit out.

"Oh!" Ron's flush deepened and he turned his head to alight on a friendlier face. It seemed Dinah always filled that role. "You're Dinah Samson, aren't you? You have to be! You're with Professor Snape!"

"Yes... yes, I am. What's-?"

"That thing!" his normal distress returned and he pointed wildly behind him; "The thing you told us to watch out for! The flayed baby!"

"What?" Dinah gasped, her hand reaching out to grasp Severus's arm so tightly that she felt her nails digging into him and saw him wince out of the corner of her eye. But she couldn't tear her face away from the Auror's.

"It was at the edge of the forest! I saw it! It's coming... slowly, I was able to beat it here... shooting out spells at me like some kind of wild monster. It's heading for the school and it's not vanishing!"

"Oh Merlin, not now! No! Are you sure?"

"One-hundred percent positive. I don't know how or why – no dark storm, no dementors – I don't even know what it wants to do. But we were to find you right away... so I found you..."

"Weasley!" Severus's firm voice snapped the flustered Auror back to attention. "Go and inform the headmaster and anyone else he tells you to talk to. We'll take care of the immediate problem from here. Where did you last see it?"

"Forest... across from the main doors..." he pointed again. "You don't think He-Who-Must-Not-Be-"

"We do not have time for you right now! Go to Dumbledore!" he shouted, grabbing Dinah's arm and pulling them in the direction that Ron had indicated, leaving the young man to his own devices.

Dinah felt Severus pulling her and managed to match his pace, but her thoughts were all over the place. She didn't know what was going on. She now realized that it had all seemed like speculation before this – not like reality, not like it would really happen. She hadn't even practiced any of the new defense spells yet... hadn't had time! What was she supposed to do when she found it?

They hadn't run far when students began fleeing past them in the opposite direction, screaming and pointing. The entire Hogwarts grounds were a mess of utter chaos. Severus brought them both to an immediate stop, his fingers tightening around Dinah's arm as his eyes darted around the area. "It's close."

"Severus... Severus, what if it has the ring? What if it's already been revived? I don't know what to do, I don't even have any plans... and what about Tommy, where is he now? What am I supposed to do?" she could hear the desperation in her voice, feel the dryness of her throat. This was all too much, too fast.

"Dinah, remain calm," he said firmly, taking her face into his hands, his eyes boring into hers but not searching, not using Legilimency. It reminded her that the mutual respect they shared was absolute, and managed to make her feel a little bit better. "You are going to be fine. I'm here. I know the defensive spells. You need to concentrate on the remorse half. Use the defenses you know. You do know a lot and you _are _strong, do you understand me?"

"Yes," she murmured, resting her hands on his arms, taking a few deep breaths. "Yes, I understand."

"Good. Now, just do whatever it is you feel is right. This is your prophecy for a reason, Dinah. Oh, no..." his expression changed and his gaze darted in one swift movement to his left arm, as if he was waiting for pain, waiting for the dark mark to burn.

Dinah looked out in front of them and saw it. Coming slowly across the grounds, hovering in the sky like a deranged marionette, red-eyed and thoughtless, with spells shooting out from it at all angles, unidentifiable until they hit the grass and their effects were revealed. It seemed like all manner of random spells were being ejected from it with no rhyme, reason, or purpose.

And then Dinah heard the voices, echoing louder and louder the closer the maniacal creature got. "When The Dark Lord's destruction is incomplete, when The Dark Lord's destruction is incomplete..."

"No! No!" she closed her eyes and covered her ears, extending her wand out in front of her and shouting; "_Expelliarmus_!"

"It doesn't have a _wand_, Dinah!" Severus exclaimed, deflecting half of the spells the flayed baby sent out without uttering even a single incantation. She just stared at him in disbelief. He really was in a class of his own. How she'd ever thought she could do what he did she had no idea.

"Um... um.. _Stupefy! Reducto! Bombarda!_" Blinking back a sudden wave of tears, she began shouting every spell they'd practiced in duels, aiming at the flayed baby.

"What are you _doing_, Dinah?" Severus demanded, shouting over the noise of the screaming parseltongue whispers of her prophecy. "Remorse! Concentrate on the remorse!"

"Oh! Right!" she wanted to kick or even kill herself for forgetting that. This was the flayed baby! No matter how mindless it seemed, if she hurt it she would be dooming Tommy forever. She switched to using shield charms and forced herself to look into its eyes; "Tommy! Tommy, are you in there somewhere? Somehow? Can you hear me?"

Nothing happened, but the flayed baby got closer, forcing her and Severus to run backwards to escape the immediate target area of its plethora of spells. There were still students outside, she could tell from the yelling she heard around her, and out of the corners of her eyes she could see that some of them were standing there and staring rather than running. She had to protect them, but Severus would see to that, right? Wouldn't he?

He had before, she reminded herself. And he was still successfully deflecting most of the spells. She had to let him do his part and focus on hers.

"Tommy, it's Dinah! Wherever you are, do you know what's happening now? We have to stop this! _Please!_ Remember friends! You want friends! I'm your friend! I'm-" a sudden blast burst out from the flayed baby along with a particularly loud scream of the first line of her prophecy, and she felt herself flying backwards, slamming into Severus and sending them both tumbling to the ground.

When she opened her eyes the flayed baby was making its way towards Hogwarts castle itself, driving away more students, its spells hitting the walls and causing pieces to crumble and explode. Her words had done nothing. She had made no impact.

"Dinah," Severus's voice snapped her out of her reverie and she managed to turn in his arms and see his face, watching her with concern. "Are you all right?"

"I _can't_! I can't do it Severus, I can't!" she clutched his robes, burying her face in his chest so she didn't have to look at the chaos around her, the screaming, scrambling students, the spells of all sorts hitting the grass and the walls, all happening for no reason and her unable to stop any of it. "Make it stop! Make it go away!"

"Dinah, stop it!" he exclaimed, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her back so she could look at him. "Dinah, you _can _do this! You have to. You are the only one who-"

"No I'm not!" she shrieked, standing up, everything she'd ever been afraid of – every fear of the prophecy, every negative thought about herself - all running back into her in one painful moment of realization. "I'm _not _the one, don't you understand?" she took a few steps backward, trying to get away from the chaos, away from people telling her who she should be. That she should be someone she'd never be able to become. "I can't do anything! I've hid from everything my whole life! I'm incapable of helping anyone or anything and I'm nothing more than a worthless coward!"

"No, no, you aren't!" Severus stood, extending his hand to her, his eyes distressed and pleading and full of admiration. But she didn't believe it. She couldn't believe it because she didn't see anything admirable in herself at all. "Dinah, please! Don't give up now! You _are _strong, you can still-"

"No!" she covered her ears again, taking more steps backward, almost tripping over a stone before Severus caught up to her, taking into her into his arms and keeping her from falling. She looked into his eyes, wanting to run away but his gaze pinning her there for the moment. She at least owed him more explanation. "Severus, I've always hid. I don't know how to do anything but hide. I can't perform the spells you can; I've never trained for this kind of thing. I... I know I'm supposed to help them, Tommy and the flayed baby, but nothing I tried is working! I can't even tell if it's revived or what spells to use or what to do, I..." she shuddered as another wave of pain washed over her; "I never wanted this prophecy! I never wanted to be mocked for it or mistreated because of it and I never wanted to be mocked for being a parselmouth either but it all hit me at once and I couldn't even... I didn't even..."

"Dinah..."

"I ran away from everything!" she screamed. "How can I come back and change that? How can I make up for everything I did up until now? No matter what I do, I still did something wrong! I did everything wrong! I'm a coward! I've always been a coward! Nothing I do can make up for that! I shouldn't have been named in this prophecy! I can't do anything! I'm not special!" she wrenched her shoulders from his grasp and backed away again, fighting back an intense wave of tears and despair as the truth hit her; "I'm not special at all!"

"Yes you _are_!" he exclaimed, catching up to her in one swift movement and grabbing her shoulders again, his eyes in pain for her but also shining with something that she couldn't place. Something intense and powerful. "You _are _special, Dinah! You are the most special, amazing human being in the entire universe and I love you!"

The world froze.

Anything that had been happening, anything going on around her, the noise, the chaos, the wind, the spells, anything she could see or hear or touch or feel was gone but Severus. Severus and the words she was sure she hadn't heard correctly; "What?"

He nodded, his voice and eyes the most sincere she'd ever seen them. "I love you, Dinah."

"You... love me? But – but Lily-"

"Lily chose James," he cut her off with a firm shake of his head. "It took me years to realize it but now I know that it was always supposed to be that way. She was my first love and I'll always care for her and have fond memories of what we had, but nothing more. I'm choosing you. I _love _you, Dinah. I feel like I always have, only it took me too long to realize and I hope you can forgive me for that."

"Severus," her eyes filled with tears of joy. "Oh, Severus."

"So, you see? You _can _do this. But you won't be alone. You're never alone. I love you."

It seemed like he couldn't stop saying it, and she didn't want him to stop. She leaned forward so that their faces were directly against each other and she let her gray eyes meet his dark brown ones as his arms slid down to her waist. His face held so much conviction and so much love. His hands tightened around her and the warmth he always exuded washed through her entire body. "I love you," she whispered back, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him with all her heart. She never wanted to let go, never wanted to break it off. He clutched her more tightly, holding her as close as he could. They let the kiss linger until neither of them could breathe anymore and she finally pulled away.

He was smiling. His smile was always so beautiful, and made her face light up with joy. His smile was the same in this young body as it was when he was an adult, but she had never seen his face so lit up before, so full of happiness. After everything they'd gone through, pursuing a relationship, fighting with his past and his feelings for Lily, it had all culminated in this moment.

She knew it had all been worth it.

But their reverie was broken as the chaos around them came to light again. "Severus..." she whispered, pleading.

He took her face in his hands and kissed her once more, "We'll go together. I'm with you. Let's do this."

"Yes," she nodded, letting his hand slide into hers and squeezing it. "Don't leave my side."

"Never again as long as I live." He pressed in close to her, and they headed off together.


	114. Love

A/N: Thanks so much for the wave of reviews and comments from the last chapter! I am also VERY happy that Severus and Dinah are now mutually in love :) - it shall make the following chapters a lot more fun, I think! Please keep reading and reviewing!

* * *

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN

Love

* * *

They came upon the flayed baby again near one of the back doors of the castle, not too far away from where they were. The grounds were now emptied of students, finally all smart enough to retreat into the castle. "Try again," Severus murmured, reluctantly letting his hand slip from hers and taking a hesitant step back. "I'm still here. I'll deflect the spells, you talk to it."

She nodded, steeling up all of her courage and facing the flayed baby again; "Whatever you are, please listen! You can't – if you keep going like this, you're going to end up empty and lonely forever! Living forever, revival, it's not worth that! I've seen it, it's horrible! Please! Listen for Tommy! He wants to come back to you, he just doesn't know how! I'm trying to help him! Please!"

The creature made no motion indicating that it had heard or even registered her words and instead began a determined float towards the castle's back door.

"It's trying to get into the castle!" Severus shouted, just as the flayed baby seemed to bounce back from the castle doors, as though there were a barrier it couldn't cross. "Dinah, the wards of the castle!"

"What about them?"

"They're still working! I knew it. It didn't feel right from the beginning. This isn't The Dark Lord. Not quite. It's not revived yet. There's no ring, it's just the flayed baby. You should be able to do something. Try a non-destructing offensive!" Severus encouraged, using his shield charm to deflect a huge wave of spells the creature released in its apparent fury at being blocked by the wards. Dinah had to marvel again at the fact that the man she loved could deflect that many spells with just about as much ease as he'd used to deflect one or two. And for a moment, she forgot about everything but the fact that he really... truly... loved her back.

She had to focus on the matter at hand, though, and so she turned back to the flayed baby and raised her wand; "_Petrificus Totalus!_" the jet of light sped towards the demon child and it turned in one swift movement, its red eyes registering her and flashing once. She gasped and before she could think another wave of energy burst from it, sending her flying back onto the grass again.

"Dinah!" Severus rushed to her side, shouted "_Protego Totalum!_" to create a shield around them, and they both watched as the flayed baby's energy dissipated and it seemed to slow, then spin, and without warning took off into the sky, sending a shower of spells down at them that bounced off of the shield harmlessly as they held onto each other.

And then the grounds were quiet.

"It's gone?" she asked after a few long moments of silence, hesitantly lifting her head from Severus's shoulder to get a better look around her.

"I don't think it was strong enough to stay," he murmured in reply. "I don't think that was anything close to the final battle, Dinah. That was just... the tiniest taste of what is to come."

She took a let out a long breath of momentary relief and turned to Severus, everything that had just happened spinning back into her mind in one moment; "Was it a dream?" she murmured, looking into his eyes, wanting him to say it again. And again and again and again.

"No," he whispered, smiling and nuzzling her forehead as he tightened his embrace around her; "It wasn't a dream, Dinah. I love you. I love you more than anything."

"Severus," she tried not to choke on the joy of the words. "But you said... you said on your birthday that..."

"I was _wrong_, Dinah," he cupped her cheek, his eyes now sad. "I've never been more wrong about anything in my life. I'm so sorry I hurt you then. I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for it, but I _was _wrong. I've been trying to figure this out for a long time now, but I was over-thinking it. I thought I might be wrong just about the time we became children. I thought I could try... thought I could learn to love you, and I did. But I wasn't sure... I didn't know... I kept trying to figure it out and it just got more convoluted and then when I finally stepped back and stopped trying to think it through it all became perfectly clear."

"Oh, Severus," she still couldn't believe this was true. "So... your happiness the past few days was...?"

"Yes. Yes, it was that realization," he laughed. "Would you believe after all my trying and all my searching it was just one little moment that made it all fall into place?"

"Your epiphany on Wednesday..."

"Yes," he repeated; "I wanted to tell you. I wanted to tell you right away, but I just didn't know how. I didn't know how to say it to you. I wanted it to be perfect. I know I've ... I know I've hurt you and I just-"

"But that doesn't matter anymore!" she insisted, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing him before drawing away, pressing her forehead to his, unable to stop smiling. If she stopped smiling she knew she'd start crying; "All that matters is that this is real. It was all worth it if it led to this moment. I don't care how much pain I endured... not anymore, not now that you really... really..."

"I love you," he insisted softly, making her wish come true again. "I think I loved you from the moment I first laid eyes on you. It just took me an eternity to figure it out..."

"It's okay," she shook her head, the tears of joy filling her eyes again before she had a chance to try and stop them. "All that matters is that you did. Oh, Severus, I-"

"Professors!" they were interrupted by chaos again, and Dinah had to wrench her gaze from Severus's to see Ron Weasley running back towards them with Hermione and Professor Dumbledore following.

"Is it gone?" Ron asked, his wand out as his eyes darted around the grounds.

"Yes...' Dinah murmured, glad that Severus hadn't let go of her. If anything, he was clutching her more tightly in his arms as they regarded the three people standing before them. After a moment Ron seemed to notice their close physical contact and his eyes bugged out like saucers once more.

Dumbledore smiled down at them; "It seems you have successfully protected the school. But I am afraid there are many questions now that this first incident has occurred."

"Yes... many," Severus sighed. "But I think we're safe for the moment. If you don't mind... this damage can be fixed with a few well-placed spells," he indicated the destruction around them caused by the flayed baby; "If it would be all right to meet and discuss this tomorrow... to allow Dinah and myself to recover for the day..."

"Request granted, of course," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled down at them and Hermione smiled.

"Thank you," Dinah said, and Severus nodded. She watched as her boyfriend gently extricated himself from their embrace and stood, extending his hand for her. She stared at it and felt a tiny smile spread across her face. She remembered the other moment, that day in the rain, when she'd taken his hand for the first time and it had been so warm. This time... he loved her. She placed her hand into his warm one and allowed him to help her up.

"Well. Shall we go home then?" he murmured.

"Home?"

"Yes. The dungeons or your rooms. Wherever we're together is home," he lifted her hands and kissed them, his eyes shining with the affection that she'd seen the past few days. With what she now knew was love; "my Dinah."

"Yes," she whispered, unable to stop smiling again for fear of bursting into tears the moment she did so. She had thought this would never happen, convinced herself to not even try to hope for it, and yet it was real. He loved her. He really loved her. "Let's go home."

"Ron, stop gaping, you look like a dead fish," Hermione chuckled, putting a hand on her boyfriend's arm as Severus and Dinah walked past them towards Hogwarts' main entrance. She smiled a little at the students but was more focused on Severus now. On what it felt like to be together and this happy and this in love. She was going home... _they _were going home... together.

To a home filled with mutual love.

* * *

"It does mean something," Severus said softly later that evening, smiling across at Dinah in their dungeon bed, his fingers idly stroking the back of her hand.

"What means something?" she smiled back, so relaxed and so content she almost couldn't believe it. And yet she did believe it. After making love again for the first time when she knew that it really was making 'love' on both sides, it finally all felt real. Especially as Severus had been granting her wish a million times over, telling her constantly that he loved her and just how much he loved her, along with insistent promises that he would never, never, _ever _hurt her again. It was all real now. And it was perfect.

"That moment in the pensieve when we saw each other. I had been watching it... thinking about it, looking for its meaning... yes, I know you told me not to, but I didn't listen."

She laughed; "It's okay. Sometimes you don't listen."

"True..." he smiled slightly; "But it's all clear now. Maybe there was nothing we could do then, and maybe we don't remember it, but that doesn't matter. We _had _to look at each other. Even then, there was something there... between us, connecting us. It just wasn't... our time to do anything about it. It's as simple as that."

"It sounds simple," she sighed contentedly, scooting closer to him on the bed. "Yes, I'm sure somewhere deep inside I just had to look at you. I think I wanted that to be the meaning, too, I just..."

"I know," he moved to stroke her cheek; "You didn't want to think too much about it. Didn't want to get your hopes up. I understand, and I'm sorry if I was responsible for that..."

"It's okay," she closed her eyes and pressed her cheek into the warmth of his hand, placing her hand over the back of it. "It was worth it, the waiting, now that we can be like this..."

"Yes," he sighed, relief washing over his features. "Dinah... I think we had to wait. I don't know what it was, but it just wasn't time for us then. Perhaps if we had tried, it wouldn't have worked. I was too focused on Lily... focused on the dark arts..."

"I was hiding... too afraid to even try to make friends..." she murmured, thinking on it and figuring that in many ways he was probably right. "But still, I'd like to think that if we _had _known each other things could still have been different. I know I wouldn't have abandoned you like Lily did... would have tried to help you..."

"Maybe you would have," he murmured, "And I would have been so grateful. Maybe I could have helped you to accept yourself and your prophecy and the parseltongue, but... for some reason it just wasn't to be that way. I don't think we were ready. Besides, it doesn't matter when... now. We would have found each other."

"Do you think we turned back into adolescents so that we could finish finding each other?" she asked quietly.

"Maybe," he nodded. "Although... I know I'd still have done it. It would have taken longer, maybe years, but I would still have learned to love you, Dinah. Even had this youthening not taken place."

"I know," she smiled. She had already told him that she knew now that she had never truly given up on him. Yes, she had tried to hide from any hope of him loving her as a complex coping mechanism after what had happened on his birthday. But somewhere deep inside she knew that he could still love her someday. They had stayed with each other because they had _both _loved each other the entire time. It had just taken all that time for it to become clear. "And I would have waited for you."

"I know," he began stroking her hair, "That's why this is right. Why we're right for each other. Lily..." he sighed, his eyes growing distant, and he shook his head. "I don't know. I did love her, Dinah. I loved her for over thirty long years and maybe that was necessary. Maybe it was necessary for me to have done what I did during the war years. Maybe all of that was necessary not just so that Potter could fulfill his prophecy but so that you could fulfill yours. So we could be where we are today, so you could come back to Hogwarts, so... yes," he nodded. "It was all a part of the path I needed to take so that we could find each other. Your path was probably the same. You don't have to feel like a coward for hiding. You became the you that you are now during those years in the Muggle world. The one who wanted to come back to Hogwarts and teach... to come back and find me."

"Yes," she murmured, scooting the rest of the way across the bed and resting her head on his chest, letting her arms find their way around his waist as he held her close. "You're right... we're here now because it's the only place we could be. Because we had to find each other."

"Everything that happened in our lives. Lily, Dylan, Potter, your prophecy and abilities, maybe even The Dark Lord himself. They were just parts of the path that led us to each other."

"You still love Lily." It wasn't a question, but it was all right because she knew he didn't love Lily in the way that he loved her. She knew the difference between certain kinds of love and the all-encompassing, real love that she and Severus now shared.

"I do, but it's not like this. She was my best friend for many years, and she kept me from completely succumbing to darkness. I'll always be grateful for that. But that's the extent of it now. You loved Dylan too, didn't you?"

"Yes... I did, but it wasn't like this either. And I still wish him well and care about him in many ways. Maybe even love him as a friend and an important piece of my life up until now, but..."

"Yes," he murmured into her hair. "So you see? Either way, the love I did feel for her, though real in a way, wasn't... right. It wasn't this kind of love. It was more an obsession. A deep, obsessive, loving friendship that I misinterpreted. Now that I have something to compare it to..."

"Yes! Yes! That's just how I feel about Dylan! The comparison thing!" she lifted her head to meet his eyes, feeling quite warm and happy inside at his words.

He smiled, brushing his lips against hers. "Even had I not initially chosen the path of being a Death Eater, Lily would have still ended up with James." Dinah noticed that he referred to Lily's husband as 'James' now instead of 'Potter'. It was an odd change reflecting his new acceptance of the two's relationship. "She was meant to be with him from the beginning. Yes, maybe something could have happened between me and her, but it wouldn't have lasted. We didn't fit. She didn't... she was a wonderful person, yes, but she never understood me like you do. When all was said and done I don't think I understood her much, either. We lived in different worlds, and although there were plenty of moments when we shared those worlds and we were happy together, there was always a sort of disconnection there. I see it now. Of course, I had to stop watching for it in the pensieve and just let it come to me naturally for that to happen."

Dinah giggled; "I told you not to look in that thing."

"And you were right, of course, but I don't always listen to you any more than you always listen to me. And yet somehow... between us, that's a good thing. I don't know how or why, but," he rested his head against hers and sighed, tightening his arms' hold around her. "You know... that's why it's perfect like this. With you, I've never felt the need to be a ... psycho obsessed stalker, as you so eloquently put it." They took a moment to laugh at that and then he continued. "With you, it's happy and natural. I don't even have to work at it. That's what happened Wednesday, when we were talking in the hallway. We just... fit. We matched."

"We did," she murmured, as the memories of that day hit her and she realized that he was right. "You're right. We did, didn't we?"  
"Just as we always do. I knew I loved you for certain right on that day when I found out you were a parselmouth and you kept saying you loved me. I just didn't know if it was enough. I didn't know if it was more than Lily, and I just couldn't tell you I loved you until I was sure how much. I got closer to the realization when you comforted me on that day, and then when we made love for the first time, but... it was still so elusive because I kept searching for it, kept trying to force it. And then..." he laughed. "And then you make the simplest comment about having a party just the two of us and eating Aero Mint and making snarky comments and suddenly it hits me. I love you. So easy and so simple and so perfect."

Dinah had to laugh; "That was it? Just that moment?"

"Just that moment," he leaned back and smiled at her. "I think it was mostly you saying that I probably don't like big parties child or adult and we should just go it alone. The fact that you understood that and were happy with it. You said it so casual and you were laughing... it was comfortable to you, and then I realized that it was to me, too. It was just one quick instant and I knew that we matched. That we accepted, understood, and loved each other and that that was all that mattered. 'Everything', as I said. It was everything."

Dinah sighed as a blissful smile spread across her face, and she knew that he was exactly right. "Of course. It _is _perfect. We're happy together, just like we were made for each other. Perfectly matched equals, always in sync, just like that," she nuzzled his forehead with her own and met his joyful gaze, everything falling into place. "You're right. It's everything."

"Mm," he agreed, smiling. "Isn't it strange, how we can be so different and yet so the same? I still find you odd and idealistic and no matter how much I change I don't think I'll ever fully understand your affection for the Muggle world..."

Dinah laughed; "Yes, and I think your teaching style is infuriating and I don't understand your attitude towards the students or the Muggle world or why you are so terrified of public displays of affection. But... I like those things about you. I like getting annoyed with them and then just laughing and accepting them as a part of the you that I love."

"As I love you, and feel exactly the same way," he murmured, kissing her again. "And so we can always stay like this. It's just the way it's supposed to be."

She smiled and nodded, and they just lay there for a long time again, watching each other, smiling at each other, wallowing in the paradise of the love that they had found.

"Dinah, about what happened with the flayed baby..." Severus began, his expression changing and his hand idly stroking a strand of her hair before pushing it behind her ear.

"Oh. Yes..." she sighed and stared down at the sheets. "What does it all mean? It just came and then left... I don't understand it."

"I don't either, but I think we still have time before the worst of it. I think you might need to shift your approach."

"What do you mean?" she shot him a curious glance.

"I think you need to focus on the Tommy end of it. Clearly he wasn't much connected to the flayed baby today, but we know that connection is still there. If there is another dark storm - and you should probably start looking for him during other times as well - but if there is I think you need to find him and talk to _him _about fixing this. Try to get the remorse on his side, because he's actually responsive to you."

"That makes sense," she nodded, a small smile forming. "That does make sense. But what do I say to him?"

"Only you can know that. Do whatever you feel is right. It will come to you. I have no doubt about that."

"Okay," her smile widened and she squeezed his hands; "Thanks. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I'm here for you," he murmured, his gaze changing as he stared at her.

"I know," she sighed contentedly. "I know you are."

"No. Dinah, that's not exactly what I meant. I meant that I am _here _... in this world... for you," he traced her cheek with a finger, his eyes boring into her with a love that was quite nearly overwhelming.

"Severus?" Did he mean what she thought he meant?

He nodded; "That's why I was reborn. For you."

"Oh, Severus," the sincerity of his words brought tears to her eyes as she placed her hand over his.

"The headmaster hinted at it, of course," he smiled. "I was vehemently opposed from the beginning. Obviously."

"Obviously," she murmured, laughing a little at the memory of her early days with Severus. Days that even then were still perfect in their own special way.

"But it's so clear now. I love you. I needed to find you. I had to, and now I have. Honestly, Dinah, I never imagined I could be this happy, but you have given me that. Thank you... you are quite literally my own personal miracle."

"Severus!" she couldn't look at him anymore without crying and so laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him with all of her heart. "I love you."

"And I you," he whispered, holding her against him as his fingers tangled in her hair. "Always. No, more than always. Forever."

Always. Forever.

Words that were now only for her.


	115. Socialization

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN

Socialization

* * *

"My goodness, Dinah," Professor Grubbly-Plank watched Dinah sort the papers on her desk during their meeting on Monday with an amused smile on her face. "If you have been glowing as of late, today you are positively _radiant_!"

Dinah flushed but couldn't help laughing. "Yes, well... being in love will do that to a person," her mouth went off without her consent.

"Love!" the old woman's interest was quite obviously sparked now. "You and Professor Snape?"

"Yes," Dinah murmured, her happiness still getting in the way of her normal controls, weak though they often were. As soon as Severus got over the novelty of the love that was keeping him ridiculously happy all of the time she had a feeling he was going to be quite pissed off about her looseness with information. "Myself... _and _Severus... are in love." She was too happy herself to care.

"Oh, my goodness!" she repeated. "What news! Well, I'm happy for you. But, Dinah... you do seem quite... distracted," she took a piece of parchment that Dinah had started folding into a paper airplane without thinking from her hands. "Would you prefer if I took over most of the class duties and office hours during break?"

Dinah's blush deepened as she looked at what she had been doing. The airplane along with the fact that her desk was now littered with blank parchments of various sizes sorted by color and her quills were now lined up from tallest to smallest. "Uh... n-no," she began gathering them back into a normal pile, trying to sort by size but not having much success. "Well, maybe a little... oh, but don't tell Severus I told you that!"

"My dear, I have known Professor Snape for eighteen years and I am fully aware that I must never, _ever _tell him that you told me that," she chuckled, helping Dinah sort the papers. "We'll see how office hours go this week. You might want to refrain from telling the students about it, too."

"Yeah," Dinah groaned, letting her forehead fall onto her desk and nodding. "Might want to try..."

* * *

Severus sighed; "I still don't see why Potter had to be present at our meeting with the headmaster yesterday! If he doesn't stop staring at us I really _am _going to find a way to deduct points from Gryffindor in his name."

Dinah laughed. They were playing wizards chess in his rooms after dinner, having not gone to the Great Hall for meals today, too intent on enjoying each others' company to the absolute fullest every chance they got. "And they'll still be ahead with all the points I heard you gave them today."

"I did not!" he shouted, and then paused, rubbing his forehead; "Or did I? I don't remember," he sighed.

She grinned; "At least some, but who's counting? Don't worry, eventually this novelty will wear off and you'll go back to your evil ways. I'm sure of it."

"I hope so," he took another one of her pieces and added it to his growing pile; "But even then I'm still going to love you."

"I know..." she smiled, making what she knew was an utterly hopeless move with her bishop. But she didn't care.

"The headmaster doesn't know yet. I fear his reaction when he finds out," Severus half-smirked, thoroughly destroying Dinah's knight which the bishop move had left open for capture. "But I don't think he needed to know in front of Potter. Weasley probably told the boy all sorts of things about Saturday that weren't true anyway."

She laughed; "You think he exaggerated our little moves to the point where Harry now thinks we had wild sex on the lawn in front of the entire student body?"

"Probably," he muttered, his ears taking on a slight pink tinge as he took it upon himself to next destroy her castle. "Well, at least we have a better perspective on the situation now. And the headmaster thoroughly approves of your idea to use Tommy to get the remorse."

"_Your _brilliant idea, darling," she smiled and her eyes lit up when she saw what she thought was the perfect move and made it.

"Ah, Dinah, you never change," he smiled and took her queen.

"Ugh!" she slammed her hand on the table to show her frustration. "You utter despicable genius!"

Severus laughed, his eyes shining with happiness as he shook his head at her; "I love you."

"Severus," she smiled, hugging herself at the warmth that flowed through her veins when he spoke those words. She stood from the table and leaned over to kiss him, interrupted just as their lips met with a knock on the door.

"Ah, well," he stood up and took her hand; "May as well see who that is."

"Yes," she laughed as they walked through his office towards the door together. "Maybe it's a Gryffindor student and you can take a hundred points away from them for breathing."

"One can only hope," he smiled slightly, clutching her hand tightly in his and opening the door.

They were greeted by Lucy, her hand on top of the head of Sirius's dog form sitting complacently beside her. The other woman's eyes landed on their clasped hands and she looked a little guilty; "Um, sorry. Did I interrupt something?"

"Oh. No, no, we were just playing wizards' chess," Dinah smiled and rested her head on Severus's shoulder, twining her fingers around and around his, excited to tell her friend about their new development but not sure just how to do it. "Would you like to come in?"

"Sure. I was thinking we could patrol the halls looking for unruly students out past curfew who needed a few points deducted but we've got time yet 'til curfew." Lucy watched, embarrassed, as Sirius ambled into the room and began sniffing things. "Sirius Lycurgus Black! Get back here! We do not sniff other people's things without being invited!" She stomped her foot, pointing at the floor next to her.

Severus snorted, a slightly amused smile playing across his features; "Typical Black behavior. Simply stay away from the potions ingredients. We do not need an explosion and I think even you would agree with that," he stepped aside from the door, pulling Dinah with him and allowing Lucy entry.

Lucy stepped inside, glaring at her puppy dog. The dog in question came over to stand next to her, licking her hand before transforming back into his human self, "Just checking for any scents that shouldn't be here. I checked your rooms too," he said, leaning down to kiss her.

"Oh, that reminds me..." Dinah said as she watched them. "How was it in Hogsmeade this weekend? I wonder if you heard about the incident... well, we'd be more comfortable in the sitting room," she turned to Severus; "Is that all right?"

"Hm, fine. But the couch is ours," he reluctantly dropped her hand and gestured towards the door in the back of the office leading into the sitting room, allowing Lucy and Sirius to enter it first. Dinah had no objections to the couch being theirs. She loved Severus's green couch and cuddling with him on it. She also loved how possessive he was being in front of the other couple. She definitely felt loved.

"That's fine," Sirius grinned, "We can share a chair," he pulled Lucy onto his lap the minute he sat in one of the large green chairs.

"What happened this weekend? Hogsmeade was pretty quiet. Was there another dark storm?" Lucy wiggled, settling herself properly in her fiancé's lap, which caused him to squirm a little bit.

Dinah settled onto the couch in her usual spot next to Severus, resting her head comfortably in the crook of his shoulder as his arms went around her waist. He may have been afraid of public displays of affection but it seemed Lucy and Sirius no longer qualified as 'public', which was just as well. "No," she said. "I suppose we're lucky that the incident occurred right before break. Dumbledore has tried so hard to keep the press out, but if students tell their families..."

"Yes, well, worst luck Rita Skeeter will be here tomorrow asking questions," Severus frowned. "But perhaps that won't happen just yet. There was an attack," he finally let the ball drop.

"Ugh, Rita Skeeter," Lucy nuzzled Sirius's neck, "She did a horrible article about you after you died."

"A good portion of it was lies I'm sure," Sirius said, rubbing her arms as his eyes warily watched Severus and Dinah. He seemed to be the competitive sort, relationship-wise, and Dinah wasn't sure why. He had Lucy and she wasn't going anywhere so it wasn't as though he had to prove that he was better at attracting women than Severus. But men were strange about that sort of thing.

"Mmmm," Lucy agreed, still frowning about the article as she lifted her head to look over at the other couple, "An attack you said? Dementors?"

Dinah had to laugh at the annoyed look Severus was giving Lucy and Sirius, as though he sensed the wave of competition from his old rival. "No," she repeated, lifting her head to kiss his cheek and feeling him stiffen slightly. "It's the thing that Eugene and the test subject are associated with. She might as well know, do you think?" she asked Severus.

"Might as well. We don't know how many details will get out by the time this is over," he extricated himself from her arms and stood from the couch. "Now, if you will excuse me," he took her face into both hands and gave her a long kiss, "I will be using the lavatory for a moment." He slid a hand through her hair and made off for the other end of the room.

Dinah, flushed from the kiss, forgot completely what she was supposed to be telling Lucy and Sirius and instead grabbed a pillow from the couch and hugged it, trapped once again in blissful realization. Grubbly-Plank would be highly amused.

Through the swirling light and excitement fluttering through her Dinah managed to hear the echo of her friend's voice saying; "Um, hello? Earth to Dinah?"

She cracked open one eye to see her friend, knowing that she was grinning like an idiot. "He loves me," she murmured, and then buried her flushed face back in the pillow.

"Dinah!" she heard Lucy squeal at the same time as her friend pounced on her.

Dinah laughed and lifted her head from the pillow, hugging her friend with glee; "Yes! It's true! Do you have any idea how good it feels? Well, you must, but... but... well it feels so _good_!"

Lucy nodded, grinning and glancing at Sirius, "Yes, I know."

"Really?" Sirius questioned, "Because if you ask me I thought you looked rather shell-shocked at the time."

"Well, honestly!" Lucy turned back to Dinah, "He told me in the middle of the Three Broomsticks. I wasn't quite sure I heard him properly. I couldn't believe he'd said it first."

"You needed to hear it," Sirius said, drawing her back to his lap, "I didn't think you were going to say it and I'm not embarrassed about my feelings for you. I love you," he said, kissing her again.

Dinah smiled; "That's so nice. I'm so glad to finally be a part of that same thing. It's just that... I had to fight for so long. I didn't know if it would really happen and yet now..." she wiped her eyes on her sleeve as the emotions from her long struggle and the joy that it had ended so happily resurfaced, and then laughed. "I'm sorry. I really am ecstatically happy! It just really does feel so good!" she beamed at them.

Lucy giggled, "I can tell."

"We seem to have lost our dear Professor Snape," Sirius said, playing with Lucy's engagement ring.

As if on cue Severus walked back into the room, probably saving himself from any sort of bizarre erroneous assumptions Sirius might be making. He took in all of the excited faces and raised an eyebrow at the lot of them; "It seems as though I've missed something."

"Oh, just declarations of undying love," Lucy said, laying her hand on the one Sirius was using to turn her ring back and forth.

"I see," he chuckled and turned to Dinah; "Theirs or ours?"

"Well, both really. I told them. I just couldn't hold it in anymore," she laughed.

He smiled and settled in next to her, this time on the opposite side from where he'd been before, resting the backs of his fingers on her cheek; "You look so happy. I wonder how many times I'll need to make you smile like this to make up for all of the times I made you sad in the past..."

Dinah shook her head vigorously and buried her face in his neck. "You've already done that. The moment you told me you loved me made up for everything a million times over. It's like it's always been like this."

Lucy sighed, "Yeah, it does tend to make up for a lot. There are exceptions of course, such as pushing me into the lake twice on a chilly day."

"You didn't seem too upset about it," Sirius grinned, leaning her back and kissing her.

"Mmm," Lucy pulled back, "Last night, this morning, and after lunch wasn't enough for you? Can't you, um, turn it off for a few hours?"

Her comment finally seemed to bring back some of Severus's normal reservation. Or maybe he was a little nervous about his own reactions as he moved back from Dinah the tiniest bit to turn to them. "Now, I think we can probably refrain from turning my dungeons into the place for some kind of demented orgy, I _hope_... They happen to have inns for that sort of thing."

Dinah had to laugh at that.

Lucy joined in the laughter, a very light blush rising on her cheeks, "_I_ have no plans for any such thing and certainly not in front of an audience. I do draw the line somewhere."

Sirius shifted Lucy on his lap and mumbled, "It's not like I can just flip a switch."

"Now _there's _a spell to invent, Severus," Dinah joked.

"Do I have to?" he asked, looking disappointed that he should have to even consider turning off his sexual attraction to her.

She laughed, resting her head on his shoulder and shaking it. "No."

Lucy giggled again, "You might want to, but then I suppose a cold shower would work just as well."

"Likely so," he frowned, looking uncomfortable at the turn the conversation had taken. "Sometimes the best methods are those that are-"

"Uh oh, you'd better stop there, you just might be advocating non-magical means to do something," Dinah teased, placing a finger over his lips to hush him. He blushed and managed to let a sheepish look cross his dark eyes.

Sirius cleared his throat, "So, you mentioned a non-dementor attack on the school?"

"Ah, yes," it was Severus's turn to clear his throat as well, lightly kissing Dinah's finger before gently taking it from his mouth and returning it to a more safe place on the couch between them, although he didn't let go of her hand. "I believe we mentioned previously at least to you Lucy that the dark storms may be related to some incarnation of The Dark Lord?"

"Yes," Lucy said quietly, "Bellatrix's voice too." Sirius squeezed her and she snuggled into him.

"Well, that incarnation is now clear," Severus said.

"Yes, it seems what's left of Voldemort's soul is still held on this Earth in the form of a sort of half-human demon baby thing. It's held in existence by Tommy – the missing good from the story who is acting sort of like an extra Horcrux, if you know about those. We don't really know all of what the creature can do right now. But if it were somehow to be... revived... through the action of Eugene and the test subject..." she bit her lip and left her words hanging, gauging their reactions.

Lucy gasped and looked at Sirius. "Harry," they both said at the same time.

Sirius stood, sitting Lucy in the chair he vacated, "I'll go get him. You stay here."

"But—"

He put his hands on either side of her face, looking in her slightly panicked eyes. "You couldn't be safer any place else," he said, kissing her again.

Dinah exchanged a quick, surprised glance with Severus and then stood from the couch. "Wait! Where are you going? Harry already knows about this. He's been at most of the meetings with Dumbledore, including the one we just had on Sunday, after Saturday's attack."

Sirius stood, staring at Dinah before releasing a breath. "Sorry. I suppose I _might _have over reacted just a bit. It's easy to forget Harry's all grown up now."

Lucy curled up in the chair she now sat in alone, "So, then what happened?"

Dinah sat back down, relieved that the sudden panic had been alleviated. She hadn't realized they weren't running off to get Harry for his skills as an Auror. Apparently Sirius was worried about his godson's welfare instead. Looking over at Severus, she didn't know quite what to make of his expression. He had never worried that much about Harry in that sense, at least not personally, more as something he had to do for Lily. So, like Dinah, the Harry he saw now was the capable Auror and not the 'poor kid thrown into this war that needs to be protected'. But clearly for Sirius that was different. "It did attack, but ultimately it didn't do much. Frightened the students a great deal, caused some easily fixable damage... it sort of just floated around for awhile, shooting out a random bunch of spells with little rhyme or reason. It was rather strange, really..."

"Like it wasn't thinking…"Lucy murmured, "And then it expended all it's energy, grew tired and left?"

Sirius plopped on the arm of the chair Lucy was using, "I promised James and Lily I'd protect their son. I haven't done a very good job of that so far," he mumbled, apparently lost in his own thoughts for the moment.

"Potter is certainly in no more danger than the rest of us at the moment," Severus insisted. "Try to look at this separately from the previous war. It can be difficult, but it needs to be looked at separately. This incarnation is quite different from the last."

"That's my prophecy," Dinah said softly. "_I'm _supposed to take care of it this time."

"Oh, Dinah!" Lucy gasped, hurrying over to the couch again and wrapping her arms around Dinah in a hug, "I'm so sorry. This…it can't be easy." She looked over at Sirius as tears filled her eyes.

Dinah smiled. She hadn't expected this; still wasn't used to it. She found she always half-thought that people would condemn her and mock her for her prophecy, not hug her and say that they understood. "Thanks, Lucy. It means a lot that you understand. They never used to understand, but now everybody seems to. I've, um... sort of gotten used to it now, finally. I can handle it, I think... as long as I'm not alone."

Lucy shook her head, dropping her arms, "Silly. You're not alone. There's three people in this room that care about you. You've been there for me. You've never made me go through something on my own that I wasn't ready to. In fact sometimes you've made sure I wasn't alone even when I thought I should be."

Dinah laughed, nodding. "I remember those times. You know, sometimes it feels like I've been at Hogwarts with you and Severus and Sirius for a lot longer than just one school year. This whole thing feels natural. And nice."

Lucy nodded, "Yeah, you're right. It does," she looked down at her watch, "Well, it's after curfew. Did you want to go patrol or stay in and talk about this some more?"

"We can patrol _and _talk," Dinah suggested, turning to her boyfriend; "Is that all right with you, Severus?"

"Whatever you want," he said sincerely. "I'm sure if we patrol we can at least work on fixing the mistakes I've been making since Wednesday, but if you'd rather stay in that's fine as well."

"Let's go. If you don't fix your mistakes soon you're going to have a _huge _problem on your hands," she nudged him with a laugh.


	116. Patrolling

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN

Patrolling

* * *

"Mistakes?" Lucy asked, once again accompanied by her guard dog, "I didn't realize Severus Snape was capable of making mistakes."

Severus growled a little and Dinah laughed; "He's been giving points to Gryffindor. Quite regularly as I understand it." His growl got louder and she was starting to wonder who it was that had transformed into a dog out of the four of them.

"Oh, that is trouble," Lucy said, exiting the room, "We can't have students thinking the bat of the dungeons is…content."

Dinah frowned a little, turning to Severus as he finished closing and locking the door behind them. "Does that nickname bother you? I don't think I ever asked."

He shrugged; "Not particularly. I'm not partial to greasy git but dungeon bat is almost amusing. At least it shows some level of intimidation on the students' part. Although I haven't heard it as of late. Something about being youthened I expect," he sighed.

"Or the lack of flowing robes. Granted, it's easier to get you out of your clothes when you have fewer layers on," she teased, latching onto his arm.

Lucy rolled her eyes, "And how would you know? It's not as if you were removing his robes when you were adults."

Dinah flushed, a little annoyed at her friend. "Yeah, well I will be," she retorted indignantly. "Even if it's twenty-two years from now. So there!" Severus laughed and she had to grin at him.

Lucy bit her lip, "Sorry. I was teasing. To be fair though, lots of robes do have their advantages. You know getting to sort of unwrap the other layer by layer."

Dinah had to grin again at the thought. "Yes, except when I _was _an adult it took so ridiculously long that I never got him unwrapped in time to-"

"All right, enough!" Severus cut in, his voice raising a little too much in volume and his face a bit red as he glared at them. "This is hardly hall-patrolling talk!"

"No, probably not," Lucy agreed. It wasn't long before they came upon Septimus Peaks, one of the most rotten of Slytherin students. The fur on Sirius's back stood up and he growled low in his throat, clearly aware that this was the boy who had hurt his beloved fox earlier in the year.

"Peaks," Severus snarled, watching with a glare as the boy crept along the hallway, his gaze darting back and forth and his wand in his hand.

"What's he doing?" Dinah asked as the third-year student poked his head out a nearby window, hunched down as though ready to crawl through a hole or jump somewhere. He pulled his head out and continued creeping, approaching a distant wall.  
"Ah, the Room of Requirement," Severus reached for his wand. "We need to stop him before he enters it. _Lumos Maxima_!" a huge flash of light shot out from his wand, causing Septimus Peaks to jump up and swear quite loudly, whirling around on them just as a door formed in the wall he had approached. He just stood there for a moment watching his two teenage professors, one adult professor, and what appeared to be their pet dog.

"What exactly do you think you're doing outside your dormitory after curfew?" Lucy asked the glaring boy.

"None of your business!" Septimus insisted, crossing his arms over his chest. "_I _only deal with Purebloods outside of class." Interestingly enough, Dinah thought, Lucy _was _a pureblood. The assumptions these pureblood supremacists made!

Snuffles took a step forward, his lip curling, baring some of his teeth, looking quite frightening.

"Sit!" Lucy ordered the dog, and he obeyed. Dinah felt a little better when the animal – or Animagus – was seated calmly. It had almost looked like he was going to attack the boy.

Severus's teeth were bared much like the dog's were, and he looked just as vicious. "Peaks, do you have any idea how much I wish you would stop making it so that Slytherin will surely lose the house cup this year? Ten points from Slytherin for disrespecting a Professor yet _again_."

Septimus snarled back at him; "Right, as if you care about our house winning with all the points you've been giving Gryffindor lately!"

Severus growled more at that; "Ten points from Gryffindor, then."

"Can you do that?" Dinah had to ask him.

"I just did," was his reply.

Septimus let out an exasperated sigh; "Professor Snape, what is _with _you and her?" he pointed rather rudely at Dinah. "It's starting to get weird!"

"None of your business, Peaks! Ten more points from Slytherin! And Gryffindor," he tacked on as an afterthought, and Dinah couldn't help but hide a chuckle.

In a rush, Snuffles launched forward, taking off towards Septimus as Lucy gasped. The kid's face paled when he saw the beast running at him and Dinah had to feel a little bit sorry for the rotten troublemaker in that instant. She wasn't sure attacking students was going to get Sirius any extra brownie points for coming here to be with Lucy on Wednesdays. Luckily, he ran past Peaks and around a corner. Two minutes and a scream later, Snuffles was returning, pulling a terrified-looking Gryffindor girl with him.

"Miss Dehoff!" Dinah exclaimed, recognizing a rather snobby pureblood Gryffindor from her third year class, Melinda Dehoff.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for being in the halls after curfew, Miss Dehoff," Severus said, now looking quite satisfied rather than angry. "Care to explain your business in all of this?"

The girl only glared at Septimus, trying to tug her sleeve out of Snuffles's grip, "I told you we shouldn't try to meet tonight."

Lucy sighed, and looked at Snuffles, "Release her and come here. What were you two meeting for?"

Septimus glared and refused to speak. Miss Dehoff, perhaps grateful Lucy had gotten the angry dog away from her, said, "We're dating. We wanted some place private to hang out."

Dinah was surprised to see a glint of obvious pleasure shining in Severus's eyes as he took a step forward. "I see," he said smoothly, sounding more and more like he did as an adult, at least in tone if not in voice; "Fifty points from Gryffindor, Miss Dehoff, for tempting and instigating Mr. Peaks to be away from his common room after hours, and for illegal use of school property," he indicated the door to the Room of Requirement, still standing there as if waiting for the students to come to their senses and use it.

"Tempting and instigating!" Dinah exclaimed, turning to Severus and placing her hands squarely on her hips as the Gryffindor girl's mouth dropped open in shock; "How can you hold her responsible when clearly both of them were-"

"Not now," he spoke firmly, holding up a hand to hush her. "I'm working," It was Dinah's turn to scowl a little and fold her arms across her chest, a little perturbed by his behavior but also mildly amused and curious to see where this would go next.

"Do you have anything else to say about this, Miss Dehoff?" Severus raised an eyebrow at the student.

"Well," she sputtered, her eyes defiant; "I don't think that's very fair, Professor Snape, seeing as this wasn't even _my _idea!"

"Five more points from Gryffindor for insubordination. Do you have anything _else _to say, Miss Dehoff?"

"_No_!" she exclaimed, looking a little appalled.

Severus opened his mouth, no doubt to take more points away, but Dinah covered it; "Severus, don't you think you're pushing it a little now?"

He sighed and turned to meet her gaze; "Fine, I suppose you and I have reached an equilibrium on this point. For now."

She laughed a little and rolled her eyes, "Good."

"I suggest you two get back to your Common Rooms before Professor Snape decides to deduct more points," Lucy made shooing motions with her hands, "I also expect that your class assignments will be extremely well done for the rest of the week. It'd also be fair to warn you that we will know if you do not go strait back to your Houses," she warned with a significant glance at Snuffles.

The two third years scurried off into the dark halls, probably relieved to escape unscathed, considering that Snuffles was sitting there with his teeth still bared at them, looking ready to attack at a moment's notice.

"Well," Lucy said, turning to Severus and Dinah, "that was…interesting."

Severus sighed, a slight smile playing on his lips; "It felt quite good, actually."

Dinah laughed; "I hope so. You singularly took eighty-five points away from Gryffindor in less than ten minutes. And twenty of them for no reason at all."

"Ah, back to the Professor Snape we are all so familiar with," Lucy grinned and turned to Sirius, "You, however, positively terrified those two."

Sirius barked and wagged his tail, bumping into both Dinah and Lucy, looking for a pat.

Dinah laughed, scratching the dog behind his ears. It was amazing how different he was now from how he'd been with the students present. Then again, Severus was also capable of switching very quickly from angry to sweet when he transitioned from being with others that annoyed him to being alone with her; "Such a good guard dog," she cooed as she pet him, "You know, you're kind of the equivalent of Mrs. Norris in this hallway patrol. Although that makes the rest of us collectively Filch, and I don't know how I feel about that one..." she grimaced. She truly did have issues with that man – the ultimate git and the snake killer from her past. Even now, she couldn't bring herself to like Filch in the least.

"Yeah, no thanks. I prefer my current position as the soon to be Mrs. Black," Lucy paused, "Oh, that's weird."

"_Professor _Black," Dinah corrected, smiling at Lucy. "That's what the students will call you." She caught Severus giving her an odd look. "What?"

"Nothing," he smiled. "Shall we continue looking for students or has Gryffindor suffered enough for one night?"

"Well, I think as long as we make another pass through the third floor corridor we should be good. It's not too late if you still want to hang out, but please don't feel like you have to. Sirius and I are able to entertain ourselves," Lucy said.

Dinah grinned as they continued one more loop through the halls; "So are we. And we _do _have to finish our wizards' chess game. But you do see why we had to tell you about the attack, right? I think Dumbledore is going to inform the faculty soon, but... well we don't ever seem to know what will happen next. I wonder if somehow these whims of the flayed baby are connected to what's going on with Tommy at any given moment. I need to try and figure that out..."

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "we understand. I do hope you figure it out. I think we might end up going down to the Quidditch pitch tomorrow, as humans, if you want to join us." Lucy grinned.

"Sure, it's so nice out lately. It'll be good to get outside again when things aren't trying to attack us," Dinah agreed, not quite sure why her friend looked so excited. Soon they all arrived back at the dungeons and they bid each other farewell. Dinah had to pet Sirius once more before their friends departed, enjoying with some amusement the fact that it still seemed to make Severus jealous to watch.

Once they had closed the door behind them and made it back into the main room Dinah sighed, feeling content. "Well, have you successfully erased your mistakes from the past few days?"

"I'm getting there," he admitted. "Perhaps your Muggle-born Slytherins will boost our house's points. They've been speaking up more and garnering more points for themselves in class, I've noticed."

"Me too!" she exclaimed, excited. "I wasn't sure if it was just me or not. So glad you've noticed that, too!"

"Well, if it works I might have to thank you. But I'm reserving judgment. Same as for your surveys."

Dinah had to laugh. "Typical Severus. Okay. Just wait until the semester's over and you shall eat your words. I'm already halfway done with my analysis and have started a good portion of the write-up. But I'm withholding it until it's done after what happened the last time I tried to show you stuff!"

"Withholding? I'm not sure I like that word," he wrapped his arms around her waist.

She laughed; "Severus, we have to finish our wizards' chess game."

"We will," he kissed her. "But I want to talk to you first," he led her to the green couch and immediately grabbed her and kissed her again.

Dinah giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck; "This is talking?"

"It will be," he pinned her back to the couch with another kiss, and this continued for awhile until they had exhausted themselves. It didn't lead into sex, but Dinah had a feeling that would be coming later that night without a doubt. Now she was comfortably entwined with him half on top of her on the couch, his fingers comfortably tangled in her hair, the pillow she had been mauling earlier propping them up slightly. He smiled down at her; "Darling, there's something that I need to tell you."

"You love me?" she murmured her question, flushing at the thought of hearing it again.

He chuckled, "Well, yes, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. Although it does tie in. There are some other things..." he sighed, his eyes distant; "There are other things that I said on that day, on my birthday, that I was wrong about. So wrong, and I just want you to know that right away."

"Severus," she murmured, stroking his cheek with the back of her hand, feeling the soft warmth of his skin against hers; "You know that's over with now. It's all right. I've forgiven all of that a million times over."

He closed his eyes, looking quite peaceful at her comment, leaning his face into her hand briefly before opening them again. "I know. Listen to me. I don't know how everything is going to play out, Dinah, or if we're going to turn back into adults again or not anymore, or how this thing with the flayed baby and Tommy and The Dark Lord is going to end up."

She nodded; "I know. But I feel like we're okay like this now. Even if we have to live life over again, I don't mind doing it with you by my side. It's easier in these forms than it ever was before. I still want to be an adult again if we can, and we probably will as long as Eugene keeps trying, but if not... I don't mind. I think I've finally gotten used to this," she smiled.

"Yes, as have I. Hard to believe, isn't it?" he laughed a little.

"It is. It really is."

"But when all of this is over, no matter when it is, I want you to know... that I am going to give you everything."

"Everything?" there was that word again, so meaningful and yet confusing until he elaborated.

He nodded, his gaze softened; "Everything I said that I couldn't give you, I can and I will. Everything you've ever dreamed about, Dinah. I'm going to give you a sparkling ring and a family and the life you've always wanted. You don't have to think you can't have that anymore because you can. You will. I promise," he searched her eyes for her reaction, looking peaceful again as he brushed his fingers along the side of her face.

Dinah felt the warmth of his words filling her up as she gazed at him, and the peace he was feeling reached all the way into her. She truthfully hadn't really thought about that since he had told her he loved her. But now, reminded of it, it was nice to know that all of the things she had convinced herself were impossibilities were now open to her. It also showed again how desperately he did love her, although she believed it whole-heartedly now, that he would promise her these things. That their future together was guaranteed. And yet, she didn't feel any kind of rush or burden or desperation to go and get those things. It was more the wonderful thought that any and all doors were open for hers and Severus's future that pleased her.

She smiled, fingering a strand of his hair from his forehead down past his face where it ended on his shoulder, feeling its silkiness; "Thank you, Severus. That means so much to me. And I'm glad to hear that you're open to all sorts of possibilities for us. But I'm honestly not too worried about them right now. Those kinds of things will come in time. What matters the most to me... what makes me happiest... is just you. All I need is you."

He smiled and nodded, taking her back into his arms and kissing her again. Soon they were resting comfortably against each other on the couch. Wizards' chess and love-making would come later. At the moment, the nicest thing was just being together.


	117. Stands

A/N: There is a small bonus associated with this chapter in the "Bonus" story if you'd like to check it out. Thanks for your reviews! :)

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CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN

Stands

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"Severus, this is _not _your lesson plan for next week!" Dinah waved the parchment she had just read in front of her boyfriend's face where he sat on the green dungeon couch grading pre-Easter break papers with her.  
"Does that parchment not say 'lesson plan for next week' on top?" he asked, looking amused. "Then yes, it is my lesson plan for next week."

"But it's too hard! Too much work! You can't seriously destroy the students like this right after they come home from visiting with their families and-"

"Oh, yes I can," he marked something off on the paper in front of him while Dinah paced around and looked at the abomination in front of her. "That is not a fifth, sixth, or seventh-year lesson plan, so it shouldn't interrupt our Slytherin cheaters and lovebirds in any way. What I do with the rest of the students is completely my choice."

"Yes, but-"

"Aren't you going to grade your own papers, darling?" he smirked up at her and gestured to the mostly-untouched pile of her students' papers next to him. "You need to take advantage of this opportunity to work with me on class stuff, you know. Eugene is already ranting about the fact that I asked to work with you over break instead of him. I expect some kind of intervention from him soon, as soon as he figures out how to pull it off."

"Fine," she growled, quite annoyed with him as she sat back down on the couch and leaned over what he was doing. "And why are you marking that sentence down with red ink?" she pointed at the parchment. "There's nothing wrong with it!"

"Not detailed enough."

"You are so infuriating!"

He smiled lightly. "I'm glad you think so."

Dinah sighed and leaned back; "You are utterly impossible, Severus. I'm so glad I'm not one of your students."

"If you were I think we'd be in big trouble, seeing as having sex with your students is generally frowned upon."

She had to laugh; "Generally... but there are just so many things you can learn that way. That is, hypothetically, were I your student, which I am not."

"Just as well. I don't think there is anything left for me to teach you anyway," he smiled a rather satisfied-looking smile down at the reddening paper.

"Same here, were you one of my students," she smiled, reaching into her pocket for her own red quill which she intended to use much less than her vindictive counterpart used his, when her hand landed on something next to it. "What's this?" she pulled it out to be faced with the picture she had intended to show Severus ages ago of her, him, and Lucy at the Quidditch match.

Severus was watching her curiously; "What is it?"

"Look," she showed it to him, smiling. "Lucy gave it to me and I completely forgot it was in my pocket! Dennis Creevey took it at that second Quidditch match. Of course, that means he noticed us all together at that early date, but..." she shrugged and laughed.

He watched the picture move for awhile, a half-smile forming on his lips; "I see..." his finger traced her image; "Odd, that, isn't it? How long ago it seems?"

"Mm, yes," she nodded, looping her arm into his. "I've never seen any pictures of you around."

"I don't generally take them. I don't really..." he frowned at his older image. "Well, I can't see much value in it. I was never particularly pleased with my appearance one way or another. It was simply something that was there... until you came along, I suppose. You have been quite insistent upon not allowing me to keep feeling that way."

She sighed; "I think you're a very handsome man. Although you look quite grouchy in this picture! Then again, that was sort of your old expression of choice."

"It was... comfortable, I suppose," he considered, still regarding his image with a thoughtful expression. "I was used to it."

"Look, I'm wearing your scarf," Dinah grinned and pointed.

That got him to smile; "Yes..." he touched her image again and then turned to look at her. "Your warmth that day was quite important to me." At her smile he continued, "Next year's winter Quidditch games will see you wearing more layers, thus preventing you from freezing to death. Do you understand me?"

"I'd rather wear your layers..."

He laughed; "Well, we'll see."

"I think we should get a picture of the two of us at some point. Can we? Please? I think it would be nice."

"We shall see about that, too. I'm not entirely opposed anymore."

"Ah, but you have to _smile _next time, okay?" she teased.

"Well... if you're next to me I think I'll be able to pull it off."

She smiled, sighing contentedly and leaning her head against his. They were still in that position when a knock sounded on the door. "Oh, I'll get that," she stood; "I bet it's Lucy. She said something about wandering around the Quidditch pitch today, of all things."

"How appropriate, given our recent conversation," Severus agreed, standing with the picture still in his hand and following her to the door. Sure enough, Lucy and Sirius were on the other side, him not in his dog form this time.

"Oh," Lucy said, looking down at Severus's hand, "Dinah showed you the picture then?"

"Yes, and Mr. Creevey shall lose five points when I next see him in class for having taken it without express permission. However," he half-smiled again, "it isn't an entirely bad memento to have."

"I hardly think that's necessary Severus," Lucy said with a disapproving look, "Dennis told me he didn't realize he was taking a picture of us when he gave that to me. Apparently his brother's camera is giving him some problems. Has a mind of its own or something." And it somehow wanted to take a picture of her and Severus? That was strange.

"So, were you interested in coming with us to the pitch?" Lucy continued; "I heard Ginny's got a friendly game of Quidditch going."

"As long as we are simply watching and not associating, that's fine," Severus handed the picture back to Dinah, who replaced it in her pocket. "And we cannot stay long because we have grading to do."

"Evil grading," Dinah emphasized, giving him a look which he summarily ignored.

Sirius grinned, "Sure you wouldn't want to participate? You know professors versus students?"

Lucy rolled her eyes, "No. We're just watching. I have grading I should do too, not too much since I didn't want to burden myself during the break, but still I have some."

They agreed, locking up and following Lucy and Sirius through the halls. There were very few students around during break, but those that did walk by definitely noticed the four of them together. Dinah was pleased to see that some Slytherin students did as well, but she couldn't tell if all the staring was because of the odd group, because she and Severus were children, or because they had no idea who Sirius was. "What made you choose not to go as Snuffles?" Dinah had to ask when there was no one else around to hear her.

"I wouldn't let him," Lucy answered. "I do sometimes like to walk with my fiancée rather than my guard dog. Besides there aren't many students here at the moment so I think it should be fine. It's not as if we're doing anything improper. And I can do this," Lucy grabbed him and gave him a quick kiss, "without getting a mouthful of fur."

"Always a plus," Dinah laughed as they emerged into the sunny sky, heading towards the pitch. "So it looks like there's no press here yet. You've got to hand it to the headmaster, really. He's good at keeping things under wraps."

"Yes, he does," Sirius agreed. "Hermione tells me we just have to watch out for beetles. Seems Rita's one."

"Figures," Lucy sighed, "I suppose there's no use worrying about reporters at the moment. It's so lovely out today. I enjoy the snow but spring is so happy."

"It is," Dinah beamed. "I like the warm weather, too. Ah, there they are!" she pointed to the Quidditch pitch ahead of them.

Lucy took a seat on one of the empty benches and Sirius, Dinah, and Severus shuffled in after her. By the looks of the pitch Ginny had recruited the members of whatever house teams were still at school to play the game, filling in the empty spots with other students who wanted to play. There were one or two Slytherins participating and their expressions were quite a bit more competitive than the others' were, or so it seemed to Dinah. Ginny's team seemed to be winning, which only made it more so, but nobody seemed to be at each other's throats so far, so she wasn't going to worry. The stands on the other side appeared to be where all the students watching the game were sitting so the four adults – or so to speak - had their little section all to themselves.

"How do you think our little project for Derwent is going?" Lucy asked, while Sirius sat next to her and began rubbing her leg, occasionally glancing at Severus.

Dinah hid her laughter again at the annoyed look Severus was giving his old rival, but she knew better than to expect much of anything from him with the pitch filled with students, especially Ginny Weasley. She half wondered what would happen when they were in private again, but she still hadn't gauged just how competitive Severus was with the other man. "Well, Mr. Evil Lesson Plans over here is still going easy on the fifth years and up. Which is more than I can say for the poor third years," she sighed dramatically.

"Aww," Lucy said, making a sad face, "Not my third years! I mean you can overload Septimus, who apparently only speaks to Pureblood professors outside of class, as much as you want, but not Jania and Tad. They're so cute together. Of course maybe the extra work will keep Septimus out of trouble."

"They have no more work than the first, second, and fourth years do," Severus replied simply, watching the students play.

"I didn't look at those lesson plans," Dinah grumbled.

"Oh, you do enjoy torturing your students don't you? I remember those days. Did any of you come to the games much as students?"

Sirius grinned, his hand slipping a bit farther up her leg, beneath her outer robes, "Of course I did. Had to support James after all."

"Infernal..." Severus growled under his breath, his suspicious eye following Sirius's movements. He cleared his throat and looked back out at the practice section; "I went."

"And that's the most he's going to say," Dinah laughed, and then sighed. "Such nice weather, I have no coat or robe to cover our laps with. Sorry, Severus. Either way, I came from time to time. It was weird though, always weird..."

Lucy stood, blushing, "I'm sure it was, being in two houses and all. Um, will you excuse us for a moment. I, um, forgot something," she said, dragging Sirius back below the stands.

"Sure," Dinah said, waving her off. She and Severus watched as Ginny's team continued to destroy the other. And they watched. And they watched. After they had been watching for quite some time Dinah suddenly had the realization that Lucy probably hadn't forgotten anything at all.

"They've been gone a long time," Severus finally voiced, looking around as if expecting for them to come back.

"Yes, well, I don't think Lucy actually forgot anything. I think they're... um... yeah..." she blushed.

"In the Quidditch stands!" Severus exclaimed, a little too loudly, and stood up.

"Yes! Shh, they're going to hear you!" She laughed, grabbing his hand and pulling him back down to sit. "Not to mention the students are looking at us. Sorry," she dropped his hand.

"It's all right," he smiled a bit; "On a rare occasion, it might serve well to give the students something to talk about."

She grinned; "Well, Ginny probably knows all about us through the rest of her group, anyway. Besides, Hermione knew about us for a long time and Ginny's essentially her best friend, so..."

"Yes, well," he sighed; "I can't believe that Black. Even now, he insists upon _flaunting _his virility everywhere he goes! Does he not realize that he is no longer a teenager?"

"Interesting word choice, teenager," she nudged him.

"Oh, you know what I mean! He's so... _infernal_!" he used his favorite word again.

"It's not just him, it's her too... clearly," Dinah glanced over at where they'd vanished into the stands again. "You want to break them up or should I?" she teased.

"I'm not taking one step into those stands."

"Not even if we went to that one over there?" she pointed to the next stand over.

He flushed; "Dinah, it is not worth the risk... someone finding out."

"Need I remind you that the first time we had sex was out by the lake where anybody could waltz by? That's what wards are for." When he just scowled at her she laughed; "I know, I know. Well, we'll just tuck it away as a future plan. After all, we'll be teaching at Hogwarts for a long time, right? We'll have plenty of other opportunities when the stands are emptier... perhaps at night."

"And making love in the Quidditch stands is an important lifetime goal of yours?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well, not exactly," she laughed. "Just blame it on competition I guess. Girls can do it too, although less obviously than men apparently. Not that I would ever trade places with Lucy, even if you _are _an evil grader and shy away from affection in public."

"I somehow didn't think you would," he smiled, and Dinah was once again glad that he truly seemed to trust her love now. Had for a long time, really, but it felt even better when she knew that the feeling was mutual.

"I know, we can leave! See if they even notice we left!" she exclaimed, her eyes glinting mischievously at the tempting idea.

Severus laughed; "Really? You intend to leave your friend?"

"Nah, it was just a fun thought. We'll wait for them."

After watching for a while longer they finally heard Lucy's voice behind them saying; "You can't expect me to believe you've never even _made out_ with a girl down there during your time here."

Dinah turned around along with Severus to see their two friends walking towards them, both flushed and with their hair slightly disheveled, but otherwise looking normal. She just smiled at them; "Have fun?"

Lucy blushed worse than what she was and bit her lip, nodding her head. Sirius turned her to face him and used his thumb to tug at the lip she still held between her teeth. "Don't make that face. That's the face you make when…" he left it hanging.

That comment did nothing but make Lucy turn away, her flush deeper still. "Don't try to change the subject."

"So glad you enjoyed yourselves. Now, I know you both know that that was terribly rude of you but I shall let it slide this one time," Dinah teased, placing her hand over Severus's again, glad that he didn't object or draw away.

Lucy giggled, "Are you going to take points from us?"

"I'm sure Snape would if he could," Sirius offered.

"Indeed," Severus agreed. "_You _are the ones who invited us out here, need I remind you?"

"Sorry," Lucy again blushed, "I was just thinking how it's kind of fun that you get to relive your teenage selves, as far as relationship type stuff goes, and how Sirius and I never got to do things like sneak beneath the stands, not that the two of you did either but…does that even make sense?"

"No, I think it does," Dinah said. "I mean, yes... one of the first things I noticed when I was youthened was that the... um, hormones make you feel certain things a little stronger. Then again, there may be a lack of control there that counterbalances it, as you can't always carefully plan how best to do things to enhance them. So I'm kind of in the opposite position, since I never got to... as an adult, you know? Though I'm willing to wait for it to happen naturally if I have to..." she exchanged a smile with Severus.

Lucy nodded, "Yeah, I get it. Being older does have its advantages," she looked over at the pitch, "They're done already? Surely we weren't down there that long?"

"Yes you were," Severus looked annoyed. "The Weasley girl's team won. You should be pleased."

"I am, but…really we couldn't have been down there that long!"

"Thanks, Lu," Sirius said, looking almost insulted.

"Oh, you know what I mean."

"We should go back inside," Dinah said, getting a little sick of this conversation. "We all have grading to do."

"Yes, of course," Lucy agreed, "I'm glad we did this. It was fun."

"It was-?" Dinah shot her an incredulous look, and then laughed and shook her head. "Right. So glad that _you _enjoyed yourselves. Let's go back."

When Dinah and Severus were back in the dungeons and safely locked in the sitting room he turned to look at her; "Your friends are incorrigible; I hope you know that."

"All right," Dinah mock-sighed. "Since I know that I am clearly responsible for all of their behaviors I shall do something about it right away for you."

He shot her his signature raised eyebrow; "Don't get sarcastic with me; don't you know that that is _my _role?"

"Oh, I didn't realize you owned sarcasm. I'll make sure I note it in my dictionary. Sarcasm: 'belongs to Severus'," she made a gesture in the air as if underlining something.

"_You_," he snagged her waist and pulled her back with him onto the couch, "are actually the incorrigible one, aren't you?" he asked, laughing and kissing her, his arms tightening around her in a possessive manner.

She giggled. "I am. But you like me this way," she climbed onto his lap, resting her arms comfortably on his shoulders and kissing him again, letting her tongue explore his mouth.

"Mm, if you would like to pretend that we are now underneath the Quidditch stands I would have no objection," he murmured when they took a break from kissing.

That was enough of a suggestion for her.

* * *

Dinah was pacing back and forth along the line from her front door to her window and Severus was doing the same, opposite her, both of them babbling their own worries every now and then only to be faced with no good answers.

"What am I supposed to say to them when they see me like this?"

"What am _I _supposed to say to them when they ask what I'm doing there?"

"Don't be ridiculous, I already told them you were coming!"

"That doesn't mean I know what I'm going to _say_!"

"What if they ask us where we normally sleep?"

"What am I supposed to say if they ask us where we normally sleep?"

"What if I ask to share a bedroom?"

"What if you ask to share a bedroom?"

"What if we _don't _get to share a bedroom?"

"I know, let's stay here!"

"Yes, stay here!"

"No, we _can't _stay here; Eugene is here! Do you have any idea how annoying he's been this week?"

"I haven't seen you since Wednesday; what do you think?"

He sighed, tugging at his hair; "I'm sorry. You know how sorry I am. I couldn't shake him. He was ruining all my work!"

"I know, I know, I don't _blame _you. I just missed you, that's all."

"Well, I also missed you! And now we have to go..."

"You don't _have _to come, you know," she murmured.

"Are you mad? Of course I'm coming! I _want _to come, I just have no idea what to expect."

"This would be so much easier if we were adults!" they both somehow said at the exact same time, then laughed a little and sighed.

"Well..." Dinah said, walking up to stand in front of him and slide her hands into his; "It _would _be quite a bit easier. We could definitely share a bedroom then. Although even then I wouldn't want to do anything."

"Certainly not in your parents' house!" he exclaimed.

"Never have, never intend to. Dylan visited once or twice and in the later years we shared a room, but... we were adults..."

"Yes, well... I suppose we can only do what your parents ask of us, right?"

"I guess so. I hope not much has changed. It will be so strange if they treat me differently. They didn't so much on the phone, but..." she sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. "I hope we can share a room. I just want to be able to sleep next to you."

"As do I," he replied softly, holding her against him. "We should just go. Pacing around is doing nothing for either of us. If we try to act as we did as adults... if we can remember that far back..."

She smiled and lifted her head, "Yes. I hope we can. We can at least try."

Soon they had walked to the edge of the Hogwarts grounds and apparated to Dinah's parent's house in London. It was in a slightly more suburban area than that where she lived, although still close to the city, and the yard was bigger.

"Your family is quite well off?" Severus asked, no judgment or malice in the question, simply curiosity.

"Fairly," she admitted. "I didn't really want for anything growing up. We had low times and high times like everyone, but... I guess we were always able to take care of the basics and then some."

"I see. That's not an experience I ever had as a child... I suppose it changes the relationships of those involved."

"Maybe a little. I don't think, even if we were poor, we would have been unhappy, though," she took his hand; "Come on, we might as well ring the bell and get this over with."

"Is it all right if we're like this when they open the door?" he lifted their hands to show his meaning.

"It has to be, because I'm not letting go," she smiled at him and rang the bell.


	118. Family

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN

Family

* * *

Each footstep Dinah heard on the other side of the door, getting closer, seemed to increase the pace of her heartbeat. She was glad that Severus's hand was held in her own, otherwise she might have a panic attack. Talking on the phone was one thing, but appearing before your parents regressed to childhood was not exactly something anyone could ever plan for or know what to expect from it. Then again, her parents probably felt the same.

The door opened and her parents stood there, staring at them for a few moments, their gazes shifting between both of them and briefly on their clasped hands but ultimately landing on Dinah.

"Dinah..." Dahlia murmured, and Dinah had the sudden, strange realization of how old her parents seemed. She had never thought about it before, but somehow being in a teenage body again seemed to emphasize the differences between them, her parents' white hair and lined faces, the fact that so many years were supposed to have passed and yet Dinah didn't feel like it anymore. It was quite disconcerting.

"Mum... Dad..." she looked from one to the other, her grip on Severus's hand tightening so much that she felt him flinch, but she had to let go when her parents both attempted to hug her at once, apparently not very coordinated in their efforts what with the shock of seeing her like this.

She felt a little better and a little worse at the same time as she hugged them back. The fact that they were both hugging her a little longer than they normally would showed Dinah both that they cared and also that things were obviously at least somewhat different now. Again, the whole dichotomy was disconcerting.

But, to their credit, when they broke the hug they seemed quite normal. "Come in, come in. So glad you were able to make it," Edward said, moving aside so they could enter. "My, this potion was... rather potent, wasn't it?"

"Mm," Dinah nodded, a little miserably. "Where's Aunt Mildred?"

"They couldn't make it this weekend," Dahlia said.

"Yes, and probably just as well," Edward agreed. "I think it better that she doesn't know about this youthening... we don't need my sister's normal... enthusiasm making this any more awkward than it already is."

"Yeah, thanks," Dinah smiled, grateful for their efforts but also noticing that her father had just openly admitted that this was awkward.

Finally, their gazes drifted to Severus, who for all his efforts to appear as calm and collected as his adult self normally would be, seemed unable to stop himself from shifting a little.

"And this... must be Severus," Edward said, looking him up and down with a considering gaze.

"Yes... so young. Then again, you were an adult as well, correct?" Dahlia murmured, also surveying Dinah's boyfriend.

Dinah had to resist making some sarcastic comment such as 'No, Mum, I'm a pedophile' as Severus nodded slowly.

"Yes..." he said. "Um... very pleased to..." he half lifted his hand and then lowered it again, honestly looking as though he had no clue what he should do. Then again, he was probably never properly introduced to a girl's parents before, or even a student's parents, come to think of it. Dinah just didn't see him ever feeling the need to make such an introduction.

"Oh, I'm sorry. That was rude of me," Dahlia flushed, extending her hand. "Very pleased to meet you, Severus. It was quite nice of you to come with Dinah on this trip. You are welcome here."

"Pleased to meet you," Severus managed, shaking Dinah's mother's hand before her father extended his.

"Yes, we'll have to try and get to know you while you're here. Dinah has told us some, but not much. Seems you like to keep to yourself, so she has said. It's very nice to meet you."

"Likewise, Sir," he murmured, shaking Ed's hand next. Then they all dropped each other's hands and stared amongst each other for a few awkward moments.

"Well!" Dahlia clapped her hands together. "Shall we go to the sitting room? I've made tea and biscuits. I'm sure we'll all be more comfortable in there."

They all shuffled into the sitting room where the coffee table was piled high with her parents' tea set and plates of various biscuits. Dinah's mouth watered as she eyed the jelly ones, but she didn't sit down yet. Nobody seemed willing to move first.

"Well, we can take the chairs and you can both have the couch, or you two can take the chairs and us the couch..." Dahlia began as an offering.

Dinah hurried over and grasped Severus's hand again, claiming him for her own and the couch for themselves.

Ed chuckled; "Well, it certainly seems that she won't be pulled away from you, Severus. You must be something special in that case."

Severus looked like he flushed a little; "I don't know, Sir. I only know that if she wants to be near me, I have to oblige."

"Wow..." Dahlia murmured. "He is certainly romantic, Dinah."

"He can be," she laughed a little, "Depending upon the circumstances. He wasn't so much at first. Well, shall we sit?" she took the middle cushion and Severus sat at her right, not letting go of her hand for which she was grateful. She took a jelly biscuit and nibbled on it, waiting to see what her parents would ask next.

"This youthening potion, then," Ed began, pouring a glass of tea for himself before handing the pot to his wife. "It certainly appears strong. You look just as you did at sixteen, Dinah. It's as if we've gone back in time."

"Indeed," her mother murmured, smiling a little and tracing the back of her hand with a finger. "Except we haven't followed you through that time warp it seems."

"Trust me mother, this youthening isn't half as good as it's hyped up to be. We're getting used to it now, but... the earlier days were quite difficult," Dinah admitted.

"No, I'm sure of it," she agreed. "And the reversal?"

Severus shook his head; "None to speak of as yet. Eugene Wilkins, the creator of the potion, has been trying to concoct an antidote but the most that he has done at this point is return our voices to adult form for approximately two minutes. Not very useful."

"No, not at all," Dinah turned to her companion. "Severus, you would know. I never asked you but do you think there's even a connection to returning our voices and returning our bodies?"

"If so, it's a tiny one," he admitted, stirring his tea idly, looking like he felt a bit more comfortable now that they had turned the subject matter to one with which he was familiar. "The potion returned only our voices, not our bodies _or _our minds, suggesting that whatever he had put together was superficial at best. In fact, if I didn't know any better..." his eyebrows raised a bit in realization; "I would think that he may have used that as some sort of decoy, constructing a draught we might think was getting closer to the antidote but which, in fact, wasn't close at all. Why I didn't think of that before now, I don't know. Now my suspicions are raised."

Despite the gravity of Severus's suspicions, Dinah had to smile at the surprised looks on her parents' faces when she turned back to them; "Severus is a genius at potions."

"You seem to be," Ed smiled. "But you teach something else, correct?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Severus admitted, watching them warily for their reaction.

"Right," Dahlia nodded, recalling. "So you must know quite a bit about this prophecy of Dinah's, right? That is," she bit her lip and looked at Dinah; "If you've told him. You _have _told him, right? You said at Christmas that your feelings for him were – that you lo-"

Dinah smiled and nudged Severus; "Now do you see where I get my inability to censor my thoughts from?"

He chuckled, lifting their hands a bit so that he could place his other hand around their clasped ones; "Yes. I believe I do."

She turned back to her parents. "I have told him. We're ... working through it together. As you suspected, there is some danger involved, but I think we can handle it. If you could see how skilled Severus is at magic, you'd trust him with my life. I do."

"I'm glad of that," Ed smiled slightly. "But surely you haven't told him-"

"Oh, right," Dahlia nodded at her husband before turning her anxious gaze back to Dinah; "You _haven't _told him about the other-"

"I have," Dinah cut in, unable to stop the smile that began creeping across her face.

"You... have? You mean your... gift?" Dahlia murmured, her face reflecting disbelief.

"Yes. He knows. I've told him, and he accepts it," Dinah clutched Severus's hand more tightly in her own, recalling again how intense the moment of discovery had been along with the relief when she found out that he did indeed accept her.

"Then you are indeed special," her father said to Severus, looking like he had finally settled on this ultimate conclusion. "Dinah's mother and I trust her judgment. I'm sure you know how difficult her being able to speak to snakes has been for her in the past. If you accept that part of her..."

"I love everything about Dinah, Mr. Samson. Everything, including her parseltongue abilities. She will never have to face that alone as long as I am with her and I never intend to leave her."

"Then your father is right, Dinah. You truly have found someone special..." Dahlia smiled as she watched Dinah rest her head on Severus's shoulder. "So this is love, is it? It seems more ... intense than it ever was with Dylan."

"Mm," Dinah agreed. "I didn't really love Dylan. I mean, I did, but not like this."

"Which, of course, brings us to the question of rooms for tonight, doesn't it?" Ed frowned, considering them.

"Dad!" Dinah flushed, hiding her face in Severus's shoulder. She hadn't expected everything to fly out into the open quite this fast.

"Oh, it does, doesn't it?" Dahlia sighed. "Your father and I didn't know what to expect, to be honest, so we prepared two guest rooms, but... well, you _are _thirty-eight years old or at least you have been, and I trust your judgment. The days that you shared rooms with Dylan here went over just fine, and I find that the more and more I watch you two together the more I find myself liking Severus."

"How are you two being this accepting this fast?" Dinah demanded, lifting her head from Severus's shoulder to shoot them glances. Really, she was having a hard time sorting through the shock at all of this.

"I think it's because you seem so happy," Edward murmured. "You have _never_, never endured the topic of conversation of you being a parselmouth with a smile before, Dinah."

"Your father is right," Dahlia said. "Seeing you smiling like that when you talk about your gift is something we know you have always wanted to do but have never been able to. If Severus has been able to give you that, then I thoroughly approve of your choice."

Dinah smiled, feeling warm inside as she faced her parents and felt Severus's fingers stroking her hair; "Thanks, Mum. Thanks, Dad. You'll see. Severus is truly wonderful. Aren't you?" she turned and smiled at him.

"Well..." now that they were talking about him directly he looked a little awkward again; "Perhaps we could... continue drinking our tea?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Severus," Dahlia smiled. "Please don't mind us. We're just concerned about our daughter's well-being of course, and very glad that you seem to be just the right kind of person for her. Thank you for accepting her. I trust you will never hurt her."

That sparked the normal fire of conviction in Severus's eyes. "I'd die before I'd hurt Dinah, Ma'am." Dinah felt her face flush at his words. She was glad that he had chosen not to tack the usual 'again' on after that statement, though. Lately he had been quite insistent on telling her that he would never hurt her _again_. Her parents didn't need to know that he'd ever hurt her before.

"Then you are always welcome here," Ed smiled, taking a biscuit and gesturing that Severus should do the same. "Now... do you, being a potions expert, believe that an antidote will eventually be created? If this Wilkins fellow can't come up with one, could you or another? That Slughorn comes to mind..."

"I don't... know..." Severus began slowly, looking a little wary at all of this acceptance but being quite cordial as he considered Dinah's father's question. "It might be possible. But I know less than half of what Eugene does about the original potion, which makes crafting a reversal all the more difficult. Slughorn probably doesn't know much about it either, to tell the truth."

"Yes, Eugene has been quite secretive about the whole thing," Dinah admitted, nodding and sipping her tea. "Unfortunately we didn't realize it until it was too late, but he has been doing much of his work without anyone's knowledge of the process. In the earlier days he did a good job of disguising that, making it seem like we were helping him so much when we really weren't."

"He seems like a rather despicable person..." Dahlia murmured.

"It's hard to tell. Very hard to tell. He keeps giving us mixed messages..." Dinah sighed.

"Not so many mixed messages on my end," Severus sighed, setting down his cup; "As children we are forced to teach our classes with an adult 'helper'," he scowled a little at that word, and Dinah enjoyed watching her parents finally meet this side of Severus. She had told them about it, of course, and so they just sort of smiled and nodded, her mother shooting her a well-hidden raised eyebrow. Dinah smiled and inclined her head slightly in Severus's direction, indicating that this was indeed what they were seeing.

"Professor Grubbly-Plank is helping me, as I told you," Dinah said. "Eugene is helping Severus."

"But he's not a professor?" Ed asked.

Severus shook his head; "He's not a professor, nor is he much of a helper. Our days together consist of him discovering new ways and methods with which to ruin me and set my classes back."

"Then why work with him?" Dahlia had to ask.

"Severus is a Legilimens," Dinah admitted.

"A... what's that?" her father asked.

Severus frowned; "An ability... Some witches and wizards are trained to skim another's mind and thoughts when they look into their eyes. In the early stages the incantation _Legilimens _is used, but it isn't quite useful reading another's thoughts when they know you are doing so. Ideally, it is a wandless magic used without incantation."

"You can... read minds?" Dahlia averted her eyes slightly, pretending a sudden intense focus on her teabag.

Dinah covered up a smile; "Don't worry, mother, it has to be intentional. It doesn't happen automatically, and Severus has great respect for others' privacy. He has been trying to use it on Eugene to get information from him but the counter-magic, Occlumency, can be used to block it. Eugene is a skilled Occlumens."

"The headmaster insists I continue trying, though," Severus sighed. "So far, no success."

"Ah, Dumbledore," Ed nodded. "A good man. You are close with him, Severus?"

"Quite," Severus muttered his admittance, staring down at the so-far uneaten biscuit he held in his hands. "I have worked with him for eighteen years."

"Severus was a spy for Dumbledore in the war years," Dinah explained, placing a light hand on her boyfriend's wrist. "He put himself in danger many times over to protect the wizarding and Muggle worlds, using his skills in Legilimency and Occlumency to convince Voldemort that he was on his side. It's quite a relief for both of us that he no longer has to take on that role..."

"That must have been... difficult," Dahlia's brow furrowed in consideration as she watched Severus; "I hope you don't have to do so again, what with Dinah's prophecy?"

"No," Dinah murmured, tightening her grip on him; "He will never have to do so again."

Severus smiled a little, finally looking up from his biscuit at Dinah's parents; "I don't intend on it. After eighteen long years, it is as Dinah said a relief to not have to hide my loyalties. Even more so, now that I can share a real life with her. Something that I never really had."

Ed smiled; "Dinah is quite an accepting person as well. I am sure you've noticed."

"I have," he turned to her, placing a hand over hers; "She is quite the most exceptional human being that I have ever met."

"That's lovely," Dahlia murmured her appreciation. "I'm so glad you two are happy. And I think this prophecy thing will play out all right with the two of you and Dumbledore all in it together. We trust you, so you don't have to give us all of the details. But what will you do if the youthening is never reversed?"

"Start over, I guess," Dinah admitted. "Well, not like we were erasing everything else, but I suppose we can just do things again somehow. I hope we can keep teaching. We'll be of age in a year anyway."

"I'm sure Dumbledore will allow us that much," Severus agreed. "And, hopefully, by next year Eugene will be out of the picture."

She laughed; "I certainly hope so."


	119. Easter

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETEEN

Easter

* * *

"That went so well, don't you think?" Dinah smiled, slipping on her nightgown that night in their guestroom which had been her old room as a child. The walls were still lined with her yellow floral border at the top and a fairly decent painting she had done as a child in art class still hung over the bed.

"I suppose..." Severus agreed with a sigh, nodding as he climbed onto his side of the bed. "And it was quite nice of them to allow us to share this room. It's more comfortable, especially as I'm still only half accepting of this Muggle world of yours."

She smiled, running a brush through her hair; "Half is good. Playing cards tonight was fun. My parents were rather shocked though. Their first encounter with your genius and all."

He half-smirked and nodded, drawing his knees up in front of him and watching her. After a moment, he spoke again; "You all seem to get along so well. Everything is so friendly and easygoing here..."

"It can be that way. Not that we don't get sick of each other or anything, which is why I enjoy their company the most when I go for a weekend. But yes, we're quite a happy family."

"I wish I could have had that," he murmured, and when Dinah turned to look at him again after putting her brush away she saw that he had wrapped his arms around his knees and was staring down along them towards the sheets. He looked a little again like the sad, awkward boy he had been after they were first youthened.

"I know you do," she climbed onto the bed and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leaning against him; "But you can share mine."

She felt him lean into her with a sigh, but he was smiling again; "This is sometimes still hard to believe."

"What is?" she asked, sliding her fingers through his hair.

"Everything. That I have you and you're offering to share your family with me." He laughed, "This was not a part of my life's plan, you know."

Dinah smiled; "Really?"

"Not that I ever thought much further ahead than what was immediately necessary for classes or for the war... not that I ever thought much about anything beyond my mission and beyond my memories of Lily. But I hated that existence. I was attached to it because it was all I knew, and yet it was lonely and miserable. I see that now."

"Severus..."

"Not that this is any easier to get used to," he frowned, sitting up again and gesturing around the room. "This place and spending time in the Muggle world with non-hostile Muggles."

"I told you most of them were."

"And you seem to have been proven correct. However," he frowned. "Can you see how this is strange to me? First Rosa and Luke and now your parents. I'm not used to people meeting me and instantly liking me. I meet students and they're supposed to be terrified. I meet other adults and they're supposed to think that I am unpleasant and unapproachable. And if I meet people as a teenager they are _supposed _to take one look at me and label me as some kind of awkward, greasy-haired freak."

"Now, Severus, we are not going to go into that again," Dinah murmured, turning his chin so that he was looking in her eyes and pressing her forehead to his. "You are _not _any kind of a freak, Severus, much less an awkward, greasy-haired one. You know that now, don't you?"

"It seems I have no choice but to know it, with you here," he half-smiled at her.

"But I was the same, Severus. I always thought that people in the wizarding world would meet me and judge me based on my prophecy and my parseltongue abilities. I was afraid of it, nervous around everybody, but now with you and Lucy and even Sirius... I'm accepted without question. So I do understand... how hard it can be to get used to. The paradigm shift again, you know," she smiled slightly.

"I suppose... you go through your life expecting one thing and suddenly it's another. Here I meet Rosa and she immediately labels me as 'cute' and your parents of all people instantly think that I'm 'special' and just right for you."

"Maybe because you are."

"Maybe," he nuzzled her forehead. "However... you can see how strange it is. It is as though I met you and was suddenly transported to an entirely new universe."

"Same here," she smiled. "Let's go to sleep."

"All right. If you've taught me anything it's that there is a limit on thinking too much," he took her into his arms and pulled her back onto the bed with him.

"Yeah. Easier accepting that there is a limit than it is stopping at that limit, huh?" she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his.

"Much easier," he kissed her, sliding his fingers into her hair and closing his eyes. "Good night."

"Night." It was odd, she thought as they drifted to sleep, that now they had slept in her rooms at Hogwarts and in the dungeons and at Spinner's End and her parent's house and even Grimmauld Place, but they hadn't slept in her own bed in London yet. Well, she'd have to set aside a definite time to do that. Maybe next weekend, she thought, before sleep overcame her.

* * *

"How's the ham coming, Mum?" Dinah looked up from where she was playing another game of cards with Severus and being thoroughly beaten at the kitchen table as her mother came in and peered at the meat cooking in the oven.

"Very nearly done," she smiled. "And the potatoes, too. Your father will have to leave the game whether he likes it or not soon," she shot an affectionate glance at where Ed was planted in front of the football game on television in the next room.

Severus looked up from where he had been examining his cards and his eyes landed on the oven and stove where all number of Easter dinner foods were cooking. He didn't say anything, and Dinah knew that he was fighting with his natural disapproval of the fact that the process was going through nearly one-hundred percent without magic. He shot her a half-raised eyebrow and she just smiled slightly back at him.

Dinah had to give him so much credit for today, enduring Muggle thing after Muggle thing and keeping his mouth mostly shut about it. He had consented to watch the football game for about ten minutes, being polite enough not to turn down Dinah's father's invitation, but soon his restlessness and agitation had become clear and Dinah had suggested that they go play cards instead, a task with which he was much more comfortable. And so that's where they were right now, on game number five.

"What is this now?" Dinah's mother asked, reading her thoughts and gesturing to the cards.

"I'm shooting for best five out of nine," Dinah grinned; "This is game five."

Dahlia laughed; "Well, you're much more dedicated than I am. No offense, Severus, but after last night I don't think I'd choose to play cards with you again. You seem to be rather a genius of sorts. Takes the challenge out if the rest of the world knows that they are going to lose to you."

"Oh, but the challenge is to get closer and closer to him," Dinah said. "See, that's why I'm keeping a running list of notes from the games," she lifted a pad of paper to show her mother. "Unfortunately, I only seem to be getting farther and farther away. I have yet to find any sort of game that I can beat him at."

"When you do, let us know and we'll all play it," she joked. "Oh, I nearly forgot! I was going to put these out, but because it's just the four of us it didn't cross my mind until now. It's close to dinner, but," she shrugged and pulled a decorative Easter basket out of the cupboard and placed it on the table in-between them.

"Ah!" Dinah exclaimed, grabbing a Cadbury egg out of the chocolate-filled basket.

"Lovely," Severus smirked; "Food."

"I have _no idea _where she gets it from," Dinah's mother said with a smile at Severus which he returned vaguely. "Not one other person in our family has that trait. It's very much 'just Dinah'."

"Just Dinah is pleasant enough for me," Severus smiled, and then frowned when he saw the glint in her eyes. "Although I have a feeling she is going to try to-"

"Yes! You have to have one of these!" Dinah jumped up and placed a wrapped chocolate in his hands. "White chocolate peanut butter bunny. You wouldn't believe how well white chocolate and peanut butter go together!"

"Well, I'll leave you to it," Dahlia chuckled and left the room again to join her husband for a bit.

He sighed, eying the chocolate. "So which do you prefer then, this or Aero Mint?"

"Oh, my, that is a tough question," Dinah had to lean back in her chair and give it some serious thought, thinking about each of the flavors and how well they combined and the smoothness and what time of day was best to eat each and... "I think Aero Mint. Yes," she nodded, grinning; "although the two are very close."

"I have never known anyone to give to give such a question as much consideration as you just did," he said, looking amused. "However, I have no intention of eating anything shaped like a bunny."

"Aww, why not? It's cute and soft and fluffy just like you!" she burst into giggles as she got the combination scowl and death glare that she had assumed was coming.

"You're lucky that I can just _barely _tolerate it when you do that," he snarled. "And that your parents are not in here, because if you ever say words like that to me in public..."

"You know I'm only trying to set you off," was her innocent reply.

He sighed; "Yes, and you are too cheeky for your own good sometimes."

"I need to balance out your snarkiness. Aha, beat that!" she laid down some cards.

"Beaten," he laid down his, placing the still-wrapped bunny onto the table as Dinah looked at the cards and growled. He raised an eyebrow; "Best six out of eleven?"

"Yes, and you are going to eat the bunny."

"I am not eating-"

"Eat it," she lowered her eyes at him, causing him to start grumbling under his breath as he unwrapped the bunny and then took a bite. "Good?"

He shrugged. "It's decent. There is nothing _wrong _with the flavor combination. I would, however, feel more comfortable if at least some of these candies did something besides... nothing."

Dinah rolled her eyes; "There's nothing wrong with Muggle candy. Food is food. Take this for instance," she lifted a small object from the basket and held it in the light.

"A Muggle jelly bean?"

"Not just any Muggle jelly bean, these are Jelly Belly jelly beans. Did you know that they have many, many different flavors in a wide variety and they all taste _almost _just like what they are supposed to taste like? _Plus _there is absolutely no chance of getting a vomit-flavored one! You have to admit sometimes people take magic too far! Maybe this doesn't taste _exactly _like a juicy pear but it's close and I don't have to worry that I'm going to want to throw up afterwards. Honestly, I think Bertie Bott was an exceedingly sadistic man," she placed a strawberry-flavored jelly bean in Severus's palm.

"I confess, I was never partial to the Every Flavor Beans either," he smiled slightly and tried the one she had given him. "Not bad. Though it doesn't exactly go well with white chocolate and peanut butter."

"No, I guess not," she laughed; "See? This is fun. Now eat the rest of your bunny and let me beat you at cards."

* * *

"So glad you were able to make it," Dahlia said after they had finished dessert and she and Edward had walked Dinah and Severus to the door. She hugged Dinah; "Now, listen, I know you two are likely involved in dangerous things or will be soon. I won't ask but... I expect to see you both again after this, all right?"

"Of course, Mum. Of course you will. Absolutely."

"Good," Ed hugged Dinah and turned to Severus, extending his hand; "You will protect her."

"With my life, Sir."

"Very well," he smiled, shaking Severus's hand. "But don't overdo it unless absolutely necessary. We'd like to have you back as well, and I don't think Dinah would do well without you."

"Oh, yes. Yes, it was so good to meet you, too," Dahlia surprised Severus by leaning over and hugging him.

He stiffened a bit, as he used to when Dinah hugged him in the early days, and managed an awkward smile; "I'm glad to have met you both. Thank you for having us."

"We must do this again sometime! Be safe! If there's anything we _need _to know you will let us know, won't you?"

"Yes, of course," Dinah nodded. She would have to tell everyone she knew if it seemed like Voldemort would really end up being revived. But she didn't want to think too far along those lines right now. They could stop it. They had to stop it.

"All right, we love you, have a good rest of the school year. Oh, my..." Dahlia paused and covered her mouth; "Something just occurred to me."

"What's that?" Dinah had to ask.

"Your birthday coming up. If you are still youthened then..."

"Your birthday?" Severus turned to Dinah. "When?"

"Oh," she flushed, not having thought about this at all what with everything that had been going on. "May first."

He sighed; "Well, at least that gives me _some _time to try and prevent a repeat of Valentine's Day."

She laughed; "Don't work yourself up about it too much. I don't need a lot. And I _really_ do mean that," she teased, taking his arm.

"What happened on Valentine's Day?" Ed asked.

"Long story. We'll have to save it for another time, just as a guarantee that we'll be visiting again," Dinah smiled. "At least it gives him a chance to temper it with a more reasonable birthday present. And on the subject of birthdays, I guess... I mean I'll still have been alive for the same amount of time. Maybe we'll have two birthdays. My 'thirty-ninth' on May first and my 'seventeenth' on January..."

"Seventeenth," Severus finished her sentence for her.

"Right. Then," she nodded, remembering with a slight chuckle. "Kind of an odd coincidence, that. But I suppose that's the best thing to do."

"Whatever you think is best. Well, we'll be sure to still send a gift, then," Dahlia teased.

Dinah smiled and nodded, then gave her parents her love and another promise to visit again before she and Severus apparated back to just outside the Hogwarts gates. She exhaled with relief as they began walking across the grounds toward the building, her arm still locked with Severus's. "That went... so well."

"It did. I like your family. For Muggles, they were very much tolerable."

"From you, that's quite the compliment," she smiled. "So I decided we have to go to my London home and stay overnight one of these weekends, since we've stayed pretty much everywhere _else _at this point."

"You almost sound jealous."

"Well, I might be. A little," she replied huffily.

He chuckled and they continued their walk in amiable silence before stopping in her rooms to take care of her animals after their absence. As Dinah replaced Salazar in his cage her mind drifted back to her parents' comments about her parseltongue abilities. It was true, she thought with a sad smile, that she had never truly been able to be as happy about it as she wanted to. She loved snakes. They were her favorite animal since she had gotten to know them so well, and they really were amazing creatures. But there was always fear involved, every time she talked to one and every time she so much as thought about doing so. She didn't like that, and she also worried the snakes could sense it although they never said so one way or another.

She turned to Severus, hoping for relief from her thoughts. He was sitting on the edge of her bed fighting with Godric, who was currently biting into his sleeve and kicking with his back legs. She had to smile a little bit. The two of them had a great relationship, her boyfriend and her cat. They were like best buddies, in a way, beating each other up just for the hell of it and just because they were guys. But Godric never bit hard, nor did Severus play with the cat too roughly. It was a nice thing to watch.

Severus looked up from Godric when the cat finally took a breather, jumping back and watching his nemesis with his tail twitching back and forth, looking for an opening for attack number two. "What is it?" Severus noticed her contemplative look instantly.

"Oh, nothing," she lied a little, hugging herself and coming over to sit next to her boys; "I was just thinking. You know how Mae is supposedly Muggle-born but actually has a squib and consequently wizards back in her history?"

"Yes..." he said slowly, arching an eyebrow at her.

"Well, do you think that's the same for all or most Muggle-borns? Do you think that invalidates all my teaching, all my survey results, everything?"

"I think it only does if you convince yourself that it does and I also don't think that's quite what's bothering you."

Dinah smiled; "How did I ever manage to land someone with such great intuition? Well, I was just worried a little. I mean, I don't know if worried is really the best word, but... what if my parselmouth abilities mean that I'm somehow descended from somebody like Salazar Slytherin or Herpo the Foul?"

"Does it matter if it does?"

"I don't know," she murmured, hugging herself again and staring down at the sheets. "It's just... would that make me evil? I had always hoped that if people found out I was a parselmouth someday in the far... very far... distant future, they could somehow realize that I was different. That parselmouth didn't mean evil because I _wasn't _connected to any of those people or received abilities from Voldemort or... anything of the sort. That way maybe I could get rid of the stigma. Dumbledore wants that to happen. He wants me to eventually change that part of society by showing that parselmouths and snakes don't deserve the bad reputations that they get. But if people think I'm related to those wizards then they will think it's just the same. Nothing will change."

"Maybe people won't think that," he took her hands; "Dinah, this is all speculation. So you may be related to one of them or you may not be. There's no way to find out. What matters is the kind of person that you _are_."

"But Severus, people don't _believe _that I'm that kind of person as soon as they find out I'm a parselmouth! Even if we can never know for sure they'll probably think so anyway. They did before... they did when I was a girl... surely, it's even crossed your mind."

"Well..." he hesitated; "It _has_, I'll admit, but-"

"You see! I can't escape it. I want... I want a pet snake, Severus. I want one so badly. I always have."

"I see..."

"It's like what my parents said. I want to smile about being a parselmouth. I don't want to be afraid of it anymore, and you have helped me so much along the way towards that but if anybody else found out it would still be the same. I can't have a pet snake. Anyone who came to see me would know about my abilities. Even my parents sometimes give me strange looks when I use it. Even people who understand are still made nervous by the way it sounds, the way it looks..."

"Just because something is unusual to another doesn't make it bad. Sometimes it's just a matter of changing your views. You taught me that."

"But they don't change their views about parseltongue," Dinah whispered, her heartbeat quickening as her hand crawled up to grasp his arm. "Severus, I'm scared. This prophecy... the voices I hear during the dark storms are in parseltongue. I have a feeling that by the time this prophecy is played out _everyone _is going to know."

"Dinah," he lifted his hand to rest on her neck, feeling her racing pulse, his eyes concerned; "You're frightened. Being a parselmouth truly terrifies you, doesn't it? Worse than the prophecy does."

She swallowed and nodded; "The parseltongue was always the worst. I know that now. Now that certain people know about my prophecy and accept it. People whispered about my prophecy during my Hogwarts years, but they wouldn't have treated me half as badly if the parseltongue thing hadn't come before it. Dumbledore _Obliviated _all those involved besides Slughorn and Filch, but... but it was too late. The feelings were already implanted in them. The feelings that there was something wrong with me. And then the prophecy made them think all sorts of horrible things... all because of that one incident when I did nothing more than try to save a snake from being hurt by someone just because it needed to stay somewhere warm for the winter. And then... and then Filch killed it."

"That was not your fault."

"But couldn't I have done more to prevent it?" she blinked back tears.

"I don't know," he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his other hand stroking her neck in a soothing manner. "But you cannot keep dwelling on it. You need to calm down. Nothing can hurt you, certainly not the judgments of others. You must try not to let it bother you. If the headmaster thinks you can end the stigma then I'm sure you can. You may even be able to have a pet snake someday. Just don't have another panic attack on me, Dinah. That was frightening;" he rested his forehead on hers, keeping his voice mild and non-judgmental. She had to admit it was soothing.

"Should we tell Lucy and Sirius? When should we tell them? Maybe at least they should know..." She wasn't that soothed yet. The thought of her friends finding out was more frightening than the thought of strangers discovering it. The fear of losing something that she already had was the worst. She had realized that when she had been afraid of Severus finding out.

"You need to tell people when you're ready. I can't answer that."

"Will they change their minds about me?" she swallowed again, really trying to hold back the panic and just barely succeeding. "They were so accepting of the prophecy, but... that was one thing and this is another. I don't want anyone to be afraid of me anymore."

"Darling," he murmured, his voice affectionate; "I hardly think that anyone who truly knows you could be afraid of you. At the most they will be surprised and a bit unnerved. But nobody is going to abandon you. Not if they truly care for you. You need to accept that."

"Yes," she managed a nervous laugh. "I suppose I should. It's just hard. But I guess it was worse because it came out when I was a first year... maybe if it had just waited a few years for people to get to know me I would have had more friends that would have stayed..."

"Perhaps. That hardly matters now."

"And the fact that I was old and awkward and had double-houses and a prophecy to boot didn't help of course..." she was still stuck in the past.

"Dinah," his firm tone brought her back to the moment at hand. "I am going to tell you what you told me last night. We are not going to go back to that again. You should not have been mistreated then and there is certainly no reason for people to mock you now. In these forms, together, we have been able to find acceptance. First in each other but soon in everyone else. Our classes are better, people hardly stare at us anymore... we were both sent back to these ages for a reason via that trait of the potion. Now it's your turn to move on."

Dinah exhaled and let herself smile a bit, leaning forward and resting her head on his shoulder. "You're right. It's just a little hard to do."

"You don't have to tell me that," he embraced her.

"I'll be able to move on somehow. Just... be patient with me while I try to work through it?"

"As you were with me."

* * *

A/N: Incidentally, Jelly Belly actually used to sell a novelty variety of Bertie Bott's Every Flavored beans. I don't know if they still do but I bought them a couple times and now I don't know why I ever did. The only "unusual" flavor that tasted okay to me was "grass". Of course, they did have a vomit one and the sardine one was quite icky. But by far the worst IMO was black pepper! I have had an aversion to black pepper ever since I ate a giant chunk of it by accident and that bean was totally reminiscent of the experience _ - not that any of this matters, of course, but it partially inspired Dinah's dislike of the treat and her speech about why (regular) Jelly Belly is so much better. Lol.


	120. Suspicion

A/N: Long chapter. They just keep getting longer! Help! XD

* * *

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY

Suspicion

* * *

"It's Tuesday," Dinah whispered to Severus at breakfast in the Great Hall when a large roll of thunder rumbled above their heads, the bewitched sky dark with clouds.

"My, you are astute," was his reply, but the mild apprehensive look in his eyes as they drifted towards the ceiling revealed his snarkiness as more of a cover-up than anything else.

"There aren't supposed to be dark storms on Tuesdays!" she hissed at him, shivering as lightning flashed above, filling the room. Students were already exchanging uneasy glances and shuffling out of the hall. Dinah had a feeling that most of those who didn't have classes were going to head back to their common rooms and hide out, which was sort of what she wished she could do.

"Not since the beginning of the year, but since the flayed baby's attack I don't think we can expect things to continue as normal any longer," Severus replied.

"If this lasts I need to go look for Tommy tonight."

He sighed; "I know. But first we have classes. And you might want to keep an eye on your friend," he gestured across the way to where Lucy's eyes were darting around and she jumped at every movement; "We don't want a repeat of her incident."

"No, we don't. But I think she'll be all right." Dinah was a little worried, but tried to push that aside for now and give Lucy the benefit of the doubt. "Severus, keep an extra close eye on Eugene today. I want to see how he reacts."

"I can do nothing _but _keep an extra close eye on that man, seeing as if I do not he is likely to 'inadvertently' toss my test papers or use some other method of sabotage," he said bitterly; "But yes, you're right. We've never been able to observe him during a dark storm before. He likely knows of his test subject's connection to them."

* * *

"These storms worry me," Grubbly-Plank admitted to Dinah as their third year students began to shuffle into the classroom. "Especially after last week's incident."

Dinah nodded. Dumbledore had informed the rest of the faculty about the flayed baby as simply a 'dark creature' which was a potential threat to the school but was being 'taken care of' by the ever-present Aurors. The students had gotten a watered-down version of the same story at the end of breakfast. The headmaster seemed to think that any further publicity about the matter at this stage was unwise, and Dinah couldn't help but agree with him. If they could take care of this quietly then it was all the better for everyone involved.

Trouble was, she wasn't sure if they could do it.

Immediately after class began one of the students, the Hufflepuff Cardea O'Neill, raised her hand; "Professors? Is it really safe to have class today? The dark creature that roamed the school over break sounds scary..."

"Now, now, there's no need to worry." Two and a half months of practice had brought Dinah to the point where she could maintain her classes rather well, and without the overuse of the word 'um'; "That's what the Aurors are here for. You don't have to be afraid; they are keeping a very close watch on the grounds."

"The rumors say that Harry Potter is here!" Zach Littlebottom whispered to his friend Rick Pandit in the back of the room.

"Really? Do you think the creature has some connection to You-Know-Who?" That got half the class to turn their heads. "Well, Aurors only tackle really dark stuff and _Harry Potter_..." his voice grew louder as he explained to his fellow students.

"Now, _now_!" Grubbly-Plank quickly got the class under control. "That is quite enough of that. Voldemort has been thoroughly destroyed by Mr. Potter. This is simply an odd case of dark magic. These things crop up from time to time, but it is the Aurors' job to protect us and that is just what they are doing. We have at least five patrolling the grounds at all times now."

It was true. After the flayed baby's attack the Auror count had significantly increased. The students' safety depended on that much. Dinah trusted that they could stave off a new flayed baby attack long enough to get the children safely into their common rooms and alert herself and Severus of the situation. It was a small consolation that at least she wouldn't be caught completely by surprise anymore.

Glinda Alesi, one of the only two Slytherins in the class, both of whom happened to be Muggle-born, raised her hand; "Professor Samson, you and Professor Snape fought off the dark creature last time, didn't you? That's what one of my friends said. He was here over break."

Dinah sighed; "Yes, Miss Alesi, but if we wanted you to know that information the headmaster would have mentioned it at breakfast. Professor Snape and I simply happened to be available on the grounds when it attacked. There was only one Auror at the time and he needed assistance while he went to obtain the headmaster. Now with five or more Aurors available everything should be much easier."

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I wasn't trying to say something I shouldn't. I just wanted to make sure, if you'd seen it, that you knew if we could be protected from it. I think even when it's not storming we should try to stay off the grounds, even with the Aurors out there. That's what I told my friend..."

Dinah smiled, "Yes, and that is very good advice. Five points to Slytherin for being wise about your safety. I know there are only rules in place right now for going onto the grounds during storms, and that with the weather as nice as it is staying indoors is hardly enjoyable. But the situation should be under control soon. If you are outside, just stay in a group and be cautious as the headmaster has said. But I do think the best course of action would be to stay within the castle – under its wards – until the creature is sufficiently fought off."

It was terrible that they had to discourage students from going outside and getting fresh air especially as the warm season was upon them, but Dinah had to admit that it was wise. Hopefully somehow they could take care of this quickly. On the other hand, she dreaded having to deal with it at all.

* * *

Dinah stopped in her rooms after dinner to address her animals before she planned to go down to the dungeons and meet Severus. He had said he had quite a bit to say about Eugene after that day, but they needed to talk in private, which was just as well. The dark storms were always quieter down there anyway, so it was a better place to be than her rooms. She made sure her animals were safe and her window curtains were all closed before shutting her door behind her and hurrying down to the dungeons.

As she approached the door she noticed a hunched figure standing in front of it. It was Lucy, shivering and rubbing her arms as she watched the door, looking as jumpy as she had all day. "Lucy?"

Lucy jumped again; "Oh! Sorry. I, um, I'm okay. I just don't think I should stay in my rooms by myself tonight. Or at least I don't want to."

"Oh. Of course, I understand." Severus had said they should talk in private but she couldn't abandon Lucy at this point. Besides, Lucy didn't always count as normal public anymore, now that their group was sort of friends. She withdrew her key from her pocket; "Please join us tonight. We're just hiding out from the storm. Severus doesn't like me to be alone so I stay over even on class nights when the weather gets rough." She started to work the lock.

"That's…nice of him," she frowned at the key Dinah was attempting to turn in the lock. "You have a key to Severus's rooms? I'm not sure that's the right one. It doesn't appear to be working."

Dinah smiled. "It just sticks a little sometimes. There," she pushed the door open into the dark office, the rows and rows of potion bottles looking a little eerie in the absence of light. "We've had shared room keys for quite a long time now."

"And you didn't tell me?" Lucy said, grinning despite her apprehension, "Honestly Dinah that's not very friend-like if you don't share absolutely everything with me. I rarely lock my room myself but Sirius does have a key to it if necessary."

She laughed, closing the door behind them; "So sorry about that. It probably helps when I explain that at the time we exchanged the keys you and I weren't exactly speaking."

"Ah, right," Lucy replied, walking through the office and allowing Dinah to precede her into the next room, "I suppose I can let it slide this time then."

"Thanks," she chuckled, leading them into the well-lit sitting room and shutting the office door behind them. The room was, by all accounts, empty except for a few bottles of various liquid ingredients that sat on the dining room table. "I assume you had knocked? Severus must be in the shower if he didn't come and answer the door. From the looks of the table there he's been messing around with potions. We'll just wait for him, then. Have a seat," she sat on the couch and gestured for Lucy to join her.

"I had just knocked when you came up behind me. Didn't give him much chance to answer," Lucy said, settling into the corner of the couch and hugging the pillow Dinah had strangled the other day. She tensed up for a moment when she thought she heard a roll of thunder. "Sorry," she apologized, "I keep expecting to hear her."

"Don't worry, I understand how it is," Dinah nodded. "These storms are unnerving, but this is probably the safest place to be. Severus keeps his dungeons very well-protected." She didn't mention to Lucy that she had once heard the whispering parseltongue voices in the bedroom, sensing that her friend did not need to know that.

"That seems very like him. I figured it was quieter down here and there were people around. This is a nice couch," Lucy commented.

Dinah flushed at Lucy's comment and nodded, thinking of what she and Severus often ended up using the couch for. "It is. It's quite comfortable. In the early days of our relationship Severus and I would spend hours on end just sitting here, cuddled up against each other and reading. Back in the days where he didn't do much of anything else with me, it was nice to know at least we could lean against each other and just enjoy each others' company," she smiled.

Lucy smiled, "That is nice. When we were part of the Order Sirius and I used to do the same thing. Well, sort of. Sometimes we would just sit next to each other, sometimes I'd be leaning against him with his arm around me. Rarely, I'd be sitting in his lap. It sort of depended on how intimate we were with each other at the time and who was around," she giggled, "Severus walked in on us once or twice. I think that's why he used to glare at me all the time. Um, we were doing nothing but kissing and were fully clothed, just so you know. He never saw anything then like he has this year from us."

"Yes, well," she chuckled, "Even so, I can only imagine how the old Severus reacted to such things, even innocent things. He was so hesitant about just putting his arm around me for the longest time."

"If Dumbledore wasn't with him it was generally with a snort and then he'd stalk out of the room, occasionally not quite slamming the door. If Dumbledore was with him a snarky comment sufficed."

Dinah burst into affectionate giggles; "Oh, Severus. I can definitely see all of that happening. In a way, I miss those days. Not that he doesn't have his snarky moments still. Speaking of which... I should probably bring some clothes into the bathroom for him and let him know you're here before he walks out without thinking. Oh, just wait till you see him fluffy!" she clapped her hands together, anxious to see Lucy's reaction when her darling boyfriend emerged from the shower with his hair freshly washed.

Lucy smiled, loosening her hold on the pillow, "All right. I look forward to seeing my colleague all fluffed up like a little bunny."

"Oh, but don't _ever _tell him I said that," Dinah grinned, standing from the couch. "Judging from his comments over Easter I might just end up getting killed."

Lucy wrinkled her brow in a show of mock-concern, "You and me both probably. You'd best go before he pops out on us though. Dumbledore would probably appreciate it if we weren't killed. Not to mention that event might set the progress the boys made back a step or two. I promise I'll be okay until you get back."

"Okay then," Dinah nodded, heading first into the bedroom to find a shirt, frock coat, and some trousers of Severus's. Walking back through the sitting room towards the hall leading to the bathroom, she glanced at Lucy again just to make sure her friend really was all right. She was hunched up in the couch and looking a little uneasy, but seemed stable for the moment and so Dinah headed on through. Once she entered the hall she heard the noise of the shower and entered the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

"Dinah?" Severus's voice came from behind the curtain, having heard the door.

"Yes," she smiled.

"Good, you made it," he paused and his voice came back a little lower; "Care to join me?"

She flushed and had to bite back the normal 'yes' from leaving her lips. "Love to, darling, but I can't. Lucy's here."

He paused again before his voice came back sounding annoyed; "Lucy's here?"

"Yes, she's frightened of the storm, of hearing Bella's voice. I told her she could stay down here with us for awhile."

He sighed. "Fine. Could you please retrieve some clothing for me then? I refuse to allow anyone but you to see me in my bathrobe."

Dinah felt a little flattered and smiled; "Already taken care of."

The water shut off and he flung the curtain back, looking at her with a mild surprised expression and a raised eyebrow as his eyes landed on the clothing she was holding. Then he smiled; "You _are _remarkable, aren't you?"

"I try," she handed him the clothing and kissed him after he stepped out. "Get dressed quickly. I don't like to be too tempted when my friend is out there and needs our company," she cast a quick hot air charm on his hair, drying it in an instant and sliding her fingers through it's freshly-washed softness; "There. Nice and fluffy."

He glared at her; "You are utterly infernal, do you know that?"

"Yes."

"And you really like my hair just as much greasy as you do when it's like this?"

"You know I do. I get the best of both worlds this way," she stuck her nose in his hair and inhaled; "And it _always _smells nice."

He flushed and began putting on his clothing. Dinah knew that he was especially pleased at her acceptance of his hair, although he didn't like to voice it much. It had always been a fairly sensitive subject to him and she knew that the fact that she never judged him on it really made him feel good. He was quite resilient to comments about greasiness now, but he _had _had to endure them for a long time and deep down was still a little self-conscious and didn't feel good about it. But she helped on that front.

"All right. There are things to discuss but I don't object to Lucy hearing about them. Let's go," he offered her his arm and she took it as he led her out of the bathroom. Lucy was sitting on the couch chewing on her lip, still looking nervous, but her eyes showed some relief when she saw them.

Dinah's friend smiled a little, whether from the relief or from the fact that she seemed to notice the freshness of Severus's hair Dinah could not tell, although both seemed likely. "Hi. Sorry to burst in on you like this. Dinah said it was okay. She let me in."

"She had every right to. She essentially lives here now as well," Severus said, letting Dinah take her normal seat next to Lucy and sitting on her other side.

"You have a nice couch. It's very…fluffy. I don't think I've ever sat on it before."

At Lucy's use of the word 'fluffy' Severus shot Dinah a quite suspicious glare and raised eyebrow combination, and she tried her best to smile and look innocent. Finally, he sighed and rolled his eyes, turning back to Lucy. "Thank you, I suppose. No one has ever complimented my furniture before." Actually, he looked more like he thought Dinah's friend was mental.

"You're welcome. Some furniture can be quite uncomfortable. Did I tell ever tell you I spent the night on my couch the Wednesday before break?"

Dinah laughed and turned to Lucy, not really sure what had brought on that weird subject shift; "Really? Trouble in paradise?"

Lucy smiled, looking a little reminiscent. "No, nothing of the sort. That's just where we fell asleep. He transfigured my dinner plate into a blanket so we wouldn't get cold. I was on top. He told me what it was like…being dead."

That got Severus to raise another eyebrow; "I see... well, his experience was quite a bit longer than mine. I don't recall much more than... some kind of peaceful grey state, I think. It still exists in the pensieve. You should have seen it, Dinah."

"Mm, I did..." she said, feeling a little sad now at the thought of him dead. Then again, it had been a calm, peaceful sort of a place. "It was odd. Kind of echoey, but it felt good. Quiet... calm... peaceful. Then again, you weren't really dead."

"No," he murmured, taking her hand. "I wasn't. I had to come back. I felt it even then," the smile he gave her now was quite peaceful. It made Dinah feel peaceful, too.

"That's similar to what Sirius said. He was calm, at peace. He saw James and Lily there, but they knew there was something different about him."

"Yes, I imagine so. He was 'dead' for quite some time." Severus hesitated; "They are also at peace... James and Lily."

"You know that?" Dinah murmured, looking at him.

"I do. You convinced me of that a long time ago," he pressed a kiss to her hair. "They are where they're supposed to be, and I am where I'm supposed to be."

She smiled and nodded, snuggling into his shoulder.

Lucy sighed and hugged the pillow to her again, "They are. Their son was well looked after by a lot of people. He's safe and doing what he was meant to do. He's happy. That's all they wanted. It helped to know he wasn't alone."

"Harry?" Dinah was having a hard time following her friend as she murmured her thoughts into the distance.

"Yes, sorry. Harry and it helped me to know Sirius wasn't alone then. I don't know exactly what I pictured but I like that he wasn't alone and he didn't suffer." Lucy wiped her eyes against the pillow she was holding. "Sorry. This is all rather depressing isn't it?"

Dinah shot Severus a sad glance and he frowned slightly, nodding in Lucy's direction. Dinah leaned away from Severus and put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "No, I understand. It's easy for our thoughts to do this during these storms, isn't it? But at least you know now that he was all right. That's an important part of the healing process."

"Yes, it is. Thanks. How was your Easter?" she asked, alighting on a more cheerful topic, which was just as well since the conversation was starting to feel quite dark and depressing.

"Wonderful. My parents really like Severus. They accepted him easily."

"Yes," Severus frowned and Dinah had to giggle; "Fairly unnerving, that."

Lucy laughed, "I imagine so. I think the only reason the Weasleys have been as accepting of Sirius as they have been is because they knew him before we were together. Still, I think they might have wished for someone my own age and less…crazy, escaped murderer but they trust me. Didn't keep Molly from putting us in separate rooms though. Not that I want her to know we're doing anything but I got stuck with Hermione and Ginny, not so bad. Sirius was in with Charlie and Percy. If it had just been Charlie I'm sure we could have gotten away with being alone more than the bit we did, but not with Percy hanging around. He's still a stickler for the rules."

Dinah giggled. "That's too bad. And the separate rooms thing. Being thirty-eight or having _been _thirty-eight really helped us out. We got to sleep together. Of course, all we did was sleep." She hid a smile as Severus began shifting uncomfortably at the direction in which the conversation was going.

Lucy shrugged, "It's probably just as well. It would have been weird to do anything at the Burrow. It would have just been too weird, you know? I mean I slept and played there as a kid and…no, it would have just been weird."

"Yes, exactly why all we did was sleep," Dinah laughed.

Severus cleared his throat; "Enjoyable though this conversation is, I believe there are some things we need to discuss," he gestured to the table with the potion ingredients and gave them both pointed stares.

"Oh. Right. You discovered something about Eugene, didn't you?" Dinah asked.

He nodded, standing from the couch. "During our break today, in the midst of his ludicrous suggestion that we start teaching first years how to fight off Inferi, he managed to slip another attempt at the reversal potion into my coffee without my noticing. Seems he knew I would make him wait until you were around and he was simply 'too anxious' to see if his next attempt had worked," he growled.

"Well, now that's hardly acceptable, not to mention less then respectable. I assume you plan on telling Dumbledore about this right? And the Aurors?" Lucy shifted in her seat, concerned that this did not bode well for her friends.

"Yes, well, that was my first inclination, most definitely," he sighed. "However... after telling him off in my adult voice for three whole minutes longer than it lasted last time-"

"Oh, I am definitely going to kill Eugene!" Dinah exclaimed as she was hit with an intense wave of disappointment, "How dare he make you use your sexy voice when I wasn't even around?"

"Do you not think that there are more important matters at hand here?" Severus snarled at her, his skin taking on only the tiniest flush.

"Sexy voice?" Lucy asked, sounding very amused.

"Oh," Dinah blushed and turned to her friend; "Yes, I think Severus's adult voice is quite... um, nice sounding. Not that there's anything wrong with his current voice either."

"So glad it meets with your approval," he rolled his eyes.

"Mmm," Lucy murmured without further comment.

"Sorry," Dinah faced Severus sheepishly; "Please continue."

"Well, I asked him if I might take a look at the concoction to attempt to analyze the ingredients..."

"He said no?" Dinah guessed.

"No," Severus shook his head. "Actually, he said yes."

"Really? That was... accommodating of him."

"As I thought," Severus agreed, frowning.

"Interesting," Lucy murmured, going over to stand near Severus at the table. "So, these are the ingredients he used in the potion then?" Looking through the ingredients she eventually said, "These look similar to the Ageing Potion Fred and George made in their sixth year. Would that work to counter the youthening potion do you think?"

"Absolutely not," Severus said firmly, taking the ingredients Lucy had indicated and moving them aside; "That aging potion is both temporary and hardly strong enough to be considered a real aging potion. It superficially ages nothing but the outermost layers of a person for use in games or disguises. Many well-placed spells can see through it, just as the Goblet of Fire was able to see through the Weasley twins' ridiculous attempt at fooling it. It would be ludicrous to assume that this one-hundred percent real youthening that Dinah and I have endured could be counteracted by an aging potion of this sort."

"Yes, I understand that. I received an E on my Potions' N.E.W.T if you'll recall. What I meant to say was do you think it would be wise to use that potion as a starting point to the antidote? For that matter, and I don't mean to upset you with this, but would it be possible for Eugene to use this Ageing Potion to make you believe progress is being made, when in reality there's been no progress whatsoever? I truly hope that's not the case but I just…we need to look at this from all angles."

Severus sighed; "Yes, Lucy, that was my thought. And that is why I took these Ageing Potion ingredients from my _own _stores to compare them with the ingredients I found in Eugene's concoction," he gestured to the other set of unrelated vials that he had moved the other ones away from.

"Wait a moment," it was Dinah's turn to stand from the couch and walk over to them. "You're saying those ingredients were _not _in Eugene's concoction?"

"That's what I'm saying," he gestured to the real ingredients. "The ingredients here are all quite reasonable counterparts to the ones we know of in the original potion, and the others are all ones that would have crossed my mind, had I given it a lot of thought, to use in antidote attempts. Which means... Eugene is _actually trying _to help us," he looked more disturbed about that idea than he looked pleased.

"That's…oddly disturbing for some reason," Lucy said, and Dinah wasn't sure why her friend had such a smug look on her face. "It shouldn't be, but the thought doesn't sit as well with me as I would have thought."

"Exactly," Severus said. "Because it makes everything quite confusing and unclear. Dinah, this fits with your idea of Eugene giving mixed messages and your theory that he did not want us to be youthened and splits with his test subject on that point."

"Right..." Dinah agreed, frowning and fingering one of the 'good' bottles. "But it doesn't make sense with his other behaviors. Now I see why you shied away from those theories of mine. I didn't think about it then because," she flushed, "well, I'm idealistic and was using them more as a point of trying to see the good in everyone than I was really thinking deeply about them..."

Severus managed a slight smile; "Yes, I can see that. But now that we know he is trying to help us here the question becomes why he is very much trying the opposite with everything else. He is definitely not trying to help me with my classes. Why would he try to sabotage me there but try to help us here?"

"Maybe he has something against defending against the dark arts? Stupid idea I know," Lucy said, grinning and holding her hands up in surrender.

Dinah laughed and even Severus cracked a smile. "Well, all I can think is that he doesn't want us youthened but he also wants to keep us from knowing anything more than we have to. I don't know what that means about his ultimate feelings for us, though. I felt like he liked us at the beginning, but the way he's treating you in class infuriates me and makes me think that we're just pawns in his and his test subject's little game. Either way, we don't know much more than we did before."

"I haven't had much dealings with him but he seemed nice at the Slug Club party we went to that one time," Lucy smirked, "That was a good night."

"Really? Glad you enjoyed it. I was discovering creepy things in his rooms, not to mention sick with a horrible cold."

"Which you would not have gotten had you not been sitting out in the rain staring off into the distance for hours," Severus reminded, running a strand of her hair through his fingers.

"If I hadn't been doing that you would never have held my hand for the first time," she reminded him right back, slipping her hand into his to make her point.

"That storm gave me a cold too, but not as bad as yours was. By the time the party came around I was mostly recovered. Actually the party itself wasn't what I was referring to. Between Slughorn and Nick it was rather annoying. Rather, it was," Lucy blushed until her face matched her hair, "after the party that was enjoyable."

"Oh?" Dinah teased. "Was that your night then?"

"My night?" Lucy played innocent, "What do you mean?"

Dinah giggled and in a moment Lucy joined her. Severus was just starting to roll his eyes at them when a huge crash of thunder caused both Dinah and Lucy to jump. Quite quickly, reality fell again and Dinah sighed, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about dark storms and evil clouds and the things she had to do in the future. "I hate to do this, but I really need to go and try to find Tommy now."

"That's all right," Lucy assured her, turning to Severus, "Is it all right if I stay? I can go back to my rooms if you want. I-I think I'll be fine."

He sighed; "You may stay. Dinah won't be gone for long. Will you?" he turned to Dinah, his gaze concerned again.

Dinah smiled at his kindness at letting Lucy stay as well as at his usual concern. "I hope not. I can't guarantee anything, though. I have to stay as long as Tommy is there. I have to try to make him happy and comfortable, show him that he's not alone."

"You are magnificent at doing that," he leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on her cheek; "All right. Go and be safe."

"Yes," she slid her hand down his arm and squeezed his fingers before stepping back and turning to leave the room, shuddering as she emerged into the hallway and the sounds of the storm got louder. She took a few deep breaths, trusting the Aurors to keep dementors at bay and to warn her if any flayed babies showed up, and began climbing the stairs out of the dungeons and back to the first floor, the thunder and pounding rain growing louder with every step.


	121. Guest

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE

Guest

* * *

She found Tommy, again, in his usual spot, shivering from the cold and the noise around him. But he always managed to have a smile ready for her; "Hi Dinah."

"Hi," she smiled and knelt in front of him. After the flayed baby attack, she had inwardly decided that her best course of action would be to focus less on telling him to do things and asking questions, and to instead just keep him company. "How are you?"

"Scared," he admitted, his voice a low whisper. "It's coming. It's getting closer. But I don't know what it wants me to do."

"Don't listen to it, then. Ignore it and talk to me instead. As long as the two of us are here it can't get us, right?"

"I don't... think so..." he said, but appeared a little uncertain.

"I'm here to help you, Tommy," she said softly. "I know I am. So I also know that if I'm here you'll be safe as long as you still want to be."

"I want to be safe. I want you to stay. Talk to me. No one else ever does, except for Myrtle. And the snakes."

"I know how that feels," she smiled, making her tone conversational, as if they were normal friends that had met in real life under ordinary, non-hostile circumstances. "Do you like snakes, Tommy?"

"Yes. They were the only ones that were nice to me. But the people at the orphanage always killed them."

It was odd, Dinah thought, that even as Lord Voldemort he had still had a soft spot, of sorts, for his pet snake Nagini. Strange, as evil as he was, that if there was anyone he was kind to it was her. From what Severus had told her, it was as though the two were comrades. Perhaps because she held a bit of his soul, but she had not always. He had made that Horcrux later, last. Odd, that if he was pure evil he had anything left in him to care for anybody. But perhaps it was because of that tenuous thread that still connected him, and consequently the flayed baby, to Tommy. In which case, the snake thing seemed to be a connection that she could latch on to in order to help... them.

"I know how that feels," she murmured, unable to hide her sadness as she thought back on the moment that Filch had killed the innocent snake she had tried to protect. "One day, when I was a first year here at Hogwarts, I talked to a snake that came in out of the cold and the rain. I tried to tell it that it would not get hurt, but there were so many people around... they assumed right away that it's frightened movements meant it was going to bite someone. And... the caretaker, Filch, had to kill it under professor Slughorn's orders. They said... they had no choice. Slughorn was at least nice about it, but Filch took so much pleasure in the act. Even now, twenty-two years later, I cannot bring myself to like the man in any way."

Tommy sniffled; "The women at the orphanage were like that. Screamed, called them abominations, told me I was 'disturbed' because I hissed at them and they responded to me. Said they needed to 'fix' me. And then they had them killed. Told me I had to learn a lesson. And the other boys and girls laughed at me..."

"I'm so sorry," Dinah was now fighting back tears.

"But then... then I had to hurt them," he murmured. "Then I did bad things to get even. You didn't do bad things, Dinah. I know you didn't. That's why you're better than me. That's why we're not the same..." he looked away.

"Tommy," she said gently, and he looked back at her, tears shining in his eyes; "Sometimes... we do things that we don't mean to, and it's not always our fault."

"You're saying it's not my fault that I hurt people?" he whimpered, rubbing his eyes.

"I think that if you had been given more of a chance in life you would not have started doing that. Your family..."

"My Mum died. She loved me, though. They said she loved me."

"I'm sure she did. But what if... what if her parents didn't love her? What if she had a hard life? What if... well, what if you came from a long line if people who hurt others? What if you had those tendencies just because it was in your family history and through no fault of your own?" She didn't want to tell him what she actually _knew _about his family, because she didn't know how clueing him in on the fact that she knew him and his true identity would affect things. She actually sensed that it would be a very bad thing if he knew about Voldemort. But surely the suggestion of it as a possibility could help him a little bit.

"You think maybe that was it? But how could I fight that?"

"Nobody gave you the opportunity or the chance to fight it, but I know you could have. I know somebody... a very wonderful person..." she smiled as she thought of Severus, but also let herself feel sad at the circumstances of his family. "He had a bad family, too. His father was cruel to him and also to his mother. His Mum loved him, but she paid him little attention. Even now, he has the tendencies of his father in some ways. He gets irritated easily, he can yell a lot, but... but he fights it. He is a good person. Because he had friends growing up. His Mum loved him a little and he had a kind best friend when he was a child. Then he had the help of a very good man for many years. Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore couldn't help me."

"But it might have been too late then," she placed a gentle hand on top of his head, watching his eyes as he looked at her. They were filled with an uneasy sort of hope. She had to make that hope shine stronger. "You had none of the other things. Your Mum died and the people in the orphanage were cruel to you for many years. Having snakes is nice but when being friends with snakes makes everyone else afraid of you, then... it doesn't help as much as it should. I know. I've felt it, too."

"You had other people."

"I had a nice family. I had friends in the Muggle world before I came to Hogwarts. It was only here that I was ostracized. But by then I could fight it a little bit. You never had those opportunities and I don't think that is in any way your fault. It hurts to think you never had the chance to make things right."

Tommy surprised Dinah by leaving his seat and hugging her. "You're trying to say that I have the chance now? But I'm not even real anymore, Dinah. I lost myself when I hurt them that last time. I can't go back to being a normal person. I can't make the bad thing go away."

As Dinah hugged her young friend, she realized again just how small he was. How could someone this small have ever become so evil? "You don't want the bad thing. You don't want to hurt others. That is strength, Tommy. You are still strong."

"It's true. I don't want it. But it wants _me_, Dinah," Tommy moved back, his eyes afraid again as he stared at her. "The only reason I don't want it now is that it left me for some reason. You and your friend could fight the thing when it was inside of you, I couldn't. If it comes back to me I won't be able to fight it anymore."

Odd, suggesting that both Dinah and Severus had a 'thing' inside of them, too. But she guessed that was the truth for everyone. Everyone had darkness inside of them; it was simply their choice of what to do with that darkness that made them into who they were. "But you have friends now, Tommy. Friends that will help you fight. Me, and Myrtle..." she paused, managing another smile. "Did I ever tell you that my friend is okay with my talking to snakes? That he accepted it?"

"Really? Someone accepted that part of you?"

"Yes, and it's helped me to accept it, too. I think soon I will tell some of my other friends, and I think... that if I do it right they will also accept me. I don't want to be afraid of my abilities anymore, Tommy. I even want to have a pet snake someday."

"Me too," he smiled. "I always wanted that, too."

"Then we have so much in common. We can do it together. Will you help me?"

"Me help you?" he looked quite surprised at her suggestion.

"Yes. Help me to accept my abilities. We can accept them together. If I brought a snake with me next time would you stay? Would you talk to it with me?"

"I... I think I can do that. I think I can stay for a snake. If it's with you. You and Myrtle are the only ones who can see me, but you're more special than Myrtle, Dinah. Sometimes I appear just because I know it's a day that I can see you. I think you can make me come here sometimes."

"We're connected, Tommy. Because we're friends."

His smile now was genuine as he began to fade away. "Yes. Because we're friends."

Dinah was smiling, but also felt a little sad after he had gone. This new strategy seemed to be working though, at least with Tommy. Hopefully, somehow it would also effect that connection to the flayed baby, and things could get better.

When she made it back to the dungeons Severus and Lucy were sitting next to each other on the couch, reading in amiable silence. They both looked up when she entered. Severus smiled and put his book down on the coffee table; "How did it go?"

"Okay. Good, I think," she walked forward and sat on his lap, resting her head on his shoulder as he put his arms around her. It felt so good to be able to just come back after those trips to visit Tommy to be held by Severus. To know now that he loved her.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, just a little sad, that's all. But I'll be fine." She closed her eyes, feeling the ends of his hair brushing against the side of her face. It hadn't been too much longer than an hour since he'd showered, but already the fluffiness was beginning to wilt and his hair was taking on its normal, stringy appearance and feel. It truly did not take long for his evil hair genes to set in for the attack. But she liked how it felt in both states.

Lucy sighed, looking a little jealous at their cuddling. "Did…did he seem okay?"

"I think so," Dinah nodded. "Better than he's been before. I might be getting through to him. My new strategy... might work. I'm trying to make him strong so he can fight off the flayed baby. I want to heal him."

Lucy nodded, "I'm glad. I suppose even he deserves to rest peacefully. It's good. What you're trying to do."

Dinah lifted her head from Severus's shoulder to smile more directly at her friend. It was true. People were starting to understand her now. Maybe soon she could tell Lucy – and even Sirius – about being a parselmouth. If they were accepting, which she was starting to think they would be, then maybe it would help her in her efforts with Tommy as well. She wasn't ready just yet, but it was a thought for the near future. "Thanks. That means a lot."

"You're welcome." Thunder crashed overhead again and Lucy ducked, her eyes darting around the room. "Sorry," she apologized, seeing Dinah's concerned look.

"It's okay," Dinah stood. "Why don't we do something distracting? I know! We can play two-on-one wizards' chess. Maybe you can help me beat Severus for once!"

Lucy laughed, "Maybe, though I can't guarantee it. We didn't play much wizards' chess before because the set at Grimmauld Place bites and Ron sort of monopolized the new one while they were visiting."

"Well, we can't do any worse," Dinah teased, holding her hand out to Severus with a smile. He laughed, rolling his eyes and taking her hand before standing from the couch.

"We shall see about that," he levitated the chess set over to the table, put away a final potion bottle, and they settled down for the game.

Of course, Dinah and Lucy were unable to defeat her smug genius boyfriend. "Checkmate," he said for the third time an hour or so later, moving his untouched queen into a position where their single remaining pawn could do nothing to protect their king from his vicious attack. The king dropped his sword and the game was over.

"I tried to warn you," Lucy said, laughing with Dinah. "I used to play fairly well in school but once I left there wasn't much time to practice with Auror training and everything."

"Oh, it's not you, it's him," Dinah grumbled, gesturing to Severus's mildly amused expression. "But at least we got closer this time. Or at least it took us longer to lose. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome. Well," she said, looking over towards a clock nervously, "I suppose I should be going. It's getting late."

"Yes... it is probably time to turn in," Severus agreed, flicking his wand and making the chess set put itself away. "Perhaps the storm will blow over by morning."

"I have a feeling it won't," Dinah murmured, not sure why she felt that way, but she did. Maybe it was her connection to Tommy that told her that.

Lucy wrung her hands,. "I'll be okay," she whispered so quietly Dinah wasn't sure if she was talking to her or to herself, "It's just a voice and voices can't hurt you. There's nothing to be afraid of. This is just a regular storm."

Dinah frowned, the expression on her friend's face unnerving her along with the memory of what had happened to Lucy the last time there had been a dark storm and she was here for the weekend. Plus, she wasn't entirely sure that there was nothing to be afraid of after the flayed baby attack, and just in case the voices of Bellatrix meant anything more than they thought... "Look, maybe you should stay here tonight, Lucy. She could sleep on the couch, couldn't she, Severus?"

He sighed; "I suppose that would be fine. Perhaps safer."

Lucy looked up, hopeful, "Are you sure? I wasn't angling for an invite. I'd be okay on my own I'm sure." She looked like she didn't believe a word of what she was saying.

Dinah shook her head. "No. Stay. It's fine. Here, I'll go find some blankets for you. Did you need to get a change of clothes?"

"Um, probably. If you don't mind. I didn't come down here with intentions of moving in," she joked, "I could sleep sans robes but I don't think that's exactly appropriate on someone else's couch."

"No. Not," Severus frowned, looking a bit agitated and causing Dinah to smile. "Go and get them, then. Do you need Dinah to go with you?"

"If she wants to come she can. I've been okay so far. I think I'm just psyching myself out anticipating things," she stood uncertainly in the middle of the room, "I assume you have a 'no cats' policy down here?"

Dinah grinned; "Definitely. Severus actually likes Godric but what with all of the potion bottles and things on the many shelves cats are too much of a risk. You can go on your own, I'm sure. If you think you can handle it I don't want to seem like I don't respect you for that. But if you need me I'll come."

Lucy nodded, "Makes sense. Dora does like to find things to roll around and potions shouldn't be one of them. Don't worry though. I'm sure I'll be fine for a few minutes," she left the dungeons.

"This is all your fault, you know," Severus muttered when Lucy had gone.

"What is?" Dinah saw that he looked a little disturbed, and so smiled and offered a suggestion; "That we have to share the place with another tonight? There's always silencing charms, or even your _Muffliato_. Then again, Lucy might get suspicious if she starts hearing buzzing in her ears."

"That is... unfortunate, but it's not what I was referring to," he said, managing some amusement. "Your friend still seems to believe that I long hated her."

"Oh," she murmured. "Don't mind Lucy, she's just uncomfortable in this storm."

"Yes, well, I hope to have convinced her otherwise. What is frustrating is that you have made me realize that I actually care what others think of me, to an extent. And yet I still find it odd, being liked by others. It is strange to be caught in between the two conflicting ideas."

"Sorry, sweetheart," she murmured, sliding her fingers through his hair as he let his head fall against hers for a moment. She liked it silky, too. "But you'll get used to it. And at least even people who like you will still find you snarky, sarcastic, and annoying. That's not so bad, right?"

He chuckled, turning so he could clutch her waist and pull her to him; "I suppose not," he let his lips fall on hers, kissing her, but not too intensely as they both knew Lucy would be back soon. "Shall we get ready for bed, then?"

"Yes. Today is a good day to wear my purple cozy pajamas."

"I suppose," he agreed with a slight smile, taking her hand and leading her into his – well, essentially one of their two bedrooms and they went about putting on their nightclothes.

"You sure you want Lucy to see you in your nighttime robes, darling?" Dinah teased, hugging him again when her pajamas were on.

"No, I am not. Which is why _you _are going to go outside and keep our door closed while providing her with blankets," he kissed her once more, briefly, before levitating a pile of green and black blankets down from the top of the closet and placing the pile in her hands.

"Oh, I am, am I?" she made a point to give him an annoyed look and a raised eyebrow, which did nothing but make him smile at her.

"You are. Good night," he murmured in her ear, sparking a tiny little flame of excitement which she quickly forced herself to extinguish as he walked back to the bed, drawing back the covers and shooing her off towards the main room again.

She gave him another look, which would have been more effective were she not also smiling a bit, and headed out into the main room, spreading one of the blankets out on the couch and plopping the rest of the pile on one end, waiting for Lucy.

She didn't have to wait long as her friend had just appeared in the doorway; "Severus in bed already?"

Dinah nodded; "Do you need anything else? Some water or extra blankets or anything? Although I think there are quite enough in this pile," she grinned, gesturing to the four folded blankets on the end of the couch.

"Oh, no. I think I'll be fine," she grinned, pulling out her own blanket and pillow. "Was he afraid I'd come into the bedroom and interrupt something looking for blankets?"

She laughed; "We didn't start anything for that very reason. I guess we're better at controlling ourselves than you two. Granted, we used to be older..."

"Sure blame it all on me," Lucy teased, "I _am_ twenty-six you know. That time in the Quidditch stands was a one off experience that I certainly wasn't planning on. _That _was only intended for a bit of kissing to sort of live out a teenage fantasy."

"Well, you got more than you were bargaining for then," Dinah teased her right back.

She blushed and shook out her blanket, "That I did. He got yelled at later though for forgetting a certain spell."

"Oh! Lucy, you need to be careful!" Dinah exclaimed ,realizing right away that her friends had forgot a protection spell of all things; "I mean... well, I guess you're both old enough and you're engaged, but since you said you forgot it I assume that means that you intended to use it."

"I know," Lucy said, looking embarrassed, "It's not something that happens often but it's not something I'm looking to repeat. I don't imagine I'd have my job much longer if we slipped up and something happened."

"Well, I don't know about that..." Dinah murmured, thinking about it. "It's possible you could keep it but it would certainly be awkward if you were unmarried... to the students and their parents, anyway. Well, you can't go on saying it's something that 'doesn't happen often', it _should _be something that 'doesn't happen ever'. Can you imagine if Severus and I forgot? What would happen if the youthening was suddenly reversed in such a situation? And even were it not, I'm only six..." she flushed, "well, when I think about it that way I'm almost ashamed for doing anything at all. Almost."

"Yes, you're right," Lucy murmured, looking a bit like a puppy that just got found chewing up the furniture; "We really do intend to use it every time."

"Try to change the way you say it. Say you will use it every time, not just you intend to. You'd be surprised how the language you use can affect things like your mindset and consequently your actions. But, well, I can only lecture you so much. Feels kind of funny since I'm currently younger than you. I only want to make sure you don't do something that you regret later."

Lucy smiled, "I appreciate it, really, and you're right about the words affecting actions. Which is why I say I'm trying to let go of Bella. I'm not there yet but I'm working it. I'll get there. I'm determined and stubborn."

"Good," Dinah smiled, promising herself that she'd continue to do the same with snake thing. "And you should be safe down here for the night. Now, we should both really get some sleep. Sure you're all set and comfortable here before I turn in?"

"Um," Lucy looked around, her eyes landing on the side hallway; "Bathroom's right through there, right? Other than that I think I'm good."

"Yes, right through there. Good night."

"Night," Lucy replied, heading towards the bathroom as Dinah slipped back into the bedroom.

She'd been out there talking with Lucy for so long that it appeared Severus was already asleep, on his side facing her side, his hands clutching his pillow and his hair loosely framing his face. Dinah smiled and climbed in next to him, liking how peaceful he looked when he was asleep. She slid her pillow closer to his, gave his lips a brief kiss, and then laid on her stomach close enough to feel his warmth and rested her cheek so that she could face him, closing her eyes and listening to the distant sounds of the rain and the storm.

Nothing could get her in here, and yet her thoughts were free to roam. She did have a feeling things with this prophecy and with Tommy were winding down – or up, depending upon how she looked at it. There were still no answers, but she felt that – good or bad - they were coming, and coming soon.

Hopefully she still had time to make things right.


	122. Fox

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-TWO

Fox

* * *

Dinah awoke in what felt like the middle of the night to a loud thump and her pillow being snatched out from under her. In her groggy state she couldn't put the pieces together at first but Severus's growl from the other side of the bed helped.

"Dinah, how many times have I told you that the middle of the night is time for sleep?" he groaned, and although she couldn't see him she knew he was shoving his pillow over his head. She had learned fairly early on that he was not one for being interrupted during sleep.

"It's not me," she murmured, lighting her wand and gasping when she saw the figure huddled in-between them, Dinah's snatched pillow over her head but not concealing the disheveled red hair peeking out from underneath it; "Lucy!"

"Lucy!" Severus shouted, yanking the pillow from his head and slamming it back down onto the mattress, digging his nails into the plush outer case to prop himself half up so that he could glare at their guest, his shiny black hair falling unkempt around his snarling face, the effects of the evening's shower long gone; "What the hell is she doing here?"

Lucy hunched up further in the bed; "Sorry. I got scared."

"Who do you think we are, your parents?" Severus growled. "Get out!" Dinah had to smile a little. It _was _almost like their bed was being invaded by a child of theirs, which could easily happen someday. Hopefully Severus was a bit more civil by then.

"Please don't yell," Lucy sniffed, holding the pillow tighter over her head, "I know you're not my parents. My father used to lock my door."

Severus's gazed softened by the barest fraction at her words and Dinah sighed, rubbing her friend's back in a comforting manner; "Lucy, it's all right. Don't mind him. He just gets irritable like that in the middle of the night. He didn't mean anything by it."

Severus sighed and stuck his face in his pillow, still clearly not in the mood to be awake but no longer angry; "Yes. Sorry," his muffled voice grumbled; "I guess this doesn't do much to convince you of the truth of my words earlier this evening. It's nothing personal; I am simply not used to random people invading my bed in the middle of the night."

Lucy loosened her hold on the pillow, returning to the earlier death grip she'd had on it. "That's okay, I'm not used to invading random people's beds either."

"So... what comes next here, then?" Dinah found herself asking as Severus sighed and turned on the pillow so that he could watch them. "What happened to scare you? The storm?"

"No," Lucy shook her head, "A nightmare."

"Oh..." Dinah had never heard her friend at such a loss for words before and Severus was already starting to look like sleep was overcoming him again. "Are you okay? Do you need to tell us or do you just need to stay here for awhile? I suppose it's all right, since you're already here. Severus?"

"At this point, who cares?" he grumbled, his eyes closing.

Lucy rolled over, lifting the pillow to look at Dinah's face, "Bella was pissed…at-at me. I don't know why," she said, blinking back tears, "It wasn't the same as the voice though. This was something different. A dream. I know it, but it was still scary."

"I understand. And during a dark storm, too," Dinah nodded sympathetically. "I can't say for certain that it means nothing, but it probably _was_ just a dream. You've been thinking about it a lot, trying to forgive her, trying to let go. That's hard to do. Subconsciously, maybe your fears that you won't be able to do that are expressing themselves in the dream as an angry Bella. But you're still trying. You said so last night. That's the main thing."

Lucy finally let go of the pillow, "I hope you're right. I could use my guard dog right about now but in lieu of that do you mind if I stay? I think I know a way for it to not be weird."

"Switch with Dinah," Severus mumbled, half-asleep but apparently having followed the conversation this far.

Lucy giggled, "That's not exactly what I was thinking." She winked at Dinah before transfiguring into her fox self.

Dinah couldn't help but squeal at the adorable creature that had magically appeared between herself and Severus.

"Dinah!" Severus hissed, covering his ears as his eyes popped open again to glare between her and the fox; "If this is going to continue all night I'd just as soon have her stay human."

Dinah covered her mouth to stifle a giggle; "Sorry. I'll stop, I promise. Just... so... cute."

"Don't mess with my potions, fox," Severus ordered, slamming his face back into his pillow again.

"And give me back my pillow," Dinah snatched her pillow back over to herself.

Lucy simply stared and climbed on top of the covers, curling up and wrapping her tail around her, before closing her eyes.

Dinah opened her mouth but Severus covered it before she could make any kind of a noise; "Hush. Sleep." He glared his orders at her.

"Sorry," she murmured again when he let her go, taking one more look at Lucy's fox form and biting her lip to stifle another squeal. Yes, she definitely had a weakness for cute and for any kind of animal. "So much for your nighttime robes, huh?"

"I'm hoping she didn't notice," he muttered, closing his eyes and nestling his head back into his pillow. "Good night, Dinah."

"Night," she curled up with her pillow and leaned her head against Severus's, shooting her eyes down to the fox again; "Good night, Lucy." She extinguished the light of her wand and closed her eyes as their interesting group fell asleep together in Severus's bed.

Two freshly-youthened teenagers and a bright orange fox animagus.

* * *

Before Dinah even opened her eyes on Wednesday morning she was greeted by Severus growling and something pawing at her hair.

"Dinah..." her boyfriend's voice snarled; "We have classes this morning and it is still too early for you to be-" suddenly he gasped and the bed bounced, causing Dinah to open her eyes and see what all the hubbub was about. "Fox!" he hissed, propped half-up on the bed, his startled gaze glaring at the pointy-eared orange creature in front of him as he clutched the comforter to his chest to cover his nighttime robes. "Fox, you do not touch my hair!"

Dinah registered his words but could do nothing save stare wide-eyed at the pure and utter cuteness that was perched on their pillows. And then the fox pounced, landing on Dinah and turning to grab the covers Severus held with her teeth and lightly pull at them. Dinah burst into giggles as Severus's fingers clutched defiantly at the blanket, pulling back as his face lit up with fury.

"Infernal wild animal!" he growled again.

"Aw, come on Severus, she's just trying to play! Aren't you, Lucy?" Dinah cooed, scratching the fox's head, her reaction to cuteness once again making her forget that the fox was her friend in human form. "You know, I wonder if she has a nickname in fox form. We never asked."

"I don't care to know. Make it stop pulling at my blanket."

Lucy abruptly let go of the covers, and Dinah had to laugh as Severus had still been pulling and so consequently fell back on the bed when he was released. As he grumbled and shoved his pillow back over his head, Lucy rubbed against Dinah's hand, asking for more pats.

"So cute, so cute!" Dinah hugged the fox, happily obliging. She'd worry about feeling weird when Lucy was a human again. "Let's leave Grouchy over there be for now and summon breakfast here," she said, stroking Lucy's fur as she let her animagus friend free of her grasp. "He'll come out when he's ready. He's shy. Doesn't want you seeing him in his nighttime robes."

"Would you shut up, you infernal witch? Go away and leave me be, the both of you! It is too early for this!" his muffled voice snapped at them.

Lucy sighed and picked her way to the end of the bed, avoiding Severus's feet, before jumping down and waiting for Dinah in the doorway. Dinah disentangled herself from the covers and climbed out of bed, following her friend. They entered the sitting room and Dinah summoned breakfast to the table. "Eggs, bacon, porridge... all great fox food, right?" she teased Lucy, whose tail was twitching below her. "I bet you like the bacon at least, right? And with the eggs you don't have to go steal some from the nearest chicken coop."

Lucy hopped up onto the nearest chair and put her paws up on the table.

"Here, want eggs and bacon?" Dinah resisted another squeal and put a small plate of the two in front of the fox, settling into the next chair and piling her plate high with goodies and her bowl with porridge.

Lucy grabbed a piece of bacon with her teeth, pulling it off the plate and maneuvering it so she was able to prop it up with one paw and hold it in place with the other. She then proceeded to chew on it.

"Ahh, so cute!" Dinah shrieked, munching on her own piece of bacon. The two of them ate in amiable silence, broken occasionally by some exclamation by Dinah relating to cuteness as she watched her fox friend eat. After a moment, they heard footsteps and turned to see that Severus had entered the room, fully clothed and still looking grouchy. He never showered in the mornings, always in the evenings or at night. For some reason he didn't like the idea of the students seeing both hair types, probably figuring that it was better for them to not think in too much detail on why his hair was greasy and just accept it. She didn't know how she felt about that decision one way or another, but it was familiar to him.

He made it about five steps into the room and his eyes landed on the book he had been reading yesterday, sitting on the coffee table with a vial of silvery-green liquid on top that Dinah didn't remember being there last night. He took a few slow, calculated steps towards it, reaching down and fingering it for a second before lifting it up and scrutinizing it. Finally, he slammed it back down and turned a slow glare towards them, his eyes narrowed and his lips curling into a snarl, "Fox..."

Lucy yipped and dove under the table, hiding in front of Dinah's chair, her ears drooping and her face taking on the most adorable, pathetic gaze Dinah had ever seen. "Lucy, you didn't!" Dinah exclaimed, remembering Severus's order last night for the fox not to touch any of his potions.

"And on purpose no doubt, the despicable little troublemaker!" Severus shouted, storming over to the table and glaring amongst the potions lined along the shelves on the nearby wall.

His eyes landed on a magenta one where he then placed a finger, trailing his other finger along the line of neighboring potions until it landed on one that was bright blue. "The two have been switched! This one goes here! My system – ruined!" He snatched the two and put them back in their rightful places, then began pulling more potions off of the shelves and slamming them onto the table, yelling about what else the 'infernal beast' might have messed with.

Dinah couldn't help but be amused as she watched him. "Severus darling, don't you think you might just be making things worse? She probably didn't move anything besides those three." She felt something pawing at her legs and looked down to see that Lucy's ears had drooped further along with her tail. "Aww, come here." She patted her lap and the fox jumped up. "I told you," she said, petting the fox, "Don't mind him when he gets like this. He secretly enjoys getting annoyed about this sort of thing, I think. He knows you were just being playful. I mess around with him all the time. He's used to it."

"Yes, and I especially enjoy when two women talk about me as though I'm not standing right here," Severus growled, turning around to shoot them both an annoyed glare.

"Did you hear two women talking?" Dinah grinned. "I didn't. I heard a teenage girl talking and a fox not talking."

Lucy did her best to stick her tongue out at Severus and turned around to steal one of Dinah's bacon strips before starting to eat it.

"Hey, that's mine!" Dinah exclaimed, grabbing for the strip which Lucy tugged away from her. She sighed.

"Oh? Have I just noticed that of your two obsessions food trumps cuteness?" Severus laughed, leaning over to take her other piece of bacon.

"Why you!" she grabbed for it but he pulled it away. "You two do much better working together than against each other, do you know that? And yes. I guess food does trump cuteness," she grabbed two fresh pieces of bacon and held them possessively away from the thieves.

Lucy hopped down off Dinah's lap and transfigured back into her normal, human self, wearing nothing more than the camisole and shorts from when she had invaded their bed last night. "Well, as fun as that was I think we'd better eat and get ready if we hope to be to class on time."

"Yes, I guess so," Dinah sighed, grinning at her friend. "That _was _fun, though."

"You think?" Severus snorted, averting his eyes from Lucy's minimally-dressed state and turning to begin putting potions back onto the shelves, stopping after a moment with a sigh. "Tell me, troublemaker. Was Dinah correct in assuming that these were the only three potions whose positions you altered?"

Lucy giggled, and sat in the chair she'd previously vacated, holding an unchewed piece of bacon out to Dinah, "Yes, those were the only ones I touched. You really brought it on yourself though you know. Telling me not to touch anything."

He just snarled in response and continued replacing bottles, jars, and vials as Dinah gratefully took the offered food. After everything was replaced he turned back to them, still not looking directly at Lucy as he grabbed a plate and settled in next to Dinah. "For what it's worth, she's right. I _am _used to being 'messed around with' by now. But she was wrong about me enjoying it. I don't." He took a defiant bite of his eggs.

"He enjoys it," Dinah said sideways to Lucy, grinning.

Lucy shrugged, "That's probably why Sirius and I get on so well. We both like to mess with each other."

"It can be fun," Dinah smiled. "So it seems like the storm is lingering, which I kind of expected..." She was torn. She didn't want to tell Lucy she couldn't stay over anymore because she really didn't want her friend to have any more meltdowns, plus she loved playing with the fox Lucy. And yet, she really needed to be alone over these stormy days, so that she could obtain a snake to help her talk to Tommy. She wasn't sure how she was going to do that if Lucy was hovering around all the time.

"Yeah. Don't worry about me, though. I'll be out of your hair after breakfast and then Sirius is coming over tonight and I'm guessing you'd rather not have the pair of us sleeping on your couch. Now," Lucy said, taking a last bite of eggs before continuing, "is it all right if I use the shower quickly? I promise not to take long. I'm low maintenance."

"Feel free," Severus said, standing and glancing at the clock on the wall. "I have to meet our best friend soon for another wonderful day of incompetence. If you would just lock up before leaving," he leaned down to kiss Dinah.

"Of course," she smiled when they broke it. "Don't worry, I won't leave your favorite troublemaker alone here to move more of your potions."

"Much appreciated," he rolled his eyes and left the room.

"Aww, I'm his favorite troublemaker," Lucy grinned, standing and grabbing fresh robes out of her bag, "You know, he doesn't have to call me 'Fox'. Lucy works just fine."

Dinah smiled; "That's more of a Severus thing than anything else. He still calls Godric 'Cat' half the time. I think it's just his way of addressing animals. But I'm sure he'll eventually start slipping into 'Lucy'."

"Okay, well, just so you know," she pointed to the bathroom and started walking that way, "Ten minutes tops. Promise."

"Good, because I need to use it after you," Dinah called after her, returning to her food when she heard the bathroom door shut.


	123. Sarepta

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-THREE

Sarepta

* * *

"Really? You'll come with me?" Dinah exclaimed, feeling her eyes light up and her heart lighten.

"Yes," the adder replied conversationally. "You're nice. I've never met such a nice human before, so I think I can do this for you. Besides, it would be nice to get out of this storm for a bit."

"Great, thank you so much," Dinah extended her hand and let the snake crawl up her arm to rest comfortably around her shoulders. She had managed to find the small female adder that she had spoken with earlier that year when Wortham and Lee had caught her. It was a nice coincidence, especially as it was rare to find the same snake twice without asking specifically to do so and arranging a meeting.

She stood and turned around, lifting her robe's hood over her head to the point where she hoped no one could see the snake around her neck and flashed Severus, standing in the distant darkness, a smile and a gesture to come over, indicating that her mission had been successful.

He was at her side in a few moments, frowning as he spied the snake within her robes. He lifted his hands to fasten her hood more tightly around her neck; "And you're sure this is safe? I didn't want to go out in this dark storm at all, and now you have a venomous snake around your neck..."

"She won't bite," Dinah murmured, stroking the snake's tail but making sure not to look at her new friend either so she wasn't speaking parseltongue to her boyfriend. "Adder venom isn't very potent anyway. The last death in Britain was in 1975. At least the last Muggle death. And I don't have much choice – this is Scotland. If we were in London we'd have the option of smooth snakes or grass snakes, but here we have only adders."

"You're very well-informed. Well, we need to get out of this storm. Let's get inside before any dementors converge." He managed a smile; "You know, you look very mysterious like this, with your hood pulled over your head. Quite beautiful, in fact."

Dinah felt her cheeks go a little pink even in the cold darkness and rain; "Severus... wow;" she had to smile; "aren't you the flatterer tonight?"

He chuckled and traced her cheek with a finger, his touch making her feel even warmer; "I'd kiss you, but... yes, well... snakes, you know..." his hand seemed to drift on its own towards his neck where he had once been bitten and he managed a sheepish expression.

"Oh. Yeah..." she sighed.

"It has nothing to do with you."

"No, I know," she smiled and took his arm. "Let's get inside."

They hurried across the grounds and made it inside in record time. Dinah had to admit that it felt much better being out of that dark storm. If there had been no stigma associated with parselmouths she wouldn't have had to wait until it was this late to go and collect her snake. Then again, if there had been no stigma associated with parselmouths she wouldn't have needed to do this anyway. Perhaps Tommy would even have had a better time at the orphanage and there would have been no Voldemort. But it was useless to speculate about such things now. Still, though, it definitely put things into a certain perspective. So many bad things in both the wizarding and Muggle worlds came about only because of stupid prejudices.

"Well. At least we're in," Severus sighed, brushing himself off and shaking his head to get rid of the rainwater. Dinah wanted to take her cloak and hood off to shake it out but couldn't risk any late night stragglers seeing the snake. "It wasn't coming down so hard when we first left," he commented.

"Yeah. Guess we should have brought umbrellas." She shivered. "Well, let's get down to the dungeons before Filch shows up. Of all people..."

"I know. He's not going to get the snake. Come on," he took her hand and pulled her down to the dungeons. Once they had locked the door safely behind them she took her cloak off, shaking it once before hanging it on a hook near the office door.

"At least come inside and get a little warmer before you immediately go rushing off to find Tommy," Severus said, heading into the main room. Dinah followed.

"Your friend is different," the snake said, nodding at Severus. "He is only half afraid of me."

"Yes... only half. The better humans are like that," Dinah agreed, nodding as she entered the brighter lit room and watched Severus sit at the dining room table. She sat across from him, watching him stare at the snake around her shoulders until she realized something. "Does this remind you of him?" she asked, her voice quiet.

He sighed; "Yes and no. It's more that... I'm seeing another person with a snake companion, but I know it's you this time. I see only the differences between you and The Dark Lord. That you can do the same things as him and yet be so much better. Someone I love and not someone I hate. I won't say it isn't strange, but it isn't really bothersome either. I hope you understand."

"No. I understand. Thanks," she smiled at him and after a moment he returned it. Dinah looked down at the snake; "What's your name?"

The snake gave her name, and Dinah nodded before looking back up at Severus; "I should go and find Tommy soon. But I need to name the snake first."

"Name it?"

"Yes. Snake names don't translate from parseltongue to English. I can learn them but I generally prefer to give them another name for ease of use when talking about them to other humans. Not that I often get to do that or anything, just more wishful thinking on my part I guess..." she sighed.  
"Then name it."

"Her. She's a girl."

He sighed. "Name _her _then."

She ran her fingers along the snake's smooth scales again, thinking; "I did for a moment consider asking Tommy to come up with a name along with me, but then I thought... what if he picks Nagini?"

Severus frowned at the name; "I suppose that's not a far-fetched assumption."

"Exactly. If he's anything like me with his parselmouth abilities, which I think he might be, he probably had a name in his head for a long time that he'd like to give a snake. I bet he's picked the name already, and being the missing good doesn't realize that another form of... himself... already used the name. That's my theory, anyway."

"Sounds reasonable. So are you going to name your snake or not?"

"I don't own her. She's just been kind enough to help me out with this. But yes, I'll pick a name for her. Granted, it probably won't stop you from calling her 'Snake' all the time," she grinned, and then considered. "I always wanted to name a snake 'Slinky', but that seems more like a boy snake name to me," she thought a bit longer. "I know. Sarepta."

"Sarepta?"

"Yes, it's the name of an ancient Phoenician city that I learned about in my anthropological studies. It sounded kind of like 'serpent' to me, which is why it's always stuck in my head. She looks like a Sarepta, doesn't she?"

"How should I know?"

Dinah laughed; "Really, Severus, you're such an animal person." She turned to the snake; "Do you mind if I call you Sarepta? It's easier to talk about you to other humans that way. Humans like Severus here," she nodded at her boyfriend.

"No, that would be fine," Sarepta replied. "I like the name. Are we going to see your other friend?"

"Yes," Dinah sighed, standing from the table, facing Severus again so her words would default back to English. "We're going to go now. I'll be back as soon as I can be."

"Fine. You really think Tommy will be there again?"

"I know it. Don't ask how I know. I don't even know how I know. I just...do."

"Because this is your prophecy. Not mine. As you have always tried to tell me," he half-smiled at her.

"Yes, but it's not really something I could have done without you, either," she leaned over and kissed him. "I'll be back." She walked back into the office, grabbing her cloak again to cover up Sarepta before heading to Tommy's bathroom.

"Tommy," Dinah knelt down in front of her friend and let her new companion slither from her shoulder down her arm to her hand; "This is Sarepta."

The little boy's normally sad eyes lit up; "You really did bring a snake, Dinah! And you're speaking in parseltongue!"

"Yes. I thought we could all speak in parseltongue together," Dinah smiled. "Right, Sarepta?"

"Right," Sarepta agreed, eyeing Tommy. Dinah had explained the basic gist of what he was to the snake in her entreaty for help, and so Sarepta was pretty clear on all of the important details. To the snake's credit, she wasn't letting the boy know what she knew. Although snakes, being animals, were quite straightforward and not prone to hide or conceal anything, they also had no need for extraneous details, and so it didn't matter to her whether a different part of Tommy had turned into Voldemort and now existed as a demonic flayed baby. She was focused on the person in front of her; "Dinah says your name is Tommy?"

"Yes," he sniffled a little, but from recovery as he started looking happier and happier; "Hi, Sarepta. Dinah and I are alike. We can both talk to you. The other humans don't always understand, though."

"So I've heard. Some young boys found Dinah earlier this year talking to me. They were frightened and yelled a lot. I watched from a bush. It was sad, because Dinah did nothing wrong. She had to erase their memory."

"That happened to you, Dinah?"

"It did..." Dinah murmured, a little sadly as she recalled the event.

"But her other friend is nicer," Sarepta said. "I saw him today. He is only half afraid."

"Half afraid?" Tommy murmured. "Half afraid isn't so bad. I guess it is only us parselmouths that are never afraid."

"Yes," Dinah agreed. "But there's nothing wrong with being half afraid. Humans are supposed to be half afraid of snakes to varying degrees. It's in their nature, because as you said Tommy they can't talk to snakes. So their being half afraid is really just their being respectful of wild animals. People like that are to be admired. The world is really full of them. They just generally stay quiet. And the wizarding world... has more people who are always afraid of snakes."

"Because of the bad people who talked to them," Tommy said. "I know. That's what they said to me when I got to Hogwarts. But everyone in the orphanage was afraid, too..."

Dinah smiled; "Because they were children and silly old women?"

Tommy giggled; "I guess so. Maybe. That's a nice way to look at it."

"You are good at parseltongue, Tommy," Sarepta said in a friendly tone. "Can you control it? Talk in either language whenever you want?"

"I can," he admitted. "I learned it in my first couple of months here at school. As quickly as I could, so that I didn't make any more mistakes..." he started to look sad again, and so Dinah quickly intervened.

"See, I never learned that. So you're quite more experienced than me, Tommy," Dinah smiled. "I have to stare straight at my friend whenever I have a snake around me because if I saw Sarepta at all I'd end up talking in parseltongue and he wouldn't understand a word I said! He does find it odd when I stare at him like that, though."

They all laughed at that, and then Tommy asked if the staring annoyed her friend.

"No," she smiled and shook her head, thinking of the peace she had found in Severus's acceptance of her; "He may find it a little odd, but we can always laugh about it."

"You look happy. He must be a nice friend."

"He is. He is so nice..."

"I wish I had had that. But I guess there's Myrtle now. And the other voice. The friendlier one. It's getting closer lately. I heard it tonight just before you got here."

"Really? What did it say?"

"I couldn't understand it. It hid in the other voices. But I think it wants to come close. I'm not scared of it, though. I think that one is okay."

There really wasn't much to say or ask about the other voice, as Tommy didn't understand it. So they filled the rest of the time with random conversations about anything. Food, their favorite places, funny things that had happened to Dinah or to Sarepta. By the time Tommy faded away all three felt quite happy. Dinah had never had an experience quite like it before, she had to admit as she walked back to the dungeons. Just spending a fun day with a snake and another person. Feeling like it was all right and normal. Like she belonged. And if the fact that the storm outside had slowed significantly in the time she had been with him was any indication, Dinah thought that maybe Tommy felt the same way.

Severus, on the other hand, was _not _pleased when she re-entered the main room. He was sitting at the table strumming his fingers on it with narrowed eyes that widened when he saw them. "Do you have any idea how long you were gone for?" he demanded, standing and slamming his hands onto the table.

"Um," she flushed. "I'm sorry. I guess I lost track of time. The snake strategy really worked. Tommy must have hung around for quite a long time, then?"

He sighed and sat back in the chair, resting his forehead in one hand; "You were gone for an hour and twenty minutes. If you indeed waited until your friend disappeared, then yes I suppose he 'hung around' for a long time. Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

In an instant Dinah felt a wave of guilt wash over her. She had been so wrapped up in her time with Tommy and Sarepta that she had forgotten about her beloved waiting here for her to return. Well, she hadn't forgotten about him, they had mentioned him a lot in their conversations. But she hadn't thought about him worrying about her, about the time. "I'm so sorry," she murmured. "I couldn't leave while he was still there, though. I guess I should have given you more warning before I left, but I didn't think. I didn't know what was going to happen when I brought Sarepta into the mix. I guess we know now?" she hoped that he understood.

"I guess," Severus sighed once more, lifting his head to meet her eyes. "I'm not angry with you. I'm just glad that you're safe. So it went well, then?"

"Yes. So well," she sat across from him, letting Sarepta off of her shoulder to coil around the back of the chair next to her. "I'm really getting through to him. With all of us there, he seemed happier."

"I suppose happy is good."

"Generally," she smiled, turning to Sarepta. "What did you think?"

"Tommy seems nice. Hard to believe he is the one that caused all the hubbub around the castle last year."

"I know. That's why it took me so long to notice. But if our conversation today means anything, I think we'll be able to help him after all."

"Yes, I think so," Sarepta happily slithered onto Dinah's outstretched hand again; "How long do you think it will take?"

"I don't know. I don't know that you need to stay the whole time either. Would around two weeks, at least, be reasonable? We'll feed you well. You can stay here in the dungeons as long as you don't mess around with any of the potions bottles or Severus's personal items."

"Why would I do such a thing?"

Dinah laughed; "I don't know. I guess you're not a troublemaker like some people we know. Right, Severus?"

He didn't answer her.

"Severus?" she waved a hand in front of him, wondering why he was being so unresponsive.

"I don't speak parseltongue, Dinah!" he snapped.

"Oh," she flushed, looking down at where Sarepta sat on her hand and was still in her line of sight when she looked at her boyfriend. "How stupid of – um-" she sighed and let Sarepta back onto the chair so she didn't have to look at her and shot Severus a guilty glance; "I'm sorry. That was stupid of me. I got wrapped up in the conversation and forgot we weren't all in it together."

"It's all right," he smiled slightly. "You look happy."

Dinah's flush now was a more pleasant one. It was odd, that Severus's words were essentially the same as Tommy's had been when she had been talking about _him_. "I am happy. There are a lot of happy things in my life now. I can talk to snakes without feeling judged, like I've always wanted. You gave me that, Severus. I only wish you could speak it, too. I hope you don't feel left out."

"Well, as long as you don't get too wrapped up in your conversations too often I think that I can handle it," he stood from his chair, coming over to take her hands and help her stand. "I appreciate your foolish attempts to include me in the conversation, though."

She giggled, sliding her arms around his waist; "You're welcome. You know, Dumbledore taught himself how to understand parseltongue. I bet you could teach yourself if you practiced diligently. You taught yourself how to fly, for goodness sakes."

"Well, perhaps I shall add that to my list of things to do in the future. At least then I'll know if you and your infernal snake are _talking about me _or something."

"We only say good things, I swear," she teased, kissing him.

He sighed when she broke it; "So now we have another dungeon guest, do we?"

"Well, we can leave her alone, you know. Could retreat to my rooms for the night and let her stay here. She won't mess with anything. I already told her not to. And, being a real animal, she sees no reason to do that sort of thing anyway. So you can trust her."

"I suppose I shall have to. Because I am not letting you go tonight." At her flush, he smiled; "The happiness that you are trying to distill into Tommy has reminded me of something."

"What's that?"

"A long time ago, we weren't as happy as we are now..."

"Severus..."

"We mentioned once that we didn't know if there was even such a thing as true happiness. I fear some of my actions caused even you, my idealistic one, to wonder that."

"I thought I did, but..."

He nodded; "But now, I think, we know the answer. I think we've given each other the truest happiness either of us could ever know. And I think, in that case, that you will be able to give it to others, too. Which is why I am now one-hundred percent behind whatever you are doing for Tommy, Dark Lord or no Dark Lord."

Dinah sighed, unable to stop smiling at his words. "I love you, Severus."

He smiled, leaning over to catch her lips in another kiss, murmuring; "I love you, Dinah," against them when he had finished. "Now tell your snake to remain comfortably here tonight and I shall show you just how much I love you in your rooms. Provided, of course, you lock your cat out."

"Oh, Severus," she giggled, stroking his cheek; "Ever my animal lover. Don't worry; I don't think Godric wants to see you show me how much you love me. Even less me show you how much I love you."

"I look forward to a healthy contest of that nature," he teased, and then frowned; "The dark storm..."

"It's let up a little. I think because Tommy is feeling better."

"So is it Tommy or the test subject then? That summons the flayed baby?"

Dinah frowned, considering that question, before finally shrugging. "I don't know. Perhaps it's a combination of both."


	124. Reasons

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FOUR

Reasons

* * *

Severus appeared in Dinah's doorway just as she was ushering her fourth years out of the room at the end of her last class on Thursday, preparing for her office hours next. "Hi," she smiled.

The corners of his mouth turned up in a brief smile as he walked up to her desk; "It seems your friend has now begun leaving notes for you on the dungeon door - oh," he frowned when he noticed Grubbly-Plank walking over with some collected student parchments, catching what he had said.

"Oh, don't mind me," she said, shooting them both a mysterious smile as she placed the parchments on Dinah's desk. "You can handle your office hours alone today, Dinah, I'm sure..." she finished, walking smoothly past.

Severus's narrowed gaze followed her all the way out of the room before he turned back to Dinah; "What does that woman know?"

She flushed; "Um, well you'll have to forgive me. Shortly after your... um, epiphany I had a hard time censoring my thoughts..."

He sighed. "Well, no matter," he looped his arms around her waist and lifted her easily to set her on the edge of her desk, producing a note from his pocket and handing it to her before climbing up to sit next to her.

"Wouldn't it have been more reasonable if we just shared my chair?" she teased, looking the note over. It read:

_Dinah,_

_I'm staying through Friday night. Do you think we could get together and have a little chat? Maybe a film or some of that internet thing? Severus is welcome to come too if he wants though I doubt he'll want to come anywhere near the 'troublemaker' for awhile yet._

_Lucy_

"So does this mean she wants to talk on Friday night?" Dinah had to ask.

"I don't know. It doesn't specify that very clearly. I would assume she would say 'on Friday night' in that case instead of 'through Friday night'. But I'm guessing that was her intent."

"Okay. That's fine. That way we can tell Dumbledore about Sarepta tonight like we planned."

Severus sighed, taking the note from her; "You know what this means, don't you? I get to 'snake-sit' while you gallivant around with your friend and your ridiculous Muggle contraptions."

Dinah had to laugh, leaning over to nuzzle his neck and play with his buttons; "You know, you _were _invited too."

"Mm, yes, but... Dinah, is your classroom door closed?" he demanded as his hand wandered to clutch her hip.

"Oh. No," she frowned and drew back. "Guess you don't want to come near your troublemaker, after all?"

"No, it's the Muggle contraptions that I don't want to come near. You can give Lucy my regrets. Besides, I don't like leaving your snake alone too many nights."

"I keep telling you she's not _my _snake. And she did nothing last night. Your potions were completely safe like I said. We need to get some food to her, though. Maybe Godric will bring me one of his 'presents' tonight and I can steal it from him and give it to her."

"That doesn't sound very friendly."

"Ah, he never eats them half the time anyway, that cat," she smiled and stepped down from her desk. "Now, I _do _have office hours and I believe that you are probably quite busy as well."

"Yes. I'll meet you at dinner and then we'll speak to the headmaster afterwards?"

"Sounds like a plan to me."

* * *

"I am glad that you seem to be on the right path with Tommy, Dinah. I expected nothing less of you." Dumbledore smiled, and then sighed. He had followed their explanation with focus, but with only mild interest, nodding every now and again but generally seeming more distant than he ever had before. "I am sorry," he said, voicing Dinah's thoughts. "I seem to be more distracted than normal today. Perhaps it is the lingering storm."

Severus's gaze drifted towards the windows far behind the headmaster's desk, where sheets of rain fell in a half-lighted sky, and then he looked back to Dumbledore; "If I may make an observation, headmaster, I think you are right. You _have _been behaving as though you were brought back by the ring."

"Yes..." Dumbledore's eyes drifted down to his steepled fingers, contemplating things they could only imagine.

"However," Severus's voice was now a bit harsher; "I don't believe that you should be."

Dumbledore met Severus's gaze at that point, looking surprised that his young friend had called him out in such a manner. "I see."

He sighed; "I don't think that that ancient magic could have been wrong. Look at me. I had considered that option for myself and look how wrong I was? I have not told you this yet, headmaster, but I am in love with Dinah."

"Severus!" the normal light entered the old man's eyes again at those words.

"Yes," Severus smiled along with Dinah. "Of course, you guessed that early on. You did not say love specifically, but I quickly figured out what you were implying when you continually encouraged me to 'be more open' to Dinah's friendship. I was quite resistant to the idea, if you recall."

"Very stubbornly so, in fact," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"Yes, well, even had you not suggested it, I would eventually have found her. That's why I was reborn. More than that, it's why I couldn't allow myself to die. I think we summon that old magic to us, in a way, when we know we have something we _absolutely must _live for. Of course, that is only my interpretation. I do know that I had to live, though. That much is certain. And if you are here now, you had to live, too."

"But for what reason?"

"Is it so hard to find one? You encouraged me to find Dinah, but I would have done so without that encouragement. The moment I first saw her I knew there was something there. She was striking in a way I could not place. I would have continued to approach her."

"Perhaps," the headmaster looked grateful every time the conversation drifted away from the subject of his own problems; "I just felt you needed a little push."

"Always working hard for others, aren't you?" Severus smirked.

Dinah smiled; "If it helps, he pushed me, too. Kept encouraging me to continue our debates and keep talking with you. Right from the beginning."

"Indeed?" Severus's lips curved into a small smile as he faced Dinah. "That's interesting to know."

"Isn't it?" she chuckled, turning back to the headmaster. "But Severus has a point. Love seems to be the overwhelming reason for these rebirths. For people resisting death in order to come back to someone they care about. Someone who needs them. We have had people returning for lovers, a child, and a brother. Couldn't you? For family or for...?" she left it hanging.

The headmaster smiled sadly; "No. that is not an option for me. I have no family save my brother, and he and I, though often at odds, have come to what amounts to a very mild understanding. Other forms of love are not open to me. I am old, and such things have long been no part of my path."

"Age shouldn't matter," Dinah murmured.

"And it does not, as a matter of fact," Dumbledore chuckled, meeting her gaze. "Your usual kindness and understanding is encouraging. But I have other reasons for avoiding such entanglements."

"You're sure that can't be why you were reborn?" she had to check once more.

"I am certain," his smile was mild; his blue eyes the tiniest bit reminiscent. "I did love once, but I am afraid he let me down rather terribly."

"He?" Dinah didn't miss the masculine pronoun in that sentence. Although she had never thought about it before, it was for some reason unsurprising that Dumbledore would have that orientation. Severus didn't look any more surprised than she did.

"Yes. He." The headmaster simply smiled, looking almost amused at her realization.

"Grindelwald," Severus declared, as though that answer had been quite obvious to him his whole life.

"Ah, Severus," Dumbledore turned his smile to his young friend. "As usual, your powers of deduction are most impressive. Yes. When I was a very young man I loved Gellert. For a few blissful months I indulged in a dream world where he felt the same, but his apparent return of my affections was an elaborate ruse. He used me only to further his own sinister purposes. My blindness to his true nature was to be my downfall. Not to mention the ultimate cause of my sister's death. And so I cannot love again."

"The ring. Your estrangement from your brother. Lily's letter about your friendship with the man according to Bathilda Bagshot." Severus listed his evidence.

"Bathilda was his aunt," the headmaster nodded. "And yes. My brother. The ring. There are tiny pockets of truth to be found in Rita Skeeter's book, although very few."

"What about the ring?" Dinah had to confess that she wasn't following that part of the conversation.

"You tried to bring back your dead sister," Severus said, still speaking to the headmaster.

"I did. In a foolish hope for forgiveness. Forgiveness for becoming so wrapped up in my shining future with Gellert that I neglected her needs. And of course, for that fateful argument between the three of us – Aberforth, Gellert, and I – that led to her death. So many spells firing. It is impossible to know which one of us killed her."

"That's terrible," Dinah whispered. Never having read Rita Skeeter's book, she had had no idea of the tragedies that had befallen her headmaster in his past.

"Indeed," he sighed. "Dinah, I once joined in Gellert's goals. There was a time when I, like him, wanted wizards to rule over Muggles, wanted to change the world 'for the greater good'. I thought control was the answer. But the answer was understanding between groups, as you have always advocated. Both you and Severus are better human beings than I ever was."

"That is irrelevant, headmaster," Severus murmured. "You have atoned for such things. You are now filled with understanding. You are the one who changed the Muggle Studies class structure. You are the one who hired Dinah, likely the most idealistic human being that ever walked the face of the earth, for the sake of understanding between groups. You have surely been forgiven by your sister, regardless of who killed her."

"I thank you, Severus. But I still cannot fully see that." He sighed. "I seem only to behave foolishly when my past and my family is involved. Which is why I have been constantly reminded of it as the truth of the current matters continue to elude me. I should be able to tell you both exactly what you need to do, but I cannot. I can not see as far as I normally can. Almost exactly as I can never see the answers to my own problems. To any of the things that appear to me in the Mirror of Erised. Including that last image..."

"The last image. You keep mentioning that," Severus said.

"Yes, because it is the deepest source of my guilt. The reason I fear so strongly that my sister has not forgiven me. I have told Harry only half of the truth. That I see my family in the mirror. Myself, my mother, father, and brother. And my sister, alive and well. But I also see another. Try as I might, he will not leave the mirror."

"You see Gellert Grindelwald," Dinah said softly.

"Yes," the headmaster closed his eyes, guilt washing over his features. "He is there. Always there in the mirror. Smiling as though he is a part of our family. But if it had not been for him, my sister would not have died. I am happy to try and forgive him. Harry saw a vision of Voldemort killing Gellert in his Nurmengard prison, and assures me that my old friend eventually felt some remorse for the horrible actions of his life. He may even have tried to protect my grave through whatever tiny bit of respect he had remaining for me, his defeater and his old friend. I do not mind accepting that; I am even happy about it.

"But I should not still love him. If I still love him..." he sighed and shook his head. "How would Ariana feel if she knew that no matter how hard I try to erase it, somewhere deep down inside of me I still see him as a part of the picture? I still love him despite what he did to us. Can you understand that kind of guilt?"

"Yes, headmaster," she admitted. "But we can't help the people we love. Shouldn't it be enough that you see your sister happy as well? That you see Grindelwald happy with her, kind to her? You don't want him to kill her. You wish that he could have been a happy part of your life. She could not begrudge you for that."

"You may be right, Dinah, but I cannot see that. When it is Gellert or when it is my family, I can never see. Much like I cannot see the answer to what we are all facing right now. In my rebirth there are now, apparently, many things that I cannot see."

* * *

"Here," Dinah murmured, placing a dead mouse by the tail on the dungeon floor in front of Sarepta. "It's not still alive. My cat caught it and so I brought it over here. I hope that's okay."

"It's fine. Thank you," Sarepta took the rodent into her mouth, unhinging her jaws so that she could devour it. The curious thing about parseltongue was that snakes could speak it even while eating; "You seem unhappy."

"We're okay. We just found some new things out that are a little hard to process, that's all," she turned away from the snake, letting her finish her meal in peace, and sat on the couch next to Severus, who was idly flipping through a book but not really reading anything on the pages. They hadn't said much since leaving Dumbledore. "Did you know all of that about the headmaster's past?"

He sighed, closing the book and setting it aside. "Very little. Something small mentioned here or there, and the contents of Rita Skeeter's book, although half of it was lies and exaggerations. And I knew he and his brother just barely got on with each other. But no, I did not know all of those circumstances."

"It's so sad. No wonder he's confused about his rebirth. It's so unnerving... the fact that he barely knows more about what is going on right now than we do, if he even does know anything more."

"Don't I know it," he frowned, sliding his arms around her. "But I still think he's here for a reason. Maybe he has to come to terms with this issue of his, I don't know. But you are right. We can't help our feelings if we love someone. We can hide from them, but why bother? I wish I hadn't hid from how I felt about you as long as I did."

"Me too. But at least you made it," she laid her head on his shoulder. "So then, whatever he needs to do, Dumbledore can make it too."

"I hope. Because I want him to need to be alive, Dinah. I need for what I did to him to be somehow... erased."

"Oh, Severus," she lifted her head, trailing a strand of his hair through her fingers. "I know. I know you feel that way. But he did ask you to kill him. You did nothing wrong."

"I still want to erase it. If he was supposed to die and I did the right thing, then why did he get wrenched back to life only to suffer longer? If he wasn't supposed to die and I killed him anyway, then I am the one who did something wrong, but if he's happy again then maybe it doesn't matter anymore. The old magic surrounds those killed via evil means. Evil means, Dinah. Unnatural means. What does that say about me?"

"What does being a parselmouth say about me?" she smiled, sliding her fingers into his hair; "If I'm not evil then you certainly aren't, Severus. You did what he asked and he has always been grateful, regardless of what happened afterwards. We just have to trust that everything is happening the way it's supposed to happen."

He closed his eyes for a moment, nodding; "Yes. I suppose."

"Love you," she murmured, pressing her lips to his forehead.

"And I you," he finally managed a smile, cuddling close. "This, at least, was definitely supposed to happen."

"I'm so glad of it," she glanced over at their new companion, nearly finished with her mouse at this point, and then turned back to Severus. "I think if we go into the bedroom and place silencing charms Sarepta will think nothing of it. Animals don't really attach any sort of strings to sex, anyway. Are you comfortable with that?"

"I think I can be," he nodded. "If she's staying here for the next two weeks, I don't know that we'll always be thinking straight enough to go all the way to your rooms when the desire hits us down here."

"Two weeks? It will definitely hit us at some point," she smiled, standing from the couch and pulling him into the bedroom with her.

* * *

Dinah sighed, curling up a little closer against Severus in bed, listening to the rain and wishing she could stay here with him all night. But there were other things hanging over her head that she couldn't ignore. "It's a class night and the storm is dying down, and I have so many horrible papers to sort through and grade. I should probably go back to my rooms, I guess. You're okay with Sarepta staying down here?"

"If she continues her current behavior pattern, I suppose not," he hugged her to him; "Do you really have to go?"

"I wish I didn't have to," she whispered, rubbing her head up against his shoulder. "But my animals are getting lonely and I do have a lot to do."

"You're staying with Lucy tomorrow."

"Yes, and if I stay away two nights my animals will be quite neglected. You can always join me, but you have that meeting with Eugene early in the morning..."

He sighed. "Yes, and I also have papers to sort. I suppose I must let you go for tonight. But someday I will animal-proof these dungeons so that you can bring your infernal zoo down here and stay with me forever."

She flushed and tilted her head up to kiss him; "I would like that very much."


	125. Attempts

A/N: I have broken 200 reviews! Yay! Thanks so much, everyone, for your reviews and your continued interest in the story :) - please keep reading and reviewing! I have also posted another chapter of the Severus POV co-story, 'His View of Things', which can be accessed via my profile! :)

* * *

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE

Attempts

* * *

Dinah knocked on Lucy's door Friday evening, her whole collection of Muggle electronics levitated and floating behind her, giving Lucy quite a wide range of choices if she did say so herself. It had been awhile since she'd watched a movie, what with everything that had been going on. She also found that she had a strong desire to play a video game.

"Hi!" Lucy said upon opening the door as her cat ran up to rub against Dinah's legs. "Sorry," Lucy apologized for Dora, and looked back behind Dinah at the electronics. "Wow, you certainly brought a bunch of stuff with you."

"Well, I couldn't decide," she grinned. "I didn't know what you'd think would be most fun. Hi, Dora," she leaned over and lifted up the cat. "Guess I could have brought Godric. Want me to go back and get him?" she asked Lucy.

"If you'd like, but you might want to come in and put your things down first," Lucy smiled, stepping back from the door.

Dinah let the things follow her inside, levitating them over so that they landed on the floor by the couch. After a quick race back to her rooms she had snagged her large cat and was back, placing him on the floor where he and Dora promptly ran off to Lucy's bedroom together. "They like sleeping under beds," she smiled. "They did that in my rooms when she snuck over that time. Didn't realize she was even there for ages!"

Lucy laughed, "Hopefully that's all they're doing. You'll never know Dora's around until she wants something though. She's sneaky like that." She chewed at her lip for a few moments before speaking, "So…the storm was still around Wednesday."

Dinah nodded. "And yesterday, too. Through this morning, in fact, although it wasn't as bad. Tommy is... doing better, I think," it was her turn to chew at her lip, wondering when would be a good time to try and tell her friend about her abilities.

"That's…good. I heard Bella again Wednesday night," she said, softly.

"I see," Dinah agreed, a little concerned at Lucy's tone. "What happened? Were you okay? Sirius was there at least, right?"

"Yeah, he was. It was…different. She sounded different. Not so angry, more pleading. She said, 'my Lord' like she was looking for him."

"Looking for him..." Dinah thought this through for a moment, feeling like she was supposed to get something out of it. And then it hit her as she looked up at her friend with wide eyes. "Lucy, thank you! Do you know what this means? The other voice!"

"Um, other voice? I'm sorry I've got no clue what you're talking about. Should I?"

"Oh," Dinah laughed. "No. Sorry. Listen. The flayed baby – the evil part of Voldemort – when it's around or during these dark storms Tommy and I hear some sort of... well, whispering voices." Whispering parseltongue voices, but Lucy didn't need to know that at this exact moment. "They're quite sinister, I think connected to the dark magic. But Tommy has been telling me for a long time now about another voice he sometimes hears. But not an evil voice... one that is frightened by the darkness too. Last time I talked to him he said he thought the other voice wants to come close. I bet that's Bella! Her connection to Voldemort is reaching Tommy."

"Then that's good isn't it? It means she's moving on, or I'm forgiving her, or whatever! Oh, that is such a relief, especially after what I figured out that night," Lucy said, sighing and plopping on the couch.

"Yes, I think if she's trying to get close to him maybe you're allowing her to do that a little. Not holding her back so much with your thoughts of her. I don't know how she figures into all of this exactly but she definitely forged a very strong connection with her Dark Lord." Dinah sat next to Lucy on the couch. "So what is it you figured out that night?"

"Well," Lucy said, "We were lying in bed and I got to thinking. She didn't really hurt Sirius, not when she killed him anyway. It's not like she tortured him first or left him to die a slow, painful death. He was okay. I was the one that wasn't okay. She hurt me. I mean, I don't think she killed him to torture me or anything. After all I never even met her really and as far as I know there was no reason for me to even register as anything significant to her. But she still hurt me. I was the one left hurting and alone and she did that. I'm angry about that, not so much about his death really."

"Oh, I see," Dinah nodded, glad that her friend had really been searching herself and figuring out these answers. "I understand that. It's good that you finally realized that. And it's strong, too. Facing down all your worries to see them for what they really are. That's the first step towards recovery. And I think Bella probably sensed it, too."

"I hope so," Lucy sighed, "I don't have to like her, but I don't want to harbor any ill will towards her either. Now, tell me," she grinned, "has Severus recovered from my touching of his potions?"

"Um... yes..." Dinah paused, thinking back on the incident and also about their new guest that did not see any reason to touch her boyfriend's potions. "Uh... Lucy?"

"Hmm?" She asked, looking over the arm of the couch at the things Dinah had brought.

"I, um..." she swallowed hard. Now was as good a time as any to tell her friend, right? After all, Lucy had taken her into her confidence about the Bellatrix realization. Of course, this would be easier if her friend didn't seem so distracted by her Muggle electronics. "I... I wanted to... well, I'm just... um..." Dinah had a sudden vision of the students all staring at her in her first year, the boy the snake had been approaching looking at her with those frightened, accusatory eyes. She saw the same reactions from the scene in the pensieve when Harry Potter's parselmouth abilities had been discovered. She remembered Filch killing the snake and Tommy telling her about the women at the orphanage who had done the same thing. She heard people mocking her, saw them frightened of her, and very quickly lost her resolve. "Um... well, what do you want to try out this time?" she plastered a smile on her face and gestured to the electronics.

Lucy's brow wrinkled from noticing Dinah's odd initial behavior. But she didn't press the matter; rather pointed to one of Dinah's video game systems. "Well, what's this?"

"I was hoping you might ask about that one!" Dinah grinned, reaching for it. "Let's try it out. It's called a video game. Like a movie, but _you _control what happens on the screen by pushing these buttons," she indicated the buttons on one of the controllers.

Lucy pushed a button on the remote Dinah had placed in her hand and frowned, "Nothing happened."

"Oh, honestly, Lucy," she laughed, levitating the remainder of the system and the television over onto the coffee table to get it set up properly. "How many times do we have to do this kind of thing before you realize that we have to turn it _on _first?" They laughed, and Dinah went about introducing Lucy to the wonder of video games.

* * *

Dinah unlocked the dungeon doors early Saturday morning and crept inside. She had just bid Lucy farewell, her friend on her way to Hogsmeade and Dinah on her way to her own favorite place. She waved a hello to Sarepta who was warming herself in front of the lamp they left lit at night for her, and headed into the bedroom. Severus was curled up under the covers, clutching his pillow. It was still too early on the weekend for him to be awake. She very carefully climbed into the bed next to him and pressed her body up against his, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Mm, my Dinah..." he murmured, his arms clutching at her but him very clearly still asleep.

Dinah buried her face in his chest, unable to stop smiling as she inhaled his scent. She recalled the first time she had heard him speak her name in sleep, back when they had spent Christmas at Grimmauld Place with Lucy and Sirius. It was the moment she had decided that she loved him. That had been long before they had become intimate. It had even been before he'd decided that there was no way he could love her as much as he'd loved Lily. And yet, hers was the name he'd spoken. Then just as he did now, when he loved her more than he'd ever loved Lily. Somehow, she did believe him when he said that he had loved her even back then. She had hid from it for fear that she would be wrong or disappointed. But she trusted his love now. Easily.

She didn't know quite how long she'd been lying there when his touch became more focused and she felt him bury his face in her hair and inhale. "Well. This is certainly something nice to wake up to."

Dinah smiled, tilting her head up to meet his eyes; "I'm glad I could pleasantly surprise you."

"How did your day with Lucy go?"

"Not bad," she sighed. "I, um... tried to tell her that I was a parselmouth."

"Oh," he frowned. "And?"

"I couldn't do it," she admitted, resting her head on his chest and fiddling with the front of his nighttime robes. "I got close, but then I just couldn't."

"You'll get there," he murmured, running his fingers through her hair. "You started to make the effort. I think that's an important step."

"I hope so," she sighed again; "Well, how was your day with Sarepta?"

"She minded her own business, I minded mine. Occasionally we stared at each other. It's awkward, but I suppose I am getting slowly used to having a snake share my quarters."

"Good. I need to talk to Tommy today."

"What?" he tilted her chin up so that she could face him. "What would make you suggest that on a day that there is no dark storm?"

"I don't know," she frowned, realizing that he was right. There was no dark storm, so why...?

"I just know he'll be there," she finally answered. "I spoke those words because of that. Because I feel it."

"If you're able to talk to him on days like this then it must mean this thing is heading toward a close."

"That's what I keep thinking. I know I've mentioned it to you at least once."

"You have. This is very clear evidence of that, I suppose..."

"Right. I can only hope it's headed towards a good close. I guess that depends on how the conversations with Tommy, Sarepta, and I continue to go. And if I can make him happy enough to fight off the flayed baby and save them both."

* * *

Dinah inhaled the fresh scent of spring as she walked out onto the muddy Hogwarts grounds on Sunday. Due to the dark storms and warnings, there were fewer students out and about as of late, even on nice days. That was fine, though. Her positive conversations with Tommy and Sarepta yesterday and today had put a fresh spring in her step. She didn't even mind too much wandering alone while Severus had a Sunday meeting with the ever-sneaky and annoying Eugene. Then again, if he was with her, they could probably do a lot of fun things together without students to worry about.

She pushed away that disappointment with the thought that she might look around for new, convenient places for them to hide when they were outside. Good, isolated spots for kissing or perhaps even more, hidden from the probing eyes of students. Today was the perfect day to do that. Plus, this was the time of year when the snakes really started getting active again, and given that it was a nice sunny day there would probably be some around. And since she had been thinking so much about and using parseltongue so often lately she was being more cautious than usual about snake presence. If there were a lot of students around and she made a mistake like she had with Wortham and Lee in September...

Dinah sighed, thinking back on it. She hadn't been cautious then. Her time away from the wizarding world had made her forget how careful she had to be on the grounds when it came to snakes. How prevalent they could be. Even now, she noticed one slithering around a rock in the distance by some trees. And if she headed out towards the Forbidden Forest she would no doubt find many of them sunning themselves on rocks by the edge. No, now she would not forget again. On the other hand, perhaps somehow she wouldn't have to worry about that soon, if she could dispel the stigma.

A sharp exclamation of 'oh no!' startled her out of her reverie, but she could see no one around her. A few steps in the direction of the noise, though, had her stumbling upon a scene which caused a hollow fear to arise in the pit of her stomach. An adder was facing down a fox, one of its natural predators. The snake was coiled up in fear and in defense, ready to strike if necessary, while the fox crouched with its teeth bared in response. Yet Dinah could tell that both animals were frightened, neither knowing what to expect.

The snake was one she had not met before, but it was the one that had made the exclamation. And with its extra long, almost unnaturally bright orange fur, she knew that the fox was Lucy.


	126. Revealed

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX

Revealed

* * *

The snake might bite Lucy. Only because it was afraid and thought Lucy could be a predator. Dinah highly doubted that Lucy knew anything about killing and eating snakes, fox or no fox. Her friend had not, as she understood it, been an animagus for that long, and there had surely never been any reason for her to learn to survive on natural foods as Sirius apparently had.

This whole thing could turn ugly if she didn't intervene right away. And yet she was afraid. Perhaps as frightened as the two creatures in front of her. She had not expected this, not expected a situation to crop up where she would be forced to use parseltongue in front of somebody that she both knew and could not _Obliviate_ without feeling horribly guilty about it later.

It was like a cruel twist of fate, almost like this was supposed to happen. What with her unsuccessful attempt to tell Lucy on Friday and her recent decision to use Sarepta in talking with Tommy, all of this snake stuff at once just felt too strange to be a coincidence. At the moment it almost felt like a part of her prophecy.

Then again, maybe this was a blessing in disguise. Maybe if she made it very clear with her actions that she was not egging the snake on but rather asking it to leave Lucy alone, maybe... just maybe... it would be all right this time.

She took a deep breath, steeling herself for the worst just in case. She had to protect herself from disappointment in case Lucy never wanted to speak to her again. But maybe that wouldn't happen this time. After one more deep breath, she spoke to the snake; "Excuse me?"

The snake, hearing its language spoken, turned to her with relief, perhaps expecting an ally. The fox, on the other hand, turned as well, its ears pricking up and its eyes widening, but its expression otherwise unreadable. It certainly wasn't running up to put its paws on her and ask to be petted or trying to play, like normal, but Dinah had to ignore that for now. She had to concentrate on the snake.

"Oh. You are a human?" the snake, a young female, tilted her head at Dinah, curious but not frightened.

More parseltongue would come out of her mouth now, solidifying her role as a parselmouth beyond any shadow of a doubt, but she had to focus. Just focus. She smiled at the snake and – very slowly – knelt down on the ground and extended her hand; "Yes. You don't have to be afraid. Of me or of the fox. If you wouldn't mind just backing up very slowly and coming here, I will protect both of you. That fox is not a fox, but a human. She is not going to attack you." She ignored the further widening of Lucy's eyes and what she assumed could only be a frightened or at least shocked expression, and waited for the snake's response.

The snake turned to look at Lucy, whose eyes remained locked on Dinah for the time being. "Oh. A magical, animal-changing human?"

"Yes," Dinah said softly. "She is my friend and just as frightened of you as you are of her. I fear she might be frightened of me too, because I'm speaking to you, and that holds a stigma. But I want to change that. I think if you made it very clear that you were backing off, and that you and I are friendly, she might realize that both of us mean no harm. Can you help me? Can we do that?"

"I... think so," the snake murmured, backing away, drawing Lucy's attention for a brief moment.

"Good. Just slither back a few feet or so and then come over here? Good, thank you so much," Dinah murmured as the snake slithered up and crawled onto her hand and halfway up her arm, Lucy's still-shocked gaze watching the entire thing unfold.

"She still looks scared," the snake said.

"I know," Dinah blinked back tears, forcing herself to remain calm as she stood – very slowly – from the ground, the snake still coiled around her arm. "Let's go a little bit to the side and I'll release you into the grass over there. You can slither away very slowly in the opposite direction. Go find a safe place. Then I think... both of us might be okay." _I hope_, she added inwardly.

"Okay, I can do that," the snake agreed. "Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome," she smiled down at the kind creature she was holding, wondering as she often did why anyone could hate such good, innocent animals. They were just trying to make their way in the world like any creature - even any human - would. There was nothing sinister about them at all.

She forced herself to meet Lucy's wide, bright fox eyes again and managed a tiny smile and nod, tilting her head towards the snake, hoping to tell her friend that she was fully aware of what she was going to do and had every intention to protect the both of them. She stepped backwards a bit, not wanting to seem like she was coming forward in any kind of an attack, and then walked sideways for a few moments, her eyes still locked with Lucy's, until she hit the grass. Then she – again very slowly – turned around, kneeling down and extending her arm to the ground, letting the snake slither off of her and disappear into the grass with a final 'thank you'.

Dinah took a moment to make sure her breath was even, steeling herself again before turning back to look at Lucy, forcing herself not to cry from the overwhelming fear building in her chest. This was the first time she had purposefully spoken parseltongue in front of another person. It was definitely a new experience, and one which she hoped she was ready for, regardless of the outcome.

Dinah smiled and made her voice calm as she spoke to her fox friend whose head was now cocked at her. "Lucy? You can transform back into a human now if you want. I told the snake that you weren't going to hurt her, and she's not going to come back. She thought you were a predator, but I said you were an animagus. You're both safe now."

Lucy looked off in the direction of the lake and then around the grounds as though searching to see if anyone was watching. She didn't transform, just took a couple of cautious steps towards Dinah and sat. Right in a mud puddle.

"Oh. You don't want to transform?" were the only words Dinah could form.

Lucy looked over to the lake again. But then she turned back and returned to her human form, still sitting in the puddle wearing loose shorts and a long-sleeved shirt, looking like it was probably what she had worn to bed.

"So... um... you're safe now," Dinah murmured, knowing that she was repeating herself but unsure what else to say as she stared down at her hands, her thumbs twiddling in her lap.

"Yeah…thanks. I-I didn't see it there and almost stepped on it."

Dinah's head shot up again at Lucy's words. Deep down she knew she probably should have expected them, and yet actually hearing them was so overwhelming that she was no longer able to stop the tears. "Thank you? You're saying thank you?" She bowed her head again and sniffled, wiping her eyes; "I'm sorry. It's just that you're not supposed to say thank you. You're supposed to run away screaming. Everyone always runs away screaming..."

"Have you ever known me to run away screaming?" Lucy asked quietly, "Pound my fist to bits and cry hysterically, yes, but not running and screaming. It-it makes me uneasy. I won't lie, but it's, well, Dinah you're just not a bad person. You can't be."

Dinah managed to laugh a little and hugged herself, still not quite ready to look back at her friend's face. "Thanks. No, I guess I never _have _known you to run away screaming from anything. And it's okay if you're uneasy. Everyone is. I just... hope you still want to be my friend. For what it's worth you're the first person I've ever told – or shown – on purpose. Everyone else finds out by accident. Usually I have to _Obliviate _them..."

"What about Severus?" Lucy asked, shifting uncomfortably in the mud puddle.

She shook her head; "He knows. But I didn't tell him on purpose. He found out by accident and I couldn't _Obliviate _him any more than I could _Obliviate _you, no matter what your reactions. But he..." she smiled a little, "he was the first person to truly accept me for it, besides Dumbledore. Right away, he accepted me. He also says I'm not a bad person. Sometimes it's easier for other people to say it than it is for me to believe it."

"I know how that is," Lucy said, and Dinah finally looked at her to see that she was nodding; "I sometimes think that I've turned into a big coward, since his death," she nodded out toward the lake. Dinah looked and could now see that Snuffles was out there, playing with the Giant Squid of all things.

"I mean I used to be an Auror," Lucy continued, "you don't get approved for that job if you're a coward and before I didn't really feel like one often., but now I do all the time. The Weasleys, Sirius, Harry, Hermione, the Lupins; they'll all tell me I'm not but I'm not so sure I believe them."

She nodded, smiling a little at the sight of the two creatures playing out in the lake. "We're always hardest on ourselves, I think. For what it's worth, I don't think you're a coward. You endured a lot of hardships recently, but everything you learned as an Auror didn't just disappear. I remember how fast you reacted on that day when Severus and Sirius had that confrontation..."

Lucy smiled, "Thanks. I got in trouble for that little stunt I pulled actually and generally stepping between two parties intent on blowing each other to bits is not advisable but I know there was no way Sirius was going to do anything with me standing in the way," she shivered as a cool breeze blew through.

"Um," Dinah smiled and pointed; "You're a little muddy."

"Yeah," Lucy said, laughing and holding her hands palms-out so Dinah could see the mud there too, "I am. I was trying not to get too muddy but then you wanted me to transform…Actually do you think you could help me with something?"

Dinah sniffled a final time and tucked a few loose strands of hair back behind her shoulder, feeling recovered and relieved. "Help you?"

Lucy grinned, "Yes, help me. I can't exactly go into Hogwarts looking like this nor do I think it's a wise idea to go in as a fox. Jania and Tad have already seen Snuffles wandering around. Septimus couldn't keep his mouth shut and told most of Slytherin we had a large dog that attacked him that one night. I don't want the students to see the pair of us together, that would just be too odd to brush off, and we were heading for the castle. Snuffles could walk in beside you but would you mind carrying me, hiding me in your robes and taking me to my rooms. The door's not locked so letting us in wouldn't be a problem. We could always go back to Hogsmeade and I can change if you'd rather not…"

"Um, no, I could do that. Sure. I think... well, could you tell Sirius about me being a parselmouth on your own? I think being present when one person finds out is enough for one day. You should tell him though. I'm trying to be more open to it. Dumbledore wants me to try and end the stigma. I don't know that I can do it but I'm going to try. It helps with more people on my side, though. I tried to tell you yesterday, but I just couldn't do it..."

"Ah, so that's what all the stuttering was about. I wondered. Sure, I can tell him as long as you're sure you want me to? I'm sure he'll be fine with it. I mean he's fine with Harry; his abilities went away but I don't see that it's much different. Do you think you can help me get my puppy out of the lake? I'd sort of like to transform back now if that's all right with you? It's chilly, I'm wet and not at all dressed for the weather."

"Sure, go ahead. Um... Lucy?"

"Yeah? Lucy questioned.

"Thank you," she said softly. "For trying to understand. I didn't ask for this ability, but I do like it. Snakes are good creatures and I enjoy talking to them. I just always wished it could be easier, that people would understand and not judge me for it. With Severus and you and hopefully Sirius too I'm finally getting that a little bit. So thanks."

"You're welcome," Lucy said before transforming back in to her fox, running up and putting her muddy front paws on Dinah's legs just as she stood up.

Dinah gave the adorable creature an indulgent smile even though she couldn't quite manage a squeal right now, and lifted her up, hugging her. "Thank you, Lucy," she said again, so happy that she now had another person – or animal - on her side.

Lucy yipped and snuggled in, then faced the lake and yipped again.

Dinah headed down an available path towards the lake, still trying to avoid the grassy area where she'd released the snake, just in case. She didn't want to destroy this delicate balance of understanding she had managed to obtain. Hopefully, Sirius would be accepting of her, too. When she made it to the shore she called for Snuffles, who was still swimming off in the distance.

Lucy watched from Dinah's arms as the dog turned and, seeing who had called him, began swimming back to shore. When he reached land, Sirius shook himself off, splashing them both. Lucy made an annoyed sound but he just stared at them with his tongue lolling out.

"Lucy wanted me to sneak her inside in my robes, while you walk beside me," Dinah said, wondering if Sirius-Snuffles would notice that she wasn't doing a whole lot of squealing today. "Is that okay with you?"

Snuffles nodded and rubbed up against her, making her wetter.

"Aww," she smiled and petted him on the head, then wiped her hand on the light outer robe she had put on today because of how muddy it was outside, drying it off. "You two are very cute, you know that?" She shifted Lucy around and tucked her under her arm, draping the edge of the outer robe over her, hoping she wasn't too uncomfortable. "We ready to go then?"

She felt Lucy shift in her robes and Snuffles barked agreement, so Dinah started heading towards the school with the dog trotting beside her. Soon they were inside the halls, passing a few students who shot them curious stares. She hoped there was no obvious lump under her robes indicating Lucy, but Snuffles just watched each of the students go by with his gaze locked on them. The Slytherin students seemed more apprehensive than students from other houses, probably because of what Septimus had been telling them, as Lucy had mentioned.

She stopped in front of Lucy's rooms and opened the door, stepping in and shutting it behind her before extracting Lucy from her robes and placing her on the floor next to Sirius. "You know, you really shouldn't leave your door unlocked. Oh well," she smiled and hugged them both at once, probably a little longer than necessary, but she didn't care at the moment. Standing back up she asked, "Do you need anything else?"

Lucy transformed back into her normal self, standing and wrapping a blanket around her to warm up with. "Nope, I think that's it, thanks. I do normally keep my door locked when I'm not here but I was a bit of a rush when I left and did it without thinking. Everything's going to be fine," she said, stepping close and hugging Dinah, "Now, go surprise Severus. I'm sure he'll welcome it."

"Thanks," Dinah murmured, closing her eyes. "Thanks so much. Yeah," she stepped back and smiled; "I'm sure Severus will welcome it. His meeting with Eugene should be over by now; he's probably fuming about it. I'll go see if I can ease the tension. See you both later," she gave them a wave and then headed off towards the dungeons.

The office was empty upon her entering, and so she knew that the meeting had to be over with. Severus never let Eugene further into his rooms, and that would be especially bad now that Sarepta was in there. She headed through the door to find him standing near a shelf, organizing some potions bottles and wearing an agitated expression, while Sarepta watched him from the top of the shelf where she was curled up, still in digestion mode from her meal on Friday.

She knew she had said she would ease the tension, but upon seeing Severus she couldn't resist running to him and throwing her arms around him, burying her face in his neck with the utter relief that one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do was now over... and okay.

"Dinah!" he exclaimed, flinching a little; "You're all wet... and muddy."

"That's from Snuffles and Lucy," she murmured her explanation.

He sighed. "Am I to assume you spent your afternoon walking around with those animals and probably squealing non-stop?" When she shook her head and didn't respond his tone changed and he lightly rested his arms around her; "Dinah? What?"

"Lucy knows."

"I see..." there was a pause. "And?"

"And she doesn't hate me. She still wants to be my friend."

"Ah," he lifted his fingers to idly play with her hair, his tone suggesting that he was smiling; "I truly didn't expect otherwise."

"I know," she exhaled and stepped back to meet his gaze. "Realistically, I probably didn't either, it was just... I'm so used to being terrified, you know? What are you doing?" he had placed a hand on her cheek and pushed her head a little to the left.

"You were speaking parseltongue," he said, looking amused as he gestured to the snake on the shelf who had been – apparently – in her line of sight. "The only thing I got was 'terrified, you know? What are you doing?'"

"Oh," she flushed, giggling a little and making sure she wasn't looking at Sarepta this time. "Sorry. I guess it was just surprising. I think deep down I knew Lucy would accept me, but the whole thing was scary. I'm just... feeling a lot of relief right now."

"I'm glad. Of course, now that means we can think of no reason to keep her out of the dungeons. I shall have to place permanent shield charms in front of my potions shelves."  
"You could do that," she laughed. "How was the meeting with Eugene?"

"As good as meetings with Eugene generally go," he sighed. "Nothing much to tell. I'm glad you're having a better day than I have been so far."

"Well, I'm sure we can rectify that," she grinned, and then something occurred to her. "Severus... I think there's something that I have to do."

"What's that?"

"I want to ask the headmaster if he can get Harry Potter here again. Now that I've told Lucy and she understands, and presumably Sirius will as well, I think – no, I know this is the next step. I need to tell him about my gift. There are some things I have to say, given his apparent relief at no longer having the ability. I think saying them will help me out a lot."

"You want to _request_ a meeting with Potter?" Severus's expression was fairly disgusted.

"Yes."

"Well, I suppose I can't stop you," he sighed. "Mention it to the headmaster on Monday if you absolutely must."


	127. Followed

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN

Followed

* * *

Dinah laughed; "Yes, _very _muddy. But I didn't mind. It's fun having friends who can turn into animals."

"It must be. I like animals. They're usually nicer than people, like Sarepta here," Tommy smiled, reaching over to rub underneath Sarepta's chin.

"Sometimes they can be," Dinah agreed. "They don't judge, that much is true."

"Then again, some of them will eat you," Sarepta offered with a chuckle. "Not judging, of course. Just trying to get food."

"Well, that's also true," Dinah laughed. "I don't think I'd make friends with a Nundu or a Norwegian Ridgeback. Although we have a loveable groundskeeper here who apparently did just that. The Norwegian Ridgeback that is, not the Nundu."

"That's funny. He must love animals."

"Oh yes, he loves them. A little too much, actually. Even though he does have his heart in the right place."

"What I like best about you two," Sarepta said; "And maybe other parselmouths as well, is that you understand that to like animals you also have to respect them. So many humans just assume that they can take any wild creature and make it into a pet or into their possession."

"Yes," Dinah agreed. "In both the Muggle and wizarding worlds you have people who try to adopt wild, exotic animals, even dangerous ones. They sometimes get so confident that they have tamed them that they forget about their real abilities, and then... well, they find that they were wrong. You can only tame a wild animal so much. It's not right to forget what they can do."

"I'm glad we all agree," Tommy smiled. "I think I have to go now. But I want to talk to you both again soon. It's so much fun being with people – and snakes – who understand you."

"Yes," Dinah smiled and gave her young friend a quick hug while Sarepta slithered across both of their shoulders. "It is." In a moment, Tommy was gone and Dinah sat back, lowering her knees all the way to the ground. "Well, I think that was a good session."

"Yes," Sarepta coiled around her neck, flicking her tongue out; "He is getting much happier. But I wonder if something is supposed to happen or not?"

"Yeah, me too," she admitted, standing up and replacing her hood over her head as Sarepta retracted herself to hide in the shadows. "There are fewer storms, but I don't know what if anything is happening to the flayed baby as Tommy gets happier. Is there even any way to know?"

"I suppose it may be too early to worry."

"Yes, it might be," Dinah agreed, forcing herself to take the snake's advice and not worry about it as she left the bathroom, wandering through the halls towards the dungeons. Turning a corner, she managed to run into Lucy.

"Dinah! Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"That's okay," Dinah said, feeling quite conscious of her suspicious, hooded appearance and the snake hiding on her shoulders. "Where were you headed?"

"I was just coming back from the dungeons where I was looking for you. What's up with your hood? It's not raining in the Great Hall is it?"

Dinah flushed and managed a giggle. "Um... no. I was talking to Tommy. With – well, will you come down to the dungeons with me? I'll show you there."

"Sure," Lucy grinned, "but are you sure I'm allowed back in Severus's rooms?"

"If you stay in human form, yes. Although he might grumble at you a bit. Come on," she led the way down to the dungeons, unlocking the door just as a noise issued from down the hall, a soft thump as of someone hitting a wall. "What was that?"

"He's finally killed Eugene and is trying to hide the body? Though admittedly he's not doing very well with the second part," Lucy teased.

Dinah had to laugh, but she didn't see anybody in the hallway. "Well, I hope not anyway. Oh well, let's get inside," she opened the door and they slipped in, walking through the dark office and into the living quarters. She walked to stand in front of the couch and faced Lucy, twiddling her thumbs as she did when she was nervous.

"So, are you going to show me?" Lucy grinned, "It's not something kinky is it? I don't mind helping you pick out lingerie or something but a little warning first would be good."

She laughed again; "No, it's nothing kinky. But it might be fun to go to a lingerie _store_ together at some point, be girly and all that. No, it's just... well, I've been trying to help Tommy and you know he's the missing good part of Voldemort. And Voldemort... shared my gift..." she hesitated as the subject came up again, especially as she hadn't talked to Lucy since the discovery two days ago.

"Oh. Right. I talked to Sirius about that. He said it worried him, but he agreed you weren't bad or evil or anything like that."

"I can deal with worry. It's not my favorite but it's better than hate..." she sighed, glad Sirius was okay with it but wishing that her two friends could be even _more _accepting. But perhaps that would come in time. "Well, parseltongue has been sort of a point where Tommy and I connected. He still has all the memories from before he split off from Voldemort, so he remembers when they killed the snakes he talked to at the orphanage. I myself had a similar experience. In my first year here one had come in from the rain and I talked to it, then Slughorn had Filch kill it. I was ostracized ever since..."

"Oh, Dinah that's horrible," Lucy said, "I can't imagine…"

"Thanks," Dinah smiled. "Don't worry, I'm really not trying to make this into anything dramatic like last time, I just... wanted to prepare you. I thought that it would be good for both Tommy and me if we talked about being parselmouths together in a completely non-hostile environment. I even got a snake for us to talk to. So..." she lowered her hood; "this is Sarepta."

Lucy stared at the snake for a moment before speaking, "Well, she…it's a she, I assume? She's kind of cute. That's not the one I almost…stepped on by accident is it?"

Dinah shook her head, glad her friend was still being so understanding about this; "No, she's a little older and bigger than the one you found. She's been living here since last Wednesday, staying in the dungeons with Severus and with me too when I'm down here. I can... introduce you if you don't mind hearing a little bit of parseltongue."

"I think I can manage," Lucy said.

"I'll be quick," Dinah promised, turning so she was looking at Sarepta; "This is my friend Lucy. She's a little nervous. Half afraid like people usually are, but probably a little more so than Severus was. Could you nod hello?"

"Yes," Sarepta agreed, turning to Lucy and nodding once; "Hello, Lucy."

"She says hello," Dinah smiled at her still slightly uneasy-looking friend. "She's really very friendly, but she keeps to herself a lot. Don't worry about her biting you. She'll just stay on the shelves and watch things going on around her."

"Hello," Lucy nodded back, "I like to keep to myself sometimes too. I only bite my fiancée and that's because he likes it." She knew she probably shared a bit too much but she was nervous.

Dinah laughed; "Do you want me to share that?"

"Um," Lucy laughed, a bit embarrassed, "if you want. She probably won't care but I didn't know what else to say."

"Lucy says hello," Dinah told Sarepta with a smile; "She likes to keep to herself too, so you two should get on well."

"I think so. She seems nice," Sarepta agreed, slithering onto a bookshelf after Dinah walked her over there and curling up at the top, just watching them.

"Sarepta likes you. Thinks you seem nice," Dinah smiled, turning back and settling into the couch. "I can't look at her though, because what I say will come out in parseltongue. I'm going to try and work on controlling it better in the future, which should be easier if I can ever get up the courage to tell the world and try to change their opinions." She shrugged, "Well, one step at a time I guess."

Lucy nodded, sitting on the other end of the couch, "Yes, that's become my philosophy of late."

Dinah nodded just as Severus came into the room. He stopped when he saw them and nodded his greeting to Lucy; "Here to move more of my things?"

She snorted, "I'm not that stupid. I assume you've warded everything by now and if I tried to move anything you'd hex me bald or something."

"Do not exaggerate," he offered a slight smile; "However, I do intend to block my shelves with shield charms the next time you choose to transform into that fox."

Lucy wrinkled her nose at him, "Oh, now I wasn't that bad."

"I will be the judge of that," his gaze shifted upward and Dinah assumed he was looking at Sarepta; "So I see you've met our other guest, then? She may seem sinister at first glance, but the snake does not mess with my potions."

"Yes," she rolled her eyes, "Sarepta seems very nice and I'm not sure she could mess with your potions even if she wanted to."

"Yes, but you're missing the point. The point is that she does not want to," Severus smiled, and Dinah was glad that even if Lucy didn't realize it he was actually joking with her about the situation that had happened awhile back. Although he had been frustrated to no end at the time and sort of still was, he was still managing to have some fun with it. It was odd, she thought, how comfortable they were both getting in these youthened forms. It was almost like it had always been this way.

"But," Lucy countered, "It's not really in a snake's nature to be mischievous like it is in a fox's. Being an animagus means you do take on some of the animal's characteristics and instincts when transformed."

"Yes, your 'attention hound' who got Dinah and consequently me soaked on Sunday has shown me that."

Lucy giggled, "Sorry. He's just so enthusiastic about things and you can't blame him entirely. I'm the one that got her all muddy."

"He was playing with the giant squid. That was very cute," Dinah grinned at Lucy.

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Yeah. I think he's starting to get bored."

"He's coming tomorrow... right? Should I introduce him to Sarepta?" Dinah found herself feeling a little nervous again.

"Yes, he's coming. You can introduce them if you'd like. If nothing else it will give him something new to talk to Rosmerta about. Last time I saw her, she told me he spends a lot of his time there."

"Oh, um," Dinah began as Severus perched next to her on the arm of the couch. "Well, I don't think he should be telling Rosmerta about me. I need to tell people but I'm trying to do one at a time here. I don't think I'm ready yet. I want to tell Harry first..."

"Right, sorry," Lucy apologized, embarrassed, "So, you want to tell Harry?"

"I fail to understand why," Severus grumbled.

Dinah nodded; "It's hard to explain. I think it'll make more sense when I can talk to him about it and get my thoughts out. I'm kind of annoyed with him about it, actually. I don't think I can make a difference in the situation until I can voice this properly. Then maybe I'll be brave enough – strong enough – to tell the rest of the world."

"Annoyed with Harry? But why? I'm sorry I don't really understand what you mean. I didn't really know him when his whole parseltongue thing came out so maybe I've been out of the loop or something."

"It's a parselmouth thing. You probably wouldn't understand," Dinah sighed. "Then again, apparently Harry doesn't understand either. It's not that I don't know where he's coming from, given that his parseltongue wasn't a natural ability, but... well I just need to talk to him. It's the way he worded it in his interview in the _Daily Prophet_ – that he was 'glad to lose it'. The ability, I mean. If all good people who can speak parseltongue keep up that attitude then nothing will ever change. His interview exacerbated that problem. In my opinion."

"Ah," Lucy nodded, "I think I understand where you're coming from. I don't think Harry meant it quite that way though. I think it was more that he was glad to lose that part of him that came from Voldemort, but I'm not him and I can't speak for him. Even if that is how he meant it that's not quite how it came out either."

"Yes. That's why I just need to talk to him about it."

"If you yelled at him a bit I wouldn't be opposed," Severus said amiably, looping his arms easily around her shoulders from behind.

She had to laugh; "I'm not surprised. But I'm sure if I don't yell at him you'll do it for me."

Lucy again rolled her eyes, "He's not that bad Severus. Really."

"I can only change my old views so much in one year," Severus said teasingly, placing a kiss on Dinah's cheek; "You two have done enough already."

Dinah smiled; "We tried our best."

"Yes," Lucy agreed, "we have. I'm sure we can keep working on it though, especially if we keep hanging around Dinah in animal form."

He sighed, shaking his head; "Then I believe I shall have to cast _Muffliato _on myself to block out the squeals."

* * *

"This looks like a good defensive spell, have you seen this one?" Mae stuck a book in front of Dinah at the library, beaming; "I think it's so great that you two are going to try and help the Aurors fight off that scary creature! I bet Hogwarts will be peaceful again in no time!"

Dinah smiled at the young girl as Severus rolled his eyes. Since she had returned Scrump-Yates's materials back to the student nearly two weeks ago, Mae and Andrew had been joining her and Severus when they were in the library every now and again, helping them out with their research. There was no reason to be secretive with the two children about looking up defensive spells and battle strategies, and Dinah found that it was useful to have a pair of extra eyes perusing the stacks for more information. To Severus's credit, he was actually quite civil to the children now, or at least as civil as he could be. If Dinah didn't know any better, she'd think that he actually _liked _them.

"Thank you," she said. "This does look helpful. But it's nearly lunch time. You two had better hurry if you don't want to miss the best food.

"Oh, you're right!" Andrew exclaimed, snatching the book he had been showing to Severus back to him, causing Dinah's boyfriend to snarl at him and pull it back. "Oh, sorry, forgot it wasn't mine," he flushed, sneezing at Severus and then turning back to Dinah. "They're supposed to be serving banoffee pie today. Everybody's going to eat it first and then it's going to go fast. Come on, Mae!" he grabbed the girl and they both ran out of the library.

"I'm surprised you're not rushing after them to get at that pie," Severus teased, taking their books and putting them into 'check out' and 'not check out' piles.

"It's okay. Being professors we can nag the house elves to make us more later if they're gone by the time we get there. I just want to finish reading this paragraph really quickly." She turned back to the book, skimming the section on the spell that Mae had found.

"It's odd, isn't it?" she heard Severus ask as she read; "That that girl accepted us right at our youthening and didn't take forever to get used to it like the rest of the students?"

"Mae's like that," Dinah smiled without looking up. "Granted, Andrew was never very mean about anything either."

"Mm. But he had more important things to worry about. Things that he seems to have escaped from now. I had compared myself to him initially, compared all of their interactions to my past..."

"I know you had," Dinah agreed, finishing the paragraph and looking up to meet his eyes.

"But the situation is completely different. I see that now. Andrew Speasy was able to fix his problem quite early and escape the things that were leading him down the wrong path. Something that I was never able to do. He is a good deal stronger than I was."

"But you're both different people," Dinah murmured her reassurance.

"I know. And we did live through different circumstances. I think Yates is quite a bit more accepting than Lily ever was. She's more like you."

Dinah smiled, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them again; "Thanks... although she's probably a lot tougher than I ever was, too."

"You're both different people," he repeated her earlier sentiment, his smile warm. "After all, I don't think I could imagine Mae Yates slapping Sirius Black across the face. Are you sure you aren't the tough one?"

She laughed; "Well, maybe it depends upon the circumstances. Either way, I'm glad we got to know those two."

"Yes... they have been helpful. An important part of my realizations about my past and my feelings for you. Although only one of many steps along the road, I am grateful for their contribution."

"I know."

"And of course for the help she's given us in our quest for answers to your prophecy."

"Yes," Dinah agreed; "If it wasn't for her I wouldn't know just how dire my situation is with Tommy. Now that I do, I've been able to at least try and make some headway. Yet I still don't know what I'm waiting for. How will I know if I've successfully rescued him from his fate?"

"I think that when it happens you'll know."

"If I can get there," she sighed.

"You'll get there," he stood and lifted the 'check out' pile, offering her another smile; "Shall we check these out and go to lunch then?"

"Yes, let's," she took the first couple of books from the top of the pile to lighten his load and they headed toward Madam Pince's desk together.

* * *

"A dog? There is a dog coming?" Sarepta slithered up to the top of a bookshelf and stared down at Dinah and Severus from it, clearly not pleased with this recent development.

"Not a real dog, an animagus," Dinah insisted. "And I don't know for _sure _if he'll be in dog form or not, he just might be. Don't worry; he's not going to hurt you. He can be a little... playful, but as he's really a human he's uneasy around snakes like most humans are. That's why I also want to introduce him to you."

"I shall attempt to deal with it," she sighed. "But as long as he is in dog form I am not leaving this shelf."

"Understandable," Dinah agreed, turning to face Severus.

"She seems to be on guard."

"She's nervous because there's a dog coming."

"Ah," that got him to smirk; "Well, it will be healthy for Black to be around someone who is afraid of him regardless of whether he is growling or behaving 'cutely'."

"He _can _behave cutely, can't he?" Dinah grinned, thinking about how adorable Snuffles could be when he got into attention hound mode.

"Stop that smiling," Severus growled, and she forced her face to fall. "That's better. Now, I suppose I shall summon dinner as they will probably be arriving soon."

A knock at the open doorframe from the office had Sarepta hissing "Dog!" and cringing back on the shelf.

Dinah shot her friend a reassuring smile and turned to see Lucy standing in the doorway with Snuffles at her side. "Hi. Come on in. It looks like dinner is pork chops with rice, peas, and apple pie for dessert!" she eyed the freshly set table, feeling her mouth begin to water.

"Mmm, apple pie. I like apple pie. Do you mind if we…?" she gestured to the door and then to Snuffles.

"Please, come on in and close the door. We just left it open for you. If you could close the office one too, I'd appreciate it. Sarepta is up on the shelves, Snuffles," she made sure not to look at the snake as she gestured. "I, um... wanted to introduce you, but she's scared since you're a dog. So she's going to stay on the shelf. Please don't frighten her."

Lucy left and closed the office door before coming back to close the inner door. While she was doing that Snuffles sniffed around the room. He paid particular attention to Dinah and Severus, sneezing when he sniffed the latter.

"Problem, Black?" Severus scowled at his old enemy.

Snuffles looked at him with an indignant expression before transforming into Sirius and grabbing Lucy around the waist, kissing her. "I've missed you," he said when he broke the kiss.

"I missed you too," she said, patting his arm, "Now, don't be rude. Say something to Dinah."

"Sarepta, you said? A snake friend of yours I presume?"

"Um... yes..." Dinah felt suddenly shy as Severus came to stand next to her. She turned a quick glance to see that Sarepta had crept to the edge of the shelf now that Sirius had transformed into a human again before turning back to the other couple. "She's helping me talk to Tommy."

"That's very…kind of her. I assume you haven't introduced her to your rat?"

"Oh. No," Dinah managed a nervous laugh. "No, she stays down in the dungeons away from the other animals. Helga would probably be a little big for her, anyway. But it's still better down here..." she turned to Sarepta and asked in quick parseltongue; "Say hello?"

"Hello," Sarepta nodded at Sirius.

"She says hello," Dinah said, turning back.

"Hello," he nodded back at Sarepta. "So, I take it our being invited down here means we aren't banned? Lucy told me we might be banned from the dungeons after she messed around with some potions."

"Oh, I did not!" Lucy blushed, "And I didn't 'mess around' with some potions I simply moved them to areas where they looked nicer."

"Looked nicer!" Severus demanded. "How do you determine... why is magenta and blue switching somehow nicer than where they were originally?" Dinah had to cover her mouth and stifle a giggle at his apparent incapability to understand that Lucy had probably not been speaking literally.

Lucy, in turn, rolled her eyes, "Aesthetically. Switched around like they were the colors around them then complemented each other wonderfully, rather than clashing as they had been before."

Severus's brow furrowed as he considered this; "You must have given it quite some thought, then. Are you artistically trained?"

"Oh, of course," Lucy said, looking like she was trying hard not to laugh, "After leaving Hogwarts I spent my time learning about the art of interior decorating."

Dinah stifled another giggle as that comment _finally_ seemed to get through to Severus and he flushed and glared at them both; "You are... 'messing with me' again, aren't you? The both of you!"

"Just a bit," Lucy said, sitting at the dining table, "It's just so much fun!"

Grumbling, Severus pulled back a chair and sat down; "This entire year is going to be the end of me. 'Two new professors', the headmaster says. I think nothing of it, of course, the Muggle Studies position was open, Wizarding Literature seemed rather frivolous to me but you were qualified to teach it. I expect to ignore both of you and look what happens!" He spooned some peas rather aggressively onto his plate.

"You can't ignore Lucy," Sirius said, grabbing a pork chop, "I tried."

"You did no such thing! I'd known you for maybe twelve hours and you were already inviting me to use your shower."

Dinah chuckled and shook her head; "You two. And don't try to pretend to complain, Severus. You know you wouldn't have it any other way."

"Perhaps not," he agreed with a slight smile, taking a pork chop of his own.

"Speaking of showers; have you two switched shampoos recently?" Sirius asked.

Dinah and Severus exchanged confused glances; "No," she said as her boyfriend shook his head. "We've been using the same stuff. In my rooms we use my kiwi-scented stuff and here we use the plain fresh scent stuff," she found herself flushing and noticed that Severus was a little bit, too. Washing each other's hair had become a fairly intimate act between the two of them, given Severus's special 'issue' and the fact that she was completely accepting of it. But surely Sirius could not have guessed that.

"What kind of question is that?" Lucy asked, turning to her fiancé.

"I'm not trying to be nosey," he insisted, "I smelled the ever suspicious scent of pomegranate shampoo on them is all."

Dinah dropped her fork, feeling her eyes widening as she exchanged another, less confused and more shocked glance with Severus; "Are we being followed?"

He frowned, turning to look back at Sirius; "Did the room smell of pomegranate shampoo or just us?"

"The scent was strongest on the pair of you but the room did smell a bit too," he said, taking a bite out of the pork chop.

Lucy looked around the table, worried, "So, what does this mean? Are you being followed? Is someone after you? Who? Why? Not Slughorn, surely. Maybe Eugene…"

"If Eugene smelled of that then Black would have gotten the scent sooner than this," Severus said. "It must be the test subject. We have yet to even see him or identify him and somehow he's been following us."

Lucy nodded, and Sirius asked; "Is there a possibility the test subject has some sort of Invisibility Cloak or something like it?"

Now it was Severus's turn to drop his fork; "Potter! You don't think that he managed to get a hold of Potter's cloak? He needs that cloak, it's..."

"Oh, no, it _is_, isn't it?" Dinah exclaimed, remembering that Harry Potter's cloak was one of the Deathly Hallows. "But if Harry's cloak had gone missing he would have told one of us right away. He knows how dire the circumstances are. Maybe it's a more generic cloak."  
"Possibly. Or he's been using Potter's cloak when Potter is here and returning it to him before he notices it has gone missing."

"As far as I know Harry's cloak is right where he's packed it," Sirius said.

"If you ask me stealing it and then putting it back so Harry doesn't know his cloak is missing would be more trouble than it's worth, but who knows what goes through criminal's minds," Lucy said.

"I guess I'll mention it to him on Saturday," Dinah sighed. "Dumbledore said that's the earliest day he can get here."

"Harry's coming?" Sirius asked, "He usually lets me know when he's going to be around, stays at the house when he's not patrolling."

"Well, I'm guessing that's not the case this time because it seems he's heading up some other sort of important project. Top secret I guess, but it's not really important. He can only come briefly and I did kind of throw the request at him out of the blue," Dinah admitted and Sirius nodded before going back to his food.

"Well, um, do you think we might be able to do that intervention for Derwent and Amedeus soon?" Lucy questioned, changing the subject. "It's getting towards the end of the year…"

"Of course. Whenever you think is best. This was sort of your project; I think that's why we haven't said anything," Dinah replied. After all, she didn't know the students in question half as well as Lucy seemed to.

"But now that you mention it, sooner would be preferable. I do _not _like sitting back and allowing my Slytherin students to cheat. Or any students, for that matter," Severus growled.

"I think you'd be okay with Gryffindors cheating as long as you got to take massive amounts of points away from them," Lucy grinned, "I think sometime late next week would be good, gives us time to plan a strategy."

"Sure," Dinah nodded. "You should talk with Derwent and Amedeus and try to find out when they might be in the library. They must have some kind of predictable schedule."

"Of course," Lucy responded, "I've noticed they're there about an hour after dinner pretty regularly but I can check so that we're sure."

"All right," she agreed, casting an amused glance at her boyfriend; "Just give us a day and time and Severus will be happy to exercise his destructive forces on the students."

"I admit," Severus said with a mild smile as he took some peas onto his fork; "It should be rather satisfying."


	128. Success

A/N: Well, since the website was being glitchy and I made you all wait around four whole days (gasp!) before I posted the last couple of chapters, I am going to post the next two right away! Hope you are all still enjoying the story.

* * *

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT

Success

* * *

Dinah took a deep breath and squeezed Severus's hand once before releasing it, facing the giant doors to Professor Dumbledore's office and reaching her hand out. As if in slow motion, she saw herself press her palm to the door and push. It creaked open, granting her access to the large office with the headmaster in the distance behind his desk and Harry Potter in his usual seat across the way. But this time was different. This time she had a very clear mission.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me," she said to the boy, sitting in the middle seat, between Harry on her right and Severus who took the seat on her left. "I know you're busy."

"No, it's no problem, Professor Samson. I understand that the circumstances here are dire. Some kind of development on the prophecy front?"

"Mm, well, not really, unless you count the fact that someone appears to be following us around." She briefly informed him about the pomegranate shampoo Sirius had smelled and the question about his invisibility cloak.

Harry frowned; "No, my cloak has never gone missing and I always keep it under lock and key when I'm not using it. I managed to make it through my entire time at Hogwarts without it getting stolen-" Severus snorted and he rolled his eyes; "In that case, it would surprise me very much if someone had gotten a hold of it during my short weekends here. More likely it's a generic invisibility cloak, if you're really being followed. But I'll keep a closer eye on mine just in case."

"You might not want to bring it here at all, Harry," the headmaster advised. "Thus far my – our wand – has been safe," he flicked the Elder Wand in his fingers for a moment; "But it would be best if only one of the three Hallows was here and available for capture."

"And the ring?" Harry sighed; that was a particular point of frustration for him, because he had genuinely hoped that it would never be found after he'd dropped it.

"If it had been found, I believe we would know about it. At this point I believe we are safe. Now, Dinah, if you would mind telling us why you called this meeting?"

"You don't know, headmaster?" Harry looked surprised.

Dumbledore smiled; "I'm afraid Dinah has kept us all rather in the dark. Though I'd wager Severus knows."

"Hm," Severus simply grunted his noncommittal noise, neither agreeing nor disagreeing as he waited for Dinah to say her piece.

She shot him a grateful smile, took another breath and turned to her right; "Harry, I asked you here because there is something very important that I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"I'm a parselmouth."

A barely discernable intake of breath had her turning to see that the headmaster was clearly surprised, thrown for a loop yet again with the developments in their current situation. She tried not to think about how odd it was that he was following so far behind when he was normally always on the ball. He did manage a small smile and a nod after a moment, looking pleased with her decision. Turning back to Harry, she saw that the young Auror was shocked.

"I see," he finally said. "Part of the prophecy, then? A... connection to Voldemort or to this Tommy?"

She shook her head; "No, I believe that I'm just a natural parselmouth. I've had the ability as long as I've had my magical ability."

"Oh," he frowned. "I'm sorry, then."

Strangely, Dinah felt her lips turning up in a slight smile. She had expected this response, and was almost satisfied that things were playing out according to her predictions; "You're sorry that I'm a parselmouth or you're sorry for the way people normally treat parselmouths?"

"Huh?" Harry blinked, and then shrugged; "Well... both, I guess."

"Ah. I see," she felt herself smiling again at the fact that she was about to get this out of her system. It felt kind of good; "Well, I'm not sorry that I'm a parselmouth. In fact, I'm glad that I'm a parselmouth. It's the way people treat parselmouths that I have a problem with."

"Oh..." Harry didn't seem to know what to say to that.

"You told the _Daily Prophet _that you were glad to lose the ability. Why did you tell them that?"

"Because I _was _glad to lose it. It's not... I mean, I'm sure you have your reasons for being happy being a parselmouth, but it's not a good ability to have. Like you said, people don't understand it – they associate it with dark wizards. My gift came from Voldemort and it was always something people picked out about me. About the connection between us. Maybe I would have felt differently if I was a natural parselmouth; I don't know. But talking to snakes is..."

"Why is it?" she found herself standing from her chair, fixing him with a firm gaze; "Why is there anything wrong with talking to snakes?"

"Snakes are- the connection to Slytherin and the dark arts-"

"That's not the snakes' fault. How many snakes did you speak with while being a parselmouth? Normal, ordinary snakes, not Nagini."

"The basilisk-"

"An artificially bred creature by Herpo the Foul."

"The snake that attacked Justin Finch-Fletchley in the duel-"

"No," she shook her head. "That was a snake conjured by _Serpensortia_. It was only attacking because that was what it was conjured to do. Yet you were able to stop it, weren't you? By telling it not to attack? I saw it in Severus's pensieve."

"Yes," he sighed. "It did stop."

"Haven't you talked to any other snakes?"

"Well, to be honest I sort of tried to avoid the situation after the first few bad experiences. But... well, there _was _that snake at the zoo. It was friendly."

She smiled; "Was it?"

"Yes. Although I probably shouldn't have set it free, but I couldn't control my magic at the time. I didn't even know I was a wizard yet. It thanked me and then slithered off into the wild – frightened half the people at the zoo. Dudley and Aunt Petunia were terrified... Uncle Vernon, too, come to think of it. For me at eleven, it was quite fun."

"Hmph," Severus muttered. "That awful woman."

"Funny you should say that, Professor Snape," Harry grinned. "She called you 'that awful boy'."

Severus just snorted at that; "Please continue, Dinah."

"Right..." she said to him, her train of thought lost for a moment as she turned back to Harry. "So there was nothing wrong with that snake?"

"No. It just wanted to go free. Didn't hurt anyone at the zoo. Seemed to enjoy talking to me."

"They do, when we're friendly. When we understand them," she smiled.

Harry sighed; "I don't know, I guess I never really used the ability. I mean, I don't think all snakes are evil, it just seems like there's an association there. Especially after I met Nagini. Surely, even Professor Snape-"

"Nagini is only one snake, Potter," Severus said, not looking at the boy. "Make a better argument."

He sighed again, shaking his head; "I'm not trying to argue. I'm not trying that at all. I just want to explain why I said what I did, as you don't seem very happy about it, Professor Samson."

"I'm not," she frowned; "But we'll get to that in time. Please continue with what you were saying."

"Well, I suppose it wasn't until that incident during dueling club that I had any problem with being a parselmouth one way or another. Before then I thought it was something any wizard, or at least many wizards, could do. Then I was ostracized for it my entire second year after everyone started running around saying I was the heir of Slytherin. Then I met the basilisk, and then Nagini, and after that it was easy to forget the nice snake at the zoo. I guess that's all I'm trying to say."

"Yes, well, I don't think you did the right thing, saying that to the _Daily Prophet_. I was ostracized for being a parselmouth for nearly my entire magical life. But I didn't let it stop me from seeing the good in snakes. Granted, your circumstances _were _different from mine, but that's not an excuse. You knew how badly you were treated for being a parselmouth, but you just let all of that past abuse slide. If you hide from it or just sit back and accept the way that people treat the ability than nothing will change.

"I was like that too, to an extent. I _did _hide from my ability, but I would _never _have considered making a public statement essentially condoning peoples' practice of mistreating parselmouths. You had the opportunity to make a difference there and you didn't. You were in the unique position, as Harry Potter, wizarding world celebrity, to tell people that being a parselmouth did not make you a bad person. Instead, you emphasized the fact that it was an unwanted gift from Voldemort. You didn't change anything."

"I'm... well, I'm sorry," Harry looked a little surprised at her blatant chastisement. "You do make a good point, but I guess I wasn't thinking about that. It was just one tiny statement in one of many interviews. And I was relieved not to have the ability anymore."

"You shouldn't have been so relieved!" she found herself snapping. "What did it do to hurt you? Nothing! If you still had the ability, would it have caused you harm or changed your personality? You know it wouldn't have." She sighed, making her voice calm again; "You could at least have admitted to them that whether you could speak parseltongue or not had no bearing whatsoever on your worth as a person or whether or not you could defeat Voldemort. Told them that it was an irrelevant question. Even that would have been better than 'I'm glad I'm not one anymore'. Maybe you weren't thinking of the real parselmouths out there that would have benefited from your making _some _kind of positive statement about it. Or at least refraining to make a negative one. But you didn't. You just exacerbated the problem. Think back to yourself at eleven or twelve or however old you were when people started mistreating you for it. Would the you of that time have appreciated that statement you made to the _Daily Prophet_? Or say someone else had made it; would you have liked it then?"

"No... Professor Samson. I wouldn't have," he admitted, not meeting her gaze.

"Then you understand how I felt when I read that. Here you could have changed things, but you didn't. You may have made them worse. Two students caught me on the grounds at the beginning of this year talking to a snake. I tried to tell them that it didn't make me evil and that you were a parselmouth but the first thing out of their mouths was that you weren't one anymore; you only had the ability because Voldemort gave it to you. And then I had to _Obliviate _those boys. First years. Just so Porter Lee wouldn't have his dad write to the Ministry and maybe make me lose my job. Was that _right_, Harry?"

"No," he sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I wouldn't wish that on you. I'm still angry that the students' parents forced Lupin to leave his post as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher third year just because he was a werewolf. I suppose your situation would have been similar."

"I do appreciate that you didn't judge me when I told you that I was a parselmouth. It means that you realize all parselmouths are not evil. So why didn't you tell anybody that? It could have made _such _a difference. When you said you were glad that you lost the ability to speak to snakes it actually... kind of hurt me. I like snakes and I like being a parselmouth. When the great Harry Potter essentially told the world that it was a bad thing, made everyone else believe it too, I felt somehow smaller. In some ways it felt like a personal attack. I _know _that you didn't intend for it to be, but that's how I felt."

"I'm sorry, Professor Samson. I didn't know any of the real parselmouths out there. The headmaster said there were good parselmouths in history, but he didn't give specific examples. It seemed like such a distant thing, with no direct bearing on my life at the moment. And it was easy to just let the ability go, a relief that it wasn't hanging over my head anymore. Granted, I never made friends with snakes like you did, save that first one."

"I see..." she considered this, nodding. "I can understand how you might have felt that way, although it does still annoy me. Because I'm that attached to snakes, and you never became like that. If you had given it a chance, I think you would have found that you liked it. That they were good creatures to talk to."

"Perhaps I would have," he admitted, still looking a little guilty.

"You know, it's true. There _were _times where I felt like you did, where I felt that it would be a relief to just lose the ability. But what I really wanted was for things to change. Losing the ability wouldn't make a difference, would just leave things stagnant. I waited twenty-two years. I hid from it, I'll admit. But I'm not hiding anymore. Things _have _to change. Soon... very soon I'm going to change them. I'm going to tell the whole world about my abilities and make the stigma go away no matter how long it takes and no matter what happens to me along the way. These stupid little things that people come up with to divide them into meaningless groups – Muggle-borns versus purebloods, houses, parselmouths versus non-parselmouths – all they do is divide us and make people like Tommy turn into people like Voldemort." She glanced briefly at Severus and he gave her a nod. She recalled his explanation, what seemed like ages ago, of why he disliked Muggles so much, and that it all came down to the way people blew differences out of proportion. That was something that she definitely needed to change.

"I understand," Harry nodded. "Look, I can't take back what I said in the _Daily Prophet_, but if you do tell the world that you're a parselmouth I'll support you. I'll be the first to admit that they aren't all evil. I may have said I was relieved to lose the ability, but that doesn't mean that I have any prejudice against you or other good parselmouths. If I had known that there was a need to say something like that I would have said it. I just didn't know..."

She sighed, smiling: "I know you didn't know. And I'm glad that you have nothing against parselmouths. That, I think, was the point that I was trying to make. What I was trying to get to in this meeting, to have you realize. Thank you. I'm sorry if you feel I dragged you in here just to lecture you. It was nothing personal, just... something that I needed to do."

"Obviously it was something that was important to you." He smiled slightly; "Though I must admit, if you can lecture me that well then you _must _be the right person for Professor Snape. Next time you should both lecture me together – I think it would be quite effective."

Dinah had to laugh and Severus just snorted again. "I guess his methods may have rubbed off on me a little. I don't mind, though. I'm glad you understand why I was frustrated with you. You really didn't consider the ability that much of a curse, then?"

"Well, I probably wouldn't have," he said cautiously; "Had I talked to more snakes like you did."

She nodded, "You should have given it more of a chance. I probably should have done more for the cause before now too, but now we both have the opportunity to change things and we're going to – _I'm _going to – no matter what. We can end this useless prejudice. Remember that. Well," she sighed, "my work here is done, I think." She looked from Harry to the still-surprised headmaster; "Thank you both for your time. Come on, Severus," she turned and marched from the room, Severus doing a double take before standing and following after her, still looking a little bewildered from the whole experience.

Dinah had walked quite a far distance from the headmaster's office through the sparsely-filled halls of Hogwarts, feeling satisfied with herself, before she stopped, taking in another deep breath and looking up at the ceiling. The air felt fresh and good. She felt like a new person, brimming with confidence. That had been the next step and she had finally completed it. Now there was only one step remaining.

"Dinah?"

She turned to smile at Severus, who had stopped next to her and was watching her face with a curious expression, waiting for her to explain. "I did it," she simply said.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and he nodded, sliding his hand into hers; "I noticed."

Dinah sighed again, liking the way that this relief felt. It had been a long time in coming, but she had finally gotten there. She returned Severus's smile, their understanding on the matter enough so that she didn't need to say anything else right now. She had done what she needed to do, and she had done it well. Maybe she _was _strong, after all. "Well? Shall we go grade some papers then?"

He laughed; "Whatever you like. Let's go." Hand in hand, they continued back towards the dungeons to continue their newfound adolescent life together.


	129. Identities

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE

Identities

* * *

"Such a beautiful day, isn't it?" Dinah asked on Sunday as she and Severus made their way across the grounds toward the lake. Again, fear of the flayed baby kept the outdoors mostly free of students, and so they had the space all to themselves.

"It's pleasant enough," he agreed, smiling slightly. "The days keep getting warmer as May approaches."

A rustling in the nearby bushes had Dinah gasping and grabbing her boyfriend's arm; "What was that? Are we being followed?" Her eyes darted around the grounds, but she saw no one.

"Relax," he murmured, but she noticed his eyes scanning around them as well; "It could easily just be some kind of animal. Even if the test subject _is _following us, what can we do? We can't hide from the world."

She sighed; "I know you're right. It's probably nothing, anyway. But I've been a little uneasy about it ever since Sirius smelled that pomegranate shampoo on us."

"As have I, but I don't think avoiding it will help. We need to figure out what he's up to."

"And who he is," she sighed, rubbing her forehead; "Is it just me, or is everything getting more and more complicated without any relief?" She chuckled; "I almost wish were still in the state that we _wanted _to hide from things. But we're not anymore, are we?"

"No. We're not," he half-smiled at that; "I'm comfortable enough in this form now that I truly wouldn't mind staying in it. It doesn't bother me anymore."

"Me either. I think we needed this. We did things in these forms that we were unable to do both as adults and when we were originally this age."

"Mm," he agreed. "Or at least we did them more quickly, and probably in a more satisfying manner. You're really going to tell the world about being a parselmouth, aren't you?"

"I am," she felt a smile tugging at her lips and nodded; "Not immediately, but soon. I'll know when the time is right. I'm not afraid anymore. I don't think... no, I'm sure it would have taken longer than this if we hadn't transformed just like you said. I was an adult, yes, but I was still immature in many ways. I was hiding from the fact that I was hiding, if that makes any sense. Now I know that all I had to do to bring myself out of it was realize... that it was _me _that had to do it and it wasn't just going to happen on its own. Facing it down at the age when it had originally happened helped. And having you helped. If you hadn't caught me that one day and accepted my ability, I might still be hiding in my shell."

"Well," he said, reaching across to stroke her cheek; "If you hadn't been here to accept me as a child, awkwardness and all, I probably would not have been able to calm down and stop making things worse for myself. And I don't think either of us could have... accepted ourselves at all."

"Yes," she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder for a moment. "That's the main thing, isn't it? We never liked ourselves at this age, and now we do. That potion was right. It truly did send us back to the ages we most needed to relive," she lifted her head to kiss him, smiling when they broke it; "And now we've done it. We've relived it, gotten over our issues, matured a bit, and melded our adult and child personalities. And I'm happy like this."

"Me too," he was smiling as well; "It's still quite unbelievable to me, but I _am _happy. This youthening was – ultimately - a good thing for both of us."

"Yeah," she nodded, "Yeah, it definitely was."

A rustling sounded in the same bushes from before.

"Again!" Severus exclaimed, withdrawing his wand from his coat pocket and whirling on the noise, his eyes narrowing, but as Dinah turned to look at the bush she saw – again – nothing of apparent interest. "What is this?" he growled. "I'm beginning to think it wasn't an animal after all."

Dinah let her gaze rove over the grounds, trying to get some clue or inclination of where the noise had come from, or where to try and cast a spell that might reveal someone hiding under an invisibility cloak or the protection of concealment charms. A motion by the Forbidden Forest caught her eye and she focused on it, but what she saw was most definitely _not _the test subject. "The flayed baby!" she pointed, her throat going a little dry as the familiar, horrifying creature floated around near the trees.

"What?" Severus demanded, turning in a sharp instant to where she pointed, his arm going around her waist protectively as he pulled her to him. He growled low in his throat; "It's there. But what is it doing?"

"Searching for something? The ring?"

"I hope not. It doesn't seem to see us, though. It's clearly focused on something else..."

"The test subject?"

"Maybe. Maybe both the test subject _and _the ring."

"I have to try and stop it. There's no dark storm, Tommy's been doing better. Maybe now I can make some headway. We should approach it."

"I suppose if you think we must," he agreed through gritted teeth, and nodded. "All right. But slowly. We don't want it to see us before we-" he cursed and took a step back, pulling her with him as the creature in the distance turned around, it's red eyes flashing at them; "get close enough," he finished, his tone grim.

In a split second the creature's speed changed from one of idle searching to one of focused intent, flying towards them across the grounds, giving Severus barely enough time to cast a protective shield charm around them both before it arrived, shooting a plethora of random spells at them just as before.

Dinah clenched her teeth, determined not to run away this time and instead face down the creature and do what she had to do. As she and Severus blocked spells, him blocking more than her, she tried again to talk to it; "Can you hear me? Do you register my words at all, whatever you are? Do you know Tommy?"

It didn't respond until she mentioned Tommy, and then its eyes flashed and she started to hear the voices, booming out from no discernible location. It was as if she was swimming in a gigantic pool of sound waves, the words of her prophecy echoing everywhere. As if the words were a part of her rather than something external. Like she was making them happen, and she hated that. "Stop it!" she shouted, taking a step towards the creature; "Tell me what it is you _want_! Don't just shoot the words of my prophecy at me, tell me what to _do_!"

"The last piece," the words came out in a hiss and Severus drew in a sharp breath, backing away from the flayed baby. Dinah recognized the voice from the pensieve; it was very clearly the voice of Voldemort.

"Last piece?" she blocked a particularly fast spell, trying not to sound as frightened as she felt; "What last piece?"

"What you call 'Tommy'... I need it... revival... when the Dark Lord's destruction is incomplete, when the Dark Lord's destruction is incomplete..." it went back to chanting her prophecy.

"My Lord..." another voice murmured, sounding distressed and pleading, and the spells slowed as the flayed baby spun around as though searching for its source.

"A woman's voice!" Dinah exclaimed; "That's Bella! She's with him, just like Lucy said!" She turned to see Severus clutching his left arm with his right hand. "Does it hurt?"

"No, but I keep expecting it to. He must not be completely revived then, if I can't feel it. But I hear him speaking in parseltongue like he did with Nagini. Obviously you understand the words though. And I did hear Bella."

"You don't hear him? He was chanting my prophecy and then... and then he said 'the last piece', said that it was Tommy and he needs it for revival. Does he think Tommy is like another Horcrux? Does he understand the real truth of the situation? Listen to me, you!" she shouted at the creature and it turned around again, stopping the search for Bella's voice which seemed to have disappeared and instead focusing its evil gaze on her. "If you don't feel remorse, even if you're revived you will ultimately go back to that state you were in before, in King's Cross with Harry or on that hill with me! Do you remember it? Don't you see that a state like that is _worse _than simply dying? Let Tommy come back to you! Feel remorse! Feel-" she gasped as the creature's eyes turned to focus on Severus.

"You do not belong!" Voldemort's voice hissed in what Dinah now knew was parseltongue.

Her boyfriend looked frightened and took another step back, and then the flayed baby shot out another spell, a huge wall of light that burst in-between them, destroying the shield Severus had erected and sending them flying away from each other in opposite directions.

"Dinah!" Severus stood from where he had been dumped onto the ground and snarled at the creature, all fear gone from his gaze; "You bastard! How dare you! I've had enough! _Sectumsem-_"

"No!" she shouted, forcing herself into a sitting position; "Severus, if you hurt it I can't do anything anymore! Please don't!"

"I'm sorry," he murmured; "I lost track of myself for a moment, now that it's speaking in the Dark Lord's voice."

"It's all right," she hurried towards him, avoiding some spells and defending against others along the way; "You stopped when I asked you to. As long as we're in this together I don't think either of us can make any mistakes."

He managed a brief smile at her before he had to turn and defend against a large bombardment of spells; "I'm finally free of him. I didn't feel it this strongly until I heard his voice. I don't have to listen to this thing anymore. _Protego Totalum_!" he re-erected the shield around them when she got close enough.

"DO NOT BELONG!" the flayed baby shouted again at Severus, shooting them with that same spell that broke the shield and sent them flying.

"Severus, I don't think it's working!" she called out as they picked themselves up again, avoiding more spells. "If we get together he's just going to separate us again. He keeps saying you don't belong. Leave the joint shield out of this."

"I'm not letting you do this alone!" he snarled, running up to her.

"I know, but we can work together without getting close. See, he's using it again without the shield!" she jumped away from the large spell quickly enough that it didn't hit her. Unfortunately, she could not say the same for Severus, who was sent flying once more. She heard him growl as he tried to stand again, his fists clutching the grass so intensely that they turned white, his face flushed with anger. "Are you all right?" she called.

"I will be as soon as this thing gets out of my face!" he shouted back as he returned to a standing position. "I'll defend you from back here as best as I can; just keep talking to it!"

"Tommy is not going to give you what you want if you take him over!" she told the creature as Severus shot amazingly accurate long-range defensive spells toward her; "Let him come to you, not the other way around! You have a connection to him, right? Try to feel what he feels! Try for remorse! Can't you see that it's wrong to hurt other people?" She ducked as the baby flew at her, flying over the top of her head and travelling a good distance beyond where she was before skidding to a stop and turning around again, shooting more spells. One hit her in the leg before she had a chance to defend against it, sending her stumbling halfway to the ground. She caught herself on her knees before she fell back any further.

"Dinah!" Severus exclaimed; his fist clenching his wand with the same intensity he had used to clutch the grass moments ago.

"I'm all right," she forced herself back into a standing position.

"I am going to have a very hard time not killing it if you don't get rid of it soon, especially if it hurts you again," he snarled. "Hurry and do something!"

"I'm _trying_!" she faced the flayed baby again; "Listen to me, please! At least give me a sign that you hear what I'm saying!"

"Useless... words... pathetic... child... give... me... last... piece..."

"Tommy is not mine to give, no matter what connection I have to him! What is wrong with you? You should still have the memories from before he split off, shouldn't you? Remember wanting friends! You didn't want this endless meaningless life, you wanted a _real _life! Even if it doesn't last forever, at least if you had friends – if you just let yourself have peace-"

"LAST PIECE NOW!" Its eyes flashed and it sent a blast of energy at her which Severus's traveling spell barely made it in time to block.

Dinah felt her heartbeat quicken and took a step back. Something had changed in the flayed baby and she was frightened. It was either weakening or gaining strength. Whatever it was doing, it was devoting all of its energy to gigantic spells. It took off in an instant, flying at her as another ball of energy gathered, surrounding it, and then it slammed into her. The last thing she remembered was her body flying through the air and Severus's voice screaming her name before her back hit the ground and everything went black.


	130. Reversal

A/N: This comes with a bonus story chapter.

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CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY

Reversal

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"Dinah! Dinah!"

Something was wrong. Severus sounded different. She still couldn't see. Everything was black, but she felt his arms shaking her shoulders. She winced and squeezed her eyes more tightly shut, a jolt of pain shooting through her body and concentrating on her back. It was an odd sort of soreness, she couldn't help but think, and not only from the impact itself. Like the muscles were yelling at her, not used to being in this position for this long after a fight like that.

"Dinah, please! You're awake. Open your eyes!" she felt him pulling her into a sitting position, but couldn't open her eyes yet as another realization hit her.

Sexy voice. Why was Severus using his sexy voice? Had Eugene magically shown up when she was passed out and given her boyfriend another half-baked antidote? That seemed silly somehow. "Sorry... back... hurts..." she managed, noticing that her own voice was different. Strained or something, she couldn't tell.

He sighed, still using that voice and almost – _almost _– sounding amused through his worry; "I know. So does mine."

"The flayed baby?" she asked, noticing for the first time that the air around them was quiet.

"Gone."

"Gone?" she opened her eyes then, shocked at his words only to receive an even bigger shock. She gasped and felt her body jump back, because she could _not _be staring at what she was staring at.

A man.

A man she had known a few months ago. Severus as an adult, his body filled out from its lankiness, his hair still greasy but less stringy, his touch stronger and firmer as his hands held her arms, keeping her from falling backward again. "Severus...you ... really...?" she stammered.

He managed a slight smirk and nodded; "Yes. And you."

"Me?" she gasped again, her gaze flying down to first her lap and then her legs, which seemed longer. She held her hands out in front of her and drew in another sharp breath. The veins were there again, the longer and slightly bonier fingers of an adult woman staring her in the face. And she finally knew that her voice was not strained. It was adult. Her fingers wandered to touch her face, feeling that it was less full and more lined. "Why? How?" she managed to ask.

Severus sighed, his gaze a bit troubled; "I don't know. I saw nothing. I was running to you, the flayed baby was bowling towards you, and then it hit you and I could do nothing but watch you fly through the air and land so hard on the grass," he closed his eyes, wincing at the words in a stronger show of emotion that she was used to seeing on his adult face. He sighed and looked at her again; "By the time I made it to your side the flayed baby was gone and we were both like this."

"It... wore off?"

"I don't know," he repeated. "I suppose it's possible. But that's not important right now. Are you _all right_?"

"I think so. Severus..." she stared at him again, letting her fingers reach out and very gently touch his face. He didn't flinch or pull away, a reaction she found herself conditioned to expect from his adult form. Instead, he lifted one arm from hers, reaching across to trace her cheek and brush her hair from her face. His hands were different, the fingers larger and slightly more callused, but warm. Always warm.

Her own hands wandered across his face, feeling the difference as she leaned forward to see him more closely, his dark eyes the same as always and his expression quite relaxed as he watched her. She could feel all of the lines on his face that were supposed to be there as a thirty-nine year old man, matching the ones she had felt on her own face. He was beautiful, though. Just as much as an adult as he was as a child, although in a somewhat different way. Yet he was still Severus. She sighed, letting her head fall forward so their foreheads were touching. "This is so much to take in at once," she murmured.

"I know," he closed his eyes and let his lips brush against hers. Dinah felt her face flush; it had been so long since they'd interacted as adults. It felt strange even though it felt good. His lips were so soft, so gentle, so similar and yet so different to when he was a child. But she probably seemed the same way to him.

"Dinah," he said in that deep, sensual baritone, leaning back from the kiss and taking her hands into his, staring down at them for a moment before returning his gaze to meet her eyes; "When we were last in these forms our relationship was... in a different place than it is now..."

"Severus..." He was right, of course. The adult Severus she had left behind had still been convinced of his undying love for Lily and his incapability to learn to love her. That was where her mind automatically wanted to go when she saw him like this, but they had developed so much since their transformation. They had made so many large strides in their child forms. He had learned to love her.

He shook his head; "Seeing you like this, in your adult form, takes me back to how you were... hurt by me at that time," he brushed the back of his hand along her cheek, his eyes half-closing; "But that is no longer the case. Tell me you know that."

"I... I know," she whispered, feeling her throat tighten, placing her hand over his and letting her fingers slid into his, pressing their clasped hands to her cheek and closing her eyes. When she opened them again his gaze was intense.

He took their hands to him and pressed her fingers to his lips; "You _are _all right, then?"

"Yes. I'm fine."

He let out a breath and a smile finally began to tug at the corners of his mouth. Seeing his adult form smiling like that, she couldn't help but smile as well, and as they watched each other their smiles became easier. She let out her own breath that she didn't know she'd been holding and leaned forward, reaching her arms out for him. He met her, his lips pressing to hers in a kiss and his arms sliding around her shoulders as he embraced her. "I love you," he murmured into her ear.

Dinah felt tears brimming in her eyes as she slid her fingers into his hair, resting her cheek against its black softness and closing her eyes. Hearing the adult Severus say those words - to _her _– was quite nearly overwhelming. "I love you," she whispered back, tightening her arms around him. They stayed like that for a long time.

Finally, he drew back, his arms reluctantly sliding from her shoulders to rest again more easily on her arms; "Well..." he paused, frowning, as though unsure how to continue from there.

She had to admit that she felt the same way; "I don't understand it," she sighed. "It's strange. We had accepted ourselves as children. I had almost forgotten what it was like to not be one, and now..."

"Yes. It _is _strange," he sighed. "But there is nothing we can do about it right now. We could take the potion again but I think that would be..." he left it hanging, half-smirking again at the thought.

She managed a light laugh, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear; "Yes. I think that would be counterproductive, somehow. But now what are we going to do? I mean who do we tell? How do we tell Eugene? The headmaster? What's going to happen to our classes? What will the students say? Lucy and Sirius? Tommy and Sarepta? Mae and Andrew? What will-"

"Hush," he placed a finger over her lips, and she felt her face flushing again. That was something she did a lot as both a child and an adult, it seemed. Severus was half smiling again, his expression amused; "I think the best thing to do would be to simply go back inside, pass as few people as possible, and determine the best course of action tomorrow."

"Mm," she agreed, placing her hand over his to withdraw his finger from her lips so she could speak again, lightly kissing it as she did so which caused an odd little look of contentment to cross his face, making her flush some more. "I guess... that would be the best course of action."

"Indeed," he sighed, standing up and extending a hand to her.

She had to smile as she placed her hand into his warm one again, feeling a sense of déjà vu from that first moment of them together. She always seemed to think of that when he reached for her hand, whether she was in child or adult form. And it was always... so warm. After standing she laid her head on his shoulder again, letting him wrap his arms around her and place a kiss in her hair, his fingers sliding through it with ease. After a moment she stepped back; "I guess we should go?" she found that she felt uneasy at the prospect.

He looked like he felt the same as he nodded, taking her hand again as they both began walking across the grounds towards the school. As they got closer, she felt her fingers tighten around his more and more, until finally she got what she had been expecting and he flinched. But only because she was strangling his hand. "Sorry," she murmured. "This is strange. What if someone sees us? What do we say to them?"

He chuckled, and she remembered the warm rumbling sound it made when he was an adult; "I believe that was something we were supposed to be afraid of as children, not adults."

"I know it's unreasonable..." she swallowed and shook her head, letting her fingers loosen around his. "I guess I'm over-thinking it."

"My darling," he murmured, looping his arms around her waist and pressing his lips to her cheek as she felt like she was going to spontaneously combust; "You are worrying too much. Even if a student were to pass by, the worst that could happen is-"

A loud, gulping gasp broke them out of their reverie and Severus, true to his nature in both adult and child forms, quickly drew away from her to meet the source of the noise.

Three second-years stood gaping at them: the Ravenclaw Archie Ravensdale, Gryffindor Kathleen Doge, and Slytherin Terrence Podmore. All three were Muggle-born but they did make a rather odd group to be heading outside together on this day. Dinah only had Terrence in her class but she knew from the few times he'd spoken that he occasionally hung out with these two, encouraging her thoughts on the progression of Muggle-born Slytherins and interhouse relations.

"And what," Severus sneered, his normal adult manner towards the students flying back one easy instant; "are you three _gawking _at?"

"Um," Archie swallowed hard, shaking his head; "S-sorry, Professor Snape. Didn't expect to see you two... together... adults..."

"_That _is none of your business," he growled, and Dinah found that her heartbeat was quickening in an odd manner as she watched Severus go about his business, glaring viciously at the students and speaking to them in that slow, rolling voice with the undercurrent of dire warning in the tone. It was oddly... stimulating. "You are to tell no one of this, do you understand me?"

"Oh, absolutely," Kathleen murmured, nodding her head vigorously and taking a step backward.

"_If_ even one of you mentions seeing Professor Samson and myself as adults today to any other human being, all three of your houses will lose as many points as necessary to bring your point total to zero and effectively guarantee Hufflepuff this year's House Cup winner. Do I make myself... clear?" he raised an eyebrow at them, the gesture perfectly timed with his glare's intensification. Dinah felt her face heat up and tried to keep herself from passing out, actually squirming a little in her stance. She'd had no idea that seeing him return to his adult behaviors in this manner would turn her on so much, but she kind of liked it.

"Perfectly," Terrence squeaked out, and the three students broke into a run out onto the grounds, trying to escape Severus's glare that followed them until they had disappeared around a corner.

It was amazing, Dinah thought, how quickly her adult boyfriend's face relaxed back to normal after the students were gone. He half-smiled, half-smirked, and nodded; "I must admit, that felt rather good."

She managed a little laugh, sliding her arm into his; "I noticed. You did that rather well, darling."

His half-smile, half-smirk turned into a full smile as he regarded her, staring her up and down for a moment. "Dinah...?"

"Yes?"

"You are..." he fingered a strand of hair near her cheek; "breathtaking. I had forgotten just you beautiful you were as an adult."

"Severus," she felt her face flare up, surprised she still had any face left to burn, as her eyes widened at the look of utter admiration he was giving her; "You... as well. I..."

He smiled a little, his face taking on the barest hint of a flush; "You are still impossible to understand." He sighed; "We should not be standing out here anymore. We need to get inside before more students see us. This does not need to be more complicated than it already is."

"Right," she nodded, feeling a little nervous again at the thought of walking through Hogwarts. Luckily, there were no more students in the halls and their hurried paces got them to the dungeons in record time, closing first the office door and then the main door behind them as they made it into the living room. Dinah exhaled, once again unaware that she had been holding her breath, and leaned her back against the door along with Severs, looking out into the orangey glow of the dungeons. Everything seemed much smaller than normal.

"We made it," she murmured, thinking how ironic and lucky it was that they had chosen this weekend to give Sarepta a break from the dungeons and let her roam around outside with the promise that she would be available to come back as soon as they needed her. "This is still overwhelming. Unbelievable. We're really adults again."

"Yes. I know. There are many questions left to answer. It _is _unnerving, but there is nothing we should do right away. We need to get used to this."

"How can we get used to this?" she found herself asking, more to no one in particular than to Severus.

"Mm," he seemed to understand the vastness of her question and was silent for awhile before he sighed and shook his head, turning to look at her. "We must simply try to relax. I wonder," he reached out to trace her cheek again, his fingers wandering down over her neck and collarbone to rest on her chest, his warm touch just above the cleft between her breasts; "what _this _will be like as adults?"

"Severus," she swallowed, her throat suddenly dry and her face flushing as her heartbeat quickened, her hand wandering to clutch his arm. She leaned towards him and slid her hands up his neck as he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, his tongue entering into her mouth and searching, not stopping. The only two times she had experienced this kind of a kiss with him as an adult, he had ended it before anything could happen, but this time he would not end it. Neither of them would stop.

She let one of her hands clutch his hair as his fingers undid the buttons of her shirt. She let her other hand wander down to the buttons of his collar, undoing them one by one until she felt his bare chest under her fingers, its musculature – just as expected – firmer and more solidified than when he was a child. He was not overly-built, but he was firm and solid and adult. It sent a tingling shiver through her body, exemplified by the fact that one of his hands was wandering to her hips, pulling her to him so that she could feel him against her as his lips wandered to her neck.

"Severus... Severus..." she found that the sensuality and intensity of the moment was so strong that she couldn't make her voice rise above a desperate, pleading whisper. It was an odd sensation, this lack of voice. She would have expected to yell or scream as she had as a child, but there was so much perfection in this that she quite literally could barely speak.

"Mm, Dinah," he half-purred, half-growled, pulling her back with him until they collapsed onto the green couch together, relief washing over Dinah's older muscles as she no longer had to stand up for the act. The experience of which was more amazing than she could ever have dreamed.

"Mmm," she sighed, closing her eyes when they were finished and resting against each other in a satisfied heap on the couch, letting the ecstasy of what they had just completed fill her up. As a teenager sex had been fun and wonderful, but that had been an experience of such amazing intensity that for the moment she was at a loss for words.

Severus sighed and pressed closer to her, his lips curving into a smile against her hair as she assumed he could only feel the same way. After another few moments she opened her eyes again, shifting so that she could see into his dark but warm gaze and smiling at him.

"Well," he shifted a little so that he was lifted a bit from the couch and could see her better, brushing her loose hair away from her face. "That was quite amazing, my love," he said, using a new term of endearment for her that she found she really liked.

"It was perfectly amazing," she laughed, sliding her fingers up his neck and into his hair, which was slightly damp from the intensity of the past few minutes but still soft as ever; "Although I suppose next time we should try and make it to the bed."

"Beds are highly overrated," he chuckled, pressing his lips to hers.

She laughed when they broke the kiss. "I suppose so. Sometimes." She felt her smile grow as she regarded him, letting her thumbs caress his face as her fingers massaged his hair, "Severus, you are so beautiful. Such a handsome man. As breathtaking as you said I was."

He flushed and shook his head at her, his gaze almost shy, almost like it had occasionally been as a child. He didn't make a comment on her statement about his looks, simply murmured; "You _are _breathtaking, Dinah." A teasing smile played on his lips; "But would you mind telling me what all that whispering was about?"

Dinah had to laugh again; "Well, I don't really know. It was new to me, too. You were so... amazing, I couldn't speak. It was that good."

"Ah, I see," he raised an eyebrow at her; "Should I take that to mean that I'm better as an adult than I am as a child?"

"Um," she flushed. "I think the safest answer would just be that it's ... different."

"Most likely the safest answer, indeed," he smiled a little and kissed her again, his fingers massaging her neck and pulling her closer to him. When he broke it, though, he was frowning. "Now what do we do?"

"Oh," she grimaced and sighed, looking around the dungeons again. She wanted to stay, but... "Well, we had planned to finish grading tonight. School night and all. Guess we should go back to normal..." she wasn't satisfied with her words, was even uneasy about them, but she was thinking that the best thing to do would be to try and act as though things were still normal.

"Ah. Right," he sighed and lifted himself from the couch, backing off of her and extending a hand to pull her after him. They were sitting upright again and both grabbed for their clothes, getting dressed in an uneasy silence. When they were fully clothed once more he stood and she followed; "I'll walk you to the door."

"Thanks. Breakfast tomorrow?"

"No," he shook his head as they headed through the office. "I'd prefer it if we were _not _seen by the entire student body at once. Perhaps lunch. But we'll administer our classes before then. Maybe I can finally get Eugene out of my hair now that we're adults. Maybe..." he frowned again.

"I hope so, for your sake," she pressed her lips to his cheek as they made it to the door. "Okay. Lunch, then."

"Mm," he nodded, cupping her cheek and leaning over to kiss her on the lips this time, sensually but not too intensely. When he broke it he pulled her to him.

"We're adults now, right?" she murmured, burying her face in his neck. "It's not like when we transformed before. We don't need to get used to it. This is how we're supposed to be. It should be normal. It'll be better if we treat it like normal."

"That should be easiest, yes," he agreed with a sigh, stepping back from her and kissing her once more; "I love you," he murmured, voicing the sentiment for the second time in adult form.

"You too," she fought the tears that wanted to come, fought the part of her that wanted to scream 'Don't make me leave.' She wasn't a child anymore. There was no reason to act like one. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow. Yes. Good luck with your classes."

"You too. Thank you." She flung herself into his arms for one more hug and then forced herself to step back, smiling and turning to walk away. She didn't look back, but it wasn't until she had rounded the corner that she heard him shut the door again. Did he want her to stay just as much as she wanted to stay? But that would do nothing good, clinging to each other or hiding from the world when they still had papers to grade and classes to teach. It should be easier, not harder. And so she was going to do her best to be strong and make it so.

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A/N: So they're adults again! Thoughts? Happy? Sad? :D I have to confess, although it may sound silly, I totally felt a sense of bereavement when I made them turn back into adults again. I got used to them as kids and had so much fun with the little Dinah and Severus :) - but even though I aged them you readers were still seeing them as children so I could still have fun with it, but now they've turned back into adults for you guys too and I must feel bereaved all over again! T_T - LOL. I'll miss their young versions, but I guess we must move forward :D – Please read and review!


	131. Reacquainted

A/N: Thanks for the response from last time! It will be fun to have them as adults again even though I'll still miss them as kids :) – by the way, there is another bonus chapter associated with this one.

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CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-ONE

Reacquainted

* * *

Dinah paced back and forth in her kitchen, having only been able to devour a Muggle protein shake for breakfast in her jittery state. She had tried to behave as normal, but she was just becoming more and more restless. She wanted to see Severus, wanted to go to breakfast with him at least. She found she didn't care if the people in The Great Hall saw at this point. She needed his presence. But she had class. They both had class. They had to act normal.

But what would the students say when they saw her? What would Grubbly-Plank say? She had managed to get through her necessary grading last night, alone with only her animals to keep her company, but she had not been able to bring herself to plan anything specific for tomorrow. She had no idea what she was going to say to her students. The prospect actually terrified her, which was stupid because there was no way they could react as badly as they had when she had been unwittingly transformed into a child.

Dinah growled and stormed into her living area, collapsing onto the couch and drawing her knees up to her chest. She had barely ten minutes before she had to leave and she still didn't know what she was going to do. This was horrible. She almost felt herself wishing... just a little bit... that...

She shook her head to clear the thought. She shouldn't be thinking that. It was stupid and it contradicted everything she had been telling herself for the past three months. She wouldn't let herself think that thought.

The door to her room clicked and she turned to face it, not sure what to expect. But then it opened and Severus walked in, his face looking as distressed as hers even in its determination, and relief reflecting in it when their eyes met.

She knew her face looked just as relieved as his. "Severus!" she gasped; "What... what are you doing here?"

"I had to see you," he said quite blatantly, shutting her door behind him, locking it again and then marching over to the couch to sit next to her. She noticed that, like her, he had gone back to his normal clothing. She was wearing her plain brown robes and he his flowing, bat-like ones. It was as though they had travelled back in time, although she supposed she should probably be thinking 'forward'. But she wasn't.

"Severus," she whispered, closing her eyes in relief as his hands grasped hers. "But our classes..." she opened her eyes to look at him again.

He shook his head; "I cancelled our classes."

"You cancelled them?"

"Yes. It came to me this morning. We have been stupid, Dinah. We have been going about this all wrong. Why should we simply be able to go back to normal in a single instant? Simply because we have transformed into adults this time instead of children? No. I am fairly certain that we both tried and failed miserably."

"Mm," she almost whimpered, feeling tears springing to her eyes; "You're right. That's what I was thinking."

"I don't know why I let you leave last night," his deep voice was soft, softer than she remembered it ever being when they were adults before, but familiar from his child self. Yet he was the same Severus. His hands tightened around hers; "I could not stop thinking about you. I couldn't simply... go to class after leaving you like that. I needed to look at you, see your face. I needed confirmation that you were still here before I could go back and face... life again. Dinah, don't cry," he murmured, surprised at the tears that had begun rolling down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, wiping her eyes; "I don't think I can _not _cry right now. You came here just to see me?"

"Yes," his response was soft, his eyes also seeming a little shinier than usual; "I did. I thought we should take on our adult roles with ease because it was the opposite transformation, but it is not so easy after all. We need to get used to it again. I don't want to face a day with the students until I face a day with you."

"Yes. Yes, that was a good idea" she nodded, unable to wrench her gaze from his; "Severus, is it... is it stupid that I kind of miss being a child? That I almost wish we could go back to it just a little bit?" She finally voiced the thought she had been hiding from, and felt a tiny relief at getting it off of her chest.

"No," he shook his head, his tone both understanding and encouraging. "No, it'snot stupid. I feel it, too."

"You do? Really?"

"Of course. We became comfortable with it, to the point where we were willing to stay that way. Obviously returning to our old forms is a shock in that case."

Dinah nodded; "I thought... I mean, I thought as children we had finally kind of merged both of our personalities, adult and child. But now that we're adults again I feel so young. Like I was thrust unwillingly into this form and I don't know how to do it anymore. I'm scared."

He closed his eyes, pulling her against him so she could rest her head comfortably on his shoulder, fingering his thick black robes. "It_ is_ a frightening thing," he agreed. "But I do believe that we _are _adults again. What we _can _do is... work through it. It may be difficult but we don't have to hide anymore. That is what we learned as children, is it not? To stop hiding?"

"Yes," she admitted, letting out a long breath and nodding her head against his shoulder; "Yes, it is. You're right. We can face this through now. We just have to admit that there is something we need to face. If we stay together today, I'm sure... we can do it."

"And that is why I cancelled our classes," he agreed, his fingers stroking her hair; "So that we can get used to our adult forms again. Properly and together."

* * *

Dinah lay against Severus in the full bathtub in the dungeons that evening, both clean and the water that covered them still hot no matter how long they waited. Certain things about magic were definitely most convenient. Today had indeed been a bit of a struggle as she'd expected, but by now she found that she felt mostly content with their adult forms, as did Severus.

"I think we've found a happy medium, don't you?" she murmured, letting her hand slide across his bare shoulders and chest, liking the slick feeling of their skin against each other in the water. "Like we've got our personalities merged again, the way it should be in this form as opposed to the way it should be in that form."

"Yes, I believe we have done that," he replied with a slight smile, his adult expressions more subdued than his child ones, but his happiness quite evident. "As expected, it took less time to do than it did as children. I am sure there are more little things waiting to be faced, but I think the worst is behind us."

"Yes," she laid her head on his shoulder, their freshly-washed wet hair tangling together; "I guess that's the beauty of being an adult, and of what we learned as children. We can get through things faster, when we actually let ourselves do it."

"Indeed," he cupped her cheek and lifted her head to face him, his smile one of mild suggestion; "Well... shall we, then?" he tilted his head a little, indicating that she should come over.

"Mmm, yes," she smiled, adjusting herself so that she could climb on top of him, comfortably straddling his lap and lowering her lips to his neck as his fingers wandered across her skin. After a little more foreplay, she tilted her head up, resting it on his chest so she could gaze into his eyes; "We should do this in water more often. It's quite fun."

He laughed, his hands sliding through her hair; "Mm, yes, but I think perhaps we should have washed ourselves _after _doing this instead of before."

"Oh well," she giggled. "I guess we'll just both be a little greasy in class tomorrow."

Severus laughed again at that, the warm rumbling coursing through their entwined bodies and making her feel tingly and warm all over; "I love you," he murmured, tugging on her hair a little as he pulled her lips back to him.

When they were finished Dinah slid off of Severus and returned to rest against his side, laying her arm comfortably on his shoulder; "That was so good, my love. So good."

Severus sighed, his eyes closing as he tilted his head back towards the ceiling, his expression one of blissful contentment as a small smile tugged on his lips; "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me."

She felt her own smile and the happy tears that came with it, sliding her hand through his hair and resting her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes; "And you are mine."

* * *

Dinah wasn't sure how it was possible for two mornings to be so different. She woke up on Tuesday energized and happy, ready to take on her classes and show the world that adult Dinah was back. Not only back, but a little different. Just a tiny bit like the child Dinah. And of course, she was also now an adult Dinah who had received the full love of Severus Snape. A man who was currently lying next to her with his arms comfortably looped around her waist, his dark eyes content as they watched each other.

"Breakfast in The Great Hall?" she asked.

"No, I'd still rather begin by going to class. After our day-long absence The Great Hall may be... a bit active for my tastes upon our entry."

"Yes, I suppose you're right." She smiled; "I can't wait to see the look on Grubbly-Plank and the students' faces. I have the perfect plan for how to waltz in there. It's going to be so much fun."

"I'm glad," he said with a short laugh. "For your teaching style, that must be an exciting prospect. I myself look more forward to frightening the students and Eugene and taking points away."

"Ah, how we differ," she laughed, sitting up in bed, brushing aside a strand of hair that had fallen into his eyes; "We should get breakfast summoned here then. I'll need sustenance for all of the varied reactions I'm going to get and so do you."

"Perhaps," he offered a mild smile and extracted himself from the covers, heading to his closet to dress. She waited for him to finish before going in to dress herself, figuring that at this stage it was probably good not to tempt each other too much when they had class soon. But she did come out and let him tie her hair up for her, another thing she found particularly intimate between them.

"Mm," he kissed her neck when finished, running his fingers though her hair; "You are beautiful. I can only imagine that the students will notice that much."

She laughed, leaning into him. "I hope you aren't implying that they only listen to me for my looks. Especially the younger ones."

"Not at all. Simply reveling in the fact that you are mine. But we should go and eat before this progresses any further, or I am afraid I'll be tempted to cancel our classes again."

"Oh, well, we can't have that, can we," she spun around and squeezed her arms around his waist once before letting go. "What would the students do without their dear Professor Snape for not one, but _two _days in a row?"

"You are 'messing with me' again, aren't you?" he glared a little.

"Of course," she laughed, hurrying past him towards the kitchen, stopping in the doorway to smile back at him for a moment. "Come on or the food will get cold."

He was about to try and retort something when three sharp raps sounded on the office door. "I suppose I shall go and see who that is," he said with a sigh. "You go ahead and begin eating. It's probably only Eugene, agitated with the short note I left him yesterday."

"All right," she agreed, settling down to the porridge and kippers that had been provided this morning as Severus went to answer the door. She wondered what Eugene would say when he saw them. Hopefully, it would shock the man thoroughly. She was feeling a little vindictive when it came to Eugene ever since he had been bothering Severus so much. When she had just started cutting into a piece of fish, she found she had to go and see what was going on. There was no yelling yet, which indicated that perhaps Eugene was not at the door after all. She stood and hurried over toward the office.

"Severus," she looped her arm into her boyfriend's, "Is it Eugene or – Oh! Lucy!" she exclaimed, smiling when she saw her friend standing in the doorway; "Good morning!"

Lucy just stared wide-eyed for a moment before squealing; ""Dinah! You're… you're tall, too!"

Dinah tried not to giggle as Severus turned his amused gaze to her; "I said the same thing to her and her response was quite similar. She seems to not be responding well this morning."

"Oh, Severus," she laughed, shaking her head at him and turning to Lucy. "So, I guess you've noticed our potion was sort of ... reversed."

"Um, yes. It certainly looks that way, doesn't it? I just came to see if everything was all right? Everyone was concerned yesterday when you cancelled classes. That seemed to be all the students could talk about," Lucy babbled, beginning to wring her hands together. Dinah was worried that her friend might be nervous around them. Granted, Severus could be intimidating to pretty much anyone without even trying and Lucy had been a student of his back in the day.

She smiled, trying to look reassuring; "We're fine, thank you. We changed back on Sunday and sort of took yesterday alone so we could adjust to our adult forms again. It wasa little bit... overwhelming, I'll admit, but we're quite well now. We've gotten used to it."

"Oh," Lucy nodded, looking a little sad or hurt or nervous. "I'm glad you're all right…and that you're adults again. That's nice. I-I suppose I'll just head up to breakfast now, then," she said, taking a step backwards.

"Lucy, are you all right?" Dinah called, letting go of Severus to go and walk up to her friend before she could escape. "You seem nervous. If you want to stay and eat with us you can, I'm sure," she turned to Severus.

"I have no problem with it," he replied.

"Oh, well, if you're sure. You might want to be alone…together," Lucy said, watching Dinah warily.

Dinah laughed; "I think we did enough of that yesterday, and we really don't have that much time left until classes start. I have a break early on but Severus does not." She paused, realizing that her friend looked hurt again; "Lucy, are you mad that we didn't tell you right away? It's nothing personal. It was just ... very overwhelming, like I said. We needed to be alone to get comfortable. We weren't functioning very well, that's all. You were one of the first people that I wanted to tell, I just didn't think. And we were avoiding The Great Hall because it would be a bit much to reveal ourselves to the entire school population at one time..."

Lucy sighed. "I'm not mad, no. It's just…no, it's nothing. Really," she insisted, "I can only imagine how overwhelming it must have been for the both of you. I should start avoiding the Great Hall. Slughorn was asking me all sorts of questions yesterday, as if I should know something. Especially after I'd already told him I didn't even know you'd cancelled classes…" she trailed off as her stomach rumbled, causing her to blush.

Dinah laughed. She knew how that felt; "Come on, eat with us. The friendly company will be nice, at least for Severus because he gets to go see Eugene after this." She shot her boyfriend a reassuring smile as he scowled and led both him and Lucy back into the main room after closing the office door. "You said Slughorn was asking you questions? Does he... know anything?"

"Yes," Severus murmured, sitting down across from Dinah, his tone falling into its normal adult one of careful calculation with very mild friendly undertones as he fixed Lucy with a questioning gaze; "Because we are at this point unaware of how the reversal happened."

Lucy shook her head, shoving aside the kippers but spooning in some extra porridge. Dinah recalled that her friend was not much of a fan of seafood; "I don't think he knows anything. He wasn't acting any weirder than normal anyway. Just asked if I knew why you had cancelled classes, said he warned Eugene not to come and press Severus for a better explanation. Then he rushed off saying he had to set up for his potions class."

"Hm. Slughorn can be useful after all," Severus said mildly, spooning himself some porridge. "I suppose then that I have him to thank for Eugene not coming bursting in on me this morning or during yesterday's solitude."

Lucy giggled, looking decidedly more cheerful as she shoved some food in her mouth. "Yes, I suppose so," she said around a mouthful of porridge, "Sorry."

Dinah had to laugh; "Don't eat so fast; you don't want to turn into _me_, do you?"

"I'm afraid you're rather unique in that respect, my darling," Severus murmured, turning a smile to her.

"Yes, I try to be," she flushed and took a bite of kipper.

"So, um, got any plans for the next couple weeks?" Lucy asked.

Dinah sighed; "I think we can barely see much past one day at a time at this point, at least until the prophecy thing blows over. We were attacked by the flayed baby again on Sunday before we... changed. We also think the test subject was following us around again. But enough of our problems. Are we still on for the Derwent and Amedeus thing?"

"Oh!" Lucy said, wiping her mouth off with a napkin. "Yes, later this week. In the library. I couldn't talk to Derwent but Agrona assured me that the timing would be fine and she'd make sure to tell Derwent about it so he wasn't caught off guard."

"Good," a small smile played across Dinah's lips as she thought of something; "You know, at this point we could probably just step back and let Severus take over. I'm sure he'll enjoy exercising his frightening powers of discipline on the students again, won't you darling?"

"Hm," he made his noncommittal noise, more common in his adult form and his lips turned up in a half smile; "Mildly. But this is Lucy's project. I will interfere as much as she wants me to."

Lucy grinned; "Oh you can interfere as much as you want. I don't really yell at the students much and I'm not big on the intimidation factor. Plus you might have noticed I'm not usually good with the whole conflict thing… I just couldn't let this go, though. Derwent's a good kid and Amedeus seems like one too."

"Yes, well they are obviously talented enough to falsify other students' work," Severus snarled, placing his napkin down and standing from the table; "I'm sorry, but classes are beginning soon and I would like to arrive early enough that Eugene's reaction to the 'de-youthening' is not exposed to all of the students of my class."

"Yes, all right," Lucy said, shrinking back a little bit at Severus's firm tone. Dinah couldn't help but smile and flush a little. Her adult boyfriend's skills at intimidation were a complete turn-on, she was discovering more and more each day.

"I suppose I should be going too, then," Lucy continued meekly, placing her spoon down and standing up from her chair before shoving it back in.

"No rush," Dinah said, walking around the table to her boyfriend; "Severus just has to leave. We can take our time. Good luck with Eugene," she said to him.

"I shall need it. Please lock the doors behind you," he kissed her; "Oh, and enjoy whatever plan you have for waltzing into your classroom. I shall leave the more genial joys of teaching to live vicariously through you."

"And I'll let you scare everyone silly in my place," she grinned. "Let's meet back down here at lunch and you can let me know how it went with Eugene. Unless he feels some sort of need to seek me out first."

"I'll try to prevent that," he frowned, bidding her a final farewell before leaving.

"Quite frightening, isn't he?" Dinah grinned to the still nervous-looking Lucy after the office door clicked shut behind Severus.

"Very," Lucy pointed towards the door and whispered as though Severus was a dangerous individual not to be spoken of, as Dinah had to try and hide another giggle. "Did I ever mention that he gave me the only detention I had at school? I'd rather not repeat the experience."

"Lucy, Lucy," she placed a hand squarely on her friend's shoulder; "You should worry a little less, you know? Severus likes you. And there's no way he can give you a detention at this point, even if he wanted to. His bark is worse than his bite; you should know that by now. At least to those of us that he considers his friends."

Lucy laughed, "He might not be able to give detention but I'm not so sure he considers me a friend, especially after I moved his potions around," she teased.

Dinah knew that her friend was teasing, but she suddenly felt a little hurt. She guessed it was perhaps one of those moments she and Severus had talked about yesterday, that would still be hard even though they had re-accepted their adult forms. "Lucy, he _does _consider you his friend. He was friendly to you when you arrived today, wasn't he? He offered to let you take care of your Derwent and Amedeus project if you wanted to, right? He... he told me that night, before you turned into a fox and messed with the potions that you still think he hated you. That actually bothered him a lot. He's not the most social person but he does care what others think of him and you are one of those people that he does consider a friend. Sure, he likes to intimidate people but that's who he is. And he honestly wasn't _that _angry about the potions. He was almost amused by it, and I'm serious I actually _do _think he enjoys getting all frustrated about that sort of thing. On some level." She laughed; "Sorry, that was a mouthful. I guess your babbling is rubbing off on me. But if you need any further reassurance that Severus doesn't hate you, think back to the Valentine's Day incident. That was the young Severus before he started taking on some of his adult behaviors again, but it was still Severus."

And that was one of the conclusions they'd came to yesterday. That no matter how much they changed from one moment to the next, there were still things that stayed the same and they were still the same people. So their time as children would never be invalidated.

"Dinah, I wasn't really worried that he hated me. Honest. I mean, did I, at one point think he did? Yes. But that was back during the Order days, not now. In his defense any time he came across me I was generally on, near or under Sirius, which is probably why I even thought he hated me then. If I even thought I was anything but safe in his presence I wouldn't dare touch anything of his. I don't like it when people hate me, I doubt anyone does, but I can assure you even if Severus did feel that way about me it's much better than no feeling at all."

"I see," Dinah sighed, not meeting her friend's gaze, worried that she'd come across too strong. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to bombard you with anything. I just really want you to understand that he does think of you as a friend. I mean, Severus is not the type to want to have to come to you and say; 'Lucy, you are my friend.' I mean, he can't really do that."

"Dinah, look at me," Lucy said, and Dinah turned back to her. "I understand. Plus it would be bloody weird to just walk up to someone and announce they're your friend. Don't you think?"

She laughed; "Yes, I suppose. Good, I just... well you seemed like you weren't sure and I wanted to make sure you knew that. Oh, and by all means go ahead and let him intimidate you every now and again. I think he actually likes it. Just don't take it too seriously," she grinned.

Lucy laughed, "I'll do my best. Now," she said, "I've got a break now and you do too. Did you want to hang out or did you have something else to do?"

Dinah agreed to hang out, glad to have somebody to chat with during her break. It was odd, she thought, being older than her friend again. But as they talked on about whatever struck their fancy she realized once more that it didn't matter so much. They were still the same people and though certain things may have changed their friendship still felt quite solid. It would be curious to see how the four of them; her, Lucy, Sirius, and Severus, would interact together now that hers and Severus's youthening was – for all she knew – permanently reversed.

Whatever the future held, she welcomed it.


	132. Adjusted

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO

Adjusted

* * *

"Well, I'm glad to see you are all here and ready to learn this fine morning," Dinah smiled, having waited until the last minute to waltz into her first class of the day. She found she liked the authoritative way her adult voice sounded and the gasps of the third year students echoing all around her, their wide eyes watching her make her way determinedly toward the front of the room, where the elderly Professor Grubbly-Plank sat with as shocked an expression as the students.

She smiled again and turned around when she made it to the front of the room, perching on the end of her desk and crossing her legs in front of her before regarding them with a casual, innocent expression; "I trust everyone had a good weekend?"

There was some general murmuring and nodding mixed in with the staring and Dinah felt her smile widen.

"Well, I think today it would be good to do a sort of review of the material we've learned thus far in the course; sort of nice, relaxed class discussion day. This might be an excellent time to review the concepts of paradigms or differences that we discussed in earlier portions of the class. How does everyone feel about that?"

More absentminded nodding ensued, some students looking happy and others looking rather nervous, if Dinah was reading them right.

"Of course," she grinned, "We cannot begin until our favorite Professor Grubbly-Plank here stops gaping at me and decides whether or not she would like to stay for the discussion. She's welcome to, of course." Some of the students managed to laugh at that.

"Oh!" Grubbly-Plank flushed and chuckled; "Well, I suppose. If you don't mind my staying just this once I'd be interested to see where the discussion goes... Professor Samson," she smiled.

"Of course. Please, stay. Now," she turned back to the students; "Does anyone have anything they'd like to say to kick things off?"

About a million hands shot into the air.

Dinah laughed; "Oh my, where should I begin? How about with Miss Chambers over there?" she pointed to the Hufflepuff Aurelia Chambers.

The girl lowered her hand; "What happened?"

"That's a rather vague question, Miss Chambers. Would you mind being more specific? Mr. Randall?"  
"How did you turn back?"

"Ah, much better," she laughed again. "I suppose you've all noticed by now that I've returned to my adult form. Has anyone _not _noticed that? A show of hands, please." The students all exchanged nervous glances. "Oh, come now, I'm just joking around with all of you," she smiled. "Just because I'm thirty-eight years old again doesn't mean you have to be afraid of me. And yes, I did just tell you all my age. Oddly enough, that's never something that bothered me."

Lucy McGruder raised a hand; "_You _might not be scary, Professor Samson, but if you turned back does that mean that Professor Snape has turned back as well?"

Dinah covered her mouth to stifle another chuckle; "Yes, Miss McGruder, Professor Snape is an adult again as well. Now, now," she raised her voice a little as the students all began talking at once and exchanging terrified glances; "Let's not panic, shall we? I may not be scary but this is _my _class and not his and we're not here to talk about how frightening Professor Snape is. Suffice it to say that you all managed to survive him before the youthening and I trust that you can go back to that place. You're all tough students, aren't you? Mr. Grey?"

"Is Mr. Wilkins going to go away then?"

"Ideally."

"Oh," Hannah Mitchell murmured, lowering her raised hand. "He was our only buffer."

"Ah, well, I can see that I'm not really needed anymore..." Grubbly-Plank murmured before Dinah could respond to the girl's comment. The older woman looked a little hurt.

"Oh, please, Professor Grubbly-Plank, stay," Dinah insisted, worried that she'd gotten so wrapped up in her little 'I'm an adult again' show that she had inadvertently started saying some things without thinking; "You misunderstand me. Eugene Wilkins is the problem, not you. I would love for you to listen in today if you want to and to contribute in any way you see fit. You have been such a big help the past three months and I'm very grateful."

"Oh," she smiled looking quite a bit happier; "I'm sorry, I did misunderstand. You are very welcome and it has been an enjoyable experience for me as well, getting to know your Muggle Studies curriculum. I know Eugene has given Severus some problems during your difficult time. I can see why it might be a relief for him to 'get lost', so to speak." A few students giggled at that despite the fear of losing their 'buffer'. "But I trust that you are happy with the reverse transformation?"

"Hmm," Dinah murmured, her smile a little more subdued as she considered her colleague's question. "Yes..." she finally said slowly; "I suppose I am 'happy' with it." At her words the students' hands all shot up again and she turned out to look at them. "Yes, Mr. Pye?"

"Is it strange?"

Dinah smiled; "Yes. Yes, Mr. Pye, it is very strange. Is it strange to all of you, too? It's okay; you can nod if you think it is." A few students nodded. "Good. Then let's talk about it a little bit if you'd like, because if you ask any of these questions in Professor Snape's class I can assure you you'll lose points."

There was a little bit more nervous laughter before the Gryffindor Barry Clearwater raised his hand and asked exactly how the reversal had happened.

She shook her head; "Well, we don't really know, to be honest. Suffice it to say at this point that the potion must have worn off somehow."

"Does Mr. Wilkins know yet?" the Muggle-born Slytherin Glinda Alesi asked timidly.

"I can only imagine that he does know, by now," Dinah agreed, trying not to get distracted by thoughts about how their favorite nuisance might have reacted to the news, and how Severus had responded to it. She would know by lunch and that was only two to three hours from now. She could make herself wait for it.

"So, now that the potion doesn't last forever can we start writing home to our folks about it again?" Barry Clearwater spoke once more. "'Cuz I think a lot of adults would like to be able to turn young again, especially if it's only for three months."

Dinah frowned; "I am afraid that is up to the headmaster, and I also must stress that we are not _certain _how this happened. Do not take this potion lightly. Recall how things were for Se- for Professor Snape and myself the past three months. Would you wish that kind of stress on another? Especially if you didn't know what would become of them?" That got the somewhat cocky Gryffindor subdued again, and he shrugged.

"That's better," she sighed. "Now, on that note, should we start into our class discussion? Is there anything that has stood out in your lives since taking this class that you'd like to relate to things you've learned here? Anything you want to say is valid; I'm curious as to your thoughts on all of our subject matters. Ah, Mr. Smyth?"

The Muggle-born Slytherin Tad Smyth and a student that Dinah knew Lucy had grown quite attached to lowered his hand; "This reversal of the youthening is kind of like another paradigm shift, right? I was thinking about them after my Mum and Dad wrote me about something that just happened to my sister. She decided to change her study major in university and she was so close to graduating that such a big change made the whole school have to work really hard at changing their records around and such. She's going to have to stay for another two years at least, just because of the change. Isn't that kind of like how paradigms make everything hectic until they settle down again? Is that how it feels when you change to a young girl and then back to a grown up? Like everything is hectic and you have to wait awhile for it to settle down?"

"Excellent observation, Mr. Smyth," she said, feeling herself smile and causing the boy to smile as well; "You are right of course, that is a wonderful metaphor for how paradigm shifts can affect people. And I do feel that way, I won't lie. Things are quite hectic, but when other people understand it makes it a whole lot better. Thank you so much for kicking off our discussion. Five points to Slytherin."

After that point, the class discussion raced on smoothly and very productively. And as the students left, she was pleased to see Kendra McManus, the only one of her three Slytherins who was not Muggle-born, thank Tad for gaining their house points. It was almost heartwarming, Dinah thought, that the Muggle-born Slytherins really did seem to be changing things around this year, even if only a tiny bit.

Her next class, the sixth years, went just as well as the first, and she actually had people coming into her office hours to ask her questions _not _related to the reversal. All in all, she was feeling very good about herself and her day when Severus walked into her office.

Dinah smiled, a sudden flash of déjà vu to her first day teaching here and Severus waltzing in with his flowing robes and that same frown planted on his face that he was wearing now. That day he had been coming in to 'observe' her, perhaps even to judge her. Today he was coming in to talk to her. "How did it go?"

"The classes themselves went rather well," his frown deepened. "Eugene did not participate; left rather quickly after seeing that I was an adult again. _However_..." he left it hanging and Dinah felt herself raising an eyebrow at him asking him to continue. He nodded and finished his sentence; "I managed to catch a momentary break in Eugene's Occlumency."

She inhaled sharply and her eyes widened. _That _was a development indeed; "Really?"

"Yes," he said, sitting down in the chair across from her and idly turning her cylindrical quill holder around in his hand; "Unfortunately, I didn't get much out of it, but I _did _catch very strong hints of shock and distress, as well as the fear that someone did something without his knowledge or permission _again_. The 'again' is what grabbed my attention. After that, he blocked me off and left in a rush."

"So 'again'?" she considered this. "That must mean that it's true. That someone – probably the test subject – administered the youthening potion to us initially without Eugene's consent."

"Yes, but it doesn't make sense. If he didn't want us youthened in the first place then why is he upset that it was reversed, especially as he's been by all accounts trying to reverse it himself?"

"Maybe it's not so much that they did it but that they did it without telling him first. Then again, if there was a reversal available, you'd think he would want to use it on us and not care who actually committed the act."

"No, I think you're on to something. I think perhaps Eugene did not know that there _was _a reversal available. That, of course, doesn't mean that I trust him but it _does _mean that his and the test subjects' goals are often disjointed."

"What if the potion just wore off? Could he be upset about that?"

"Perhaps, but given his worry that someone _did _something I don't think it wearing off was his first assumption. I think he believes that someone – again probably the test subject – found and administered a reversal without his knowledge."

"Then why did we just suddenly turn back out of the clear blue without drinking anything?"

"The reversal may not take effect immediately?" he shrugged to show that he was simply throwing out guesses. "It's possible it was administered into our drinks at an earlier time and simply took that long to act. That's all I can think of at the moment. And I do believe we were being followed on Sunday, probably by the test subject to make sure the reversal went into effect properly. Though I don't know if he was counting on the flayed baby to show up."

"But we think there's a connection between him, it, the flayed baby, and the dark storms, right? That his 'despair' is summoning it?"

Severus sighed; "I don't know. There are still more questions than there are answers. But this moment with Eugene was promising. I shall have to keep a closer eye on him from now on, which means..." he grimaced.

"Oh no, you can't be serious?" she asked, worried.

He managed a slight smile; "Yes, I believe we should go and meet with the headmaster and ask him to force Eugene to continue working with me. At least until we get to the bottom of this situation."

Dinah sighed, knowing that he was right but just hating the idea that her beloved Severus would have to continue working with the man that had made his life a living hell for the past three months. She stood from her desk and walked around it to the other side, wrapping her arms around Severus's shoulders from behind; "I suppose you're right. I'm sorry about that."

He laughed a little, leaning his head against hers; "It's all right. I am, after all, better equipped to handle him in this state. Who knows, I may even enjoy it."

"Yes, but that won't stop him from being able to ruin your lesson plans and interfere with everything whenever he gets the chance. We already know that's his best defense against your prying. I don't think he's going to stop, no matter how harsh you are with him."

"Perhaps not. But it is all a part of the game I suppose. The winner must be determined somehow."

"Just don't let him do anything really stupid," she sighed, sliding her hands from his shoulders and standing upright again. "So you want to go see the headmaster now?"

"Now is as good a time as any. We will likely pass more people in the halls, too. I know at least one or two faculty have seen my transformation by now. I enjoyed their nervous looks and slight cringing," he smirked, a glint of pleasure shining in his dark brown eyes.

She laughed; "I'm sure you must have."

He nodded; "By dinner we should be able to enter The Great Hall again for meals, if you're up for attempting it."

"Yeah," she nodded her agreement. "I think, after as well as things have been going today that – by dinner – I'll be quite ready for that indeed."

* * *

Walking with Severus was quite fun when he chose to glare at every single person they passed in the halls and on the grounds. Dinah no longer had any doubt that he enjoyed being grouchy and irritable, and she couldn't stop shooting him amused glances every now and again as they continued on their way to the boulder she'd asked Sarepta to hang around just in case they needed her.

"I wonder if she'll know we're the people she's looking for," Dinah mused, settling herself onto the boulder as their relative aloneness allowed Severus's expression to ease into a flat one.

"Perhaps you should call for her. There appears to be no one around."

"Mm, I suppose so. If I think very carefully that I'm addressing a snake then maybe it will come out in parseltongue." She turned and looked out at the grass, focusing on what her snake looked like and saying; "Sarepta?" She turned back to Severus. "How was that?"

"No," he shook his head.

She sighed; "So it came out in English, then?"

"Unless I am suddenly capable of understanding parseltongue, then yes."

Dinah shook her head, feeling a little dejected; "I really should have learned to control this properly."

"Mm," he frowned, placing a hand on her shoulder, and then nodded off into the distance; "There seems to be a snake there."

She turned to see a normal color-pattern adder slithering toward them from the distance. Sarepta was black so it couldn't be her, but maybe she could use it to locate the other snake; "Excuse me?" she stood from the rock and crept up to the snake, Severus hovering closely behind her and knelt down when it stopped in front of her; "Have you seen a black adder around here that is friends with some humans?"

The snake nodded; "I have been following her." It was a male. "Mating season begins soon. She is quite popular. The other males hover close by but she keeps saying she will be going inside the castle soon. Because she knows a person who can speak to us. That must be you."

"Yes, that's me," she smiled, wondering how Sarepta was dealing with her apparent popularity and all of these suitors this year. "Do you know if she's around?"

"I can go look for her but she may flee. She is very indecisive." The male turned around and slithered off into the grass.

"Well?" Severus asked.

She turned around to face him. "He's going to go and look for her. Seems he's been keeping an eye on her with a view to potentially mate once the season starts in a couple of weeks. You look uneasy," she frowned.

He shook his head, as one side of his mouth turned up in a slight smile; "Simply getting used to it again. You speaking parseltongue in adult form. But I'm not bothered by it. It looks like he's found her," he nodded off again and Dinah turned to see Sarepta slithering up to them.

The snake did a double take when she got close; "Dinah? Is that you?"

"Yes," Dinah smiled a little; "The potion I told you about got reversed recently."

"You are full grown. And so is Severus?" she tilted her head at Dinah's boyfriend.

"Yes, that's Severus. We've both grown."

"He is quite intimidating-looking, isn't he?" Sarepta said mildly.

Dinah had to laugh; "Yes, yes, he is quite intimidating-looking. But he's still the same Severus. Look, I know that it's been two weeks since I found you, but I wondered if you would come and talk to Tommy with me. I have a feeling he'll be around this evening for us. I guess it was silly, me letting you off into the wild for a 'break' when by the time I came back for you our scheduled time together was up."

"It's all right. I do not mind so much. I'm quite flexible as long as you have me back outside when mating season rolls around. Until then I see no reason to allow these persistent males to continue to follow me if I can escape it."

"Ah, males can be that way," Dinah laughed. "So ambitious, aren't they? The one I sent to find you said you're quite popular this year."

"Yes, well," Sarepta slithered up Dinah's outstretched arm. "I may mate with him. I have not decided."

"Plenty of time left for that," Dinah said. "No need to rush after all. It's not as if they're going anywhere."

"No, they are most definitely not," Sarepta sighed, a little frustrated.

Dinah chuckled; "Well, thank you for coming back with us."

"Of course. I want to continue to help with Tommy's progress if I can. Do you need me to hide under your hood?"

"Thanks, that would be helpful," Dinah let Sarepta coil around her neck and lifted her robe's hood to cover her up, turning back to face Severus now that Sarepta was hidden from her line of sight. "She's coming back with us. Seems she needs to get away from all the persistent males that have been following her around."

"Ah," he raised an eyebrow; "Must be challenging."

"I wouldn't know, I've only ever been chased by two," she grinned and held up two fingers to illustrate her point.

"And you shall never be chased by another if I have anything to say about it," he murmured, fingering the edge of her hood. "I see we are in incognito mode again."

"Yes, well I don't think it's time to reveal myself to the world yet. I'm still going to, but I'll know when it's right."

"I know," he smiled. "Shall we go inside before people begin asking questions?"

"Oh, I think if you glare at them like you did on the way out here their focus will not be on me regardless of how I'm dressed," she laughed at his agitated look. "You're going to have to get used to my messing with you, darling. Your older form may intimidate some people but it does not intimidate _me_."

"I have yet to decide whether that is a blessing or a curse," he replied, looking amused as they headed back towards the castle and down to the dungeons together, passing fewer stragglers this time now that lunch hour was underway. Those they did pass, however, were met with the usual stern glare that sent them scrambling away.

"Ah," Sarepta slithered up to the top of one of the bookshelves, her favorite perch; "So quiet and relaxing in here."

"I'm glad," Dinah grinned. "We'll go and talk to Tommy later this evening." She turned away from the snake to face her boyfriend; "Severus, do you know what we have to do?"

"No, but I'm certain you're going to tell me," he replied, amused again.

"We have to call Mum and Dad and let them know that the youthening has been reversed before lunch is over and we have to go back to class!" she clapped her hands together, and then dug in her robes to remove her mobile phone.

"How-" Severus did a double take, glaring at her mobile; "How did you sneak that infernal Muggle contraption into your robes without my noticing this morning?"

"You are a sound sleeper, my love," she planted a kiss on his cheek and then collapsed into the green couch, dialing her parents' number and lifting the phone to her ear. It rang twice before Dahlia answered.

"Mum!" Dinah exclaimed, inwardly marveling at how different this was from when she had called to tell her parents about the youthening. This time she looked forward to talking to them.

"Dinah! You sound..."

"I know. The youthening has been reversed. I'm thirty-eight years old again."

"That's wonderful, dear! Or, wait..." her mother paused; "_is_ it wonderful?"

Dinah smiled; "It's tolerable, let's just say that. I _had_ gotten used to being sixteen again, but I don't mind the reversal either. As long as Severus and I are in it together – oh! You have just _got _to hear what he sounds like as an adult! Hang on; I'm going to have him say something!" Before Severus could protest she grabbed his robes and pulled him down to her, sticking the phone in front of his ear; "Say hello."

He glared at her and shook his head.

"Say hello!" she growled, more insistent this time.

He sighed, still scowling; "Hello."

"Ah, isn't it wonderful!" she squealed, yanking the phone back from him and returning it to her ear; "Isn't his voice sexy?" she asked her mother as Severus rolled his eyes and straightened up again to readjust the robes she had pulled at.

"Er... well, it's quite deep, isn't it? That was Severus?"

She laughed, watching her still-disgruntled significant other walk over to the table to summon lunch for them; "Yes."

"Well, he sounds lovely, I'm sure, dear," her mother laughed; "Anyway, should I take this to mean that the prophecy thing is taken care of as well?"

"Oh," Dinah sat up straight again, a little bit more subdued; "No, unfortunately that's still at a bit of a standstill right now."

"Here, let me get your father on the other line and you can tell us as much as you see fit," Dahlia disappeared for a moment and then Dinah filled her parents in on as much as she thought they should know. Lunch appeared to be spaghetti with breadsticks, and her gaze kept shifting to it and to Severus as he came over to sit on the arm of the couch and wait for her to finish her conversation. After giving them the basic information on what was known about the reversal and a few odd, less-threatening details about the prophecy progression, she let them go and turned off her phone. "There. Everything is up-to-date now. I promised we'd visit them over the summer, assuming you didn't have a problem with that."

"I have no problem with it," he agreed, and then leaned over her, pinning her back onto the couch as he kept himself propped up a few feet above her by bracing himself with his hands on either side; "Now, may I assume that you are finished telling the whole world about how... _arousing_ you find my voice?"

Dinah felt herself flushing as his gaze bored into hers, but managed a grin; "Now, now, I have told you Severus, that one or two individuals does not constitute 'the whole world'. But I can tell more people if you really want me to."

"I'd rather you didn't," he purred, leaning down and brushing his lips against hers, lightly at first and then more firmly.

"Mm, Severus, stop. I'm hungry," she whined, her two strong desires competing within her as the scents of lunch wafted over from the table.

"For... what?" he kept his voice low, monotonous, murmuring it in her ear at a very slow, drawn-out pace, and the winner was clear in her mind.

"You're exploiting my weakness," she purred right back as his lips found her neck and his hands began to undo her robes.

"Yes, well," he lifted his head to smile at her, still enunciating every word; "I have a right to 'mess with you' just as you mess with me, do I not?"

"Oh, sure, call me out on that..." she trailed off for a moment as he went back to his work and then shook her head; "Bedroom. Sarepta still on shelf."

"I love how you lose the capacity for using sentence particles when you're turned on," he murmured, letting her off the hook just long enough to pull her into the bedroom with him.


	133. Fetish

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THREE

Fetish

* * *

"Dinah! You grew up again!" Tommy stared, wide-eyed, from where he sat in his usual stall, his face showing no malice, simply wonder and awe.

Dinah smiled and knelt in front of him as Sarepta slithered from her neck to coil around her upper arm. This time, she didn't have to strain herself while kneeling to keep herself level with the little boy's eyes – she met them naturally. "Yes. I have."

"Does that mean... things are getting better?"

"I hope so," she murmured, keeping her smile gentle; "What do you think?"

"I don't know. I feel better, with you and Sarepta here. And your prophecy thing said you had to relive the past. So you've done that successfully?"

"I think so. I've accepted my parselmouth abilities, anyway, and I no longer have any negative feelings towards my child form."

"Really? You've accepted them? So then..."

"Yes, I think I will tell the world. Make them see that we're not bad people, you and me."

"We're not?" he sniffled.

"Of course not, Tommy. That's why you, Sarepta, and I have been talking. That's why I managed to introduce Sarepta here to my three friends."

"And they still like you?"

"All three of them," she smiled. "None of us parselmouths will have to be afraid anymore once I finish changing the worldview. It might not be easy but it can be done. I told another person, too. Someone I needed to tell – to get on my side about the whole thing. And now everything has fallen into place. I'm ready to face myself now. And you helped me to do that."

"I did?"

"Yes, through our talks, both before and after Sarepta joined us. Like you, it's nice for me to realize that somebody else understands what it's like being a parselmouth. It's nice to have a friendly person to talk to about it."

"I'm glad. Thanks, Dinah," Tommy smiled. "I'm glad we can all talk to each other, too."

The boy seemed so happy lately, Dinah couldn't help but think. Hopefully that meant that things were going well. The last encounter with the flayed baby had had it speaking to her, after all, and directly acknowledging Tommy's existence. Maybe that meant that the connection between them was intensifying. She could only hope that that was a good thing and that Tommy's side could somehow win out.

* * *

Dinah and Severus were just settling down at their usual library table to skim some defensive books and wait for Lucy's arrival on Thursday evening after dinner when their friend appeared in front of them; "Hi," she greeted, "How'd you two make it down here before me? I swear when I left Dinah was still eating."

"Um... we've been here so many times that we have the perfect secret efficient route mapped out to the library?" Dinah offered, causing Severus to laugh and shake his head at her.

Lucy laughed, pulling a book off a nearby shelf and sitting at the table. "I spent a lot of time here as a student. Thought I had a pretty fast route down. Looks like I was wrong."

Dinah laughed; "Looks like it. Although granted you didn't have to get down here in a hurry in order to avoid people gaping at you for one and a half months before they got used to your youthening."

"Very true," Lucy said, studying her book.

Dinah turned back to look at what was in front of her; a book about shield spells and reflective spells and the best ways in which to enhance them using your magic in combination with the right mindset. She was looking for information on that large spell that had broken through Severus's _Protego Totalum _twice in order to fling them away from each other. It had been strong, and she wasn't sure if she could fight it off in her current state. Neither one of them had been equipped to handle it at the time; but maybe if she could just figure out what it might have been she could get the proper defense lined up for it.

"Here they come," Lucy's voice murmured, and Dinah looked up to see where she was watching.

Derwent Lympsham and Amedeus Flint, along with a bunch of other Slytherin boys of their age or older, were carrying their books into the library in a large cluster, innocently enough except that the two boys concerned looked a little nervous. The rest of them didn't seem to notice, though, and Dinah quickly looked away so as not to ruin their sneaky plan. But, she thought as she caught sight of Severus, snarling down at his book, ready to go in for the kill, she suddenly figured it probably would not matter if they were sneaky or not anymore.

She flushed and stuffed her nose back in her book. She was going to be seeing the full wrath of Severus soon and she was going to have to avoid any flushing or squirming as she watched it unfold. She frowned. Maybe the book had a defensive spell for _that _threat. Probably not. Where was the elusive 'cold shower spell' when she needed it?

Dinah had to look up again when Lucy whispered; "Whenever you're ready," to Severus.

In one swift movement Severus slammed his book shut and stood from the table, his movements smooth and calculated and his face quite nearly livid. Dinah squeaked and stood up after him.

"There is no need to be nervous," he stopped snarling long enough to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Uh, right," she flushed. At least he didn't realize the real reason for her squeaking. He had a job to do and she could not distract him.

Lucy stood after them, a little more hesitantly, but then seemed to steel her courage and marched ahead of them to the table of Slytherins, stopping behind two of the boys who had charmed a parchment to sing some sort of nasty Quidditch song about one of the Weasleys.

"Mr. Corner, do we normally shove our housemates in the middle of the library?" Severus kicked things off, his voice soft, the danger only present in the tiniest undertone coursing below the smooth surface of his words. He really knew how to do this right.

"Professor Snape!" the boy in question exclaimed, obviously referencing an event that had occurred when Dinah's flushed nose had been buried in her book, but Severus had obviously seen; "Oh, you saw that, did you?"

"Yes, we did," Lucy told him, crossing her arms over her chest to match Severus's current pose, her gaze strict but packing nowhere near the amount of punch that Dinah's boyfriend's face did. Then again, he wasn't exactly a person one could aspire to defeat in a contest of that nature. Dinah held no illusions that she could even come close. Still, she made her face stern as well, regarding each of the horrible boys in turn. "And I don't think that is acceptable behavior in, or outside, a library," Lucy finished.

The boy sitting next to Mr. Corner sneered at Lucy; "And what would you know about what is and isn't acceptable behavior? Always holed up in your rooms with that attack dog of yours. Gone on weekends. Off with your fiancé no doubt. My Mum and Dad would have a thing or two to say about that, I'm sure."

"How dare you speak to one of your Professors in that way?" Dinah murmured, glaring at the boy as Lucy stared, shocked and apparently at a loss for words.

Severus's lips curled into a momentary sneer and then he marched forward, reaching out and snatching a notebook of parchments from the second boy's hands at lightning speed, turning it over in one swift movement and looking at the words on the other side; "And what have we here, Mr. McBride?" he murmured, the danger in his voice growing by the barest margin; "This looks like the essay I assigned to your class on Tuesday. Odd... the writing matches that of Mr. Lympsham..."

"We've been studying with Lympsham and Flint," Corner spoke up again, an air of self-importance about him as though he was certain he would get away with this act. "They give us writing tips. That's not illegal."

"It is," Lucy said, recovering her voice, "when the handwriting matches that of Mr. Lympsham's. And this," she said, yanking a parchment out from McBride's elbow, "looks like Mr. Flint's handwriting. Funny that neither Mr. Lympsham's nor Mr. Flint's names are on these parchments, but rather they seem to be identified as yours."

"They're just practice pages," the seventh year Osric Blekinsop spoke up coolly, but not enough to cover up the slight uneasiness in his expression; "They give us suggestions and we take them and write our essays based on the ideas they give us. These aren't our final papers."

"I see, Mr. Blekinsop," Severus said. "Then I must commend you boys. Because... clearly... Lympsham and Flint's advice has paid off immensely. It has not slipped my notice that all of your papers have been... quite improved over the last few months," he raised an eyebrow at the collective table. "In fact, if I did not know any better..." he flipped a few pages back in the notebook he was still holding, and then slammed it down in front of its owner, his voice finally raising a little as he pointed to the words filling the page; "What do you have to say to this, Mr. McBride? What appears to be a full essay, not simply notes, matching the one you handed in to me, but in Mr. Lympsham's handwriting?"

"Um, uh….they offered!" McBride exploded at once as he stared at Severus's snarling face, pointing to Derwent and Amedeus who were now practically cowering in their seats.

"In exchange for what?" Lucy asked, her face flushing to approach her hair color, "I'd say you lot are lucky you haven't been immediately expelled. Do you know what the consequences of plagiarism, which is what you're practicing, is outside of these walls? Hefty fines I'm sure you're parents would be appalled to be forced to pay followed by two months in Azkaban," she held up two fingers to emphasize her words.

"Not to mention ostracism from wizarding society and a near guarantee that even once you are released from prison you will be unable to get any kind of decent job due to the permanent black marks on your records," Dinah added, narrowing her eyes at the students.

"Can any one of you students give me a reason not to remove all points from Slytherin, expel you, and drag you out of Hogwarts by the tail of your robes only to prohibit reentry and leave you at the mercy of the dangerous creature and dementors that have been roaming the grounds this year?" Severus demanded, his voice a low snarl and his teeth literally bared at them. Dinah had to force her eyes from wandering over to him too much and use all her will-power to lock them back on the glare that she was giving the students.

"I think," Lucy said, trying to be calm, "as long as the headmaster agrees, detentions and extra assignments might be sufficient. After all, we are not in the business of ruining lives. No matter how wrong and immoral their actions might have been."

"At this point they deserve ruin," Severus snarled, beginning to circle the table. "I would like to think that our house is sending capable, successful Slytherins with a certain amount of house pride out into the world, _not _a lot of lazy, cheating dunderheads."

"We're just being cunning and ambitious like Slytherins are supposed to be!" a boy Dinah vaguely knew as Freddy Urquhart protested.

In a flash Dinah's boyfriend snatched the notebook of parchments from Freddy's hands and swatted him over the head with it, eliciting a wince of pain from the student. "Ambitiousness and cunning do not include cheating and skimping on your own workload. Ambition ceases to be strength when it is used to exploit others and disrespect your own abilities. I am ashamed to have the lot of you in my house."

"Perfectly worded," Dinah murmured her appreciation for Severus's skills. _Oh, and I think after this little show is over I'm going to want to tear your clothes off_. It was Dinah's turn to snarl a little at the return of her accursed inner monologue.

"Exactly," Lucy agreed. "It is not the intention of anyone at the school that each House should use its traits to get ahead in a dishonest manner."

The students finally started to look a little wilted, and Severus's smirk changed to one of satisfaction. But the cocky Frank Corner had to throw in one more jab; "You let us cheat in Quidditch, Professor Snape."

"Quidditch and academics are two different things!" he shouted, smacking Frank upside the head. "And I shall no longer suffer your pathetic Quidditch cheating either, so thank you for bringing it up. If you cannot win through honest means then you do not deserve the Quidditch Cup this year. Further cheating – if it is brought to my attention – will not be tolerated. But it pales in comparison to your academic dishonesty. I may be your head of house but I am also your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Do you think I simply hand out these assignments to amuse myself? Same with your other professors!" he took a brief moment from his chastisement to gesture at Dinah and Lucy.

Freddy sneered, though it had nothing on one of Severus's, and said, "None of us are in her classes except those two," he said, jerking his chin at Lucy and then at Derwent and Amedeus, "And those of us in seventh year are only in _her _class," he indicated Dinah this time, "because we're forced to be."

Dinah's eyes widened as she heard a gasp emitted from Lucy. She had not expected that comment, although the students seemed to be on a roll today with regards to being disrespectful of their professors. Perhaps it was only natural that it be her turn next. Severus's gaze flitted to hers for a split second, so fast that she could not read more than shock in his expression. But when he turned back on the student his face was livid.

"Fifty points from Slytherin for your outrageous comment and blatant disrespect!" Severus shouted, drawing stares from the library, half of which, Dinah noticed, had already been staring anyway. "The headmaster designs class requirements as he sees fit and it is not your place to judge that, Mr. Urquhart. And it is irrelevant to whose classes I am referring; you have plenty of other professors besides the three of us standing here that you have to contend with. And considering that you have been cheating for probably months now I doubt you have any cause to continue opening your big mouth, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," nearly everyone at the table mumbled.

"Now, I hope we've made it clear, cheating is not acceptable," said Lucy, "This incident will be reported to Dumbledore and I'm guessing he and Professor Snape will have a meeting or two to determine exactly what your punishment will be. This is your second chance," she looked at each boy in turn, "You won't get a third."

"Yes," Severus sneered, his voice soft and dangerous again; "And I will take one-hundred more points from Slytherin. I should take more but I will not punish the entire house for the actions of one group. Instead, you shall all be serving detention with me for the remainder of the year during which time you will be forced to undertake various manual labor tasks all without the use of magic. Additionally, I'm afraid that I cannot guarantee that the headmaster will be as ... _merciful _as me. Because you should all be at least held back a year if not expelled. At most you shall have to make up each and every assignment you have skipped out on this year. And you should be grateful to those ridiculous Muggle-born Slytherins that have been working under the radar to keep our point total at a respectable level. As it is, we _might _still have a chance at the house cup. _If_..." here he growled again, "You do nothing further to muck it up."

_Glare at the students, glare at the students_, Dinah ordered herself, forcing her mind back to the task at hand.

"And as for you two," Severus turned a pointed stare on Derwent and Amedeus; "You will both be serving detention as well, for having the sheer _gall _to continue and uphold this charade without informing _any _faculty member of the problem. If I see any of the rest of you," he glared back at the group; "spending time with Mr. Lympsham or Mr. Flint or there is any sort of suspicious activity going on with regards to them you are all going to wish you had never been born. I expect no further association between these two halves of the table from this point forward, do you understand me?" he stuck an arm in-between the two end seats where Derwent and Amedeus sat and the rest of the table to illustrate his point. Dinah had to force herself not to smile. Now there would be no suspicion regarding the fact that the two Muggle-born Slytherins had 'tattled'. Derwent and Amedeus were safe.

Derwent and Amedeus scrambled from their seats to make a beeline out of the library and away from their tormenters. "I think," Lucy said, turning to look at Severus, "we're done here."

"Ideally," he shot the students one more glare before marching back around the table to stand on Lucy's other side. "Expect to hear further instruction by tomorrow with regards to your punishments," he snarled his final orders at the table before turning to face Lucy and wait for her to decide their next move.

"Well, I've no desire to sit here any longer and read but if you want the two of you can join me in my rooms to continue researching," Lucy offered.

"For a bit," Dinah said, shifting a little as Severus shot her a questioning glance. She didn't want to be rude but she was pretty desperate to get down to the dungeons as soon as possible. But it would be good to at least spend a moment with Lucy discussing how everything had gone and making sure her friend was satisfied with the outcome. Personally, Dinah couldn't see how it could have gone better. Plus she got a bonus out of it due to her new, weird tastes.

"You know," Lucy said, picking up her book and locking eyes with Madam Pince to show that she intended to take it with her, "you don't have to come to my rooms. I'll be perfectly fine on my own."

"All right, if you're sure," Dinah cheered inwardly as she and Severus began walking with Lucy out of the library. When most of the students were gone she figured she might as well do a quick run-down of the incident; "So how did that feel for you? Was it kind of how you wanted it to go?"

"Was it as good for you as it was for me?" Lucy teased, shrugging, "It went about as well as it could have, I suppose. I don't particularly like punishing students but it has to be done occasionally. There has to be consequences for poor decisions."

Dinah flushed, wondering why she'd chosen to word her question in quite that way. "Yes, there does. I think that group deserved punishment."

"You did not say much," Severus murmured, speaking to them both in a more genial tone for the first time since he'd told her not to be nervous at the beginning of the incident and placing a light hand on Dinah's shoulder to indicate that she was the one to whom he was speaking.

Dinah hoped her face didn't flare up too much at the lightness of his touch, and in the middle of the hallway no less, although granted it wasn't very full and they were near to Lucy's rooms. "Well, this was Lucy's project and your area of expertise. I didn't think there was that much for me to say, really."

"I think we all did splendidly, especially you Severus. That was Professor Snape in one of his foulest of moods. Dinah," Lucy said, reaching for her door handle, "When is your birthday? I just, well, it's only that you got me something for mine I don't want to be a horrible friend and not do anything for yours, unless it's already passed, and…well…" she shrugged.

Dinah realized that she had completely forgotten about the fact that her birthday was approaching in little over a week, but she was grateful that her friend had cared to ask. She opened her mouth to respond but Severus interrupted her.

"It is May first and I would appreciate it if you'd stay away from me between now and then," he grumbled, but offered a smirk to show that he was mostly teasing. Dinah covered her mouth to giggle as flashes of Valentine's Day came back to her. It was also quite flattering that he both remembered her birthday and had obviously been thinking about it from time to time.

Lucy laughed, "Hey now, I didn't go searching you out I just happened to stumble upon you and you exploded all over me. May first," she said, leaning against her door with a thoughtful expression. "That's on a weekend, isn't it? You'll probably want to spend most of the day alone with Severus. Completely understandable. Perhaps we could have a little get together on another day close to it though. You know, just the four of us…and anyone else you'd want there of course. Not that you'd have to invite Sirius if you didn't want to. I'm just assuming things."

"Not at all, I'd love to spend the day with the both of you." She smiled. It was nice to have friends who wanted to celebrate her birthday with her. "Friday evening, maybe? Or Sunday afterwards, whichever is most convenient for you. Is that all right, Severus?"

He shrugged; "I have no problem with it, if it's what you want."

"All right!" Lucy exclaimed. "I'm guessing Sunday afternoon or evening would be better, just because I'm on my way in rather than out, but I can talk to Sirius this weekend and let you know. I'll bring a cake!"

Dinah laughed at her friend's enthusiasm. "Great, I'll look forward to it. Thank you. I'm glad you liked the gift I got you for your birthday... I wish we had been talking to each other and I could have done more, but... well, I promise I'll make it up to you next year."

Lucy waved her off, "Oh, don't worry about it. The gift was lovely. I mean, yes it would have been nice if we'd been talking at the time but the gift was wonderful. Though I won't object if you want to do more," she shrugged and grinned, "Who knows, by then I might be an old married lady and have to go to bed at an obscenely early hour."

Dinah laughed, noticing that Severus was regarding her reaction thoughtfully; "Maybe. Well, good night then. This went well."

"I think so too. Good night," Lucy said, nodding and waving at them as Dinah and Severus headed back down to the dungeons together.

Dinah was grateful once they were safely shut in the living room, and at once stopped trying to censor her thoughts, letting them wander back to the encounter in the library and Severus's cool, snarky, powerful demeanor. Not to mention the fact that he was standing right next to her and she was now at liberty to do pretty much anything she wanted with him; "So, um..." she felt her cheeks head up as she tilted her head to meet his gaze; "That did go quite well. I didn't say much, but..."

"No, but what you did say was quite effective."

"Thanks," her cheeks grew pinker; "You enjoyed it, didn't you?"

"Mm," his lips curled into a slight sneer as he thought back on it and Dinah felt herself squirming; "That punishment was a long time in coming. It disgusts me that they were able to get away with it as long as they did. Had we not been youthened, this encounter would have happened a long time ago."

"Yes, I'm sure," she murmured, unable to take her eyes off of him.

Severus's tilted his head to consider her, and then his expression changed to one of baffled amusement as he finally seemed to notice her flushed face and shifting stance; "Are you aroused _again_?"

Dinah attempted to look innocent despite her burning face and turned away; "No, of course not," she started marching away from him, attempting to remain cool; "I'm just going to go-" she gasped and broke off when Severus's arm shot out and firmly grasped her wrist. She turned to look at him.

"Going so soon?" he growled, positively glaring at her as he pulled her back to him. His hands firmly grasped her waist and he spun her around to pin her back against the closed door; "Would you like me to take points from _you _for forgetting about the... detention that you were to serve with me today?"

His face's close proximity to hers and the growling tone of his voice as his glaring dark eyes bored into hers was enough to make her want to squeal and pass out. A cute fox and dog had _nothing _on this. "You've figured me out, have you... Professor Snape?"

"Without a doubt, you are the strangest individual I've ever had to... punish," he snarled the last word and caught her lips in a ferocious kiss. Dinah had never felt her heart race so fast before, as he indulged her fantasies. She felt herself slide upward on the wall and looped her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders, trying to memorize every single electric sensation that ran through her. When he finally let her mouth go so that she could breathe he regarded her flushed face and heaving chest and offered her a smirk; "Good?"

"Oh _yes_ Severus, yes, yes, yes!" she found herself saying, like she had been plucked out of a bad television commercial, tightening her arms around his neck.

"So glad I've managed to figure you out as you've said, although your tastes are rather unusual, my love," his lips started to turn up at the corners but he forced his expression back into a frown, his brow furrowing as he considered her; "I suppose I should try not to smile, as you seem to prefer it when I growl at you."

Dinah chuckled at that, sliding her fingers into his hair and pressing her forehead to his; "I love both parts of you, Severus. It may depend on my mood at the time, but either can make me happy."

"Well," he made his next smile into a smirk in order to soften it and keep up the pretense of their 'act'; "That's good to know. As long as it makes you happy," he pinned her back to the wall with another kiss.

Dinah had no desire to rush through this as they continued with their extended foreplay. Severus had to keep fighting his smiles, though, which she found was actually rather adorable. She truly had the best of both worlds, but the greatest thing of all was that she had been able to bring him happiness, and they could do this sort of thing now whenever they wanted. Life would always be perfect now with him by her side.


	134. Escape

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOUR

Escape

* * *

Tommy still seemed to be making progress on Friday, Dinah thought as she headed back through the halls away from the bathroom and towards her rooms. Severus was still administering his first detention to one of the Slytherin cheats and so she figured she might as well take this time to do a little grading and entertain her animals. But the unfortunate thing had been that she'd had to leave Sarepta in the dungeons while Severus tortured his victims, and so it had been only a one-on-one meeting with the boy tonight.

Dinah had already expressed her displeasure yesterday evening when she realized that all these detentions were going to seriously cut into her alone time with Severus and make it more difficult for her to spend time in the dungeons with him. On the other hand, keeping him supplied with fresh blood would guarantee that she could see a lot of his snarky, strict side as well. She smiled as she recalled him saying that if he knew he was going to get so much out of her after every incident he would have to find more things to punish the students for. Then he had turned around and suggested he give Slytherin back some points for providing him with the opportunity to please her so much.

She giggled. It was all in fun, of course, but her newfound turn-on did clash with her views on how he should behave toward the students. Well, she was confident they'd reach a happy medium at some point. Right now she had to find something else to do while he indulged in his favorite pastime without her. And she found that she was hungry.

Dinah turned and readjusted her route to head towards the Great Hall. She was going to nag the house elves to make her some of that banoffee pie from awhile back.

The corridors were dark as night had fallen and most of the students were back in their common rooms, and she was just about to turn down the hall leading towards the kitchens when a familiar, angry-sounding voice spoke up ahead.

"You have deceived me _again_!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," the second voice, an unfamiliar one this time, replied coolly.

Dinah froze and darted into the adjacent hallway, pinning her back against the wall and listening as the two individual's footsteps got closer. Looking out the windows, she noticed for the first time since leaving Tommy that a light rain had begun to fall outside. It felt like a regular storm and not a dark one, but she still didn't feel very comfortable, especially as the next voice spoke again.

"I think you _do _know what I'm talking about!" the familiar voice shouted back; "You disappear into the Forbidden Forest for weeks on end and then have the nerve to show your face again today after you know full well that everything has gone to hell here this week."

Dinah held her breath, her heartbeat quickening as she tried to disappear into the shadows. The footsteps had stopped but the two individuals were close. If they walked any further they might pass her hallway and discover her listening in. But she could not bring herself to escape, because the familiar voice was that of Eugene. And she was fairly certain that the second voice belonged to the test subject.

"You agreed to my conditions at the beginning. I simply made the decision that I felt was most appropriate at the time." The test subject's voice was that of a youthful male, with the barest hints of Eugene's Bulgarian accent, confirmation of their theories. Although it seemed that he had been longer away from his home country than Eugene.

"Maybe I am starting to second-guess my agreement," Eugene snapped. "How long have you had that reversal spell ready? Tell me that much, at least!"

Dinah covered her mouth to muffle her gasp. So that was it. A reversal spell designed by the test subject without Eugene's knowledge.

"Nearly two months," the test subject murmured his reply, his tone cool and without a trace of guilt.

"And you did not tell me!" Eugene exploded before Dinah's mind could fully process that shocking new information. "Here I have been struggling night and day to make a reversal potion and you have had the capacity to return them to their former states the entire time? Why did you wait this long?"

"It was not yet time for their reversal," he replied. "I had to wait until the potion was proven effective. You knew that, and yet you still struggled to reverse it before you had _my _consent. I should be the one chastising you."

"I did it because they should not have been involved in this! You know that! First you youthen them without my consent and then you wait to use the reversal which you had kept hidden from my knowledge until it struck your fancy? I am tired of you constantly following your ridiculous whims without any concern for the welfare of others."

There was a pause in the conversation, and it gave Dinah enough time to try to sort through this. So the test subject _had _been working without Eugene's consent. Whatever the two of them were up to, Eugene at the very least had not wanted her and Severus to be involved. Although it didn't do much to soften her attitude toward the potions assistant at the moment, it was still somewhat of a relief to hear. Yet what did the test subject mean by 'until the potion was proven effective'? Hadn't it been proven effective the moment it had successfully youthened them?

"You knew that about me from the moment you became involved," the test subject replied softly.

"I am starting to wish I had not gotten involved in this after all," Eugene murmured.

"Too late for that now. Besides, your Dinah and Severus are no longer needed. We can put the final part of the plan into motion now, and they are happily returned to their original states so they no longer matter."

What final part of the plan? Uniting the Hallows? Reviving Voldemort? Summoning the flayed baby? Dinah wanted to leave the hall and confront them but there was no telling what they might do, and she had stopped focusing on offensive spells ever since her decision to help Tommy rather than hurt the flayed baby. It was better to just keep listening at the moment, try to get more information.

"Because it _does _matter! _You _may be done with them but they are still highly suspicious and on to the both of us! I broke Occlumency in front of Severus on Tuesday as I'm sure you've heard by now the way you follow along behind them constantly. At this point I don't know if I can continue working with him without it happening again. Do you have any idea how intimidating that man can be when he's angry with you?"

Dinah had to stifle a giggle at that comment despite her nervousness.

"I have some idea, yes."

Eugene and the test subject began yelling at each other, but Dinah could no longer follow the heated argument as they had begun speaking in a different language, almost certainly Bulgarian. She swallowed the fear that had arisen in her throat and took a deep breath. Perhaps in the midst of all this commotion she could peek around the corner and try to get a view of the test subject. Another deep breath had her – very slowly – creeping forward, placing a hand on the corner of the wall, and tilting her head just far enough so that she could see them.

They were arguing at an angle, Eugene's back to her and the test subject tilted forward. But he was wearing a hood and the shadows covered his face. He was nearly half a head shorter than Eugene and both men were holding brooms. Neither seemed to notice her and so she took a hesitant step out into the hall, hoping that maybe if she just walked a little further she could get a better view of the test subject. They were standing far enough from her and weren't focused on her anyway. Just one more step.

Suddenly, the test subject went silent and his hood tilted to the side, revealing a tiny flash of blond hair before he murmured to the now also-silent Eugene; "We seem to have company."

Eugene turned around in an instant, and Dinah could not stave off her sharp intake of breath as both of their wide eyes met. And then the test subject spun around, his cape whirling behind him as he mounted his broom and took off out the window. Eugene followed after him.

"No!" Dinah found herself shouting, racing after them and sticking her head out the window only to see both men disappearing in the sheets of rain that had now begun to fall, flying away from her and shrinking from view at every moment.

She had no broom and could not follow, and so in a panic whirled back around and started running through the hall. Where could she go? What could she do? Find the headmaster? Go get her broom from her rooms and try to catch them?

As luck would have it, she turned a corner and ran smack into a tall figure in dark, bat-like robes.

"Dinah?"

"Severus!"

"What are you-?" her boyfriend began, his hands on her shoulders and his gaze taking in her shocked, anxious expression.

"Eugene's escaping!"

"What?" his lips curled into an instant snarl, and Dinah was too frightened and out-of-sorts to bother being aroused by it. She was more desperate that he be able to help her figure something out right now.

"Right there," she pulled him out into the hallway she had just left, pointing down at the window where they'd disappeared; "Out the window – on brooms – Eugene and the test subject – couldn't catch them – they were talking... I listened in, but..."

"Go and get the headmaster," he ordered. "I will try to catch them. If they think they can just mess with our lives this entire year and then run off and get away with it then they have another think coming." He turned and marched off towards the windows lining the hall, stopping when he approached the first one.

"Severus," she ran after him that far and placed a hand on his arm, causing him to turn and raise a questioning eyebrow at her. "I think they were heading towards the Forbidden Forest. There's a storm out. It's not a dark one, but... be careful, all right?"

He considered her for a moment before smiling slightly and nodding; "Of course. Now go fetch the headmaster." He turned around and quite literally leapt out of the window. Dinah could not help but take a tiny moment to watch in awe as his figure flew off into the rainy night without a broom.

He _was _breathtaking, she thought, and in many more ways than one. It was almost unbelievable that an ordinary, average-magical-ability, late-discovered witch such as herself had managed to win the affections of one of the most powerful wizards on the planet. But she had no time to marvel at what she had. She needed to fetch Dumbledore and fetch him immediately.

Dinah hurried the rest of the way towards the headmaster's office, stopping in front of the gargoyle and shouting; "Cauldron Cakes!" The stairway appeared and she rushed up the steps two at a time before knocking on the headmaster's office door.

"Yes? Come in," at his words she pushed the doors open and scrambled inside. "Dinah?" the headmaster looked blatantly shocked as he stared at her.

Dinah forced herself to ignore the usual uneasy feeling that Dumbledore had no idea what was going on and rushed out her explanation; "Headmaster, Eugene is fleeing the castle. With the test subject. I saw them just a moment ago escaping on brooms. Severus followed but I don't know if he'll be able to catch them."

It took no more than a split second for Dumbledore to stand from his chair and snatch his wand, his eyes narrowing in determination. Dinah again had to remind herself that she was in the presence of an extremely powerful wizard. For as light-hearted as he usually was, the headmaster had perhaps the greatest strength and magic power of all living wizards today. For a moment Dinah realized just how lucky she was to be able to work with the likes of these men, and that she should be grateful for it.

"Come," he said firmly. "We will go out to the grounds and attempt to assist Severus. And find Horace. He should be informed of the situation."

She frowned and nodded, hurrying to follow the headmaster out of his office and back down the winding staircase. Poor Slughorn. This was really going to weigh heavily on her old potions professor's conscience.

They were just passing those same windows on their way to the potions room when the swirling grey and black figure of Severus's magical flight re-entered the castle through them, settling into his normal form as soon as his feet touched the stone floor, his robes and hair dripping from the heavy rain outside.

"Severus!" Dinah led the way as she and the headmaster hurried up to him.

"What happened, Severus?" the Dumbledore demanded. "Eugene and the test subject?"

Severus frowned and shook his head; "I lost them. I caught the tail end of Eugene and shot a stunning spell but it missed. He was too far away. Then I lost him in the night. I circled the castle twice but to no avail. They are long gone," he growled a little, clearly not pleased with this outcome.

Dinah and Dumbledore both let out sighs at the same time. "Now what do we do?" she had to ask; "Did they escape into the Forbidden Forest?"

"Possibly. But searching the forest in this light and in this weather would likely get us killed before we even located them. Headmaster, do you think we might initiate a search party in the morning with the Aurors?"

"I think that would be the most prudent course of action, yes," the headmaster frowned. "Though I doubt they will be easily located. For that same reason we have not bothered to search the forest for the test subject up until this point. But their escape does suggest that some quite sinister foul play is afoot."

Dinah sighed again as Severus shook himself off from the rain; "I heard them talking and the test subject said that they were going to put the final plan into motion. I don't know what that plan is though. I'm sorry. I might have gotten more information out of them if I hadn't stepped out into the hallway. They left when they saw that I was listening to them, but I was hoping to get a look at the test subject."

"It's not your fault," Severus murmured, casting a hot air charm on himself and then tucking his wand back into his robes.

"Thanks," she flashed him a grateful smile. "For what it's worth when I stepped out they were shouting at each other in Bulgarian. I don't know that I could have gotten any more information anyway if they didn't choose to switch back to English."

"Could you see what the test subject looked like at all?" Dumbledore asked.

"Blond hair. I'm afraid that's all I noticed."

The headmaster sighed again, a frown creasing his brow; "The final plan, then? I do not like the sound of it. We will keep the Aurors on alert. Though they have escaped tonight I doubt if they will stay too far off, considering that their final plan is certainly meant to be acted out on Hogwarts property."

"Wards around the school?" Severus raised an eyebrow at the headmaster in suggestion.

Dumbledore shook his head; "I do not think that wise. It is better that we simply watch for them so when they do enter back onto school grounds we are ready to detain and question them at best and to put a stop their plan at worst."

"I agree. That's the best course of action at this point," Dinah nodded. "We can't simply avoid this thing. It has to be taken care of if my prophecy is any indication."

"True," Severus agreed with a sigh. "But then we must simply wait until they choose to act?"

"Aside from having the Aurors search the Forbidden Forest tomorrow, I believe that is our only option," the headmaster admitted. "Until then, we must simply go about our business as normal to the best of our ability. However, I do think that one of you should go and inform Horace of this situation."

"I can do it," Dinah sighed. "Severus, you're still administering that detention?"

He frowned; "Yes. I had simply gone to fetch some extra potions ingredients from Madam Pomfrey to have them label and sort and this happened. Leaving those two alone as long as I have was likely not a wise move. Then again, perhaps if they are doing something deserving of more punishment..."

"You do _want _your house to win the cup this year, right?" Dinah teased, raising an eyebrow at him in a perfect mimic of his favorite gesture.

He growled a little; "Yes, I keep relishing in the punishment and forgetting that they are Slytherins. Well, it can't be helped. I'd best get back down there either way."

The headmaster chuckled; "Ah, the dynamics of house rivalries. Well, I shall leave you two to your respective duties for tonight. But I would like to meet you both tomorrow to dispatch the Aurors and to discuss the specifics of what you heard in their conversation Dinah, if there is more to tell."

"A bit," Dinah admitted. "I'll let you know tomorrow."

Dumbledore nodded; "Then I bid you both a good night."

"He seems in a better mood when he has something to do or talk about," Dinah observed, watching the headmaster's back as he walked away.

"Yes. I'm almost glad to keep him busy, if this whole situation were not so... disturbing," Severus agreed. "You will have to tell me the rest of what you heard when you're finished with Slughorn. The students should be back in common room at that point."

"Yes, of course. I'll see you then."

"See you then," he kissed her briefly; "Best of luck with Slughorn."

"Thanks, I think I'll need it," she frowned and turned to head towards the potions rooms. She lifted a hesitant hand when she reached the door and then knocked.


	135. Theories

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIVE

Theories

* * *

The little miniature door in the main door opened and Slughorn's face peeked out. "Dinah!" he beamed, closing the miniature door and opening the larger one; "What brings you here at this hour?"

She managed a smile back but was afraid that it did not look very enthusiastic; "Something has happened that I need to tell you about. Something with Eugene."

"Oh," Slughorn's face fell. He looked contemplative, subdued, and a little worried. "Well, come in, come in then. I was just attempting to prepare a batch of Felix Felicis... challenging potion, that. Challenging indeed," he muttered, wandering over to his potions table.

Dinah followed, fingering a vial or two before getting to the point as it seemed Slughorn was not going to ask her about it. "Eugene seems to have... left, professor."

"Left!" Slughorn lifted his head, looking a bit distressed at her words. "What do you mean 'left'? You mean for good?"

"Well, potentially. You see, I caught him tonight talking with his... friend. You know; the one he was hiding in his rooms in the beginning of the year? We've been calling him the test subject because we're fairly certain he's who Eugene had been using in lieu of the human test subjects that he never got because of the false advertisement you showed us. They have some sort of plot – it's what they were discussing – but when they caught me listening in they flew out the window and disappeared into the night. Severus tried to follow them but was unsuccessful. The Aurors will search the Forbidden Forest tomorrow but we don't think they're going to come back until they're good and ready... probably in order to enact said plot..." she let herself trail off and waited for Slughorn's response.

Dinah hated to see the look that crossed Slughorn's face. He was a good man and he seemed to be feeling so much guilt right now. "I see," he sighed and looked away. "Well, perhaps it is for the best then. He stopped being of use to me a long time ago, I confess. You still believe me, I hope, when I say that had I known what he was going to do I would not have chosen to work with him?"

"Of course I still believe you. None of this is your fault. We just wanted you to know, that's all."

"Yes, well I appreciate it," he fiddled with some vials but just seemed to be moving them around with no rhyme or reason. "I suppose it was foolish of me to hire that infernal Eugene in the first place, wasn't it?"

"Professor Slughorn," Dinah placed a hand on the older man's shoulder; "I really don't think you should blame yourself. From what I've seen of Eugene and the test subject, they were going to find a way to come to Hogwarts no matter what. You were a convenient pathway, perhaps, and if anything they took advantage of you to come here and not the other way around. For what it's worth, Eugene seemed like a wholly pleasant individual at the beginning of the year. If he deceived you he deceived all of us."

Finally, Slughorn looked up from his materials to meet her eyes again and offer a smile; "Thank you," he patted her arm; "You are an excellent former student and a good colleague. I suppose this is all a part of that prophecy of yours, then? If you don't mind my prying."

"No," she smiled and shook her head; "I don't mind so much anymore. There does seem to be a connection to the prophecy here, and I've accepted that. I even intend to tell the world that I can speak to snakes soon."

"Really?" his look was quite shocked; as far as she knew, she hadn't mentioned the incident specifically since the day of. Or at least not outside of meetings with Dumbledore on the subject, of which Slughorn had occasionally been participant.

Dinah chuckled; "Yes, really. I'm okay with that now, too."

He stared at her for a moment and then shrugged a little, seeming to trust that she really meant what she said. "I really am sorry about that day, you know. I had no choice. You know I had no choice."

She sighed, averting her eyes a little and turning a tiny closed vial around in her fingers, but nodded; "I know. School rules are school rules. Though I think they could be changed to allow for humane release in the future instead of killing them... perhaps once I tell the world I'll advocate for that."

"Well, if anyone can change things in that respect, it's you," Slughorn smiled.

Dinah was starting to get used to people telling her things like that, and she found that now she was occasionally starting to believe them. Not like she was self-centered, but she had more confidence in herself and her abilities than she ever had before. "I'll do my best," she replied.

"Excellent. And we'd do well to keep Filch out of things, of course." At Dinah's nod and scowl he burst out laughing; "I thought you might have some strong opinions on that front. I must say though, your scowls are starting to mirror Severus's the more time you two spend together. Are there perhaps wedding bells in the future?"

Dinah felt her face flare up. It was good that Slughorn was cheerful again but she wasn't exactly thrilled with him going back to his nosy self if he was going to ask questions like that. Still, she managed to keep her expression and her response casual and allowed herself a light laugh; "I really can't say. Maybe distant future. Let's wait and see this prophecy thing through before we start asking questions of that nature, shall we?"

"Oh, all right, all right, I suppose that's fair," he chuckled. "Well, you could stay and help me with this brew if you like but I have a feeling you're more inclined to head back down to the dungeons and join your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

She smiled; "Thank you for the offer, but yes, Severus is waiting for me. Best of luck with your Felix Felicis – no pun intended, of course."

"Of course," he laughed. "Thank you for the information, Dinah. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she replied, leaving the room to head back through the now empty halls to the dungeons. That had gone well, she couldn't help but think. And despite Slughorn's occasional eccentricities, she was glad to have him as a friend and colleague.

The office door was left open for her to show that the boys – whichever ones they had happened to be – were now gone and that she could safely enter. She headed past the potions and the long-unused pensieve with the long-ignored Lily photograph and letter to the second door, unlocking it with her key and emerging into the orangey glow of Severus's dungeon living area. He was seated rather comfortably on the couch, his black hair a dark curtain over his face as he leaned down to inspect a book on defensive spells, but he looked up and smiled when she came in; "How did it go?"

"Very good, I think," she smiled, walking around the coffee table to settle in comfortably next to him, on the opposite side from where she usually sat. "He was quite perturbed at first but I think I was able to cheer him up. None of this is his fault, after all."

"No, it really isn't," he agreed, closing his book and setting it down on the table before turning to face her, placing one of his hands over one of hers and running his thumb gently across the back of it; "Tell me then what you overheard with Eugene and the test subject."

"Mm," she nodded, letting her head fall comfortably against the back of the couch so her hair fell over his nearby shoulder, looking up to meet his eyes, feeling pretty good despite everything that had happened today. "Well, as we expected the test subject is the instigator of everything. It seems Eugene at least didn't want us to be involved in their plot. He's angry at the test subject for what he did. That's the biggest part of it. What he did."

"What did he do?"

"Well," she sighed; "It seems the test subject somehow crafted a reversal spell-"

"A spell!" Severus interjected, his brow furrowing; "That makes everything clearer. He must have fired it at us when he was watching us fight the flayed baby. We know from the rustling in the bushes that he was following us beforehand anyway. I should have considered the possibility of a reversal spell instead of a potion but I did not. Eugene even mentioned a spell as a possibility in our early talks with him this year, but once we were youthened it didn't cross my mind again."

"Mine either," she shook her head. "Probably because Eugene kept talking about a potion antidote. As far as I remember he didn't mention spells again either. Don't worry about it, because that's not the shocking part. It seems the test subject had this spell prepared two months ago, did not tell Eugene, and did not use it to reverse us until he was satisfied that the potion was 'proven effective'," it was Dinah's brow's turn to furrow; "whatever that means."

Severus's lips twitched into a scowl, and Dinah bit her lip to stave off any unnecessary thoughts on that subject for the moment; "I see," he murmured, his voice smooth and angry, messing with her efforts; "So he has been holding out on us for his own morbid amusement, has he?"

"For his 'whims', that's what Eugene said," she murmured assent; "Eugene was very angry. He also admitted that the youthening was not his intention either. The test subject brought us into this of his own accord, but I still don't know why."

"You say that he was waiting for the potion to be proven effective?" Severus asked, a bit calmer now.

"Yes. But shouldn't it have been proven effective the moment it turned us into teenagers?"

"Maybe he was looking for some other result. What happened to us right before the reversal?"

"I don't know," she frowned, thinking back on it; "It was shortly after we let Sarepta off for her 'break', though I don't see how the snake could have had anything to do with it."

"Not Sarepta, no," he shook his head, and then a spark of inspiration lit up his gaze; "but what about Potter?"

"Harry?"

"Yes, that was the day after you told him off for his comments to the _Daily Prophet_. We were talking about it right before the flayed baby attacked."

"Yes..." Dinah thought about that, chewing her lip in concentration, trying to remember the exact conversation; "We were thinking about that and about how I was finally confident enough to accept my parseltongue abilities and... and my younger self. You mentioned the same things. We were thinking about the fact that the youthening had been a good thing for us after all."  
"Then that's what he was looking for," Severus's voice was fierce with his sudden realization; "Not the act of youthening itself but the success of the youthening in sending us back to the ages we most needed to relive. We confirmed that it had done its job, that it had 'fixed' that part of us."

"You think?" she lifted her head from the couch, blinking once before her eyes widened. It sounded so obvious when he put it that way.

"That has to be it."

"It makes so much sense," she nodded. "But why did he need that confirmation only to return us to our adult forms and then tell Eugene that he was finished with us and ready to enact the final part of the plan? If he doesn't want us around for the last part then why were we needed in the first place?"

Severus considered this for a moment and then sighed; "Perhaps we were the test subject's test subjects. Now that he knows it can do its job he must want to use that ability of the potion for something else."

"Like what? You don't think," she gasped and reached to grip his hand; "You don't think the youthening potion could work in some way to revive the flayed baby, do you? Sending it 'back' to whatever time it needed to relive? To some stage in Voldemort's life?"

"But the flayed baby is not technically alive. At least not much, so I doubt the potion could do that, although maybe it's not impossible. Or perhaps it can work if it is used in _conjunction _with the Hallows or at the very least the ring."

"Then they have the ring?"

"I hope not," he frowned. "But we can do nothing but wait."

"The story of our lives," she sighed and let her forehead fall onto his shoulder.

He chuckled, bringing the cozy warm rumbling and making Dinah suddenly very sleepy, running his fingers across her upper arm and shoulder; "I don't believe we'll have to wait much longer, Dinah. And we can bring this information to the headmaster first thing tomorrow morning. He may have further insights."

She nodded, lifting her head again; "There was one more thing that struck me in their talk. Eugene said that the test subject follows us around constantly. It's not really new information, but I thought you'd like the confirmation."

Severus sighed; "Yes, I suppose. Well, perhaps now that they are 'finished with us' we will no longer be forced to smell of pomegranate shampoo when your infernal puppy sniffs us."

Dinah giggled; "He's not _my _puppy, he's Lucy's puppy. And they're lucky they were out of the castle for this, although I'm sure we'll catch them up to speed when they return on Sunday."

"If you want," he shrugged.

"Well, Lucy's involved in this in at least some small way because of Bellatrix's voice. I hope it's just a small way though. Thanks, by the way, for chasing after them. I would have if I had had my broom with me, but I didn't and then I just wasn't sure _what _to do. I'm glad I ran into you," she smiled.

"As luck would have it we're always running into each other, aren't we?" he smiled. "And you're welcome."

"I'm sorry if..." she sighed, staring down at her hands, struck again by how old they looked in comparison to last week; "If you don't want to do this kind of thing anymore. Fighting. Because of my prophecy you're involved in a fight with your Dark Lord again. I know you were hoping for a more peaceful year." She saw his fingers reach across and tip her chin up again so that she could look into his eyes.

"Don't apologize," he said in a firm but soft tone. "Yes, peace is nice, but I do not have a problem fighting if it is something worth fighting for. You are worth fighting for."

She felt a smile forming as he lowered his hand and she took the opportunity to slide hers into it, resting their clasped fingers on her lap; "Thank you. You were quite amazing, by the way. Flying out there."

He laughed a little; "Well, as I have said, it was necessary to learn. I do enjoy using my skills when they are necessary, though. It was one of the few things that sustained me in the many long years before you came into my life. But I must confess... it is pleasant to be able to fight without hiding my true loyalties, and it is _most _pleasant that..." he broke off with a slight smirk.

"What?" she encouraged, smiling, having a feeling that whatever he was about to say was going to be good.

His smile softened; "Well, I was going to say that I noticed today when you asked me to be careful... it is nice that for the first time in my life if I do go out to fight there is someone to come back to that cares about what happens to me."

"Severus," she felt quite warm inside, smiling as she leaned across to wrap her arms around his shoulders and meet his lips in a kiss. He was smiling, too, and that was the best thing of all. He gently followed on top of her as she leaned back into the couch, and for at least tonight it was nice to forget about Eugene, flayed babies, parseltongue, and prophecies, and just be Dinah and Severus.


	136. Detentions

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIX

Detentions

* * *

The headmaster had not been able to give them any more insight on Saturday than they'd already come up with, but he did agree with their conclusions that the youthening potion might somehow tie in to Voldemort's revival. Unfortunately, the Auror's search of the Forbidden Forest had been fruitless but Dinah was trying not to let it get her down.

Food was one way of not getting her down. The other way was going to have to wait until Severus was done with his stupid detention. She was starting to wish they hadn't called those students out on their cheating after all... almost. But at least he was with her for the moment, having agreed to go to dinner with her in the Great Hall. She would have rather taken it in one of their rooms, but if they got... distracted and made him late it would not be good. Plus they had to keep the doors to the dungeon living area closed until the detention was over to keep Sarepta from any kind of accidental view, especially as the school rules she had discussed with Slughorn on Friday had not yet changed.

They turned a corner only to come upon Lucy and Sirius walking hand in hand through the halls toward her friend's rooms, having returned from Hogsmeade.

"Oh!" Lucy said, putting her free hand against the wall to steady herself as they had just missed slamming into each other, "Hi! Where are you two off to?"

"Dinner," Severus said slowly, his gaze drifting to Sirius. Then Dinah remembered that this was the first time they had seen the man since their transformation. The last time the two adult males had been in a room together Sirius has thrown an olive at Severus; and, come to think of it, Dinah suddenly had a flash of déjà vu to when they had stumbled upon each other in the halls back before Halloween, and the threatening confrontation that had followed.

But Dinah had to smile, reminded just how much had changed since then as Sirius simply nodded and said, "Snape. Dinner sounds good. We haven't had dinner yet."

"In my rooms," Lucy smiled, tugging at her fiancé's hand and making Dinah a little jealous that her friend was surely going to get more than she was going to at dinner today.

"Have fun then," Dinah teased, trying to be light about the whole thing; "You know, you ought to take over one or two of these detentions and give your starving friend here a little break," she pointed to herself as Severus gave her a sideways, annoyed look.

"How about tomorrow," Lucy joked, looking quite lighthearted and happy as she backed into Sirius, who wrapped his arms around her. "You two can feel free to join us if you want."

"Oh! Can we?" Dinah tugged on Severus's sleeve like a giddy schoolgirl, feeling a little flashed back to her teenage form for a minute as she figured this way she'd both get to prevent Lucy from doing anything too fun at dinner and get a chance to inform them about the weekend's incidents.

He gave her a slight, amused smile; "I don't see why not."

"Come on then!" Lucy said, tugging Sirius to her nearby door as Dinah grabbed Severus's hand and dragged him along with her in following them. The instant they made it inside of Lucy's rooms, Dora trotted out of the bedroom, initially heading for Lucy and Sirius but stopping when she saw Severus. She meowed and stuck her paws in the air.

"Aww, how cute," Dinah giggled, gripping Severus's arm. When she looked at his face she saw that he was glaring at the cat. "Oh, come on," she reached down and lifted Dora up as the cat pawed at the air in Severus's direction. "You could hold her, you know."

He gave the cat's head a single, awkward pat, and then turned to look at the table; "We should summon dinner."

Lucy rolled her eyes at Severus, "So awkward around the cat but you had no problem with a fox sleeping in your bed." She walked over to the table as Sirius pulled a chair out for her and sat down, summoning dinner which turned out to be Cornish pasties.

Grumbling, Severus pulled back a chair near the other end of the table and sat down as Dinah settled in next to him; "I did not ask for the fox to sleep in my bed nor did I ask for it to paw at me at ridiculous hours in the morning."

Lucy stuck her tongue out at Severus, causing him to scowl down at his plate and roll his eyes as Dinah stifled a giggle. The adult Severus didn't like being 'messed with' any more than the young one did. Then again, maybe he secretly enjoyed it, as she had thought on occasion. "It was six in the morning," Lucy said, "hardly a ridiculous hour."

"You are in a feisty mood tonight, aren't you?" Sirius asked, grinning.

Lucy blushed, and Dinah figured they had probably had a quite fun weekend, if Lucy's good mood today was any indication. She took a pasty and put it on her plate, cutting it up and taking a bite, figuring now was as good a time as any to bring up all the fun stuff that had happened this weekend; "Well, whatever you two have been doing the past few days, you missed out on a lot of interesting things that you might have witnessed had you stayed at the school."

"Hmmm?" Lucy said, stuffing a bite of pasty in her mouth.

"What sort of interesting things?" Sirius asked conversationally; "Because we had an interesting conversation and I know I was interested in the things we were doing too."

"Yes, well," Dinah frowned, "We did interesting things of that sort, too, but-" she chuckled as Severus groaned a little and then continued; "But I was speaking more about all the strange things that have been going on at school this year. You know our best friend Eugene? Well, he took off."

Lucy smiled at Severus's embarrassed reaction and then turned to Dinah, frowning, "Took off? As in left? For good? Where'd he go? Why'd he leave?"

"I caught him talking to the test subject – well, arguing really – and as soon as they saw me they flew off into the night on their brooms and Severus couldn't catch them in time. We don't think they're going to come back until they're ready with the 'final part of their plan'. That's what they said when I heard them."

"Not only that," Severus growled down at his pasty; "The test subject apparently had the capacity to return us to our adult forms two months ago but chose not to do so until he could guarantee that we were properly able to relive and fix our pasts."

"That's…" Lucy appeared quite shocked and even Sirius was giving them a surprised look, "That's awful. And you couldn't catch them? I wasn't looking for them but I didn't see Eugene in Hogsmeade. I'm sure I would have noticed him…"

"Oh, I think they've been very quiet about the whole thing," Dinah assured her. "You might not have noticed anything even if you _had _been at Hogwarts. I guess we just really wanted you to know that things are getting a little... intense around here. I mean, it feels peaceful now but I think it's only the eye of the storm. I don't know what their final plan is, but we think it has something to do with using the youthening potion to revive Voldemort in some fashion."

"I hope not," Lucy said, grabbing Sirius's hand as a look of worry crossed her face, "Not after the last couple years. No more."

"Hey," Sirius said, nudging her with his elbow, "We're happy, remember?"

"No, no," Lucy said, obviously referencing something that Dinah did not know about; "That's still fine. It's just…why can't that man seem to just stay dead?"

"The Dark Lord fears death above all else," Severus spoke up; "Therefore, if there is any feasible way for him to return he will continue to try to do so until all remaining options are exhausted to him. However..." here he frowned, "if Eugene and the test subject's ultimate desire is reviving the Dark Lord, I don't see why Eugene should care so much about meddling in others' lives."

"Yes, that's true," Dinah agreed. "And the despair of the test subject doesn't really fit either. Also, when I talked to Tommy with Sarepta yesterday evening he gave me no indication that he thought anything bad was coming. In fact, the most he's said on the subject in weeks was when he told me that the other voice – Bellatrix's – seemed _happier _and was apparently able to get in much closer to him."

For some reason, Dinah's words caused Sirius to shoot Lucy an affectionate smile. Dinah's friend smiled back, that same happiness she had been exuding today now positively radiating out of her. "I love you," she whispered, as Sirius leaned over and captured her still-smiling lips in a kiss. For her part, Lucy did not mess around in responding, opening her mouth to receive him as her arms wrapped around his neck.

Dinah exchanged a glance with Severus. Apparently her words had lit some sort of romantic spark between their two hosts who were now snogging like a couple of sixth years, having apparently lost the awareness that there were others in the room.

Severus rolled his eyes a little as Dinah muffled an amused laugh, and then her boyfriend turned to the other couple and cleared his throat; "I realize that we are only guests in your rooms, but you might want to leave each other's clothes _on _at least until Dinah and I have been given enough time to clear out."

They pulled apart, Sirius still grinning like an idiot. "Our clothes are still on Severus and that wasn't….well it wasn't leading anywhere. Not really," Lucy explained, licking her lips.

"Really, it wasn't," Sirius confirmed, "It's just what Dinah said. About Bella sounding happier. I think I know why," he smiled at Lucy again.

"Stop it," Lucy blushed, looking like she wanted to launch herself at him again; "You're going to get me in trouble."

Dinah had to smile. They were quite a cute pair, really. "So what's that about? You think you were able to forgive her then and that's why?"

Lucy leaned over so her hair fell forward to hide her face, "Yes. I think so. I realized I haven't thought about her in days. Sirius is going to finish cleaning out the Lestrange mansion tomorrow and when he told me I wasn't worried about it. I wasn't scared."

As Lucy spoke Sirius locked eyes with Dinah and pointed to his still-hiding fiancée, mouthing 'check on her' with a questioning look in his eyes. It took a moment for Dinah to register what he was asking but then she nodded. She would make sure Lucy was really okay when he was gone. Sirius's gaze looked relieved and he nodded back, Severus watching their exchange with interest.

"Well, that's wonderful, Lucy," Dinah spoke, smiling at her friend even though Lucy still wasn't looking at her; "I'm so happy for you. I know this has been a stressful year but it's good to know that your worries are past. And obviously it's made a direct difference in the dynamics of the odd energies floating around the area."

"Isn't it?" Lucy said, looking up, "I feel useful again. It's been…three years since I've felt useful. Maybe it'll help your prophecy along. I mean, it's got to be good that she's searching for him, getting closer now that she's happy or at peace or whatever. Doesn't it?"

"Clearly Bellatrix has been held back by your negative thoughts about her but is now released from that," Severus said. "I don't know if that has any direct bearing on the situation at hand, but it might. At the very least, it probably helps Dinah's side if Tommy has a 'friend' or something of the sort that cares for him. And," he added, staring down at his pasty; "Your insights _have _been useful."

"It's true, you're very useful," Dinah said with a smile at Severus and then at Lucy. "I know what it feels like to finally accept that about yourself, though. I've only just started believing people when they tell me that I can handle this prophecy, and it's nice to feel a little self-confident again."

Lucy nodded, looking a bit embarrassed at the praise they were giving her. "Thanks. That's so true," she said, taking the last bite of her pasty and shoving the plate away. "The self-confidence boost makes certain things more…fun, doesn't it?" she grinned.

Dinah had to laugh. "It can do that, yes. It also helps to have a talented partner-" she burst into giggles as Severus nearly choked on his pasty before shooting her a glare. "Well, you _are_, why hide from the truth?" she grinned innocently.

Lucy giggled nervously. "Oh no, what did I start?" she asked, glancing at Sirius, whom Dinah recalled had a tendency to be quite competitive with other males, especially Severus. Severus felt the competition a little, but didn't take it _quite _as seriously as Sirius did, except that he always wanted to respond to challenges from his former rival. Though why they felt any of this was necessary she had no idea. Couldn't both couples be happily satisfied in their own way? It wasn't as though they were planning on getting involved in some kind of screwball foursome. She shook her head at the odd thought. Yes, men were just weird; she should leave it at that.

"I'm not saying a word. I'm letting your languidness and penchant for sleeping in on Mondays and Thursdays speak for itself," Sirius said, stretching and putting an arm around Lucy's shoulders.

"We should leave," Severus almost growled out, looking quite agitated with the direction that the conversation had taken.

"Now, now," she placed a hand on his shoulder with a laugh; "Don't be rude and finish your pasty. Oh, Lucy, I think I forgot to tell you, on the subject of Bellatrix's voice. Severus and I actually heard it, too. On the day our youthening was reversed."

"Really?" Lucy asked, her eyes lighting, "That's good too, right? It means I don't have voices in my head."

"I think we had already established that, but yes," Dinah smiled slightly; "She didn't say much, but she was hanging around the flayed baby when it attacked. Incidentally, that was also the day that the flayed baby decided to start speaking in Voldemort's voice," she frowned at the memory.

"She never said much to me," Lucy said, suggesting that their experience was not so unusual after all. "Did you…did you see anything?"

"Nothing aside from the flayed baby," Severus murmured his reply. "You have not seen Bella, have you?"

"No," Lucy shook her head vehemently, looking a little perturbed at the thought. "I've only seen her on the Black family tree at Grimmauld Place, a couple random pictures, and in her file in the Auror's office. I wondered if maybe the two of you did is all."

"No," Dinah shook her head; "If you haven't seen her then we certainly haven't. I assume you're thinking back to that fairy tale? Where the girl both heard and saw her stepmother?"

"Yes. Not that I wanted to see her. I just…wondered."

Dinah nodded, her brow furrowing as she considered the interesting questions Lucy had brought to mind. "I think... well, I think that even if those fairy tales are based on truth that each situation isn't always going to play out the exact same way each time. Maybe sometimes when people hold a grudge they see the person and maybe sometimes they don't. I'd hate to think that the fairy tales are specific blueprints for how things should turn out. I don't want to be like the sister in '_Where Does the Good Go?_'... I don't want to be incapable of helping Tommy."

"You will not be incapable," Severus insisted, placing a light hand on her knee.

"Thanks," she smiled at him, feeling a little better.

Sirius, his eyes locked on them, removed his hand from the table and stuck it down below, back in competition mode it seemed, although Severus was not doing anything inappropriate. But it seemed the other man was too suspicious and competitive to realize that Severus was more refined than him – at least in the presence of others. In a moment Lucy's face flared up and she swatted her fiancé on the shoulder; "Would you quit that? We have company."

Severus frowned at them, apparently not realizing that he had instigated this. Well, Dinah thought, grinning, maybe she could clue him in to that in a not-so-subtle way. She moved her own hand under the table and placed it over his to move it just an inch or two further up her leg; "Shall we give them something more to talk about, my love?"

"No," Severus growled, his flushed face showing that he finally got the message.

"Oh, all right," she laughed and released him so that both of their hands could return to the top of the table and met the gazes of the other two. Lucy was grinning at them in amusement and Sirius still looked ready to jump back into competitive mode at a moment's notice; "Sorry about that."

"It's all right," Lucy said, setting Sirius's hand firmly on the table, "So, Severus, what sort of detentions have you had those boys serving? I mean if I'm going to have them for detention for tomorrow I can have them do whatever. I wasn't sure if you had a specific regimen in mind or what. I suppose I could always have them do lines or something. I'm afraid I'm not really good with the punishment thing."

"Oh," Severus frowned; "You really want to take over tomorrow?" Dinah had to admit that she had thought Lucy was joking, too, and couldn't hide the surprised look she gave her friend.

Lucy shrugged, "If you want me to. I am a professor and have occasionally sat detention with students in the past. Though if you want to do it I won't protest. Heck I'm willing to sit it with you if you want that too."

"I'm sorry; I meant no offense by it. It's simply that these students are... difficult," Severus's expression revealed just what an understatement his comment was.

"I'm not offended. I understand that these boys are not the ideal students. Their comments in the library were enough to prove that but if you give me guidelines and pointers for dealing with them I'm sure everything will be fine. I-I don't want people to coddle me just because I've had some difficulties," she shook her head, her eyes reflecting an odd fear that Dinah couldn't quite place; "They did that before. I don't want it to happen again."

"Well," Severus's voice was a little firmer now as he addressed Lucy; "I do agree that it might be useful for you to attempt dealing with these students. I have, of course, already told them that any further disrespect to their professors will result in serious consequences. The main thing I ask is that you do not allow them to work on their make-up papers during detention. It is important that they are forced to do that on their own time, what little there is left of it," his lips curled into a satisfied smirk and Dinah had to turn her attention back to her second pasty to hide her flushing cheeks.

Lucy nodded. "Yes, of course. Plus I know where to find you if need be. Normally I'd probably send for Dumbledore just because he's the headmaster, but with the way he's been lately…"

"Yes," Severus sighed at the switch of topic, pushing his empty plate away from him. "Although he seems better when he is engaged in something, we noticed when Eugene escaped. Either way, I am happy to assist if you have any trouble with those students."

"Thank you. Perhaps keeping him distracted will help, but that can only last for so long," Lucy smiled when an apple pie appeared in the middle of the table, "Oh, I guess it's time for dessert."

Dinah wasn't quite finished with her second pasty, but the apple pie looked so good that she just couldn't wait. Smiling out at the table, she served a piece of pie onto a dessert plate and slid the second plate in next to her first, taking a bite of the pie, and then going back and biting into the pasty.

Severus watched her, amused; "Well, this is something new."

"What?" Lucy asked, serving herself her own piece of pie and then shoving the plate over so Sirius could serve himself a piece. She licked a bit of filling off of her finger; "Dinah's still eating."

Dinah paused in her meal long enough to shoot her friend an annoyed look.

"Yes, but I have never before seen a person eat both dinner and dessert at the same time," Severus explained, still watching Dinah with amusement.

"It's okay, Lucy, he just _really _enjoys everything about my strange eating habits." Dinah turned a smile to Severus; "You're going to be noticing new things about me all the time from now on."

"I would have it no other way."

Lucy smiled, blinking at Dinah. "New things? Has something happened?"

"No, nothing other than Eugene's escape which we just told you about," Dinah replied, shaking her head as Severus looked a little confused. She didn't know what Lucy was referring to exactly unless she was going to pull a Slughorn and wonder about 'wedding bells' in the future. She'd have to nip that thought in the bud before rumors started floating all over the place; "I was just referring to the fact that we're spending so much time together lately and all, aside from when he has to administer those stupid detentions. But I guess... well he has learned one or two new things about me recently..." she flushed as her mind drifted to her newly discovered stoic-snarky fetish.

"Ah," Lucy said, "Well, you do learn a few new things about each other when you're living together. For instance he recently learned I don't like shrimp and…well something else I won't share in the interest of making Severus happy," she flushed and grinned at Dinah's boyfriend.

Severus sighed and rolled his eyes; "Much appreciated."

"It's okay, those kinds of things are what I was referring to," Dinah grinned. "Well," she pushed back her empty plates, having single-handedly devoured both her pie and the remainder of her second pasty in less than two minutes. "I hate to call it quits, but I think those lovely students will be wandering down to the dungeons soon and Severus probably shouldn't miss them."

Lucy grimaced, "Yeah, I understand. Well, did you want to take some pie with you?" she glanced at the dessert, hoping they didn't want to take too much of it.

"Oh, yes! I'll take two slices if that's okay," Dinah dove across and cut up more of the pie. "I need _something _to satisfy me while Severus is away. That still leaves half a pie for you two, if you want it."

Sirius chuckled, "You can take more if you want. If we don't eat it by tomorrow we can just send it back down to the kitchens."

"Two pieces is fine," she grabbed them and stood from the table. "Probably see you tomorrow at meals?" she asked Lucy.

"Yeah," Lucy said, "Hopefully at breakfast."

Dinah and Severus bid the other couple farewell and then headed back down the hallway, stopping off in her rooms before he left at her insistence. She placed the pieces of pie in the center of the dining table and walked back to the door where Severus stood; "Well, I guess you'd better go. The detention is going late isn't it? So late I'll probably be asleep already when it's finished."

"You most certainly will be if you eat both of those slices of pie," he raised an eyebrow at her.

She chuckled; "Well, if you come back you might be able to wake me up but I'm giving you no guarantees," she let her finger lightly trace his cheek and then slid a strand of his hair through her fingers.

"Dinah," he shifted around, frowning, "I have to administer a detention."

"Yes, with boys who are _clearly _more important than me," she made her tone a little vicious, leaning in to him as her fingers trailed around to the back of his neck; "It's all right, though. I'll just show you what you're going to be missing..."

"Dinah," he tried again, but his protests were not very strong as his hands drifted to her waist and slid over her hips, pulling her to him.

She laughed; "I'm sorry, I guess I really shouldn't be torturing you when you were kind enough to let Lucy have tomorrow's detention."

"Exactly," he offered her a glare, but didn't set her free.

"Well, since you're so insistent," she smiled and kissed him, tracing his lips with her tongue until he opened them and searching in his mouth for a few blissful moments as her fingers tangled in his hair and his hands wandered along the lower half of her body. She stopped and pulled away when she felt the beginnings of him responding against her. She couldn't torture him _too _much, after all, and he needed to look presentable in front of the students. Still smiling, she pointed at her closed door; "Now, go and punish those students."

"I will destroy them!" Severus snarled, half glaring at her and half glaring at the door as he opened it and marched off down the hallway, his black, bat-like robes billowing behind him.

Dinah watched him until he disappeared around a corner and then gave an affectionate laugh; "I love you, Severus," she shook her head at him at where he'd disappeared and then closed her door.

Time for pie.

* * *

A/N: Does Severus take Dinah up on her offer and come over after administering his detentions? Head on over to the bonus story to find out!


	137. Confessions

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SEVEN

Confessions

* * *

Dinah was in a very good mood all day Monday after Severus had taken her up on her offer the night before and spent the night in her rooms with her. They took a rather satisfying lunch back in her rooms again during the day, taking advantage of his freedom. Unfortunately, it made her a lot hungrier at dinner considering she hadn't had enough time to eat all her lunch and had exhausted herself some more besides. But they were all good feelings.

She was starting to think that - if it weren't for this prophecy that still hovered around in the back of her mind - things actually seemed rather _normal _for a change. There was no longer any tension in hers and Severus's relationship. They were quite happy, in fact, something that she could never have imagined back when she was still convinced he could never love her. Those days seemed so far away now.

She did still miss their child forms sometimes, though, especially today as they did a little bit of research at the library after dinner. They had done most of their research at this table as children. Then again, every now and again one of them would say or do something similar to what they would as a child, reminding them both that those days were real. Those moments were especially nice.

"I hope Lucy is handling the students well," Dinah said, thinking about her friend cooped up with the upper crust of potential Death Eater material.

"Yes. I told her we'd stay here for an hour after dinner in case she has any immediate problems. After that, I'm sure she realizes what an interruption of us may entail..." he frowned down at his defense book.

Dinah covered her mouth to hide her laugh; "Well, she'll knock first. At least we didn't tell her to 'just come in' like she did with us that one time."

"Don't remind me," he groaned, rolling his eyes.

Dinah smiled as she watched him. His hair was greasier than usual today since he still vehemently refused to wash it immediately before or during school hours. He would not allow the students to see it freshly cleaned, and what with the late detention last night and his immediate need for 'relaxation' afterwards he had not had time to shower. Its stringiness sort of reminded her of how it had been when he was a kid. She grinned; "Well, don't worry. In hindsight I'm pretty sure she'll never tell us to do _that _again. She just doesn't always think things through the first time around."

"Um... Professor Samson?" a timid voice asked.

Dinah turned to see two small children standing next to the table looking up at them, a petite girl with shoulder-length dark brown hair and a small, slender boy with short black hair and a particularly red nose; "Mae! Andrew!"

"Hi," the girl flushed at being addressed by her first name. "Are you two still looking at defensive spells?"

"We are. Would you like to join us like you used to?" Dinah was pleased that they were here. Aside from during class she hadn't seen the two students in the library since their youthening had been reversed.

"Well, if you're sure it's okay? I mean... you're grown-ups again and all..." Mae stared down at where her hands rested on the edge of the table as Andrew watched her, neither of them locking eyes with Dinah.

"You may stay," Severus grumbled in monotone, not lifting his head from his book.

"Really, Professor Snape?" Mae's eyes lit up.

Severus simply scowled at his book without replying, but Dinah smiled at him before turning back to the students; "Of course you can stay. You two have been such a big help these past few months, you know? And even though we're adults again we still consider you both our friends."

"Thanks," Mae shot Dinah and then Andrew a grin, pulling up chairs for both herself and her Slytherin friend. "I just didn't know, but it was always fun looking up spells with you both. I thought maybe we'd come by sooner but then we saw what happened last Thursday..." she trailed off, looking nervous again.

"Oh, so you were watching that, were you?" Severus snorted; "One of the gawking group, no doubt. Well, rest assured the punishments handed out on Thursday were well-deserved."

"Mm, yes, but don't let that make you nervous around us," Dinah agreed; "Neither of you did anything wrong."

"Andrew, did you know they were cheating like that?" Mae asked her companion.

He frowned; "Everyone in Slytherin kind of knew or suspected but no one was going to say anything. Corner and Blekinsop are no good, really. They're the ones who headed the whole thing up, I think. But Lympsham and Flint are okay. Except that Lympsham is always snogging Huntingdon."

"Oh, ew," Mae giggled.

Dinah smiled. She had a feeling that in two years or so both of these young students would be singing a slightly different tune. It would be nice if they stayed together till then. "Well, everything's been put right now."

"Yeah, the group's got detention all the time. They're always in common room trying to make up those papers - until two o'clock in the morning some days. There's only a month and a half left of the school year, after all."

Dinah noticed that Severus sneered with vindictive pleasure when Andrew mentioned how late the students were staying up. She cleared her throat and turned back to the students; "Yes, they deserve that punishment, I suppose. Still, it's not the greatest thing for us you know," she gestured to Severus and grinned; "The detentions are keeping Professor Snape so busy I hardly ever get to see him."

"Dinah..." Severus lifted his head to growl a warning at her.

She laughed; "Oh, come now, Severus, I think we can be open in front of these two by now. They've probably got us figured out already anyway."

"Pretty much," Andrew grumbled agreement and Mae giggled.

"Infernal students," Severus muttered, lifting his book back up and sticking his nose into it.

Dinah smiled and placed a light hand on his shoulder for a minute before letting go and turning back to the two students; "All right. Let's do some more spell-searching together then."

* * *

"Mmm, good muffin," Dinah grinned, munching on a particularly tasty blueberry one while she sat on the green dungeon couch at breakfast on Tuesday, a particularly useful defense book spread out on her legs as Severus ate at a more reasonable pace at the table. Yesterday night had been as satisfying as Sunday night had been, except now she was hungry.

"Enjoy," she could hear the smirk in his tone, and then a page turning as he perused this morning's _Daily Prophet_. "Still looking for that spell, are you?"

"Yes. You didn't know what it was either, did you?"

"No, but it's just as likely that the flayed baby is so strong it has spells of its own that are either new or at least so powerful and obscure that they are not found in reference books. I have told you this."

"Still, it's worth a shot," she glanced down at where Sarepta sat with her tail around the back of Dinah's shoulder and her upper body looped twice about her arm. Her snake friend looked a little languid, she couldn't help but think. "Are you hungry?" she asked in parseltongue.

"No," Sarepta replied tiredly, staring off into space. "I don't want to eat."

"But you haven't eaten in quite some time."

"I think a shed is coming. And this close to mating season, too. It's unfortunate," she sighed.

"Oh, that's too bad. Will it change something?" In all her conversations with snakes she'd never encountered a snake moulting near the beginning of mating season before now, and so she really had no idea.

Sarepta slowly turned her head to look at Dinah; "Not necessarily. I just don't know how long it will take and I want to be energized when the season begins. If I shed fast enough my new skin might help me, but if I do not..." she sighed again and coiled a little closer around Dinah's arm; "Well, I will be tired and perhaps unattractive."

"Oh, well don't worry," Dinah scratched the snake's head with a finger; "You've got a good week still. I'm sure you'll be ready in time and still have your pick of only the finest males."

"Perhaps," she agreed, amiable but still quite tired-sounding as she uncoiled from Dinah's arm to readjust herself behind her shoulders facing the other way, staring down at the book as Dinah read, although she could not read the pages.

They were still in this position when a knock sounded on the door. Severus stood from the table to head for it and another one sounded, louder and faster this time, when he'd barely made it past the couch. He shot her a smirk; "It seems someone is rather insistent this morning."

"Wonder who it could be..." she mused, watching him continue on his way until he disappeared into his office, shutting the door behind him so some nosy student wouldn't have a chance to see Sarepta – or Dinah – sitting on the couch. She turned back to her book, searching some more, while she waited for her boyfriend's return.

Dinah looked up when she heard the door open again and saw Severus holding some papers and standing next to Lucy, who was clutching her own blueberry muffin and looking rather huffy as she plucked bits off and stuffed them into her mouth.

"Your friend has something to tell us," Severus, smirking, made a sort of ceremonial gesture at Lucy.

Dinah cracked a smile; "Oh?"

"I've got nothing to tell you. I told you. Look at those," Lucy replied, a little flushed as she waved a hand holding a bit of muffin at Severus. She came over and plopped down on the couch next to Dinah. "Those boys were perfectly well-behaved last night. I did my best Severus Snape impression," she grumbled.

Severus raised another, amused eyebrow at Lucy; "That must have been something to see." He sat down on Lucy's other side and looked down at the papers he was holding with a frown; "Now, what am I looking at here?"

"Their punishment. I made them write morality tales last night. Each was supposed to contain some bit of truth in it. I forbade them from talking," she said, crossing her legs and bouncing her foot, glaring at Severus for some reason.

"I see," he stared at her for a moment, looking just as baffled as Dinah was as to why Lucy would be glaring at him like that. He turned to the papers and Dinah leaned her head behind Lucy so that she could watch him. When she didn't have a good view of his face from that angle, just a curtain of black hair, she leaned forward instead, watching his eyes travel back and forth as he skimmed the paper. After a moment his lips twitched into the beginnings of a snarl, and after a little longer he went the rest of the way and kept the expression firmly planted on his face. When he flipped to the next page he stood, clutching the paper in one reddening fist as he glared down at it; "Infernal, presumptuous bastards!"

Dinah blinked, never having heard him refer to his students as 'bastards' before. Granted, the two seventh-year Slytherins that led the group were quite old enough and rotten enough to deserve the term; "What did they do?"

"Well, first of all they can't write a decent story to save their lives and the one boy can't draw well enough to warrant illustrating a piece when I didn't ask for it," Lucy said, munching on another piece of muffin.

"Here," Severus walked over and shoved the papers into her arms, pointing to a bit about a third of the way down the page; "See there? Mudblood!" He gasped and his head shot up, his panicked gaze meeting hers and reminding her again of when he was a child; "I wasn't calling you that!"

"I know," she smiled slightly, placing her hand over his; "Hush. I can read, remember?" His gaze relaxed and she looked down at the paper; "He uses 'Mudblood' multiple times. And the picture," she gasped when she saw what was on the drawing. Three stick figures and a stick dog, the dog black and shaggy – or she thought it was shaggy, either that or it was supposed to be a hedgehog. Two of the figures represented the boys while the third had long ginger hair and an arrow pointing to it with the word 'boss'. One of the boy stick figures was pointing at said 'boss' and shouting 'Mudblood' in a speech bubble, while the second figure's bubble said 'Ha ha'.

"I can only be thankful we've been relatively discreet as far as the relationship goes and that none of the students seem to know who the attack dog is," Lucy said with a shaky sigh, "They're clearly not stupid kids. They err just on this side of doing anything wrong. Not that I'm condoning the use of the word but it's not against the school rules exactly. If I was in a better mood I might even find it amusing that they assume I'm Muggle-born." She went to take another bite of muffin but growled when she ended up only looking down at an empty hand.

"Um... would you like another?" Dinah asked timidly, summoning a muffin over from the table and offering it to Lucy as Severus snatched the papers back from her.

Lucy took it, "Thank you. Sorry. I don't mean to be so testy. I'm just annoyed and…frustrated." She pulled off a bit of the muffin and chewed on it slowly.

Dinah took a direct bite of her second muffin, never having been one to pick pieces of food off as she ate them, and watched as Severus sighed and set the papers down on the coffee table, slowly pacing back and forth behind it; "Points must be taken off, but I don't know how many. I'm tired of punishing my entire house on behalf of these boys and we clearly know that removing points is not making much of a difference in their behaviors."

Lucy sighed as well, looking a little guilty, "I know. I suppose it's partially my fault for not having kept a closer eye on what they were doing but they were just being quiet and seemed to be acting so well. I wanted to trust them."

"Yes, well, I suppose you shall rectify that next time," Severus said.

Lucy glanced at him and sighed. "Yes, of course," she murmured.

"Unless you don't think you can handle it?" he raised an eyebrow. "You functioned rather well yesterday, it seems, despite their misbehavior. Of course, I will speak to them before you try to take them on again. In fact, it might be best to bring this to the headmaster, as I seem to be running out of options for getting through to them."

"I can handle it just fine," she sighed, stuffing another piece of muffin in her mouth. "I didn't see this until after I let them go and I didn't sleep well. I was annoyed and frustrated. I couldn't relax and nothing _I_ was doing seemed to be able to work."

Dinah had the sudden thought that Lucy was trying to be accusatory in some manner, emphasizing that she had to try and relax on her own and all. She decided a slight change of subject would be in order; "Well, maybe we should just try and think up a better strategy for dealing with them. I think you might have been on the right track, Lucy, having them write a morality tale, but didn't give them enough guidance on it which led them to just make a mockery of it. I wonder if there's some way we can encourage them to try and understand others. Maybe next year I can try to set up some kind of weekly event where students are forced to interact with people from other houses, ages, and births."

"That is _so _idealistic," Severus turned his raised eyebrow on her.

"Maybe," she smiled a little. "But I think it could be a good thing. I mean, look at the assumptions they make. That anyone who is nice and in favor of getting along with others has to be a 'Mudblood'. And same for the reverse. You've said, Severus, that you were mostly assumed to be pureblood up until after the war ended and all those articles came out."

"Yes," he murmured, smirking at her; "And even then _certain _people still managed to assume I was pureblood."

"Yes, well, I was very out of the loop back then," she flushed.

"You weren't the only one Dinah," Lucy assured her. "I was _there_ and I still somehow missed that information. Although I think you're right in that they needed more guidance or at least more supervision than I was giving them."

"Well, we all learn and change things as we go. Now I know what to expect when I take them. I told Severus I'd do it a few times, too."

"Only after we're certain they've stopped this behavior," Severus snarled, jabbing a finger at the offensive drawing on the coffee table.

"Yes," Lucy agreed, "I_ can_ handle them well enough if need be, but you shouldn't have to. Well," she said, yawning, "now that I've unloaded on the two of you I think I'll head back to my rooms and nap through my break. Unless there's something else?"

"No. I'll show these items to the headmaster, unless you'd rather do so," Severus said.

Lucy shook her head, "That's all right. You see him more than I do. Sorry again if I've been testy. I didn't intend to come off mean or rude," she apologized, rising from the couch.

"Don't worry about it," Dinah smiled, finishing up the last of her muffin as Sarepta started to slither down her arm. "At least your testiness shows that you're starting to feel better this year."

"What?" Sarepta asked at the same time as Lucy and Severus.

Dinah flushed, realizing that she must have started speaking in parseltongue halfway through. "What did you hear?" she asked Sarepta.

"'Shows that you're starting to feel better this year,'", the snake repeated in a tired voice, her eyes starting to look a little cloudy. "What shows that? Why?"

"I'm sorry," she flushed; "I was talking to Lucy but it changed to parseltongue when you crawled into my line of vision. That means that all they got was 'At least your testiness'." She looked away from the snake to Lucy. "Sorry. I was saying that it looks like you're starting to feel better this year."

Lucy grinned for the first time that day, "I suppose it does. I'll see you at lunch then? Unless you two decide to sneak off for a private meal again that is," she teased.

"We will see you at lunch," Severus growled through gritted teeth, and Dinah couldn't help but laugh.

"All right," Lucy giggled, "See you later. Bye, Sarepta," she waved at the snake, heading for the door.

"She has nearly as much cheek as these students sometimes," Severus, still growling, stormed over to the dining room table and back to his newspaper.

Dinah just chuckled at him and turned to Sarepta; "Lucy said bye."

"She's quite friendly," Sarepta said, and then sighed again. "I need to shed. Could I go back on the bookshelf?"

"Of course," Dinah stood, carrying her snake friend over to her favorite shelf and releasing her onto the top.

Sarepta made her body into an S-shape and sighed again, sitting very still. "Thank you. Now I wait."

"Okay, I won't bother you. If you'd rather go outside or something..."

"Here is fine. It's safer from predators."

Dinah smiled and nodded, resolving to leave Sarepta alone as best she could between now and when her friend shed her skin. Tommy could do without both of them for that period of time. Either way, the boy was so much happier than he'd ever been before.

* * *

"And here you told Lucy we'd see her at lunch," Dinah teased Severus as they walked around the Hogwarts grounds during lunch hour. The day had turned out to be the warmest they'd had yet this spring. Certainly it was warm and sunny enough that most of the students decided to ignore their normal misgivings about the danger and were wandering around outside, studying, or practicing flying on their brooms. It almost felt like the more peaceful, earlier days of the year, although Dinah did think it was probably unwise for them to be out here like this with the flayed baby still a threat. Not that she was setting any kind of a good example by wandering outside herself, munching on a sandwich.

"Yes, well," he frowned, and then sighed. "No, I suppose her mind will naturally come up with the worst, won't it?"

"Probably," she grinned. "I couldn't help it though. It is _such _a nice day! Thanks for walking around out here with me. Remember when we used to do this before winter?"

"Yes, consistently stumbling upon Wortham and Lee mocking Speasy," Severus muttered, scowling at the memory.

"Oh, sure, think back to the negatives. We really need to turn you into a more 'glass half full' person, Severus."

"Yet another project to add to your ever-growing list, I suppose," he looked around at the crowded grounds; "These students should not be gallivanting around out here as though Hogwarts is safe."

"I agree, but we can't stop them. The Aurors are around and keeping watch for the flayed baby, Eugene, or the test subject. Plus it is a day that they should be outside if they can be. Half the faculty is out, too," she gestured towards the castle walls where Professors Sprout and Sinistra chatted on about something, and then to a tree next to which Firenze was settled down, reading a rather thick tome. "I saw Minerva and Slughorn heading towards a different exit earlier. He was talking her ear off."

"How unusual. She'll be lucky if she can escape him. What's that?" he nodded off in the distance, where some students were scrambling away from a rustling in the grass.

Dinah stared for a moment, trying to figure out what the hubbub was about, when a nearby girl, probably a second or third year, screamed, "Eeek! Snake!"

Dinah barely had a moment for her heart to jolt in her chest before a large adder came slithering up, sending students screaming and running in the opposite direction as it approached, coming straight to her and stopping at her feet. In a flash she realized three things. Number one, it was near snake mating season. Number two, it was the nicest day of the year. And most importantly – number three, she had been letting Sarepta crawl all over her this morning, leaving her scent everywhere, a scent which was probably stronger for the fact that she had just begun shedding and thus was probably covered in moulting hormones.

"Where is she?" the snake – a male as expected - muttered to himself, looking around the grass near Dinah's feet, his tongue flicking out to catch the scent, his interest in a potential mate overriding his normal fears as he had just slithered past tens of students on his way toward her.

"Professor Samson! Run! Kill it, Professor Snape!" a fourth year, Roy Mawdesly, shouted at them.

Dinah felt Severus put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to meet his gaze, realizing that if she did not do something to help here the snake could be in serious danger. Her decision to use Sarepta in her talks with Tommy had ultimately led to this moment, and now she knew that it was the right time. Severus's gaze was concerned and waiting for some kind of signal from her. So she gave him a slow nod. It was time to do this. His eyes reflected understanding and he nodded back, waiting for her to make her move.

Dinah took a deep breath and looked down at the snake; "She's not here. If you don't get out of here you're going to get hurt," she ignored the gasps of the students around her as she spoke to the male, and winced at the fact that Severus's hand was now clawing into her shoulder. She guessed he was probably giving the surrounding students a snarl that would send them screaming back to their common rooms and probably soil the robes of the younger ones if they weren't all focused on her parseltongue abilities.

"Not here? But I smell her."

"She was with me earlier but she's not anymore. Please, go back into the grass. The policy on these grounds is to kill snakes if they're frightening the students. I don't want that to happen to you. She should be out again next week. I promise. Tell any other males you see to stay away, too."

"Well, all right," the snake seemed to realize that he was surrounded by a bunch of potentially hostile humans and slithered away into the tall grass in the distance, heading towards the Forbidden Forest.

Well, at least he was safe. Dinah murmured a scent concealment charm to prevent being accosted by any more males before looking back up at the faces of the shocked, panicked students.

"You're a parselmouth!" a fifth-year girl shrieked, and Dinah sighed.

_Now it begins._


	138. Mayhem

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-EIGHT

Mayhem

* * *

"Yes. Please, just let me explain," she said, trying to keep the shaking in her voice to a minimum and to keep reminding herself that she could not – would not – _Obliviate _anyone. She was going to go through with it this time; but she was fighting twenty-two years of instinct telling her to flee, to make it go away somehow, some way. But she had to fight this time. To stand her ground.

"What did you do?" the terrified voice of a second-year girl she didn't recognize asked; "Tell it to leave and come back and bring more? To hurt us?"

"Of course not, you infernal child!" Severus snapped; "Ten points from Hufflepuff for that outrageous question!"

"You're taking her side?" a Gryffindor boy demanded, and Dinah felt her heart sink when she realized that it was Porter Lee, one of the boys that she had _Obliviated _ earlier in the year; "Of course, you were a Death Eater once, right? You worked with You-Know-Who! No wonder you always want to spend time with people who are parselmouths!"

"Twenty points from Gryffindor, Mr. Lee," Severus turned his livid face to the boy.

"Wait, stop, let me handle this," Dinah grasped Severus's arm, causing him to scowl, but nod, and shut up for the time being. "I didn't ask him to do anything – the snake, that is. I just told him to go away and leave us all be. To keep you safe."

"You can't have said that! It wouldn't listen to that! They just want to bite us!" a third year Ravenclaw girl screamed.

"That is not true, Miss Mitchell!" Dinah exclaimed, trying to look stern but surely not doing a very good job of it. She was just lucky she wasn't wringing her hands or twiddling her fingers yet.

"Parselmouths are evil, like You-Know-Who!" a girl shouted, and a few students near her ran off to whisper to other students on the grounds. A small crowd was already gathering from all the yelling and Dinah had to fight off her growing panic, force her hand not to reach for her wand and _Obliviate _the lot of them. She had to be strong. At least Severus was still next to her.

"Yeah, that's right, You-Know-Who was a parselmouth!" another child exclaimed. "And Salazar Slytherin and Herpo the Foul and-"

"But there are others! Good people! Please just listen to me, all of you," she addressed the growing crowd; "Harry Potter was a-"

"Yeah, but he's not anymore!" Lee retorted, "The _Daily Prophet _said he wasn't! He could only talk to snakes 'cuz You-Know-Who gave him the power! What's your excuse?"

Dinah almost whimpered, but bit her lip to quell it. That was almost literally word-for-word what he had said last time. And last time had not gone well. Next thing, he'd be-

"I'm gonna write my Dad about this! He can tell the Ministry!" Dinah groaned a little as Lee said just what she'd expected him to say.

"Oh, good, Lee, tell the Ministry! We can't be taught by parselmouths! It's like when they tried to let a werewolf teach us back a few years ago! My sister told me all about it!" a second-year girl said.

"Werewolves! Parselmouths! My Mum isn't going to want me going to school here anymore! We have to tell the headmaster!" a boy said, and then the students were all talking at once. Talking, and yelling things at her and glaring at her and she suddenly didn't know what to do anymore.

Dinah turned to Severus; "Go get the headmaster."

"I am not leaving you!" he snarled back at her, his hand still gripping her shoulder.

Dinah was torn between feeling grateful and needing him to stay and her knowledge that she needed the headmaster to get involved now or else this was just going to get even more out of hand. Flicking away an irksome insect that had decided to hover around her head at the wrong time, she bit her lip and was about to tell her boyfriend to suck it up and just go when the sight of a familiar figure coming out the main doors brought her immense relief; "Lucy!" she yelled to her friend, adding, "Come over here, _please_!" as soon as she'd caught her eye. She was aware that her voice sounded a little desperate.

Lucy hurried over to where the small crowed had gathered, regarding the situation and then Dinah with worry on her face; "Dinah? What is it? What's wrong?"

"Could you go and get Dumbledore?" Dinah asked, vaguely realizing that now she was indeed wringing her hands. "This is it. Everybody knows."

"What? You knew about this, Professor Ketteridge, and you didn't _tell _us?" an older girl demanded. "Does the headmaster know, too?"

Dinah sighed, "Yes, the headmaster knows."

"And he lets you teach here? Is the man daft?" the fourth year Gryffindor Pierre Parkes demanded.

"Professor Dumbledore is a highly qualified, intelligent man and he hired me because he knows that parseltongue abilities are not necessarily indicative of evil or of an association with the dark arts, Mr. Parkes," Dinah managed to hold her head high for another moment to address the crowd and then turned back to Lucy; "Go get him, please."

"Um, I…" she hesitated, "Yes, of course. I…I'll be right back."

"Thank you," Dinah murmured as Lucy rushed off, and then turned back to the crowd just in time to see Mae Yates and Andrew Speasy running up to join the group.

"What's going on?" Mae asked; "Professor Samson? Professor Snape? Why is everybody-"

"Oh, Mae, thank goodness you're here!" Mae's first-year friend Lisette Jorkins grasped her hand; "You and Andrew have to stop hanging around Professor Samson! She's a parselmouth! She just talked to a snake right here on the grounds!"

"What?" Mae's shocked face turned to Dinah as Andrew's eyes widened.

"Yes, Mae, it's true," Dinah murmured, hanging her head so as not to meet the eyes of her young friends.

"A parselmouth? You mean like Voldemort?" Andrew demanded, causing around half the students to gasp at his use of the name, but only half as after his defeat the wizarding world was slowly getting used to using it again. "_That _kind of a parselmouth?"

"There is only one kind, Mr. Speasy," Severus growled, speaking again for the first time in awhile, and this time Dinah was grateful.

"See? She's evil!" Lisette encouraged as the surrounding crowd nodded agreement, while Mae simply still looked shocked; "And the headmaster has known about it for some time it seems! I think bad things are going to happen again! Voldemort probably wants to return again!"

"Yes, and he's using this parselmouth to do some kind of sneaky thing to increase the evil magic like in those storms and-" another student began in earnest, but was cut off by Severus.

"ENOUGH!" Severus shouted, his face red and livid as he lifted his hand from Dinah's shoulder to grasp his slim, shiny black wand in his hands, pointing it out at the crowd. "One-hundred points from the house of anyone who uses the word 'evil' to refer to Professor Samson again!" he announced, causing Dinah's heart to catch in her throat as she turned a little to him and grasped his robes. Those were the same words she had used as a child, long ago, to tell the students the same about using the word 'greasy' to refer to _him_. "This kind of disrespect will not be tolerated. The headmaster will make everything clear. You are not to judge."

"Professor Snape is right!" Mae suddenly shouted, her voice quite loud enough for half the grounds to hear; "How could Professor Samson be evil? She's always teaching us about tolerance in her classes, and about understanding peoples' differences! How could she tell us those things if she was a Death Eater?"

Dinah turned her grateful gaze from Severus to Mae, finding that she was now fighting back tears. Mae was still her friend. Like Severus, Lucy, and Sirius, there were still people in the world, even now, that wouldn't abandon her.

There was some murmuring among the group and Andrew spoke up; "It's true! Death Eaters don't ever talk about things like that! They couldn't even fake it! They don't know how!"

There was more murmuring and then Porter Lee shouted; "Yeah, but Sneezy's a Slytherin! He likes parselmouths and Death Eaters; of course he'd take her side!"

Andrew narrowed his eyes for a split second, and then pointedly ignored Lee as he turned to the rest of the group; "Not all Slytherins are Death Eaters and neither are all parselmouths!"

Andrew, too. Maybe everything would be okay after all, she thought, and then more relief washed over her as Lucy hurried up with Dumbledore in tow. "Thank you, Lucy!" she threw her arms around her friend's shoulders; "Thank you!"

Lucy wrapped her arms around Dinah, hugging her back, "Anything. Anytime," she murmured; her words sincere and holding a little bit of emotion.

Dinah smiled and drew away from her friend to face the headmaster, the one person that could always fix things in times of distress. She didn't think she'd ever been more relieved to see Albus Dumbledore standing before her. "Thank you for coming."

"We will take care of this," Dumbledore murmured his assurance, placing a hand on Dinah's shoulder before turning to the group, lifting his wand to his throat to amplify his voice so that it could be heard all over the grounds as he spoke; "Everyone please calm down and listen!"

The grounds went quiet and Dinah noticed that the crowd had increased significantly. It almost felt like the entire Great Hall had convened out here on the grass. She noticed Minerva and Slughorn joining the group of professors that had gathered at the back.

"Yes," Dumbledore continued; "Our new Muggle Studies professor this year, Dinah Samson, is a parselmouth." The grounds started to hum again, but he cleared his throat and was rewarded with more silence. "Please rest assured that she is a natural parselmouth and has been since her magic was discovered. There is no connection to Lord Voldemort here."  
"But what about that prophecy?" a gravelly voice demanded from in the back, and Dinah felt her gaze shift to her arch-nemesis, the snake-killer Filch, looking as pleased and self-important as he had on that day, smirking at the group.

Dinah actually growled and took a step toward the man, causing the students on that side of the crowd to cringe and back up, but Severus grasped her arm and held her back. "Do not make this worse than it already is. Argus Filch is not worth your time," he murmured in her ear, relaxing her.

She nodded and turned back to the group, that irksome insect hovering around her again and settling on her shoulder. It looked to be some kind of beetle, but she didn't have time to worry about that as she shooed it away, sending it flying off towards Dumbledore.

"Yes," the headmaster murmured. "There has been a prophecy associated with Professor Samson, but it did nothing more than suggest she use her kindness and empathy to help this world recover from the wrath of Voldemort and the Death Eaters, which she has been doing quite well in her position as Muggle Studies professor."

"You can't make us take her classes anymore!" a boy shouted.

"For the time being, until this blows over, we shall allow Professor Grubbly-Plank to administer Muggle Studies," he said, and rather than feeling insulted Dinah felt relieved as she clutched again at Severus's robes. She wasn't sure she could face all of those staring, accusatory faces right away.

"Can we write to our Mums and Dads?" a younger boy near the back of the crowd demanded, shooting his hand into the air.

Dumbledore turned a questioning look to Dinah. She sighed, biting her lip, and nodded. Might as well let this go all the way at this point. At least if it got out then she could enlist Harry to help her out as he'd promised.

"You may write your families," Dumbledore said. "But I have no intention of removing Professor Samson from her position. Rest assured that you will all learn to accept her abilities. The stigma of parseltongue is one that is unwarranted and undeserved. There have been many good people with the ability, but they were forced to lay low because of its association with the dark arts. That must stop, and you will be the first generation to put a stop to it. Now, please return to your common rooms. Classes are cancelled for the remainder of the day. I expect no dawdling about on the grounds and no further remarks toward Professor Samson. Anyone outside of their common rooms will receive detention with their head of house. Dismissed." His authoritative tone could not be ignored, and the students slowly dispersed, whispering all the way back to their common rooms and leaving a silent grounds behind.

Dinah exhaled, letting her arms wrap around Severus's waist now that they were in the presence of only faculty, and feeling relief as he pulled her close. She looked at Dumbledore and Lucy as some of her other colleagues began slowly ambling towards them; "Thank you. Both of you. At least it's over."

Lucy smiled, "You're welcome. You were there for me when I needed somebody. Many times. This was the least I could do. Not that I wouldn't have done it anyway but I think you know what I mean. You do, right? I only…" she swatted at the beetle that had started flitting around her own head, sending it flying in another direction, muttering "Stupid bug."

Dinah smiled; "Yeah, it was annoying me, too. Don't worry, I know what you mean. It's good to have friends."

"Dinah," a new, worried voice began, as Slughorn walked up to them; "Are you sure that was the right choice? I know you wanted to tell the world, but... will you be all right? Letting them tell their parents? Surely, at least some mild _Obliviating_..." he trailed off.

Dinah shook her head; "There will be no more _Obliviating _from this point forward, Professor Slughorn. But thank you for your concern."

"You are aware then, Dinah," Dumbledore murmured, "that the press will probably request interviews with you and begin hovering around Hogwarts? I am afraid with the students writing their families that it will only be a matter of days before that begins."

"I know. It's all right," she let out a shaky sigh again, feeling Severus's arms tighten around her. She let her head rest on his shoulder. Most of the faculty were aware of their relationship by now, but that didn't stop some of them from looking very surprised at this blatant show of affection. But a dramatic situation such as this apparently trumped Severus's public displays of affection phobia, at least to an extent and around adults.

"It is unfortunate that this should happen at the same time as all of our other inconveniences, but this is your prophecy and if you feel it is what must be done then it is what must be done," Dumbledore said. "I will increase our Auror count to compensate and I will also write Harry. Ideally, he will be able to arrive soon and corroborate your statements on the innocence of most parselmouths."

"Yes," Lucy agreed, "I'm sure he will. He came to talk to me after…after you talked to him and more or less said that."

"I know," Dinah sighed, taking in the expressions on the faces of the surrounding faculty. Filch was shuffling off, which was just as well. She didn't want to have to deal with him right now. She already knew that Slughorn was on her side, and Minerva, Flitwick, and Sprout looked like they were okay with it. Some of the other professors seemed uncomfortable.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Potter will be useful in this," Severus said, his voice a soothing murmur against her ear. From what Dinah could see with her head on his shoulder, he was eying the rest of the faculty as she did, a slight glare of challenge in his gaze. No adult would dare say anything bad about her when he was looking at them like that.

"Well!" Dumbledore interrupted her thoughts; "I believe that is enough for one day. We should all return to the castle and continue to go about our business. Let us give Dinah some time to relax before she is forced to contend with the press. If any of you would like to speak to me on this issue, my office will be open." The faculty began to disperse, Slughorn murmuring a 'good luck' as he left and Minerva giving her a slight nod. That, at least, was encouraging. Soon all that remained with her were Lucy, Severus, and Dumbledore. "Will you be all right?" the headmaster asked.

"Yes, I think so. Thank you," she murmured, and he nodded before turning to head back towards the castle. She exhaled and loosened her grip on Severus a margin, lifting her head from his shoulder to look at Lucy. "Thanks again for getting him."

"You're welcome," Lucy said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You're welcome to come to my rooms later if you want. Or I can meet you there for dinner so you don't have to face the Great Hall if that sounds good to you. I could meet you in the dungeons too. Whatever you want."

"Thanks. Um... tomorrow can we do all that? I think today I just need to... think. I don't know that I'd be good company."

"Sure," she said, "How about lunch? Tomorrow's Wednesday but you could come over in the evening too if you wanted."

"Okay, that sounds nice. I'll, um... try to meet you in your rooms. It would probably be good for me to get out in the halls a bit tomorrow but I think today I want to go straight to the dungeons. Oh, um," she dug into her robe and withdrew the key to her rooms, handing it to Lucy. "Do you think you could drop in and feed my animals? Maybe take Godric to your rooms to spend time with Dora? It would be a really big help."

"Of course. Dora will love that. I, ah, guess I'll go read up on my future in-laws," Lucy grinned, holding up a book about the Black family. Dinah noticed that Severus offered it a raised eyebrow and half a smirk, and she managed to crack a smile. "If you need anything else just let me know," Lucy finished.

"I will. Thank you." They headed into the castle together until they made it to her rooms. She left Lucy to get Godric while heading with Severus down to the dungeons. She didn't think she'd ever been quite so relieved to emerge into the cool, dank, glowing living area since she'd started coming there. She shut the door behind her and leaned against it, trying to let her racing heart slow. The worst was now over. That was the main thing. She had to keep telling herself that.

"Are you all right?" Severus asked.

"I'm fine," she turned to him with a strained smile, but the single tear that slid down her cheek as she spoke proved her a liar.

He gently brushed it away; "I think perhaps you are not fine," he said softly.

"I will be, though," she murmured her insistence. "I know I will. I just need to... sleep or something. I'm exhausted. I don't think I've ever endured quite so much at once before."

Severus sighed; "I know the feeling. Come then. You shall sleep," he lifted her easily into his arms, carrying her towards the bedroom.

Dinah didn't feel like she was being condescended to or treated like a child, nor did she even feel a little silly like she had the only other time he had done this, long ago. She just felt comforted. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she murmured; "I love you, Severus."

"As I love you," he smiled, and then sighed, leaning over her as they got closer to the bedroom door; "You are... so strong, Dinah. You know that now, don't you?"

"I think," she whispered, closing her eyes; "I think I do a little bit... now." She didn't notice anything else after that. She fell asleep before she even felt Severus lowering her into the bed.


	139. Article

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINE

Article

* * *

Dinah's eyes opened only once between when Severus had laid her down and the next morning, and it was to see that he was lying next to her, on top of the covers, watching her just as she'd watched him back when they were children and he had been exhausted from his own release. He had stayed awake to keep an eye on her just as she had for him, although granted it was during the day this time so he probably couldn't have slept even if he'd wanted to. She had smiled at him, snuggled into his embrace, and promptly fallen back asleep.

Now it had to be morning because the spot next to her was tussled as though someone had been sleeping there, with the covers pulled back this time. Sleep had helped. Being with Severus had helped. She was still feeling a little strained, not knowing how things were going to pan out, but today would certainly be better than yesterday.

She crawled out of bed and headed to the closet, grabbing one of the clean sets of robes she kept there so she could go take a shower and change out of yesterday's. She fully intended to join Lucy for lunch as she had promised. As she entered the main room she saw Severus sitting on the couch with the _Daily Prophet_, skimming some article with interest. Just as she passed the edge of the couch he spoke.

"Dinah." His tone was firm as he lowered the newspaper to meet her gaze, his expression solemn.

"Good morning?" she asked, wondering what was up.

"You need to see this," he said, gesturing for her to come and sit next to him, so she set her fresh robes on the coffee table and settled on to the middle couch cushion, leaning to her left a little as he slid the paper over to her and pointed to an article near the bottom of the front page.

She gasped and her chest tightened up when she saw the headline: 'Parseltongue Shocker at Hogwarts.' "But... how?" she found herself stammering, staring at the large block letters as if maybe they'd go away if she looked long enough. "It was just yesterday. How did they get the information so fast?"

"It appears Filch is our culprit, according to the article," Severus growled; "But I don't think for a moment that he did so alone. Rita Skeeter has a way of getting information she should not have that to this day still eludes me."

"Ohh," Dinah gave a little moan as her eyes finally noted the author of the article. "You've said so many horrible things about that woman. Didn't Sirius give us some kind of tip on how to avoid her awhile back?"

"I believe he said she was a beetle animagus," Severus's eyebrows raised as he recalled this information.

"Oh no!" she gasped, remembering the bothersome creature that had been hovering around their heads during the incident yesterday. "The bug that landed on my shoulder and Lucy swatted at. You think that was _her_?"

"I do not doubt it. I hardly think Filch would be quick or intelligent enough to write all the information to her the moment he saw it unfold, as it says here, even if he _does _have a vindictive streak. She's simply using him as her alibi."

Dinah bit her lip and took the paper the rest of the way from Severus; "May I?"

"You need to read it," he replied, nodding.

She took a deep breath and started the article:

_Professor Dinah Samson, age 38, this year's new teacher of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was revealed as a parselmouth on the Hogwarts grounds this Tuesday. Miss Samson was appointed to the position over the summer by Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, a man who has made many questionable decisions in the past (See _The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore _by Rita Skeeter). In his own words, the Muggle-born Professor Samson is a 'natural parselmouth', having had the ability as long as she has been able to perform magic, and thus has no connection to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as Harry Potter did._

_But there is much more at hand than that. Research into Miss Samson's past has revealed a number of shocking truths about the Muggle Studies professor's past. Her magic discovered at sixteen, she has lived a double life in both the wizarding and Muggle worlds for the past twenty-two years. A loner at Hogwarts and much older than her classmates, she was reportedly a member of Potions Master Horace Slughorn's illustrious 'Slug Club', past members of which have included such noteworthies as Regulus Black, Lily Evans Potter, and even Tom Riddle, the man who would become He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Contemporaries of Samson in the club include Nicolas Hill and Idris Flint, both of whom could not be reached for comment._

_We were, however, able to reach Abigail Burns Whitaker, shopkeeper at a small, privately owned clothing store in south Scotland, who recalls having a falling out with her much older friend Samson at around the same time as rumors began flying around the school about a prophecy the latter was involved in. She seemed not to be very shocked at the news that her old friend was a parselmouth, saying 'she was always sort of suspicious', and recalling that the prophecy was tightly tied in with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Rumors at the time ranged from her taking on a role in defeating the dark wizard much as Harry Potter did, to her joining and helping him as a Death Eater, the latter of which seems more probable considering her parseltongue capabilities._

_In more sinister news,_ Obliviation_ has been at work for years to cover up Miss Samson's abilities, instigated by that infamous headmaster himself, Albus Dumbledore. Most of the following information was received in a series of rather telling letters from Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch, who witnessed yesterday's reveal and also the initial reveal during Miss Samson's 'first year' at Hogwarts, when she was already sixteen years of age. According to Filch, a snake was threatening to bite first year at the time Barnabus Franklin during a potions course when Samson spoke to it, in her words telling it to leave him alone, although there is no direct evidence that can corroborate that statement. Filch proceeded to kill the snake under Professor Slughorn's orders, as per Hogwarts policy. _

"_I don't know one way or another about what these folks are sayin', that being a parselmouth is good or bad or what have you," says Filch; "All I know is back at that time she was pretty upset about me killin' that snake. Just doin' my duty, I told the headmaster, and I still stand by that. If you ask me, that Samson woman has always been suspicious, not to mention unusual." Filch informed the _Daily Prophet_ that after the incident such mayhem amounted in the castle that the headmaster took it upon himself to _Obliviate _all involved save himself, Filch, Samson, and Slughorn. He also gave Samson permission to _Obliviate _anyone and everyone that learned about her abilities from that point forward, including Hogwarts students. When we confronted him with this information, the near-victim of the snake Barnabus Franklin was appalled that such a thing would be done to him, and plans to contact the Ministry of Magic soon to put in a formal complaint against Dumbledore and Samson. It is unknown how many students were carelessly _Obliviated _by the two since the new Muggle Studies professor began work this school year, but it is likely that the numbers are severe._

_Yesterday on Hogwarts grounds the ability was revealed yet again as a large snake attacked a group of students and Professor Samson allowed it to escape its killing, again showing a serious prioritization problem on her part. She proceeded to announce her abilities to a large crowd of nearly the entire school population, entreating them for understanding of the plight of good parselmouths the world over. However, as one student pointed out, the only 'good' parselmouth ever reported was Harry Potter and his abilities were not natural, rather an unwanted gift from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The Boy Who Lived professed relief upon losing the abilities in a previous interview with the _Daily Prophet_. In the student's own rather appropriate words, we also ask Professor Samson: 'What's your excuse?'_

_In a shocking move, Headmaster Dumbledore has allowed students to write their parents about their Muggle Studies professor's questionable abilities. It is unknown why he and Professor Samson have chosen now to release this information to the world when they have kept it so closely under wraps in the past. It is possible that it has a connection to the fact that Aurors have been posted all around Hogwarts in response to the obscure threat of some sort of 'dark creature' said to be roaming around? We are in the process of investigating this information to see if it has any connection to Miss Samson's prophecy or to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named._

_Either way, parents are shocked, and it is expected that many complaints will be sent to the Ministry asking them to investigate Professor Samson and potentially ask her to step down from her position, similar to when werewolf Remus Lupin was forced to step down at the end of the 1993-1994 school year. If that happens, can the wizarding world look forward to another series of _Obliviations_? In the interest of preserving the truth, this article should stand the test of time and prevent these unnecessary invasions of our privacy. For better or worse, Professor Dinah Samson's status as a parselmouth will not be forgotten again._

_News is also circulating that Miss Samson spends an inordinate amount of time in the company of Professor Severus Snape, a known former Death Eater. Although Snape has been cleared of all charges, we can only speculate what this odd friendship might indicate in the situation at hand. Your letters and comments are welcomed. Please write to Rita Skeeter. Care of the _Daily Prophet_. London._

Dinah sighed and lowered the newspaper; "How does she do it? How did she reach all of those people so quickly? I suppose it's good to know that all of my former 'classmates' still hate me."

"She is sickening and so is Filch. He has almost certainly agreed not to reveal that she obviously interviewed him on these grounds and is only happy to corroborate her story of him sending in letters. It makes him look as important as she always desires to be."

"I suppose." She sighed, trying not to think about everything in the article and how it had been exaggerated and taken out of context and how she had been made to look like the sneakiest, most horrible person alive. She had prepared herself for this, after all. Had known at least some of it would happen. But perhaps not this intensely, this soon. Instead of focusing on that, she sighed again and tried to look bitter. "If she was that beetle then she should also have seen us embracing as closely as we did yesterday. I wonder why she didn't mention _that_. She could have, in that last part."

"Because it may have been a risk, revealing her as a bystander and not an innocent letter-receiving third party?" he sighed. "I do not know, but certainly that's not something Filch would ever choose to focus on. If she's going for realism, it's better that she didn't mention it."

"Yeah..." she set the paper aside and stared down at her hands.  
"Are you all right?"

Dinah lifted her head and turned in her seat to face Severus. "I think so. More honest reporters will come by soon, and I can work to try and fix this. And surely Harry will help. I'll get through this. I just..." she sighed and let her forehead fall onto his shoulder, finishing in a near whisper; "I just hope that I don't lose my job."

"_No one _is going to make you lose your job," he snarled, pulling her to him aggressively. "I will quit myself before I consent to work with any Muggle Studies professor that is not you. And not only because you are my life and I need you here with me, but because there is no human being on the planet, wizard or Muggle, that is as qualified for the position as you are."

Dinah sniffled and wiped her eyes on the shoulder of his robes as her hands clutched the front, smiling a little; "Thanks. That helps. I don't want to leave here either."

"You won't. I will not let it happen," he insisted, reaching up to stroke her hair; "So don't let that part worry you."

"Mm," she nodded, at a loss for words for a brief moment, and so instead she lifted her head and kissed him, letting her fingers trace his cheek as she did so. His hands slid through her hair and along her neck, back, and shoulders as his warmth enveloped her. When she finally let his lips go his gaze was intense, but in a soft, intimate sort of way. He lifted his fingers to her lips and then leaned in, kissing her again, his hands trailing to the back of her neck to pull her closer.

And then there was a knock on his door.

Severus growled and pulled away; "Who could it possibly be at this hour? Breakfast does not start for another thirty minutes. Wait here. You don't need any more negative publicity." He stood from the couch and stormed through his office to answer the knock. Dinah would not have known who it was except for the fact that his voice was rather louder than normal when he demanded; "What do you want, Granger?"

Dinah stood and began walking towards the office, catching Hermione's voice saying timidly; "I'm sorry, Professor Snape. I really don't mean to bother you but I was looking for Professor Samson and she's not in her rooms or in her office and so I thought you might know where she was."

"Fine," he snarled, just as Dinah came to the office door and stepped inside. He sighed and gestured to her; "There's the person you want."

"Oh!" Hermione looked quite surprised as she turned to Dinah; "You're... here, then? I'm sorry," she flushed. "I wasn't trying to butt in; I just wanted to talk to you about this morning's _Daily Prophet_. Um... have you seen it?"

Dinah managed a small smile and nodded. She was pretty sure that Hermione, being Harry's friend, would be on her side; "Yes, I've seen it. Rather... detailed, wasn't it?"

"I'm so sorry about that! Rita Skeeter is a horrible woman! I just wanted to warn you. All those things about Filch writing to her are flat-out lies. Maybe she did speak with him but it was here, on the Hogwarts grounds. She's a beetle animagus. Probably saw the whole thing yesterday, too."

"Oh. Thank you for letting me know, but Sirius had already mentioned that to us a month or so ago. So we know."

"Oh... Sirius did? I guess that makes sense; you two spend time with him and Professor Ketteridge a lot lately. I just feel guilty because I knew about it and I thought ... well, I thought after some of the things that happened with us in the past she was going to stop writing lies about people. I had threatened to reveal her identity to the Ministry of Magic but I guess after a time she figured the threat was past, or maybe she thought I wouldn't care because it was you and I have no obvious connection. But I do care. Ginny, Luna, and I really want you to know that we're on your side, Professor Samson."

"Thank you," Dinah murmured, her smile becoming easier as she found more friends. Severus was still making a point of scowling at the girl, but she knew he appreciated her understanding; "I really appreciate it. And you don't have to feel guilty. I'm just grateful for your vote of confidence."

"Well, I'll be threatening her again, that's certain. She'll be coming around here with the rest of the press soon, I'm sure, and I'm going to let her know just how displeased I am. She won't write anything that bad about you again, I promise."

"Thank you," Dinah repeated. "That means a lot. I'll let you handle that part then."

"Of course. I have plenty of practice dealing with her. Well, I suppose then I should let you two be. Breakfast and classes are beginning soon and all that. If there's anything else the three of us could do, just let us know. We'll make sure to stand up for you in any interviews."

"That's enough for now, I think. Right, Severus?"

He sighed, still frowning but managing a slightly genial; "Yes, your efforts are appreciated. Now get out of here. And five points from Gryffindor for visiting outside of office hours."

Hermione managed a slight smile as Dinah winked at her; "Yes, of course, Sir." She turned and left.

"Insufferable Know-It-All," Severus grumbled, shutting his door. "But at least she'll take care of the Rita Skeeter problem. My method of choice was hexing, but I suppose threats might be more acceptable to the general populace."

Dinah chuckled; "Maybe."

"Let's go back inside. I'm not leaving you all alone until lunchtime without first showing you that you are _not _alone, if you understand my meaning."

"I'm glad," she smiled, sliding her arm into his as he led her out of the office and back into his living quarters, shutting the second door behind them. "And I'm also glad that there are more people on my side that I can rely on."

He half-smiled at her as they settled back onto the green couch; "I know you are. Now..." his tone changed and his eyelids lowered as he traced his fingers along her neck again; "where were we?"


	140. Reporting

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY

Reporting

* * *

Dinah decided to go incognito again as she crept through the halls toward Lucy's rooms with her hood up. She figured it was a good compromise; only the students in the immediate vicinity could see her face but since she was walking next to Severus everyone pretty much knew it was her anyway. The hood helped her feel more secure, though, as students generally walked as though they were avoiding her, staying to the edges of the hall or rushing past as her ever-vigilant protector only made things worse by glaring daggers at them. She was grateful when she made it to her destination and knocked.

Soon, a smiling Lucy opened the door. "Hi! You came."

"Not through lack of a struggle," Severus growled, still perturbed from their walk through the halls. "I presume your students were as infernal as mine have been all day? Asking question after question about Dinah here?"

Lucy grimaced, "Yes, unfortunately. With the exception of a select few. Ginny was pretty annoyed when she came over this morning. Wanted to make sure I saw the article and was prepared to deal with it. You apparently have the entire Weasley clan behind you by the way," Lucy told Dinah as she stepped back to allow them in.

Dinah smiled as she walked inside and shut the door behind her and Severus, her smile widening as she saw Godric and Dora curled up on a chair together sleeping, an adorable clump of peaceful fur, reminding her that there was still tranquil simplicity to be found in this world if you only knew where to look. "That's nice to know, especially as I've only met Ginny, Ron, your uncle, and you."

Lucy giggled, "Well, that's about half of us. Agrona was doing some major campaigning for you in my sixth year class. Derwent and Eloise Midgen where helping her. I don't know if you even know Eloise. She's a Hufflepuff who seems to be good friends with Agrona so she's taking your side with nothing more than Agrona and Derwent's word as far as I know."

"That's so nice," Dinah sighed as Severus lowered her hood for her. She flashed him a grateful smile as she had almost forgotten about it. "I'm glad at least a few people here and there are defending me. Severus should be pleased. The Slytherins are causing the least amount of trouble in this case, and probably losing the least amount of points, oddly enough."

"I'm too angry with the other houses to be pleased about Slytherin," Severus muttered, wandering over toward the table where three places were set and sliding into one of those places.

Lucy just shook her head at Severus. "How has your day been so far?" she asked, motioning for Dinah to sit.

Dinah sat down next to Severus. "Oh, not bad. I owled my lesson plans to Grubbly-Plank, I read some books on defense for awhile, then I summoned some leftover breakfast potatoes from the kitchens for a morning snack, then I finally started reading _The Errant Wizard_ straight through, then I checked on Sarepta. She's getting ready to shed her skin, you know. Then I just sat and did nothing for awhile," she smiled, trying to be lighthearted as she rattled off her activities of the day, but truthfully it was weird to have that much time on her hands and have no idea how to use it, especially as she spent most of it worrying.

"It must have been nice to be able to relax a little," Lucy encouraged, sitting in the last remaining spot. "If you want a change of pace you can hang out here. I've got a couple breaks this afternoon so I can always come see what's up. Although you'll probably want to leave before Sirius shows up," she mused, "Of course maybe you won't. You might want to tell him about this yourself, I don't know," she shifted in her seat.

Dinah smiled; her friend seemed a little antsy about that particular point in the conversation; "Thanks, that's nice of you. Maybe I'll stay for a bit, if that's okay, spend time with the cats. But I'll leave before Sirius gets here. I don't mind if you tell him. He's probably already seen the _Daily Prophet _anyway, or heard about it around Hogsmeade. I'm guessing there aren't many people who don't know at this point." She tried not to worry too much about that.

"Probably not," Lucy whispered, "Rita is a sensationalist. She loves anything thing that will get her attention. I can't imagine how you've felt today. I think if she suddenly decided I was interesting enough to write about I'd crawl into bed and not get out until someone dragged me out."

"I kind of felt that way yesterday," Dinah admitted with a sigh as she picked at the sandwich that had appeared in front of her; "After we got back to the dungeons I just slept pretty much straight through until this morning. It was kind of hiding, but I think it's okay to hide a little bit, as long as I don't hide from everything."

"It wasn't hiding," Severus muttered, reaching over to pick up her sandwich and force it into her hand. "You are not hiding from anything. Eat."

"I'm eating," she managed a small smile and took a full bite of the sandwich. It was sweet how disturbed he got when she seemed to lose her appetite.

Lucy started picking off bits of her sandwich to eat like she had done with the muffin yesterday morning before everything had exploded. It seemed to be an aggressive tendency of hers. "Yes, hiding a little is okay I think. I've done my fair share of that after all." She picked at her sandwich some more, her face reddening, and then she shouted, "This is just ridiculous! What would they do if I started running around here as a fox? Nobody seems too worried about the rumored attack dog that's been roaming the halls. No, they're worried about talking to snakes."

Dinah felt a wave of appreciation towards Lucy as her friend expressed her anger at the unjustness of the situation; "It's okay," she smiled. "Dogs and foxes don't have an association with the dark arts like parselmouths do. I knew this was going to happen; it's just a matter of dealing with it. But," she took another bite of her sandwich as she began to feel better; "maybe it's not so bad. If I can get through it things will be better on the other side than they've ever been up until now, while I hid my abilities."

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "You're probably right. At least you won't have to hide any part of yourself anymore."

"Yes," Dinah mused. "Isn't it funny how all my choices up until now just naturally led me here? It's sort of Sarepta's fault that it had to come out yesterday. Crawling all over me with moulting hormones like she did that morning is what made that male seek me out on the grounds. I should have thought about that, but I didn't. Yet it was only the direct consequence of me choosing to bring a snake here to talk to Tommy, something I never would have even _tried _if it weren't for everything that I've faced this year with the prophecy and the youthening and everything."

"This has been quite the eventful year so far, hasn't it?" Lucy agreed. "I definitely expected a year without all these adventures when I accepted this position, but it's been good I think."

"Yeah," she laughed, thinking how ironic it all was. "I came to Hogwarts because I thought all this was over. That I was 'safe'. But I should have known, like Dumbledore did, like my parents did, like pretty much everyone did, that I was just setting my prophecy into motion by coming here. I've faced everything I tried so hard and for so long to avoid, but you know what? I wouldn't change a bit of it. Despite all of that, coming here was the best choice I've ever made. Meeting you, Severus," she turned to smile at her boyfriend, and then turned back to her friend; "And a friend like you, Lucy. I feel more accepted in the wizarding world now than I ever have before in my life, even with all of this mayhem surrounding me." She smiled as Severus leaned across to press a gentle kiss to her hair.

Lucy turned away shyly at their show of affection, twisting her engagement ring around on her finger. "A lot of good things happened this year, it's true."

"Next year should only be more interesting, if we make it through this one," Severus muttered, turning back to his sandwich; "I spoke to the headmaster about Corner and Blekinsop's prank during my break this morning, and it seems that he has been campaigning to use Hogwarts as the site of the next Triwizard Tournament. It would be held at Beauxbatons this year, normally, but due to the fact that it ended... badly last time, he would like Hogwarts to have a chance to 'redeem itself', so to speak. So far it seems that the other schools are willing to accommodate."

Dinah was surprised. She had, of course, read a little bit about the Tournament that had went on some years back and Severus had now given her all of the details with regards to Harry Potter's adventures that year. It sounded like an exciting time and yet also a potentially stressful one. But if things were all cleared up by then it might be fun. She found herself wondering if Severus would be open enough to public displays of affection by that time to dance with her at the Yule Ball.

"Oh!" Lucy said, looking up, "That should be exciting. They weren't having the tournament when I was still in school, as I'm sure you know Severus, and I wasn't around here when the tournament was going on last time."

"It can be interesting," he replied with a frown; "Although depending upon what happens with Eugene and the test subject I wonder if Durmstrang's participation may be altered in some way."

"Mmm," Lucy said. "That is a bit worrisome but I don't think it should have any bearing on the school's participation. After all the entire school can't be defined by one student. Just imagine if that were true of Hogwarts…" she frowned.

He snorted; "I can think of many cases in which that would be highly undesirable. But we need to be getting back to our classes now. You're certain you want to stay here, Dinah?"

"Yeah, I think so. The cats will be good company, if they ever wake up," she laughed and gestured to the two cats still sleeping on the chair. Severus looked over at them and offered the furballs a classic smirk and a raised eyebrow combination.

Lucy laughed, "I expect they're tired from chasing each other around half the night. I have office hours next so if you need something I won't be far," Lucy said, standing.

"Thanks," she stood, kissing Severus once more before bidding him and Lucy good-bye, and then headed over to skim Lucy's generously-stocked bookshelves to find something entertaining to read. Tomorrow she was going to make sure she had her laptop with her.

* * *

"I revealed the information on Tuesday because I feel that it is time some real changes were made in our society. I'm tired of hiding and I just want the world to know that parselmouths aren't evil. I want to end the stigma," Dinah finished as the young male reporter from the _Daily Prophet_ jotted down her words. She liked this reporter so far. He seemed fairly honest and straightforward with his questions and he didn't judge most of her responses.

It had been quite early in the morning when Dumbledore and Severus had found her in Lucy's rooms and informed her that there were reporters here to see her, the latter cancelling his classes for the day so that he could stay by her side during the interviews. She had been feeling quite a bit better already since this morning, when she had managed to walk through the halls alone to go to Lucy's place and spend another day with the cats. Lucy had more breaks than Severus so could visit her more often and Dinah also figured it would be best not to hide out in the dungeons during the day too much if the press was going to be coming around. It would be too risky to unwittingly throw her and Severus's relationship into the mix of things that were already starting to get hectic. She was thinking of suggesting to Severus that they start alternating rooms they slept in more often so as not to arouse as much suspicion, but it depended upon how the day went.

It had started with only one or two reporters from small local newspapers, but the population had quickly grown and now the empty classroom on the third floor where they were conducting the interviews was jam-packed. And then _she _had arrived. The woman who was currently sitting smugly towards the middle of the room, smirking at Dinah from behind her rhinestone glasses, her painted-on eyebrows half raised as she jotted down Dinah's words with her quill. She had tried to use a Quick-Quotes Quill at the beginning but Hermione Granger had appeared and pulled her aside for a 'talk'. Rita Skeeter had been hesitant about it but had followed the girl and come back slightly subdued, although Dinah guessed she still had some tricks up her sleeve.

"Mr. Potter," the young reporter turned to the bespectacled young Auror who had just arrived a few minutes ago and was currently sitting next to Dinah; "What is your opinion regarding Professor Samson's statements considering your past with parseltongue and your previous statements to the _Daily Prophet_ about being 'glad to lose it'?"

"I agree with Professor Samson," Harry said firmly, his head held high as all of the reporters snapped to attention. Dinah had been right in assuming that anything he said still held extreme influence, and was so grateful he was here to help her. "I said I was glad to lose the ability not because there was anything inherently wrong with it, but because of its connection to Voldemort and _mostly _because of the horrible way I was treated because of it. I wouldn't wish that kind of treatment on any other human being, least of all Professor Samson here, who has done nothing to deserve that treatment."

"What do you say to the reports that a dark creature with some possible connection to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has been roaming around Hogwarts? Weren't you supposed to have _defeated _him? And how do you think this connects to Professor Samson's mysterious prophecy?" Rita Skeeter suddenly stood and shoved her way to the front of the room, but backed off when Hermione, standing nearby, cleared her throat.

Severus was in a particularly bad mood today, considering that all three members of the golden trio were at once in the same room with him. Dinah wasn't complaining though, because the permanent scowl set on his face was keeping the atmosphere generally subdued.

"The threat to Hogwarts is classified Auror business and none of yours," Ron Weasley, standing next to Hermione, answered Rita's question while Harry glared at her.

"I was addressing Potter, not you Weasley, but fine. I'll take your comment," the horrible woman grumbled, jotting it down on her pad of paper. The other _Daily Prophet _reporter cleared his throat, trying to get on with his interview, but Rita ignored him and pressed on, turning to Severus; "Professor Snape. What do you have to say about the nature of this friendship you seem to have with the parselmouth Professor Samson, considering that you are a former Death Eater?"

"I was unaware there was a law stating that former Death Eaters could not have friends," Severus snarled at her.

"Hmph," she sniffed, writing his comment down word-for-word. Then she smiled innocently back up at him; "And what do you have to say to the occasional rumors that you two may be in some way _more _than friends?"

"If we were it would most _certainly _be none of your business, Skeeter," he growled through gritted teeth, offering her a death glare. "And those last two quotes shall not appear in any newspapers!" he snapped, turning his glare to the room as Dinah saw most of the reporters hurriedly erasing things from their pads. She couldn't help but crack a slight smile, thinking how exceedingly lucky she was to have someone as intimidating as him on her side. The students in the room, the golden trio and Ginny, certainly appeared intimidated, which she guessed pleased Severus immensely.

"Well!" Rita recovered quickly, "Speaking of Professors Snape and Samson, headmaster what say you about the cover-up regarding this youthening potion that was apparently in effect on them for the last three months? My sources tell me that students were not allowed to write home about the fact that their professors had turned into sixteen year olds. And whatever happened to the creator, Mr. Evgeni Wilkins? My readers are anxious for him to bottle and sell the potion, especially those at or approaching middle age."

Dinah sighed, watching as Dumbledore frowned at the offensive reporter. It seemed that ever since the article had come out all sorts of information started flying around at such great speeds that neither she nor the headmaster could slow it. She was aware that rumors now abounded about the possible connections between the youthening, the constant Auror presence at Hogwarts, the 'dark creature', and her parseltongue abilities. She had to believe that this was a good thing and not a bad thing, that she was helping things instead of hurting them. That her prophecy would not be messed up by all the mayhem that was now surrounding her.

"I do not know where you obtained that information, Miss Skeeter," Dumbledore finally said in an agitated tone, "But I hardly think it is the students place to write their families about something that is obviously Dinah and Severus's private business. I prohibited divulgence of the information out of respect for that. And the rights of the potion belong to Mr. Wilkins. It is not my place to choose whether it is 'bottled and sold'."

"I see. So much respect for other's privacy, it seems. Then what _has _happened to Mr. Wilkins, Headmaster Dumbledore? Has he been perhaps... _Obliviated_?" Rita pursed her lips and then turned to Dinah; "Just how many students' memories _have _you erased without consent this year, Miss Samson?"

Dinah opened her mouth to protest but was interrupted by Hermione loudly clearing her throat again while Severus shot her a raised eyebrow. That gave the second reporter, a Mr. Sedley Alder, enough time to shove his way in front of the hesitating Skeeter; "This is _my _interview, Rita! Wait for your own turn, will you?"

Rita snorted; "Alder, you pest!" But she stood and headed back to her original seat.

Alder sighed and turned back to Dinah. "I apologize for the behavior of my colleague, but... well, that _is _a question that is on everyone's mind. How can you justify _Obliviating _non-consenting individuals – even children – as you have, Professor Samson?"

Dinah sighed; "The _Obliviations _were never performed on any more then the tiny bit of memory containing their discovery of my abilities. And I have only had to perform two since I arrived here at the beginning of the school year." She might as well be honest about that much, at least.

"Can you give us those students' names?"

"I'd really rather not," she bit her lip, looking to the headmaster for guidance.

"I do not see how that would be productive at this point," Dumbledore murmured. "Seeing as the students may be underage they are by law protected from exposure to the press without their consent, and we have no way of knowing if they would wish to have their identities revealed."

"You could un-_Obliviate _them and ask them!" Rita Skeeter announced from the back of the room. "Those students have a right to know their memories were tampered with, just as the students who witnessed Miss Samson's first parselmouth exposure such as Barnabus Franklin have that right."

"That may be true, Miss Skeeter, but what good would it do now to bring those past incidents back into the open? The world now knows about Dinah's abilities, thanks to you," he said coldly, as the reporter beamed at his apparent 'compliment'.

"Either way, parents are angry. And frightened," Alder tried to take his interview back again; "You say the stigma associated with parselmouths is unwarranted, but it is hard for people to see that when you have performed so many _Obliviations _in the past."

Dinah sighed; "I know. I probably made the wrong choice long ago, and I do regret the _Obliviations _I've performed, but you have to understand. I was scared. It has taken me twenty-two years to come to terms with my ability and to gather together enough courage to try to change things. I know I can't take back what I've done, but I honestly haven't performed very many _Obliviations_ since that first year incident. They have been few and far-between. And even if I gave you the names of those I _Obliviated_ there is no way you would be able to tell if I was telling the truth. Even if I gave back the memories of those I mentioned and they corroborated my story you can't know for certain that there aren't more people I'm hiding. All you can really do is trust me," she hoped that came out sounding logical.

"Perhaps you have a point. What do you say to the parents out there that fear for their children attending this school with you as their teacher?"

"I would never hurt anyone!" she insisted, looking straight into his eyes and trying to make her voice and expression as sincere as possible. It wasn't difficult, because she felt very sincere. More difficult was keeping her voice from shaking and her eyes from tearing up. "They don't have to worry. Please believe me. Just because I can talk to snakes does _not _make me a bad person. I ask the parents to imagine what would happen if one of their children were suddenly capable of speaking to snakes. Would they wish on their children the ostracism that I've had to endure nearly my whole life? There's a reason I hid in the Muggle world for so long. I was accepted there. No one took one look at me and assumed that I was evil. I endured so much unnecessary pain at the hands of my 'classmates' during my years here at Hogwarts. I had to get out. As I said, I was scared. If those parents have any empathy inside of them, can't they at least try to see how hard that must have been? If anything, I am _more _sensitive to others' feelings after the things I endured, not less."

"Hmm," he frowned, nodding. "That's all I have for now. I'll let some of the others here – _not you, Rita_ – ask questions for awhile. Do you mind if I wander the school and interview some students and other professors?"

"Um... no, not at all. Thank you for your time," Dinah hoped if she was polite and accommodating people would get a better impression of her. It seemed like a reasonable assumption anyway.


	141. Opinions

A/N: Long chapter.

* * *

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-ONE

Opinions

* * *

"A series of short questions would be preferable," Dumbledore announced to the room of remaining reporters, and every single one of their hands shot up.

"Um... you," Dinah timidly pointed first to a rather unassuming-looking man sitting in the front row.

"Do you have any pet snakes besides the one you're keeping in your rooms that attracted the one on Tuesday?"

"No, I do not have any pet snakes. And Sarepta is not my pet; she's my friend. Please don't get her involved in this. I only mentioned her so people would understand that the snake on Tuesday wasn't attacking the students – he was only trying to find a mate. Yes?" she asked another reporter.

"That's all understandable, I think," the woman said cautiously; "But it's hard to accept without direct evidence. Tell me, Professor Samson, have you ever been bitten by a snake?"

"No," Dinah's tone was firm and she shook her head; "Never. Adder bites are very rare; the snakes will first try to escape from any human. They only strike if they feel threatened and have no obvious avenue of escape. It's a defense mechanism, and the venom is not very potent. I don't know about the wizarding world, but the last Muggle death from an adder in Britain was in 1975. And no other venomous snake species even exists on the British Isles."

"You seem very educated on the matter," a man said. "If you like and sympathize with snakes so much, why do you not keep one as a pet?"

"I have always wanted to keep one as a pet," she admitted softly. "But I couldn't. Because I never mastered control of my parseltongue abilities. If there is a snake within my line of sight and I speak everything I say comes out in parseltongue. A pet snake was too risky when I was hiding my gift. And I thought... if people discovered it, they would hate me. So I could never have a pet snake. But I would still like to someday, if the wizarding world can see fit to give me a chance and let me show them that I'm not a bad person."

"Mr. Potter, have you ever actually spoken to a snake and deemed it non-threatening?" another woman asked, looking at Harry.

"Yes," Harry said immediately. "When I was eleven, in a Muggle zoo. I set it free by accident – unable to control my magic at the time. It frightened a lot of people but it didn't hurt anyone, it just escaped, going on its way. And it was very friendly to me. It thanked me."

"I see. But only one snake?"

"It's only one of three I ever actually spoke with," Harry admitted. "The other two were Voldemort's snake and a _Serpensortia_-conjured one – not ordinary by any stretch of the definition. I avoided my abilities as much as possible because of the stigma Professor Samson keeps bringing up. I'm sure if I had talked to more normal snakes I would have had no reason to complain about them, just like the one at the zoo."

"I see. So you blame the mistreatment of parselmouths for your relief at losing the ability?"

"Isn't that what I just said?"

"Professor Snape, do you note any similarities at all, besides the parseltongue, between Professor Samson and You-Know-Who, your old master?" one of the male reporters asked, cautiously turning his gaze to Severus.

"She is nothing like the Dark Lord," Severus growled his response. "If she was anything like him she could not have successfully taught Muggle Studies, the epitome of idealism, for this entire year without complaint from students or parents. She could not speak on and on about understanding between groups as she has done if she was anything like the Dark Lord. You are all fishing for something that is not there, that does not exist. Professor Dinah Samson is probably the most pure, _good _human being on this Earth. To the point where it is occasionally sickening. Do you think that 'You-Know-Who' could even _pretend _such behavior?" he demanded, saying 'You-Know-Who' in a mocking tone.

Dinah had to smile at Severus's defense.

"Well," one woman said; "_You _certainly seem to have a high opinion of her."

"What does that have to do with anything?" he snapped. "It's not just me. You can ask anyone who matters. Ask Andrew Speasy and Mae Yates. They're first years and I'm sure you'll find they have a lot to say. Ask any of the students in this room!" he made a wide gesture at the golden trio and Ginny, causing some mild looks of surprise to cross their faces.

"It's true," Ginny said. "Professor Samson is a very kind person. She wouldn't hurt anybody and she's always teaching us to care for others and accept each others' differences. Just speaking to snakes shouldn't invalidate those things."

"Mr. Potter, how do you feel about Professor Snape's defense of Miss Samson here - his references to her being completely unlike He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? Do you agree with the assessment of your old enemy?"

"I have told all of you time and time again that I now have nothing less than the deepest respect for Professor Snape!" Harry professed, his eyes blazing.

"Oh no," Severus groaned, rolling his eyes. He really hated when Harry went off on his tangents about how wonderful he was.

"Professor Snape deserves all of your respect, too! He sacrificed eighteen years of his life in defense of our world and risked everything to help in the defeat of Voldemort. If it weren't for him I would not have been able to successfully do what I did last year. He is probably the bravest man I've ever known, and if he says that Professor Samson is harmless, then she is harmless. If anything, she can help us all too. Hermione and Ginny have told me about the content of her lectures. The wizarding world can learn a thing or two from her ideals."

"Yes, we've obtained some of her class notes and interviewed a few students," a woman said, looking from her notes up to Dinah and then to Dumbledore; "Headmaster, the class structure has changed a great deal this year, has it not? Seems she spends more time discussing psychological and philosophical issues than she does talking about Muggle society itself."

"That is what the wizarding world needs right now," Dumbledore murmured. "It is prejudices and hatred of others that led us down the path towards our recent war, after all. I stand by the changes that I and Professor Samson have made in the Muggle Studies course. There is still plenty of attention given to Muggle society."

"Professor Samson, what do you have to say to the rumors brought forth to us by a certain..." the infernal Rita Skeeter glanced down at her notepad before looking back up at Dinah; "Septimus Peaks that you have been occasionally spotted sneaking down a hallway leading to a bathroom that was long ago destroyed by Tom Riddle, the boy who would later become He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

Dinah inhaled sharply as she heard Severus growl behind her. She hadn't known that anybody had noticed her, had thought she had been so careful. But if there was any sneaky, no good Slytherin boy that would have been nosing around where it was none of his business and catch her, then it was the fox-abuser Septimus Peaks. Hopefully this would not bear out badly for Tommy. What could she say to get them off the subject?

"I introduced the lavatory to Dinah because I thought it may help her to better come to terms with her parselmouth abilities and her prophecy. I cannot give any more details than that, but she has done nothing save travel there to think from time to time. After all, she does share one ability with the boy who became Lord Voldemort, that of speaking parseltongue," Dumbledore said, preventing Dinah from having to come up with an answer on her own.

"So you... sympathize with Voldemort then?" one reporter brave enough to say the name jumped on Dumbledore's comment, taking it out of context of course.

"Not with Voldemort, no," Dinah murmured. "Perhaps, though, a little bit with the young boy who became him because he was completely alone in the world. Being a parselmouth probably didn't help him in that respect." That got the room to start humming and the reporters to start scribbling frantically on their pads of paper.

"You're saying that being a parselmouth _does _lead to darkness?"

"No," she kept her voice firm, shaking her head. "I'm saying that the treatment parselmouths receive in _combination _with having no one on your side from birth on might make a person give up on others and on the world as he did. I, luckily, was not and have never been completely alone as Tom Riddle was."

"Can you share with us the words of your prophecy?" an anxious-looking male reporter demanded. "Do your parselmouth abilities tie into it somehow?"

"No, we cannot. And we do not know the answer to your second question, but it is irrelevant," Dumbledore stated. "Please ask different questions."

"What about Mr. Peaks's other comment about the large, black 'attack dog' owned by Professor Lucy Ketteridge, known friend of Professors Samson and Snape?" Rita burst in again.

"We place no pet type restrictions on our faculty, only the students," the headmaster responded smoothly.

"An 'attack dog', though? Might it have some connection to this dark creature we continue to hear tell about?" she prodded.

"'Attack dog' is an exaggerated embellishment of Mr. Peaks and holds no truth. Professor Ketteridge's pet is a normal, ordinary dog, Miss Skeeter. There is no connection."

"I see. Then what, Miss Samson, about the rumors that you've been reading a lot of Raymond Scrump lately, trying to connect the obscure squib author to Muggle author Jonathan Yates, great-great-great-great... well, yes, many-greats grandfather of the Miss Mae Yates Professor Snape recently mentioned?"

"I... where did you hear... what does it matter who I read and investigate?" Dinah stammered, not sure how this conversation had taken its sudden turn or where Rita had gotten that information, but having a very bad feeling about the whole thing.

"Because you have focused much of your attention on his set of _Where Does the Good Go?_ Fairy Tales. I wonder if there is some connection to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and to your prophecy in it? Many of the tales talk about ghosts. Has the dark wizard who was supposedly destroyed by Harry come back as a ghost?"

"No, that is utterly ridiculous," Dinah whispered, feeling Severus's hand land on her shoulder, tightening as he growled again. Her own heartbeat began to quicken. This definitely felt bad.

"You've also been researching defensive spells it seems," Rita continued on; "Attempting to help the Aurors deal with that threat? Perhaps the creature is He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? In which case, I wonder why you aren't researching _offensive _spells as well."

"I know more than enough offensive spells for the both of us," Severus sneered, trying to get the woman to shut up. "So do the Aurors."

"Then you, Professor Samson, are working with them or against them? You aren't trying to _help _this creature somehow, are you? Trying to forgive the 'ghost' like in the first Scrump tale? The second tale discusses a split wizard – are there two parts of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? Is the dark creature the second part? Or what about Scrump's third tale? Do you think that there is some part of him that remains good? Are you trying to help it?"

"I – no! None of – that's irrelevant – how did you-?" Dinah couldn't finish a sentence.

"I seem to be encroaching on the truth judging from your reactions," she murmured. "After all, you _have _been searching through those tales in the hopes that they were based on reality somehow. That's why you sought out Miss Yates's information about her ancestor."

"How – how do you _know _all of this?" Dinah demanded, her desperation having grown enough for her to express her disbelief in a full sentence.

"Yes, how?" Hermione added in warning tone.

Rita flushed a little under the student's gaze and hurried her excuse; "Oh, it is all perfectly legitimate, I assure you. A Miss..." she looked down at her notepad; "Lisette Jorkins gave me this information."

"Oh," Dinah sighed and sat back, chewing on her lip but at least relieved that the beetle hadn't been spying on them all year or something. Lisette Jorkins was Mae's friend. It made sense that Mae would have shared that information with her at some point. It had seemed innocent enough when she told Mae and Andrew minor details about their investigation, but once Rita Skeeter got a hold of it and that horrid mind started working things out...

"There, you see?" the reporter was smug. "A perfectly valid line of questioning. Of course, what remains is putting it all together. It's all quite disjointed now, isn't it? But I suspect you could make everything clear for us, Miss Samson."

"I am sorry, I will have to call for a break in the questioning," Dumbledore announced, and Dinah felt immense relief at his words. His stern eye was focused on Rita; "This press conference was called together to address Dinah's parseltongue abilities, nothing more. I shall have to ask that when we re-convene after lunch the remaining questions are focused on the subject at hand. For the moment, you are all dismissed from this classroom."

"May we interview students and other faculty?" a man near the back asked, raising his hand.

"You may. But do your best not to disturb the normal routine." The reporters all stood from their chairs at Dumbledore's words and began shuffling out of the room. Dinah didn't realize she had been holding her breath until they were all gone and then she let it out in a long huff, closing her eyes and thinking that just for a moment it might be nice to disappear from the world. Either that or just go and sleep all day again.

Severus's hand squeezing her shoulder more gently this time relaxed her a little; "That could have gone worse, I suppose," he grumbled. "Barely, but it could have."

Dinah jumped as a series of short raps on the doorframe startled her eyes open again. She wasn't ready to answer any more questions, but luckily when she turned to see who it was it was only Lucy.

"Hi," she said, shooting a concerned smile at Dinah, "How's it going so far?"

"Oh. Well, okay, I suppose," Dinah managed a smile at her friend in return. "Rita's the worst, and the whole thing went off on a rather horrible tangent unrelated to my parselmouth abilities and more related to... well, the things we've been investigating," she bit her lip again.

"Lucy, you should be careful," Ginny cautioned as Lucy stepped into the room. "It seems Septimus Peaks has been nosing about and told some of the reporters about Snuffles."

Sighing, Lucy rubbed her hands over her face, "That child is a thorn in my side. Thanks. I'll pass the message on. He's not going to stay away though. But maybe I can be more restrictive about when and where. I don't know. That didn't seem to work too well before…at Grimmauld Place. I suppose I'm lucky he didn't bring up the rabid foxes he seems to think we have." She glanced at Severus and Dinah. Dinah wondered if the others in the room knew about her friend's run-in with Septimus in her fox form.

"He didn't stumble upon _your _form too, did he?" Ron demanded, giving Dinah her answer at least for him. The boy seemed to be the dramatic type, she was starting to think.

"Um, sort of," Lucy ducked her head and Dinah thought she detected a blush, "As far as he knows though he just caught a regular red fox like the others that run around here. He's only seen it once and he probably thinks he killed it anyway…"

"_Killed_ it?" Ginny asked, looking ready to do battle.

"Yes, well, he didn't thanks to Dinah. Aunt Molly is not to hear about this," she looked up and stared at the younger foursome, "And Sirius already knows, which is why he was snarling at Septimus that one night."

"Oh, thank you Professor Samson," Ginny turned a look of sincere gratitude to Dinah. "If only that incident _could _be brought out it would show those awful reporters what a good person you really are."

Dinah couldn't help but smile; "You're welcome. It was nothing. I didn't even know it was Lucy at the time."

"All right, Lucy," Harry frowned. "But you should both be especially careful. Because of Rita's babbling everyone is going to start trying to make connections between your 'attack dog' and the dark creature and Voldemort and Professor Samson's parseltongue and anything else that seems in the least bit threatening. I doubt foxes of any sort are going to be immune for much longer at this rate."

Lucy sighed, nodding, "I know and you're right. Dinah, I'm sorry if this has made it harder for you. If I'd known it was going to cause this much trouble I never would have done it."

"Oh, it's all right," Dinah reassured her. "That's just one thing out of many. They'd fish out plenty of other things if that wasn't there. It seems that Rita is just desperately trying to find any kind of legitimate way to say that I'm trying to revive Voldemort. On the upside, the other reporters are better."

"Yes, but they do jot down every single one of her questions and your answers," Hermione sighed; "Well, I'm going to go follow and keep an eye on her. Ron, you should get back to your post with the Aurors for the time being."

"Yeah, okay," the ginger-haired young Auror agreed. "If they need any more Auror input besides yours, let me know and I'll come back. All right, Harry, headmaster?"

"Yes, thank you for representing the Aurors for the time being Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said.

"Best of luck Professor Samson, Lucy," Ron nodded at them as he walked out with Hermione on his arm. The two separated after exiting the room and headed in opposite directions.

"Headmaster," Severus murmured, turning to Dumbledore, "You will ensure that the questions posed once this farce starts up again stick strictly to Dinah's parselmouth abilities, will you not?"

"Yes," Dumbledore sighed. "We must find a way to keep the questions on that topic. I hope my warning will suffice. I'm afraid we must leave Miss Granger to continue to execute her mysterious powers over Rita Skeeter."

Severus scowled, but nodded.

Lucy giggled, "Hermione will do her best to keep Rita in line. Is there anything you'd like me to do? I could read them a book that's incredibly boring and put them all to sleep. I own books like that." Dinah wasn't sure if Lucy was being serious, but she hoped her friend was just kidding.

"Um... I'm guessing that's a joke, because I don't think they'll sit still for that long," Dinah murmured, wishing that this uneasy feeling would go away.

"Yes. Partially anyway. I really do own books like that and I would like to help if there's something you need me to do."

Severus was giving Lucy a considering look and Dinah smiled; "Just say nice things about me whenever you can. I wouldn't be opposed to you finding that nice reporter – Sedley Alder – and saying something. I don't think he'll bug you much. He's more interested in the actual matter at hand."

"All right," Lucy nodded, "That should be easy enough. Anyone feel like joining me for lunch? I suppose I should show my face in the Great Hall."

"Yes," Severus sighed, looking at Dinah. "We should eat something. You are hungry, right?"

Dinah smiled weakly; "If I say no, you're going to be annoyed with me, aren't you?" His lips twitched into a snarl and she laughed, standing and looping her arms about his waist before planting a kiss on his cheek; "All right. I'll eat something, I promise. Let's just go down to the Great Hall with Lucy. I don't think it will hurt for me to take a look at the reporters doing their interviews along the way; see what they're doing."

"You're certain you want to do that?"

She nodded; "Yes, I'm sure."

"Fine, then."

"Shall we take our lunch in the Room of Requirement?" Harry asked Ginny, standing and taking her hand as Severus rolled his eyes at them. Ginny agreed and the young pair brushed past them to leave the room. Dinah was starting to think they _really _had a thing for the Room of Requirement.

Lucy sighed, "This might be a bit hypocritical of me but they better not be doing something they'd be embarrassed to tell Molly about."

Dinah grinned, Severus rolled his eyes again, and Dumbledore chuckled as he headed towards the door; "Young people will be young people, Lucy. Enjoy your lunch. We'll re-convene when the hour is up." He left the room.

"Lucy," Severus fixed their friend with an insistent gaze after the headmaster had gone; "There is something that _I _need you to do."

"Oh, of course. What is it?" Lucy asked, looking a little surprised that Severus had asked a favor of her.

"Take Dinah tonight."

Dinah blinked. She wasn't really worried about the comment but it was a little odd and even in her stressed state she couldn't resist a joke; "Oh, you're dumping me off on others already?" she teased, tugging a bit at his arm.

He met her gaze with a slight smile; "Hardly. I simply have to go somewhere. Your birthday is still on Saturday regardless of what is going on here. You made such a fuss over mine I could not possibly ignore yours."

She smiled, feeling her cheeks grow a little pink; "Well, just don't go overboard."

"I think I'm past that by now, don't you?" he asked, raising an amused eyebrow.

Off to the side, Dinah heard Lucy giggle, "Are you sure you don't need any advice? Perhaps some of those books you read around Valentine's mentioned birthdays?"

Dinah had to cover her mouth with both hands to prevent bursting into laughter at the death glare Severus shot Lucy, his face flushing with embarrassment; "I believe I am perfectly capable of doing that part on my own now, thank you," he growled.

"You're welcome," Lucy said, sounding as sweet as could be. "Anyway, I can take Dinah, no problem. I feel it's only fair to warn you my bed is only big enough for one though….well, two if those two wish to sleep on top of one another or scrunched very close together."

"Um... I can sleep on the couch you know," Dinah gave her friend an odd look while Severus hadn't quite finished glaring at her yet.

"Yes, yes. I was just teasing, really. Messing with Severus, you know? I'm sure we'll have plenty of fun and Godric will love to see you again. If him and Dora ever come out from underneath the bed."

"That will be nice." She sighed. "Wish I could just go to my own room but I really don't need any reporters attacking me when I'm completely on my own."

"No, you don't. If they come to my room we can sick my attack dog on them," Lucy grinned, "Speaking of which…I suppose he should just come as himself Sunday? We are still coming over aren't we?"

"Yes," Dinah smiled as the three of them began walking from the room into the hallway. It was mostly empty on this third floor corridor, but she had a feeling that soon they'd start passing students and reporters and attracting more stares. "I don't want to cancel it, whatever's happening. It can only help, I think. Let's have it in my rooms, though. So my pets can participate and if any reporters _do _come they're safely away from Sarepta."

"Sounds reasonable. We'll have fun I'm sure of it. I'm still bringing cake. Is there anything else you'd like us to bring?"

"You don't need to bring anything unless you want to. It's enough to just have you both celebrating with me," Dinah knew that sounded kind of sappy but she was in that sort of mood right now, trying to wallow in the relief that she still had some friends in this world. Especially now that they were passing an occasional staring student. Severus did his job well and glared at each and every one of them, but it didn't help much. Soon they passed one of the female reporters, chatting with a young Ravenclaw boy who started pointing at them when they passed as the woman frantically jotted down whatever horrible words he was saying.

Dinah was relieved when they were nearing the Great Hall and she saw Sedley Alder in the distance interviewing Agrona Huntingdon, who was speaking to him with rather adamant facial expressions. When she noticed them she smiled and gave a shy wave.

Alder turned and his eyes widened. He said something to Agrona and she left, then he hurried over; "Professor Samson. Do you mind if I speak with you for a moment?" he sounded rather anxious.

"I... I suppose so."

"Would you like us to come with you?" Lucy offered.

"Oh, no worries, I can talk right here," Alder said, looking from Lucy to Severus. "You are both welcome to stay. This won't take long. Professor Samson, Miss Huntingdon there was saying a great many good things about you. So far I'm getting that the students are pretty much divided down the middle on whether they're on your side or not."

"Really?" That was surprising. Dinah wasn't sure she believed it. "The middle? You mean that... half of them don't hate me?"

He smiled slightly; "According to my recent interviews, yes."

"Of course they don't silly," Lucy said, "A lot of my students like to take your lessons and apply them to my class. It's actually quite brilliant of them."

Dinah smiled, squeezing Severus's hand so tightly that he flinched, but he still managed to smile a little at her. It felt good. It felt really good to think that she wasn't as universally despised as she had been starting to feel.

"I was wondering if you'd be up for teaching tomorrow. I thought I might observe some of your courses. I'm already shooting for an article tomorrow outlining the divided views of the students – both pro and con arguments, because I want to be truthful to their reactions..."

"No, I understand that," she murmured. "But what would my teaching do?"

"It would give him a firsthand observation of you, your teaching, and your subject," Lucy said, thoughtfully, "Then he'd be getting a relatively unbiased view of you, rather then having to base his opinions on what the students say about you. A neutral third party if you will."

"Yes, essentially," Alder agreed. "For a follow-up article, I would like to try and get some direct quotes from the classroom, with a focus on your views and the things you teach. I know it will be different from when you normally teach, and half of the students will probably be hostile, but together I'm sure we can do our best to keep things calm and get the most out of the experience. You seem fairly non-threatening to me. Of course, I want to keep a neutral opinion here and not drift too far one way or another, but we can be certain my colleague will stick only to the negative. I like to make up for Rita's sensationalism where I can. Problem is, we're not often on the same assignment."

"Then this should be the perfect opportunity for you," Severus said smoothly.

"Exactly," like the rest of the reporters, Alder seemed a little uneasy around Dinah's boyfriend, but he stood his ground. "So what do you say, Professor Samson? Will you give it a try? We will of course have to run it by the headmaster after lunch but I think he will be accommodating."

"Yes," Dinah nodded slowly, feeling a little like a great weight was lifting from her shoulders. "I would be happy to do that. Thank you. I really appreciate your unbiased work."

"I do my best," he smiled slightly. "Well, thank you. I'll see you after lunch then, Professor Samson. Snape, Ketteridge," he nodded briefly at Severus and Lucy and then was on his way.

"I like him," Lucy decided.

"Me too," Dinah smiled. "I really do. Maybe things are looking up after all. It's good to know there are people on my side."

"There are plenty of people on your side, Dinah," Severus said. "Hopefully, Mae and Andrew have been interviewed by now and corroborated – what's so funny?" he demanded when he heard her giggle.

Dinah grinned up at him; "You just used their first names."

Severus flushed and scowled a little; "Oh. Did I? Well..."

"It does happen from time to time with some students you know," Lucy said, smiling, "Calling them by their first names isn't a bad thing really."

"Ah, Severus has just been putting it off for some time now, with regards to Mae and Andrew," Dinah grinned, turning back to him; "You called Draco Malfoy by his first name."

"I'm not opposed to it in certain circumstances," Severus replied. "Either way, we should get to the Great Hall before lunch is over, should we not?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, you know what?" Dinah asked, feeling her stomach rumble; "I'm actually very _very _hungry!" At her words she saw Severus's eyes flash with barely visible relief as he gave her one of those rare, genuine smiles, leaning over and kissing her lips right there in the middle of the hallway. The kiss was very brief, but Dinah could barely believe it had happened; "You do realize that that is going to appear in the newspapers tomorrow, right?" she looked out at the gaping students that filled the hall.

"Perhaps," he shot a signature glare at the students and they all went scrambling away. "But it was only a matter of time at any rate, considering some of the questions this morning. Besides, I am not ashamed of loving you. I simply do not wish to appear too soft."

"Ah, so that's the source of your public displays of affection phobia. I suppose it makes sense," she smiled.

"Some think that kissing the woman you love in front of others doesn't make you appear soft. In fact they delight in doing it as often as possible," Lucy sighed, "but that's a personal opinion and not everyone holds to it."

Severus frowned at Lucy and Dinah took his arm to reassure him; "Oh, don't try to change him too much, Lucy. I love him just the way he is. Besides, there's something special about the little gestures he makes in public, and the promise that there will be much more when we're alone in our own little world. I kind of like that. But everybody's different."

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean that as a criticism. Only that kissing in public doesn't make one weak. There are plenty that think it does though, for various reasons. If it's not your thing then fine, but Gawain always used to refuse to kiss me in public for fear that someone would realize his affections towards me and use me as a means of hurting him. At least that's what he said."

"Well, it would make more sense if it was fear of someone hurting you as a way to get to him or something of a more noble nature. Still, that seems rather selfish and unreasonable. But-"

"I just _did _kiss her in public, how does that constitute a 'refusal'?" Severus demanded of Lucy, interrupting Dinah.

Her friend frowned, nose and forehead wrinkling, "It's not. I was thinking more in general terms I guess. The no kissing in public thing was a bit of a sore spot between me and Gawain."

"Oh, so that's why this whole thing has put you so out of sorts," Dinah sighed, glad that Lucy wasn't really criticizing their relationship. "I'm sure that was bothersome to you and obviously you love the contrast with Sirius. But I was never bothered by the state of my relationship. Besides, I think if Severus started doing what Sirius does..." she chuckled and shook her head; "No, he just wouldn't be Severus anymore. And that's not what I want." She heard Severus sigh next to her, and was glad that he was also relieved. The last thing she wanted was for Lucy's words to make him think she wasn't satisfied with him or something.

Lucy nodded, "It would be extremely weird if they started acting like each other. I really can't imagine Sirius scowling at people."

"See? I _like _the scowling," Severus chuckled and she had to grin; "So it's just as well then. Let's go to lunch."


	142. Questioning

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO

Questioning

* * *

Dumbledore agreed to Mr. Sedley Alder's suggestion right away after their group reconvened, and so Dinah had class to look forward to tomorrow. It was quite appropriate, because the topic Grubbly-Plank had begun in most of the courses was the history of Muggle wars. She had a feeling she knew where she could go with that subject to help people understand her, if it worked.

But she had to get through an afternoon of questioning first, and Rita Skeeter looked especially keen to start bombarding her with difficult ones again. Luckily, Dumbledore started off by asking a few of the local, small-town reporters if they had questions.

"Miss Samson," a woman took the liberty of beginning; "Can you tell us if you are of any distant relation to other parselmouths such as Herpo the Foul or Salazar Slytherin?"

"I cannot tell you," Dinah shook her head. The first question was easy enough at any rate; "I am Muggle-born, and I know of no witches and wizards in my immediate family history. If, back further than anyone can remember, I was related in some way to any of those people, then there is really no way I can find out. But it shouldn't matter either way. Since it's possible that I'm a natural parselmouth we should treat it that way. It's how I've always treated it. And either way I'm not ashamed of my abilities."

"Then why did you not learn to control them properly?" another reporter asked.

She sighed; "That's a more difficult question. I can't say that all of my decisions in the past have been reasonable or logical. I did hide from my ability for a time, not because I was ashamed of it but because I was afraid of it. Afraid of something happening like what is happening now. People questioning me and judging me. I only spoke with snakes when I was certain there were no people around, even in the Muggle world. So I didn't think I'd need... to learn to master it."

"If you had there would have needed to be no _Obliviations_."

"I know," she hung her head a little. "I'm sorry. As I said, I have not always made the best choices." She looked up to meet their gazes again, keeping her voice firm and steady. "But that doesn't make me a bad person."

"If you were so afraid of a moment like this, then why did you choose now to tell the whole world? What made the fear go away?"

"Coming out of hiding helped," she admitted; "Coming back to the wizarding world. The youthening also helped me to face my past. But none of that would have been enough if I hadn't met people here that accepted and encouraged me. Professor Snape and Professor Ketteridge, mostly. And Professor Ketteridge's fiancé, Sirius Black."

"Ah, yet another person with a questionable criminal record," Rita Skeeter murmured.

"Both he and Severus have been pardoned."

"Professor Snape!" one of the other reporters demanded; "Do you mind if I ask a few questions?"

"You may ask," Severus replied, lowering his eyelids at the man; "But I cannot promise that I will answer."

"Um... right. So you've said that you see no real similarities between Professor Samson and your former master. I take that to mean you think her parselmouth abilities are harmless, then, despite the fact that you were for all intents and purposes _killed _by a snake controlled by a parselmouth? You still trust Dinah Samson."

"Brilliant deduction," his voice was thick with sarcasm. "I believe I've already said as much."

"But I would think that you would hate snakes."

"I have no opinion of them one way or another. They are animals. Normal, ordinary animals. Nagini was bonded to The Dark Lord; therefore, yes, _she _was evil. But I hardly intend to judge all individuals of an animal species-"

"Order."

"What?" he glanced at Dinah.

"Order. Not species. Snakes are in the Order Serpentes."

He rolled his eyes; "What_ever_, Dinah. Honestly, I thought you were a Muggle _social _scientist and yet you still know all of these things. Regardless, I do not judge all snakes from Nagini's example."

"You two certainly seem to have a nice rapport together," Rita Skeeter said with a sly smile; "What do you say to student reports that you were seen kissing in the halls during lunch?" A few of the other reporters perked up at that and started writing stuff down.

"What do you say to taking your notepad and stuffing it, you insolent busybody?" Severus snapped, and Dinah had to cover her mouth to stifle a giggle.

"Now, now, there will be no insults," Dumbledore murmured, his eyes twinkling with laugher. "There are no laws against kissing in the halls, not even for our students. Although, I admit that before this year there was no kissing involving faculty members. Not until Professors Samson and Ketteridge were hired. The face of Hogwarts is changing, but that is to be expected as we rebuild ourselves after the war."

"Perhaps, headmaster," Rita still looked a little irked from Severus's rebuke, and Dinah's boyfriend looked very satisfied about that.

"Anyway," another, female reporter continued; "This is quite interesting. As far as I have been able to tell wizards don't think much about snakes one way or another except when either Slytherin house or parselmouths are involved, there obviously being a connection between the two. If I see a snake in my yard, I generally ignore it, but if someone begins talking to it... then I begin to judge the snakes as evil."

"Yes!" Dinah exclaimed, liking this woman and thinking that maybe she could start getting through to people now. "I don't know why that is, but I don't think it's right. But, see? Snakes alone are fine until they start speaking to wizards. It's almost as if there is an undercurrent of acknowledgment that they _are _just animals alone. But for some reason, there's this opinion that as soon as a wizard speaks to them they are being ordered to do something bad. Why is that?"

"Because as far as I know up until this point, with the possible exception of Mr. Potter, parselmouths have only used snakes for evil purposes," Alder said.

"I just talk to them," Dinah insisted. "I ask what they're doing, talk about myself, themselves. What they ate, if it's a nice day outside. Mating season. That's all that happened on Tuesday. I told the male that it wasn't safe on Hogwarts grounds and that there was no female nearby, and he left to protect himself. He was just going about his normal business. It was _my _fault for letting Sarepta crawl on me that morning and thus attracting him.

"I don't know what the evil parselmouths do or why they are somehow able to get the snakes to perform evil tasks for them. Maybe they have to search awhile until they find a snake that is willing. I don't know. We can't go back and ask. I could probably get any animal to obey me if I said the right things. They have no preconceived notions about human morals. People train dogs to do good _and _bad things through simple reinforcement techniques. A puppy can become a dangerous, fighting dog or a happy, friendly family pet depending upon how it is raised. I don't see why snakes can't be the same. But none of the snakes I've spoken to have ever shown any inclination to hurt anyone except in self-defense. They really are ordinary animals!"

"Professor Snape, what is your opinion of this snake that she apparently keeps in your dungeons? Presumably to keep it away from possible prey in the form of her toad and rat pets in her own room, although I wonder if Professor Samson uses your dungeons for more than that..." Rita murmured.

"I have no problem with Sarepta," he said, ignoring Rita's second comment. "She is quiet, unassuming, and as I understand it also very friendly. She responds to Dinah and will nod her head at visitors to say hello if asked."

"So she has this snake well-trained then?"

"No, it's different from that," he shook his head. "She doesn't _order _Sarepta to do anything. They're more... equals. Friends. She asks, offers, converses, but never orders. I have a feeling that some of her parselmouth counterparts have probably threatened snakes in order to get them to do their bidding. Although, again, as Dinah has said we cannot go back and ask." Dinah sighed, grateful for Severus's words, and he gave her a half-smile in response.

"You have seen Voldemort threaten Nagini?" a bold man asked.

He sighed. "Not threaten. Certainly order. She was his familiar but not his equal. Not quite. The Dark Lord and Nagini were on good terms, but I do not know how that relationship began. She obeyed him without question, which leads me to believe that if she did not there may have been consequences. I prefer to see the respect Dinah gives her snake than the condescension that others – such as The Dark Lord – give theirs."

"The basilisk," Harry spoke up, and all eyes landed on him. "The basilisk controlled by Tom Riddle's diary in my second year – yes, I have mentioned that in interviews before. Riddle ordered it around; it was very much his slave, not his equal. He told me not to try and talk to it, that it only obeyed him. I'm sure he would have punished it had it failed. And basilisks were initially bred by Herpo the Foul to _be _evil and to be his slaves. That was a man-made trait, not a natural one."

"Exactly," Dinah nodded, smiling at Harry. "Snakes in nature are not like that. They deserve our respect. I hate to sound cliché, but really if you don't bother them they won't bother you."

"So you're some kind of snake rights activist?"

"No," she murmured. "It's not like that. I simply think that all creatures should be respected for what they _are _and we shouldn't give ourselves inherently more value than them. Of course, I am going to be closer to humans than I am to snakes, it's only natural. But that doesn't mean humans are _better _than them, just different. And if we are bitten we have a right to defend ourselves just as the snakes do. Each situation should be addressed on its own. And it's not as though I want to give snakes legal citizenship or something. I just don't think they should be misjudged."

"That is what you would see if any of you bothered to observe Dinah's classes or give her a chance, like Mr. Alder there," Severus gestured. "She doesn't try to change people or snakes or make them all the same. She simply doesn't give differences the same weight that others do. She acknowledges them and then moves on. Everyone is deserving of a chance, in her world. Again, as I said, it is often sickening, but quite noble. If I had initially seen things in that way perhaps I would not have made the mistakes I did as a Death Eater."

"Many of us would have made fewer mistakes had we initially seen the world the way Dinah does, myself included," Dumbledore murmured. "And yes, I am addressing some of the rumors in Miss Skeeter's book. I admit that while most of her facts are exaggerated – yes, exaggerated," he offered the woman a glare when she huffed at him; "I do admit that there was a time when I did indeed share the ideals of Gellert Grindelwald, as her book states. I regret those days as strongly as Severus regrets his Death Eater days. And I challenge any of you to find real evidence that those statements are untrue."

There was a lot of writing before another question was asked, from a short woman near the back of the room; "Professor Samson, if you have avoided keeping a pet snake for this long because of the reasons previously stated, why did you choose to bring this Sarepta into Hogwarts?"

Dinah bit her lip. That was going to be a difficult question to answer without bringing up Tommy; "I... well, as I said, after coming here I started to realize that some people – specifically Severus – accepted my parselmouth abilities without judging me. I finally started to accept _myself _because of it, and I wanted to keep making progress along those lines. So I chose to do something different. I chose to try to accept that part of myself more by keeping a snake – not as a pet, but as a temporary companion. And then I introduced her to Lucy and Sirius... they accepted me as well, and I only felt better about myself. Then I decided that I would have to tell the world. I had always wanted to do so, but had been too much of a coward. I decided that now I was strong enough to make a difference."

Luckily, that answer seemed to satisfy her; "And again, what is it that you want to tell the world?"

Dinah sat tall and steeled herself for this, to try and make her main point as clear and concise as possible; "Parselmouths are not evil, and neither are snakes. The stigma associated with them has gone on long enough. It is wrong and it is judgmental and nobody that has this gift should be forced to hide from the world or to think that they are a bad person because of it. Nobody should have to endure the loneliness and ostracism that I faced in the wizarding world. If parselmouths and snakes are given more respect and more of a chance in this world of ours, I think there will be a lot fewer people who decide to take the ability and make it into something evil, like Tom Riddle did. I submit myself as proof and challenge you – like Dumbledore – to find any real evidence that I could be evil. I am a parselmouth, but I ama good person. I promise all of you that. I really would never hurt anyone. I just want the world to know."

"And," Dumbledore added, "I have compiled a list of people in the past who were parselmouths and did not cause harm. None save Mr. Potter are still alive today and most of them had to live lives with their ability hidden, just as Dinah did. But the historical records do exist." Dinah shot him a surprised look. He had always told her there were other good parselmouths but she had not known that he knew who they were. Surely this could only help.

"Thank you, headmaster," a man said as the reporters all furiously scribbled down on their notepads and parchments. "That list should be useful. You mentioned Tom Riddle again, Professor Samson. You truly believe that his parselmouth abilities caused him to become what he was?"

"I believe it was a large part of it, yes," she said, being cautious; "Not all of it. He did have violence in his genes, from the Gaunt family, and his being alone all his life only exacerbated the problems. I do not think that the adult Voldemort and I have anything in common save our parselmouth abilities, but I do feel for him in his youth. I know what it's like to be alone, crying in a bathroom because you don't have any friends..." she finished the last in a whisper, staring down at her hands as she felt Severus's hand tighten on her shoulder.

She wasn't alone anymore, she thought with a smile, lifting her head. That was the main thing. But when she looked out at the reporters she saw that they were all giving her odd looks, and with a jolt she realized just how much she had said.

"Professor Samson, you mean to say you know how Tom Riddle felt in his youth? That certainly seemed to be speaking from experience."

She felt her face flush; "I – no, I was speaking from _my _experience. I can only imagine it was the same or similar for him. In the orphanage, early at Hogwarts... maybe. Maybe he hid it well, but maybe." _Shut up, Dinah, shut up!_

"I think it is a conceivable assumption," Dumbledore said, saving Dinah from having to try to dig herself out of this hole anymore, because she was afraid she was only digging herself deeper in. "My experiences with young Riddle did not show any of that on the surface, but he was quiet. Sinisterly so, but I do not believe he was able to help himself, given his family background as Dinah has stated. Certainly, at least in his early days in the orphanage, he may have wanted friends. Perhaps even at Hogwarts, but kept it well-hidden."  
There was some nodding, but the group still looked uneasy.

"This is what I have been trying to tell you all!" Severus exclaimed, exasperated, and Dinah turned to watch him. He was acting the part rather well, pretending he knew nothing about Tommy – then again, Dinah knew he had a lot of experience with the art. "Professor Dinah Samson is an incurable idealist. She will try to see the good in people no matter what the cost and no matter who they are. Maybe a bit far-fetched, to try and see good in The Dark Lord, but certainly not threatening. If anything, it just _proves_ what a good person she is!"

"Except that if he comes back she might endanger us all by trying to save him rather than kill him," Rita smirked.

"He is not going to come back," Severus snarled, and then turned to Dumbledore; "Headmaster, I think we need to change the subject again."

"Just one more question!" Rita shouted; "Do you think that-"

"_I _think," Hermione cut in, "That today is a such a lovely day perhaps the students or Professor Slughorn should go outside and attempt to catch some _beetles _to use as potions ingredients." Most of the room gave her odd looks, but Rita shut up.

The press conference droned on, and most of the questions after that point stuck to the subject of parseltongue. Dumbledore handed out his list of good parselmouths and there was much discussion and speculation about how their ostracism might have affected them and why they did _not _ever turn to darkness because of it. Dinah felt she might be getting through to the group, especially after Alder brought up her Muggle-born surveys. It seems that Agrona Huntingdon had gushed on about them and about how much they and her classes had helped Derwent and Amedeus and the other Muggle-born Slytherins come to terms with themselves and their place in this society. Then the fact that the Muggle-born Slytherins had been answering a lot of questions in class and garnering a good amount of points for their house came up, and Dinah felt that most of the reporters were beginning to understand her. And after Hermione's beetle comment, Rita had kept mostly quiet, and that helped most of all.

By the time the conference was over Dinah was feeling confident about her classes with Alder tomorrow and thinking that just _maybe _things were going to get better from now on. They certainly couldn't get any worse, she hoped, as long as she said nothing further on the subject of Tommy.

She headed back to Lucy's rooms for dinner that evening with a fresh spring in her step, finally looking forward to something again. An evening with her friend and the cats, and Severus off buying birthday gifts for her. Maybe celebrating her birthday this weekend in the midst of all of this mayhem would not be such a stressful experience after all.


	143. Improvements

A/N: Hi everyone! Soooooo sorry for the unusually long break in updates! I have been having all sorts of computer and life issues and they are still sort of eating away at me, so I might be a little slow but I'm definitely going to keep updating the story so no worries! Please keep reading and reviewing! Thanks! :)

* * *

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FORTY-THREE

Improvements

* * *

Dinah was enjoying breakfast at Lucy's table with her friend on Friday morning when a knock sounded at the door. "That must be Severus," she put down her fork and abandoned her coffee and eggs to stand from the table. "Do you mind if I answer it?"

"No, not at all," Lucy said, waving her towards the door and taking another forkful of eggs.

Dinah nodded and headed to the door, opening it to see her boyfriend standing there in his usual bat-like robes, and feeling a twinge of relief at seeing him again. It had been a good night, but she had missed him. Hopefully, his excursion had been worth it. Not that she was _too _worried about what kind of gifts she would get. She just wanted to justify his absence somehow. "Hi."

"Hello," he stepped inside and closed the door before gathering her into his arms and kissing her for a long time and with a lot of passion. She had no complaints whatsoever and tightened her grip around his waist, again remembering a time when this did not happen and indulging in the fact that he was now unequivocally hers, and vice versa. When he broke the kiss he hugged her to him for a moment, murmuring a "How are you?" into her ear.

She closed her eyes, resting her cheek against the course but warm material of his outer robes; "Fine. I'm good. Lucy and I had fun."

"I'm glad," he drew back and she noticed that he was shooting Lucy what amounted to a challenging look as he did so. Perhaps he was still agitated from her comments yesterday about his public shows of affection. Dinah would have to remember to reassure him about that again when she had him alone with her. He reached into his robes and pulled out a newspaper; "I took the liberty of bringing this up here. You should see the latest in your reports."

Still sitting at the table, Lucy giggled, "I will never make a comment about your kissing again."

"Much appreciated," Severus grumbled.

Dinah's friend took a sip of her coffee before standing and coming over next to them as Dinah spread open the newspaper; "Anything bad?" Lucy asked, peering over Dinah's shoulder.

"Surprisingly, not as much," Severus said. "Skeeter's article did not make the first page. Alder's did instead," he gestured to where block letters said 'Students Split over Parselmouth Professor'.

Dinah wandered over to the couch to sit and Severus settled in next to her with Lucy on her other side so that she was sandwiched in-between them. Severus slipped an arm around her waist and she leaned against him. Dinah read the article, tilting the newspaper so Lucy could see it better when her friend kept trying to stick her head in closer.

The article was indeed not bad. Yes, it did quote interviews with many students and gave equal time to both sides of the issue, so there were occasional mentions of her being evil or scary or parents wanting to get her fired, but there were an equal number of quotes from students praising her and saying nice things about her, some from students she hadn't even realized liked her. Well, she could probably blame that part on her occasional low self-esteem issues, which she had only recently begun to be rectify.

She sighed with relief and closed her eyes as Severus stroked her hair; "It's true. That's better. That's so much better."

"Yes," he murmured, kissing her hair. "You are lucky that Mr. Sedley Alder is such an honest journalist."

"Don't I know it."

"They _are _out there," Lucy said. "Rita just sort of overpowers all other reporters….in the world I think."

"Speaking of which, you should probably not skim her article. Famous last words," he muttered as Dinah flipped to the second page to try and find it.

"You know I _have _to read it."

"I do. Here," he turned the page for her and pointed to a spot on page four; "When she doesn't sensationalize they seem to like her less. At least Miss Granger was able to get her to stick to the facts this time, albeit barely. But every complicated question that came up in the interview is here. Students I passed in the halls were focusing more on this article than on Alder's."

"Oh, lovely," Lucy muttered, "Look here. She's more or less accused you and me of lowering the moral fiber of the students and staff here. As if," she snorted.

"Of all the people to talk about morals," Dinah sighed, shaking her head.

Lucy laughed, "Are you referring to me or Rita?"

Dinah had to laugh as well; "Rita. Rita. Don't worry. Either way it does look like she's mentioned _everything _remotely questionable, even the stuff regarding Tommy." She frowned; "Why can I never learn to keep my big mouth shut?"

"I'm sorry I'm afraid you get it from me. I've babbled so much around you…it's probably rubbed off," Lucy teased.

"Oh no," Dinah shook her head; "I've had foot-in-my-mouth syndrome for as long as I can remember. Thought I'd grow out of it but once I hit the age of thirty-five and it was still there..." she shrugged; "Well, I pretty much gave up."

"They can't get much information from the few things you've said. I wouldn't worry too much yet," Severus encouraged. "Those are the only articles in the _Daily Prophet _but I assume the local papers also have things to say."

"It's all right. Between Alder and Rita, they've pretty much covered everything." Dinah sighed and re-folded the newspaper, standing from the couch. "Oh well. We'd better get ready for classes. I told Alder I'd meet with him during my break. That way we can figure out how things are going to go and I don't have to deal with the students on my own."

"That's a good idea. I'm sure it will be fine but it doesn't hurt to be cautious just in case," Lucy said.

"Yes," she agreed, eyeing her still-unfinished eggs with a frown. "Well, so much for breakfast. I'll just try to have a big lunch. Thanks for having me over Lucy. Dumbledore's promised to get the press out of here right after dinner and free Hogwarts up for the weekend, so I should be able to go back to my own rooms tonight and you won't have to worry about feeding my animals anymore. Then the plan is to spend Saturday in the dungeons with Severus for my birthday and then Sunday in my rooms with you and Sirius. If the birthday thing is still on."

"Of course it is! As long as you're up for it," Lucy said, looking excited, "Did you want your key back? Oh! And Godric too?"

"I'll pick them up after classes are over, around dinnertime if that's okay."

"Sure, yeah. I can stay through dinner if that works out better for you," Lucy offered.

"I should be able to come and get them towards the beginning of dinner, so you won't have to stay too long I don't think. I'll come right after my seventh years class gets out."

"I'll walk you to your classroom," Severus said.

"Thanks," she smiled, taking his proffered arm. "I'll see you later, Lucy." During the short walk to her classroom there were indeed many students reading the newspaper. They stared, whispered, and giggled as Dinah and Severus walked past. The giggling students were probably the ones that were reading the 'lowering moral fiber' portion of Skeeter's article. But a few well-placed glares from Severus got them to shut up.

A few local reporters still floated around, asking the students' questions, but she didn't see Rita Skeeter around, which was just as well. Wherever she was, Hermione was certainly following her diligently.

Alder was waiting with Grubbly-Plank at the front of her classroom, taking a statement from the older woman.

"Oh, hello Dinah. Severus," she smiled when she saw them; "I was just telling Mr. Alder here some good things about you. I really hope this episode blows over quickly. You don't deserve to deal with all of this unreasonable hype."

"Thank you, Professor Grubbly-Plank," Dinah smiled. "That really means a lot to me. And thank you for taking over my classes the past two days."

"Of course. I'm getting to be quite a fan of this course," she chuckled and Dinah couldn't help but join in. "Your lesson plans are perfectly on-the-spot as always. I've been trying to talk you up to the students, and many of them are responding well, especially in the elective courses. The first, fourth, and seventh years are a bit more... split."

"Understandable, I suppose," Dinah nodded, trying to keep a positive attitude. It did make sense that the students who had outright chosen to take her class would have a higher opinion of her than some of the students who were 'forced' to endure it. But at least she had Mae, Andrew, Ginny, Hermione, and Luna in those courses.

"Nice woman," Alder said with a nod after they had bid Grubbly-Plank farewell. "Very cooperative and many good things to say about you. I see you've been discussing Muggle wars in your lesson plans."

"Yes, and I'm hoping to tie today's discussion in a little bit with the things that have been... covered in the _Daily Prophet _as of late. I don't know how it will go but we'll see if my ideas work. You'll have to bear with me... depending on how students behave it might be difficult."

"We'll do our best," he encouraged. "Professor Snape, you're staying?"

"Hardly. I have to maintain my own group of miscreants. Though observing my classes will do you no good because each and every student _knows _not to say anything negative about Dinah in my presence." He turned to Dinah; "Good luck. I'm sure it will go well."

She smiled and was about to reply when a timid voice came from the doorway; "Professor Samson?"

Dinah turned from Severus to see Mae Yates creeping hesitantly from the doorway to the back of the classroom. She seemed to be alone; "Yes, Mae? What is it?"

The little girl sniffled started walking towards them, her eyes red and her expression terribly upset; "Can I talk to you?"

"Of course you can," Dinah murmured, kneeling in front of her. She had never seen her young friend look so miserable before. Severus also looked shocked and Alder was poised to write anything relevant down; "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry!" she moaned, wringing her hands as her eyes welled up with tears; "I'm sorry about what Lisette said about you! It's all my fault! I told her about the things we were looking at in the library – like great-granddad and the defensive spells and... and..."

"Oh, Mae, I know it's not your fault," Dinah bit her lip and placed a hand on her shoulder. She hadn't expected her to take it so hard, and it was horrible to see. "I'm not angry with you."

"But... but I wasn't supposed to tell, was I? I mean... now the newspapers are saying awful things about you because of it," she wiped her eyes and sniffled some more; "Lisette's not a bad person but she just doesn't understand! She thinks you're going to hurt me and Andrew and she won't listen to anything that I say. She doesn't understand that you and Professor Snape are our friends. I don't want to stop being friends with her but I'm not talking to her right now because I'm so mad... but it's really all my fault, isn't it?"

"Miss Yates, if we did not want you to tell your friends about our library research we would have said so," Severus murmured. "You have done nothing wrong."

"Really?" she whimpered, her eyes shining with hope and surprise as she looked up at him.

"Of course not," Dinah said, standing and taking Severus's arm. She hadn't expected him to say that much and it was so heartwarming to hear him encourage their young friend so openly; "Anything we shared with you was our responsibility, not yours. We were careful. We only told you what we thought was safe, and we expected that you would probably tell other students. I didn't expect this parseltongue thing to happen back then. This situation is new and different and absolutely nothing that has come out of it is your fault."

"Thank you," she smiled a little as her eyes shifted to Alder; "Mr. Reporter, please don't tell anybody else that Professor Samson is a bad person. Whatever they're doing, I _know _it's not anything wrong. It's like she said in her interviews – she just wants to help the Auror's deal with the dark creature, that's all. To protect us. She would never hurt us."

"Thank you, Miss Yates," Alder, who had written nothing down up until now, jotted something on his pad; "I have taken your statement."

"Good," her smile became easier; "You can come talk to me and Andrew at lunch. We tried to talk to that Skeeter woman but she wouldn't listen to us. She kept trying to make us say bad things about Professor Samson but we wouldn't do it!"

"Thank you, Mae. It means _so _much to me – _and _to Severus - that you and Andrew are on our side."

"We always will be!" she said fiercely. "I don't want to come to school next year if you aren't teaching. I was already excited to sign up for Muggle Studies as an elective."

Dinah smiled; "Well, that will make it so much more challenging for me, won't it? I want to make sure you get the most out of it so I've got to work hard and make sure the curriculum is different for each year. I'll do my best just like you always have, helping us and helping Andrew."

"So you're going to stay then? For sure?"

"Nothing could make me leave," she insisted. "Now, I have to meet with Mr. Alder for awhile before my first class, but maybe we can _all _talk at lunch. Would that be all right?" she turned to the reporter.

"I don't see why not. I'm curious to hear the rest of what Miss Yates has to say. Mr. Speasy as well."

"Then it's all settled," she turned her smile back to Mae.

"Great! Thanks, Professor Samson!" the little girl left the room much happier than when she had come in.


	144. Fire

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR

Fire

* * *

"Good morning," Dinah said to her class of fifth-years when they had all arrived. It was nice, she thought, that her first class of the day could be an elective one. Perhaps, as Grubbly-Plank said, they would be more welcoming to her.

They all exchanged glances, some surprised and some uneasy, before the Hufflepuff Ellie Cattermole raised her hand; "Are they going to let you stay here then, Professor Samson?"

"I'm staying here whether they let me or not, actually," she managed a slight smile. Ellie had been one of the students to say positive things about her in Alder's article this morning. It seemed her parents had been forced to endure a lot of injustice during Voldemort's reign, and she was very sensitive to anyone that had to suffer any kind of mistreatment; "I'm teaching today because Mr. Sedley Alder from the _Daily Prophet _would like to observe my classes. I really hope you'll all be responsive and try to treat this as just a normal class. But I... understand if some of you are uncomfortable."

"You didn't bring any snakes, did you?" the Gryffindor Johnny Fairbourne asked, looking a little hesitant.

"Um... no, I wouldn't do that." Great, she was saying 'um' again. _Way to regress back to your youthening, Dinah!_

"Shall we begin?" Alder asked, raising his voice a little and snapping the students to attention; "I'd really like you all to treat this as a normal class period so I can get a feel for Professor Samson's teaching style. I will be here the entire time so there is no need to... _worry _about anything, if some of you are."

There was some murmuring in the class and then the Muggle-born Slytherin Gloria Elkins raised her hand; "I'm not worried. I trust Professor Samson." There was some general nodding in the room and Dinah felt a lot better. It was true that those students who had taken her course as an elective, and the Muggle-born Slytherins, were for the most part on her side.

Her fifth-years course went by quite smoothly, and Dinah was starting to feel a little bit normal again. Her plans for the class discussion worked well, and it was nice that Alder could see her normal behaviors, but since the students were all responsive for ideas she didn't quite get the influence she was hoping for on the students who disliked her. But as soon as her fourth years students came in she could tell that was going to change.

Half of the class looked ready to bolt when they saw her. Probably twenty-five percent more looked uneasy and nervous, and only a few looked pleased. The rest behaved neutrally, but after some assurance from Alder, who was proving to be very useful and not only because of his honest journalism, she managed to get the group settled into their seats and ready to begin class.

"Um... well, you were talking about the history of various Muggle wars with Grubbly-Plank on Wednesday, right?" Again with the 'um's! She had to resist smacking herself upside the head for slipping into it again.

"Wars like the one we just ended and you want us to start up again?" the Ravenclaw Arthur Brunt demanded, sticking his hand into the air.

"What makes you think I want to start another war, Mr. Brunt?" Dinah whispered, staring down at her hands and not at the student, feeling her resolve weaken. She had to hold it together. Had to keep telling herself that.

"The things in the newspaper! The snake-talk! My Mum's Muggle-born and almost got _killed _by the Death Eaters last year in one of their stupid raids! She wrote to the Ministry yesterday. And to the headmaster, too. Wants me to be taken out of this class. If you revive that dark creature everybody's just going to start killing each other again. I don't want to be taught by a parselmouth and I don't want any more wars!"

"Well... um, let's talk about that, shall we?" she ignored the 'um' and focused instead on the fact that she was standing her ground enough not to go hide behind her desk or something. "Some of the wars you read about had that kind of thing happen as well, didn't they? Killing people for no reason?"

"They only killed the ones who resisted," Marcus Dippet, a Death Eater-like pureblood Slytherin said with his nose in the air. "If they just let themselves be registered like they were supposed to be then-"

"Shut up, Dippet!" Brunt raised his wand; "Don't you dare talk about my Mum as though she deserved to die! I'll hex you to-"

"_Stop_ it!" Dinah exclaimed, rushing down to stand in-between the boys' desks and hold her hands out. "Don't you both see? This is what happens when people start hating each other. This is what I am trying to _avoid_! Please, lower your wand and we can talk about this rationally, Mr. Brunt. Please."

The student scowled but lowered his wand. "I guess," he muttered, not looking at her.

She sighed and turned to the other boy; "So Mr. Dippet, you are saying that... those people killed in the war deserved to die because they brought it on themselves? That they were killed because they refused to conform to the new world 'order' the Death Eaters were trying to establish?"

"Yes."

"And what was the point of that order, may I ask? Does anyone know?" she asked the rest of the class.

"They wanted to separate people. To label people by what they 'were'. To categorize them and then establish a hierarchy. It was about... power, I think," Gloria Wintringham said timidly. "Power and differences, like you've taught us about."

"Yes," Dinah sighed, a little relieved as she smiled at the Muggle-born Slytherin girl. "Five points to Slytherin for your insight."

"Shut up, Wintringham! You don't know anything about anything!" Dippet shouted.

"She just earned your house points, Mr. Dippet, I hardly think you have cause to complain," Dinah raised a Severus-like eyebrow at the boy, and he shrugged. "So, then... what is your opinion, if Miss Wintringham is so wrong?" she asked him.

"Well... well _somebody _has to be in charge, don't they? To keep order. I mean, Muggle-borns are a liability and a danger in our society if they're not controlled. They're a direct connection to Muggles and are always messing with the International Statute of Secrecy. I bet your surveys will show that."

Dinah frowned. The boy did have insight. "The Ministry of Magic handles all of those issues. Is that not someone 'in charge'?"

"They don't handle it well! Besides, you said we _do _have differences. You even asked us in the beginning of class to list ways we can differentiate ourselves. How can you say we need to accept differences but also ignore them? It doesn't make sense!"

Dinah was about to reply when the Hufflepuff Nell Roper raised her hand; "Professor Samson never said to ignore them. She just pointed out all the different kinds of differences to show that depending on how you categorize people there comes out no clear winners or losers. So why is picking Muggle-borns versus purebloods the _right _difference to divide people with?"

"Good!" Dinah exclaimed, glad that somebody had gotten her message; "That's exactly what I've been trying to say. Five points to Hufflepuff."

"Yeah, but that's the difference that makes a difference, like I just said!" Dippet exclaimed; "We shouldn't let Muggle-borns do magic because they'll just do it in front of Muggles."

"Our society has functioned rather well with them as a part of it up until now, Mr. Dippet. The Death Eater-controlled Ministry's answer was, indeed as you say, to take away their magic. Under the pretense of 'registration' their wands were taken from them and anyone who didn't comply was either killed or thrown into Azkaban. All the Muggle-borns I've known have been _extremely _cautious about the International Statute of Secrecy. Perhaps even more so than half blood and pureblood witches and wizards, because they have greater exposure to the Muggle world and more immediate need to be cautious. Yes, they may tell people, but only people very close to them whom they can trust. There have been many incidents when non-Muggle-born individuals have performed magic in front of Muggles and caused chaos that needed to be reversed by the Ministry."

"Yeah, by _Obliviating _them just like you always do!" the Gryffindor Fabian Macavoy exclaimed.

"Can we get back to the subject matter at hand, please?" she hated how timid her voice came out.

"Oh, but this is interesting!" Alder came to the rescue once again. "Professor Samson, you say that you are opposed to the Muggle-born registration. And you _are _Muggle-born yourself and you did administer those surveys. Could you gives us a little insight on Mr. Dippet's comments about Muggle-borns revealing their magic to Muggles."

She sighed; "It does happen, Mr. Alder. But I have researched reports of the sort in old issues of the _Daily Prophet _in the library for corroboration and found just as many incidents of purebloods and half bloods accidentally revealing themselves to Muggles in such a way as to force the Ministry to get involved. You must know of those reports."

"Yes, in my experience it is quite even, at least with regards to incidents that involve the Ministry."

"So you see? That argument is irrelevant. Yes, Muggle-borns may tell more Muggles overall but that is almost always done in a way which doesn't cause any sort of chaos. We cannot simply _eliminate _Muggle-borns from our society, even ones that _do _cause trouble. They are humans just like anyone and make mistakes just like all of us do. Either way I don't believe it's any reason to shuffle them through registration and take their wands from them. They would still be able to perform wandless magic, some of which is occasionally involuntary even as adults. In that case, would they be thrown into Azkaban or killed for breaking the rules? Could you justify that, Mr. Dippet?"

"I still think there needs to be more control."

"Then it _is _about power," Dinah murmured.

"Well... yeah, but what's wrong with that? What's wrong with being ambitious? Trying to take something good for yourself."

"There is nothing wrong with being ambitious. But why does that ambition have to include hurting other people? How can causing harm to another truly make a person feel better about themselves? And why is it only those in power that believe it is right to do so? Why are there no Muggle-borns that wish to turn things around and rule over purebloods? Because as soon as someone gets a true taste of injustice they are able to realize how wrong it is to do the same thing to others. They become capable of empathy. It is like what we discussed with Jane Elliot's study earlier in the year. After she let the brown-eyed students rule over the blue eyed ones she then turned the tables and let the blue-eyed students take over. But they were more hesitant than their brown-eyed counterparts. Because they knew what it felt like.

"Yet our world is full of people that want to obtain power for themselves at the expense of others' homes, feelings, and even their lives. In all of the Muggle wars that you have read about - and you have skimmed the basic details of many, from major world wars to smaller but just as violent conflicts in developing Muggle nations – in all of these wars, what are people fighting over? Mr. Deverill?" she called on another Muggle-born Slytherin.

"Well, just what Gloria said. About power or about differences. They want to kill other racial or social groups or they want to take over poor people or other people. Sometimes it doesn't matter who as long as the ones who want the power get that power."

"No, sometimes they fight over things like _land_," Dippet retorted.

"That's true, Mr. Dippet, but the land directly connects to the power and differences. '_We _should own this land, not _them_'. 'If this land is _ours _then we have more leverage to control others'. It all connects."

"What about when people want more land to grow crops or something?" Eldred Summerby asked.

"Yes, that sometimes does happen, but I still don't think that justifies killing others. In all of the circumstances where people fight over food it is because one group monopolizes it and forces the other groups to starve, for reasons we've discussed like differences and power. Believe it or not, there is enough food in this world for everyone, and the day that there isn't will be a sad one indeed. In such a circumstance, I don't know what would happen, but that's not really the focus of our discussion. I could bring in some post-Apocalyptic Muggle movies to address that issue, but that would have to be something to consider for next year.

"The point is that people all over the world, Muggles and wizards alike, are involved in wars and killing for no good reason. If there must be someone 'in charge' as Mr. Dippet says, then who decides what group has that right? There is no way to decide such a thing. Power goes to whichever selfish group seizes it first, and then they objectify others to justify their killing." She felt her voice raising slightly, but the students were watching and listening; "Yes, it's so easy to avoid empathy and to kill another when you convince yourselves that they are nothing more than an inanimate object without feelings. That is a major part of military training on all continents and in all social groups. Don't see the 'enemy' as a person – then it doesn't hurt to kill them. That's what the Death Eaters did... they saw Muggles and Muggle-borns as nothing more than useless trash to be disposed of as they saw fit. Not as people with friends, family, and feelings."

"But Professor Samson, some of that training is for people who have to defend themselves, isn't it?" the Ravenclaw Linnea Desford asked; "Isn't it right for people to defend themselves?"

"Of course. And I also know that there is not going to be an instant end to all wars. Obviously people have this natural desire for power and that's not easily going to be eliminated. But if we just try to understand each other more we can at least make things a little better. That's why I want to ask you all to think carefully about if it's worth it. Mr. Dippet, what is so important that it justifies hurting other people? I don't believe that you are a person who is incapable of empathy. I don't believe that many people _are _incapable of it. Some people are, due to certain psychological traits or disorders. But those people are few and far-between. Unfortunately, I have no doubt some of them end up 'in charge' and initiate killings and wars."

"Do you think You-Know-Who was incapable of empathy?" Grogan Wood, a half blood Slytherin, asked hesitantly.

_No, I don't. Some tiny part of him was – _is _capable of it_. _Tommy understands how I feel. We understand each other. He's my friend. _Outwardly, Dinah sighed; "I don't know, Mr. Wood. We can only suspect. But I think... perhaps he was capable of it once. It would be unfair to assume he wasn't at some point. But he lost that part of himself, and then it was too late. I don't want it to be too late for anybody else in this world. That's why I've been trying to change the nature of this class."

She noticed that she was still standing in the middle of the classroom and then turned and marched up to the front of the room, snatching a book from one of her shelves and holding it out for them to see, feeling her voice raising again as she glared at the words across the front. "That's why I disagree with the way this class has been maintained in the past, and the textbooks it has used. Look at this title! _Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles_. The content of the book is mediocre at best but look at that language. It makes it sound like we're studying a bunch of animals!" she slammed the book down onto her desk.

"Um.. but Professor Samson, I thought you liked animals," the Ravenclaw Iris Borage said timidly.

"Of course I like animals. They deserve a certain kind of respect from us as well, but they _are_ a different species. Obviously we can treat them as such – we can use language like that. But Muggles are _people _– they are not a different species and they are most definitely not objects! They are not so different from us, as Charity Burbage once said. Don't get me wrong, your previous Muggle Studies professor had the right idea, but she didn't have the experience with Muggles to use anything outside of the horrible wizarding literature on the subject. That's why I've been giving you actual Muggle books and articles and videos, and speaking to you from experience. I've been trying to give you the _truth_. Muggle Studies in the past has been taught as more of a fun elective than anything else; as a way to learn about those strange and fascinating 'creatures' that are Muggles. But the reality of the situation is not like that. There are many things that Muggles do differently, yes, but there are also _so _many things that they do the same. That's what I've been _trying _to teach all of you this year. I can only hope I've succeeded at least somewhat," she sighed, out of breath from her speech, but encouraged as the students appeared thoughtful. Mr. Alder was certainly jotting a lot of things down.

"That's what struck me the most when I first came into the wizarding world," Gloria Wintringham said quietly; "Especially after I was sorted into Slytherin. I liked it here and I found magic wonderful and fascinating, but I was surprised at the way people talked about Muggles as though they were so mysterious and bizarre. And so often like they were stupid, too. I didn't understand how two worlds could know so little about each other. I mean, I know the wizarding world is hidden from Muggles, but the Muggle world isn't hidden from wizards, and yet wizards know _so _little about the reality of it. It didn't seem very professional to me, really, especially as wizards are in charge of maintaining the International Statute of Secrecy – for a group of people they barely even try to understand."

"Thank you, Miss Wintringham. That is really something that we all should ponder, isn't it? Yes, Mr. Ostensen?"

The Gryffindor boy lowered his hand; "You don't really want to hurt any of us, do you?" he asked quietly.

"No," Dinah whispered as relief washed over her. She had gotten through. Somehow, she had gotten through; "I've never wanted to hurt anyone in my life."

"Maybe I can ask my Mum to take back her letter to the Ministry," Arthur Brunt, her attacker from the beginning of class, mumbled, fiddling with his quill.

"If you would like," Dinah murmured, feeling a small smile form. "I can't force any of you to do anything. That was never my intention. I just wanted to help you understand. To try to make a difference. We've learned about a lot of wars as of late, but I ask you – were any of them really necessary? Once they were initiated, yes, the attacked parties had no choice but to defend themselves, but... should they have started in the first place? Is anything that important? Is anything worth killing and hurting others over? Is power at the expense of others' lives and others' happiness real power? Can you have real respect for yourself if you gain power in that way? Will it make you happy? I don't think so... I really don't."

The class was silent as they considered her question. Even Dippet seemed to be a little subdued, although what he was thinking of Dinah couldn't imagine. When no one spoke for awhile she just continued; "I believe that we can make a world where there is mutual respect, appreciation, and understanding between wizards and Muggles _without _merging the worlds. I'm sure we can. That's what I want to try to do. That's why I teach here, and why I want to stay."

There was some general nodding but still silence. Dinah sighed; "No homework this weekend. Just think about the things we've talked about, okay? Class dismissed."

* * *

"Well, Professor Snape," Alder said as they met Severus outside the Great Hall at lunch time after Dinah spent her break in a long interview with the reporter; "you should have seen the classes today. Professor Samson was on fire."

"On fire?" Severus raised a slight eyebrow and shot the flushing Dinah an amused glance. "I presume he means good things by that?"

"She made her points well and she made them strongly. I have a feeling she convinced more than a few students of her innocence today, as well as of the general evilness of war and of differentiating too much between Muggles and wizards."

"I see," Severus's smile became easy and he leaned over to plant a kiss on her cheek; "This is why I have said that no one on Earth is more qualified for the position than you."

"Severus," she blushed more deeply and snuggled against him for a brief moment. Most of the students were already in the hall eating lunch and so their stretch of hall was mostly empty save for a few, staring stragglers.

"May I quote you on that, Professor Snape? I have, of course, had other people praise her teaching skills but I like your choice of words," Alder said.

"You may quote me on that," he agreed, nodding. "You still want to meet with Mae Yates and Andrew Speasy, then? If so, we should find them and meet for lunch in a more private, reasonable location, such as Dinah's office or classroom."

"Fine, that's just as well," they headed into the Great Hall.

"I'm going to keep teaching," Dinah said to Severus as they looked around to try and find their two young friends.

"You mean permanently? I thought we already covered that," he shot her a confused glance.

She shook her head; "No, I mean now. I've had so much success today that I don't think there is any reason for me to continue to have Grubbly-Plank administer my classes during this ordeal. It's important that I keep up a continuous presence in front of the student body. It's making a difference. I can handle it."

"Of course you can," he replied, taking her hand. "I have no doubts about that. Grubbly-Plank was only a temporary fixture after all. You are as strong as I've always said you were."

She smiled; "I think I'm going to write a book too."

"What?" he turned his entire body to face her this time, surprised.

"Oh, well not right away, of course. I have to finish the Muggle-born surveys and maybe make some for half bloods and purebloods and survey a wider audience and do a lot more research. But I think that for the future there needs to be a better understanding of the Muggle world in our society and I think the Muggle Studies course needs a decent textbook, at least for the far future when I'm retired and whoever takes over can't access real Muggle materials like I can. Ideally, we'll hire someone who can but if not there just _needs _to be a reasonable backup. And it can't hurt for the rest of the wizarding world to learn a thing or two about the truth as well."

He cracked a smile even in the midst of the surrounding students; "Well, it's good to see that your normal ambition is back. I'm sure you will do all of those great things in due time, but there need not be a rush and I believe we should have lunch first. I assume you're hungry?"

She laughed; "Starving."

"Then it's just as well," he turned and pointed, "Because I've just located our young friends."

Dinah grinned and followed him over to greet Mae and Andrew along with Alder. Today was looking up. Severus had called those two his friends for the first time, her students were starting to understand her, the honest Mr. Alder was coming more and more over to her side of things, and as her boyfriend had said her normal ambition was most definitely coming back.

Yes, all in all things were _very _good today.


	145. Voldemort

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIVE

Voldemort

* * *

Mayhem or no mayhem, it did not stop the fact that the cheating Slytherin boys still had to have detention and Severus was administering it. Therefore, Dinah was alone in her rooms Friday night after getting the key back from Lucy along with her cat, who was now curled up on her chest as she lay on her bed, trying to relax after the events of the day. It would be nice if Severus was here, but at least the reporters were gone and she could get some peace and quiet for a change.

Her first years and seventh years classes that afternoon had run their course pretty much the same as her fourth years class, with the non-elective students being relatively split about her at the beginning but with more on her side by the end. She was feeling good about that, but she was still exhausted. A light rain was falling outside, and it was putting her to sleep along with Godric's purring, the warm ball of fluff breathing in rhythm with her, although a little faster as the tip of his soft tail occasionally twitched against her face.

Suddenly Dinah was wide awake. Glancing at her clock, she saw that it was about a half hour since she had laid down, but she wasn't sure if she had fallen asleep or not, the way the time had blurred together. She had been close at least, she knew that much, but she was not anymore. She was very, very awake.

And she had to go and see Tommy.

It was that same feeling she always got when she knew he'd be around, and there was no time to waste. She could not get Sarepta, which was probably just as well given the things that had been going on lately, the snake's still-shedding state, and the fact that it wasn't late enough to guarantee there wouldn't be an occasional student wandering the halls.

And she could not go and tell Severus that she was going to see the boy either, Dinah thought as she gently removed Godric from on top of her and stepped off the bed onto the floor. It would be all right, though. The man she loved finally trusted Tommy and she would tell him as soon as his detention was over that she had gone. She was probably safer with Tommy than she was with half of the reporters at any rate, especially that infernal Rita Skeeter.

The halls were still a bit light as she walked down them, passing an occasional student as she had expected. They mostly just looked at her and continued on their way, occasional expressions that she couldn't read crossing their faces, but less of the fear or interest from the previous days. That was a good sign. Luckily, there were no students hanging around that certain hallway when she got there, and she was able to enter Tommy's bathroom without being seen.

She greeted the boy in their usual stall, kneeling in front of him to meet his eyes as she had been able to do as an adult.

"Sarepta's not here?" he asked, smiling.

It was so nice, Dinah thought, that Tommy was smiling instead of sniffling now when she came in to see him. She had made so much progress with the boy as of late. She shook her head; "No. She's shedding her skin this week, and mating season starts next week as you know."

"She's popular," Tommy nodded; "That's good, because she's a pretty snake and I know all the boy snakes will like her. If she lays eggs this year I want to see the baby snakes."

"Me too," she smiled. If there was anything cuter than animals in general, it was baby animals. Of any variety. "Tommy, guess what? I told the school that I'm a parselmouth."

"Oh," he looked a little nervous as he stared at her, "You did? Like you said you were going to? Was it bad. You don't look unhappy..."

He was watching for her reaction, for how she felt. Yes, the young Voldemort had _definitely _been capable of feeling empathy on some small level before Tommy split off. "It was very hard at first, but I think I'm starting to get through to people now. No matter how bad it gets, I'm going to keep fighting. So people like us never have to suffer again."

"You're so nice, Dinah," he smiled. "I wish I could have done something like that. But the ladies at the orphanage hated me, and I don't think I was old enough to make a difference. The only things I could do were the bad things. But not anymore. Not after I met you."

Dinah smiled back at her young friend. Surely she was making a difference here too. "We all get second chances. Like me, like my friend, and like you, too. Things will get better."

"They've already gotten better. I think that-"

"You lied to me!" a new voice shouted, startling both Dinah and Tommy so that they jumped and their heads shot around to figure out where it had come from. Dinah gasped and covered her mouth when she saw her young ghost friend floating above the sinks, glaring at them in one of her full-blown tantrums. But Moaning Myrtle seemed even angrier this time... maybe even frightened, as her wide, accusing eyes landed not on Dinah but on Tommy.

"Myrtle?" the young boy said timidly, looking nervous and confused, but trying to be friendly; "Hi... I've never seen you here with Dinah before..."

_Yes_, Dinah couldn't' help but think. _That _is _strange. Up until now we've never all three been in the same bathroom together._

"I've listened to you from time to time, in the old pipes, when I could hear you," she said. "I never came because I thought I wasn't wanted and half the time if I tried I couldn't get in. And then I heard you both talking to that snake all the time in parseltongue. It was creepy! And then I heard people talking this week... about this bathroom... about things Dinah said about _certain _people crying in bathrooms because they didn't have any friends!"

"Oh no... Myrtle?" Dinah could barely speak her chest was so tight, was afraid she'd start hyperventilating again. This was bad. This was really bad. She had to stop her ghost friend. Had to stop her somehow.

"You told people about me, Dinah?" Tommy almost whimpered.

"No!" Dinah turned back to him; "I didn't! I was talking about... I was trying to help people understand us. Just-"

"You _lied _to me, Tommy!" Myrtle shouted, interrupting Dinah and pointing her finger at the poor boy, fear shining in her grey, ghostlike eyes. "You've been lying to me this whole time! You liar!"

"I... I don't know what you're talking about. When did I lie to you? What did I do?" Tommy shrunk back, terrified, his eyes filling with tears as he took on the image of when Dinah had first met him, scared and lonely; "I'm sorry..." he whispered. "I'm sorry if I did something wrong."

"Liar!" she shouted again; "How could you deceive me like that all these years? You said we were friends! I trusted you, but now I know the truth! You're him! Now I know why you look familiar! I knew you! You were older then, when I first came to school, but I _knew _you! You're You-Know-Who! You... You..."

"Myrtle, don't!" Dinah screamed, standing and stepping towards her friend in one last desperate attempt to stave this off.

"YOU KILLED ME!" Myrtle finished in a moaning scream.

"What?" It was Tommy, not Dinah, who was almost hyperventilating now, his image flickering in and out of focus as he tried to process this impossible information; "What? What do you mean? How could I kill you? I never killed anybody. Sometimes I... sometimes I hurt people, but I didn't mean to. I never killed anybody. I never did, I swear. Never. Never..."

"Tommy, no, it's okay, please stay. Don't listen to her," Dinah knelt down and grabbed his shoulders, making her voice as reassuring as she could in her desperation and hoping that he wouldn't disappear on her.

"You're the missing good thing from those books everyone's been trying to read!" Myrtle continued. "That's what Dinah thinks, but I know the truth! You've tricked us! You've brought about all these dark storms! You're You-Know-Who! You're You-Know-Who! And she's trying to _protect _you!"

"I _didn't _bring the storms, it was the evil thing!" Tommy whimpered, sniffling and swiping at his eyes as he backed further away from Dinah, his flickering not having stopped even as she grasped his shoulders and used all her will to try and force him to stay at least long enough for her to explain; "I didn't mean to. I'm not doing it on purpose. Please. Please."

"But you're You-Know-Who!"

"I don't know what you're _talking _about! I thought we were friends! Who's You-Know-Who? I don't understand," he whimpered again, cringing and backing away some more. "Please leave me alone. Please don't yell at me. What did I do? Who's You-Know-Who?"

"Voldemort! The most evil dark wizard that ever lived!

"What? But-but-but I don't understand!"

"Myrtle please stop! He doesn't understand what you're saying! Tommy's not Voldemort! They're different! It's not the same! Please!" Dinah entreated her friend.

"You know something about this Dinah?" Tommy whispered.

"No," she turned back to him, shocked at the look of betrayal that had crossed his face. "I mean, yes, but... I was just trying to help you," she finished in a whisper. "It doesn't matter who Voldemort is. You didn't kill or hurt anybody, Tommy."

"But the evil creature did and that's the same thing!" Myrtle screamed.

"Oh," Tommy murmured, and stopped flickering for a moment. His eyes lowered and he stared down at his feet; "I see. The evil thing. I always knew it kept doing bad things. I guess I can't escape it after all."

"Tommy, no," Dinah insisted, feeling worried but also encouraged now that he had solidified again for the time being. "You _can _escape it. That's what we've been trying to do. With Sarepta, with the parseltongue, with what I just told the world. I'm here to help you."

"I know you are," he still didn't meet her gaze, his tone fearful and a little hopeless; "But it's too late now." Dinah jumped as she heard thunder rumbling above her head.

"A dark storm! I knew it was you! Prefect Tom Riddle, future Lord Voldemort, and my murderer through that basilisk! Heir of Slytherin! You-Know-Who! Dark Lord! Voldemort!"

"Myrtle, _get out_!" Dinah hissed at the moaning ghost girl.

"He killed me!" she exclaimed.

"Tommy didn't kill you!"

"I must have," he murmured. "I always knew the evil thing was me. It was the bad things I used to do. I stopped doing them but it continued. I couldn't stop it. I still can't, not even now. It wants to get me," he whispered, and his tone made Dinah's blood run cold. A flash of lightning flickered in the room and Myrtle yelped, diving into a pipe and disappearing from sight. "It's coming," Tommy whispered again. "It won't be stopped. It's coming."

"Tommy, no, please," Dinah knelt in front of him, terrified to see him regress back to the boy from the beginning, to see all of their hard work over the past few week disappear in once instant and all because of her big mouth during that interview. The tactic she had used to help him, collecting Sarepta and speaking parseltongue, had now turned itself backwards and was hurting him. "We can stop it. _You _can stop it. You're not alone. You have meon your side now. We can stop the evil creature from doing any more bad things."

"No we can't," he whispered. "I can't. It doesn't matter anymore. It's over."

"Tommy, please don't say that!"

"It's over," he murmured again, his voice fading as he disappeared from sight.

"Tommy! _Tommy_!" Dinah screamed at the spot where he'd gone and then stood up, looking around, running through the bathroom and calling his name. There was no response but the thunder and lightning. And then, very slowly, as if she was watching one of those pictures that changed shape as you shifted it from side to side, the bathroom started to look different. Her surroundings crumbled, the fresh stalls turning old and dilapidated, the floor covering with rubble, the door – the door almost blocked off by rocks and pieces of fallen ceiling If she didn't get out soon she'd be stuck in here! Whatever power had allowed her to get in here was disappearing.

She bit her lip, holding back the pain or tears or exclamations that were all trying to build up inside of her, reminding herself that she had no choice. Tommy had disappeared and she wasn't going to be able to get him back right now, at least not with the bathroom changing on her like this. She ran to the door, opening it and escaping out into the hallway, slamming it behind her. The noise made her jump and she clutched her hands to her heart, catching her breath as she listened to the rain.

When she turned around to look at the door it looked just as it did when she came here with Dumbledore, Harry, and Severus that first time and with Severus alone on the night of the Slug Party before their youthening. It was old, ruined, and impregnable.

And Tommy was gone.

Dinah felt like a teenager again, freshly youthened and miserable, as she ran through the hallway back to her rooms, ignoring the rain pummeling outside and the occasional students who watched her as she passed. She slammed herself into her room, ran into her bedroom and threw herself into her bed so fast it sent Godric flying onto the floor, landing on his feet with an indignant meow.

She ignored her cat and buried her face in her pillow, crying, able to think of nothing but the fact that she had somehow ruined everything yet again.

* * *

The storm outside had gradually intensified and now she could tell it was definitely a dark one from the occasional flashes of Patronus light that passed her window. But she hadn't been able to focus on those things very much as she sat with her knees drawn up to her chest and a handkerchief clutched in her hands, unable to stop the tears for a long time now, because she didn't know what else to do. There was nothing. No hope. Tommy had regressed back to his initial state and vanished. He had given up.

All she could see were flashes of the flayed baby – the real one, empty and helpless on that hill from her dream. Once he reached that stage, not even she would be able to help him.

She heard her outer door click open and then close again, and footsteps. A flash of black through the tiny crack in her bedroom door, and then his voice; "Dinah?"

Dinah couldn't bring herself to respond to Severus.

"The dark storm intensified and I let those insolent troublemakers go free early. Have you-?" he stopped as he opened the door to her bedroom and saw her hurriedly wipe her eyes and force a sad smile. "What?" he murmured, his eyes worried. "What happened?"

"Tommy's disappeared," she whispered, biting her lip to keep it from trembling, trying to hold the sad smile on her face as long as she could.

"Disappeared?" the threw his outer robe onto a chair and hurried to the side of the bed, climbing in next to her and taking her hands; "What are you talking about? I was just about to ask if you'd gone to see him."

"Myrtle came in and told him who he was. Told him he was Voldemort. And then he gave up. Said the evil thing was going to get him no matter what and then disappeared," she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his shoulder, needing that warmth desperately. Because everything else was cold. Freezing, cold, and hopeless.

"Dinah," Severus's adult voice was the softest she'd ever heard it, and she felt his thick, warm fingers stroking her hair; it was soothing, the most soothed she'd felt since the whole horrible incident. "How did Myrtle know? How did it all happen?"

"The parseltongue things," Dinah murmured into his shoulder; "She heard people talking about what I said in the papers about Tommy and put it all together. It's all my fault. I tried to help him but I only ended up ruining everything in the end. What if he never comes back? What if it's all impossible now? I don't know what to do anymore. I'm just at a total loss now."

"What can I do?"

"Oh, Severus," she whimpered, clutching the handkerchief in her fingers and burying herself more deeply in his embrace; "Nothing. Just hold me. Don't let go."

"Never." He continued to hold her has she asked, and she wasn't really sure how much time past as she tried to get herself under control. At least she wasn't alone. At least she had Severus. That meant more to her than anything else right now. He was there for her, loving her, not judging or trying to do anything but just be there. She was so lucky to have him. She was the luckiest woman on Earth.

"Why me?" she whispered after awhile.

"Pardon?"

"Why me?" she repeated. "Why was I chosen for this? According to Mae's great-grandfather's notes it's completely arbitrary the person that manages to connect to the missing good. Some random person just makes that connection. But the sister could do nothing for the prince and I have been unable to do anything permanent for Tommy. Why would we connect to them if there's nothing that we can do? Is it hopeless?"

"I don't believe it's hopeless, Dinah," he tilted her chin up so that she could meet his eyes and brushed the tears from her cheeks, gazing down at her, his face both sad and thoughtful. "Maybe you will be able to find Tommy again. Don't say that it's over until you know for a fact that it is."

"Oh, I'm going to keep looking," she said softly, knowing that her words were true. "I won't stop trying no matter what, but why does it have to be so hard? Was it really just a random connection? Tommy and I have so much in common. The parselmouth and our isolation because of it, our loneliness during our Hogwarts years, and even our friendship with Myrtle. She was the 'one small child' – the only person that could see him for years in my prophecy, even though she's the one that frightened him off today. If it's just a random connection why was it all prophesized?"

"Prophecies are mysterious magic. No one completely understands them. The most I can say is that your connection to him was probably already made when the prophecy came about. You just couldn't meet him yet for one reason or another."

"Maybe," she sighed, unable to look away. His eyes were still so soothing as they stared into hers, his face calm and understanding. He was a rock for her to hold on to. She wished she could thank him for that, but for a moment she couldn't find the words. Instead, she thought back to her young friend; "The dark storm started when Myrtle told Tommy about Voldemort. I think the flayed baby knows that it can somehow get closer now. The Aurors will still let us know if they see it. Maybe if I can find the flayed baby I can find Tommy. Maybe I can try to help him again."

"Yes," he agreed with a slight nod, "Maybe you can."

She sighed, relieved, and continued to watch his dark brown, nearly-black eyes. He watched her for a long time, his gaze soft as he lifted his fingers to rest against her cheek, letting them drift down to her chin, and back up again to her forehead with a gentle, comforting touch. A sort of quiet realization passed over his eyes as he smoothed her bangs from over hers; "You are so different from her."

"From Lily?" She was pretty sure that's what he meant.

"Yes. Can I tell you something? If you don't mind me making more comparisons?"

She shook her head, taking his hands; "Of course I don't mind. I trust your love now."

"Mm," he smiled a little, tightening his hands' grip on hers; "Her eyes were always so strong and so defiant. Bright green and sparkling. They were the last thing I wanted to see and they were always on my mind, for over thirty years. Constantly. And yet now I prefer yours. They're different from hers, your grey ones," he murmured, releasing one of her hands and brushing his thumb along her temple, near her eyes, and she couldn't wrench her gaze from is. "Just as kind and just as beautiful, but gentler. Understanding. They remind me a little of the lake... deeper like that. _More _beautiful. Dinah, I love you. I love you more than Lily and I love you more than anything. You know that."

"I know," her throat closed a little at his words.

He sighed, "Her eyes were the eyes of a Gryffindor. They have such a definite sense of right and wrong. It's all about being valiant and noble. Evil is evil and good is good, and they can see no in-betweens. Yours are the eyes of a Hufflepuff. You try to find good even in people who are evil. That is not always possible and sometimes it may be foolish, but in the case of The Dark Lord you were right. You connected to Tommy and never wavered in your trust of him for even a moment. Even now, you still want to fight for him. In many ways, that is braver than the bravery of Gryffindors."

"Severus..."

"I don't care what the Sorting Hat says. He put you in Gryffindor because of simple bias. Of course you may have some traits of that house, as apparently I do as well. You _are _strong, and brave, and courageous in many admirable ways. As you have said, we all overlap somewhat. But I do not believe for a moment that you were that hard of a decision to make. That it was impossible to choose between the two houses. You are a Hufflepuff, Dinah, no question about it."

"I had always sort of thought so, too," she admitted, squeezing the hand that was still holding hers and smiling a little; "Isn't it funny? That our two main houses are the complete opposite of each other but our 'second houses' if you will are one and the same?"

He chuckled; "Maybe. But do not mention my 'second house' to me tomorrow because I shall have to get irritated about it again. I'm only letting it slide now because of the seriousness of our conversation."

Dinah had to laugh; "Of course. I understand."

"Of course you do. You understand so much. Yes, Lily was a wonderful person, don't get me wrong. She_ did_ try to very hard to see the good in people, but once they crossed a certain line she couldn't do it anymore. That's what happened with me. I admitted that you were quite different from her long ago, but that part – that final difference - took me a long time to accept. That you would _not _abandon me like she had. That you could keep on seeing the good in others no matter what horrible things they had done in their past. That you had infinite chances to give. I wish I had seen it sooner – wish I had realized how I felt for you sooner, and hurt you less."

She shook her head, sliding her hands up his arms and leaning in closer to him, "That's all over with now."

"I know. But I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough for _not _being Lily. For being able to show me that what I sought was elsewhere. Here with you. You were able to help me and you can and _will _do the same thing with Tommy. Because you are a Hufflepuff and you can see goodness and kindness in others when no other person can anymore. If anyone can fight for Tommy it is you, and _that _is why you made that connection."

"Okay," she nodded, a little shakily; "I will. I'll keep fighting for him. I promise."

"I have no doubt about that, Dinah. All I have to do is look at you and I know that you'll never give up on anyone. Idealistic, yes, but I cannot reasonably say it's foolish anymore. Not when you saved me this year and after all the help you've already given to Tommy. Thank you for coming to Hogwarts and giving me the opportunity to be with you. With a person who would not judge me and whom I would also not judge. I need to thank you for that. For making this year the happiest of my life."

"Me too! I want to thank you, too! This whole year... nothing would have been right without you," she felt her eyes welling up with tears and her voice shook as she tried to get the words out; "Just awhile ago, when you came in and listened to me, I felt so much better. Thank you... thank you for being... you, and for just... just..."

"Shh," he murmured, cutting her off with a long, gentle kiss. "I know. I understand. Everything is going to be all right."

"Severus," she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him again as they fell back onto the bed together, reminded again that this wasn't a dream. That they were here, like this, together and happy. And she wasn't alone. She needed him and he wasn't going anywhere. He was going to stay. No matter what happened with her prophecy and with Tommy she would always – _always _– have Severus.


	146. Presents

A/N: Hi everybody! So just letting you all know there are going to be a few filler chapters before all the "shit hits the fan", so to speak :D – but trust me, the Tommy thing will be explored further soon. The thing about this being a co-story is that there is consequently a larger amount of material, lengthening the story somewhat. My new full story estimate is 175 chapters, give or take. Then there is still the bonus and Severus's POV, and CommanderValeria and myself still have a few other shorts planned, so you guys are going to be having fun with Dinah and Severus for awhile! I just can't seem to put them away; I just love them so much! LOL. Granted, once this story is complete I'll probably slow down somewhat.

Incidentally, this whole 'one-word chapter title' thing I've got going is turning out to be a lot harder than I expected! I'm running out of wooooooords! T_T LOL – it seemed simple enough at the beginning. Arrival, Debate, Resistance, Friendship, Enigma… but yeah somewhere 146 chapters down the line the website keeps telling me I can't give a chapter a name because I've used that name already, and I'm like… "Oh. Where did I use it again?" Lol.

Okay, I shall now finish this unnecessarily long A/N and move on to the story!

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CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIX

Presents

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"Dinah, here," Severus walked over from the table in the dungeons on Saturday morning to hand her the issue of the _Daily Prophet _he had just been perusing. "Alder's latest article is quite flattering. He mentions the progress your presence has made with the Muggle-born Slytherins and your survey and the content of your lectures yesterday. You should read it. It paints quite a positive image of you."

"Thanks," she managed a weak smile as she took the newspaper from him, but her heart just wasn't into reading. Severus's comfort yesterday had helped, but she was still really worried about the Tommy situation, especially as the dark storm had rather abruptly stopped this morning and the weather was bright and sunny again. It was very unnerving.

He sighed; "Please be more cheerful. It _is _your birthday, after all. And the situation with Tommy will come clear soon."

"I know. Sorry. I just keep thinking about it." She sighed and offered him a light chuckle; "Hey, at least I'm eating."

"There is that," he half-smiled and settled on the couch next to her, sliding an arm around her waist as she leaned into him.

"You know," she murmured with a smile, her head comfortable on his shoulder as her fingers moved to toy with the buttons of his frock coat, "this sort of reminds me of the early days of our relationship. Remember how we'd cuddle for hours on the couch like this reading about ghosts or potion ingredients? It was the most you'd ever do for such a long time. But I really liked it."

"Yes," he smiled, stroking her shoulder, "I'll admit that at the time the idea of even _touching _a woman who was not Lily was a horrifying prospect. Especially when I realized that I enjoyed it."

She laughed, "I had kind of guessed you did. Even if you _were _very shy about it."

He smiled, tightening his arms' grip around her waist. "Now I never want to let you go."

Dinah smiled and felt her face flush, lifting her head and resting her hand on his neck as she met his kiss.

The kiss was brief. Briefer than she would have liked it to be, but his smile when he released her lips was promising. "That said, I believe I should probably give you your birthday gifts."

"Oh. Right," she laughed, having almost forgotten about those.

He released her waist and leaned away from her so he could remove his wand from his pocket and summon a large gift box into his hands, then hand it to her, "Here. The infernal shopkeeper insisted on wrapping it up like that. Kept me in there forever. Thankfully, I used another facial recognition charm," he scowled a little.

"Oh no," she chuckled, teasing, "I wonder what the fact that you needed one of those even as an adult means."

"Yes, well," Severus cleared his throat and looked away, a slight flush creeping into his cheeks, "I suppose a fair warning is in order. I did go with Lucy's final suggestion. Of all the things she mentioned around Valentine's Day, this is the _one _thing that I did _not _purchase, for reasons that should be come obvious when you open it."

Dinah smiled, thinking that she had some idea where this was going as she unwrapped the gift. Sure enough, tucked inside the ample folds of tissue paper was a beautiful piece of lacy, dark purple lingerie. "Severus, it's beautiful."

"It will be when you're wearing it," he muttered, still not looking at her.

"Oh," she flushed, squeezing her arms around his waist and cuddling close. "Thank you."

"Color is always impossible to decide because they almost all have a 'house implication'," he grumbled, his arms wandering around to hug her. "So you get purple again. Sorry if that's a problem."

She laughed, "It's no problem. I like purple. This way I can wear it underneath what you got me last time as a sort of 'surprise'."

"Well, that might be enjoyable," Severus chuckled, drawing back from the embrace enough to look at her, "However, I wasn't sure that was quite enough so I did get you one more thing. Just _one_ more!" he added when she raised an eyebrow at him.

"I know, I'm just messing with you," she grinned.

"As usual," he muttered, shoving a smaller, less extravagantly-wrapped box into her hands. "Besides, I gave you multiple gifts at Christmas and there was nothing wrong with that. I did not 'go overboard'."

"That's true," she smiled, tracing the edge of the box with her fingers, wondering what could be inside. "You gave me that gift card and then the snake necklace to apologize for-"

"Walking out on you," he finished softly, looking away from her. "I did that to you constantly, though. The apology didn't stop it."

"We technically only stopped twice," she placed a gentle hand on his arm. "And the second time you stayed. You didn't leave."

"Only because you begged me not to. And there _was_ a third time. The first time. That time I made _you _walk out on _me_. Before the Christmas holidays. Right here," he patted the arm of the couch next to him to indicate.

"Oh, right. But I didn't mind. You needed to be alone at that time and do whatever it was you needed to do. I respected that. I didn't mind leaving."

"I should have let you stay," he still wasn't looking at her. "You would have helped."

"Would you have been able to accept my help? Back then?"

Severus sighed and shook his head; "No. Probably not. I guess that's why I asked you to leave," he turned to look at her. "I wish I could have been intelligent enough to have accepted it. To have realized that I needed it. But I suppose that's in the past now. Well, never mind then. Go ahead and open your gift. You're going to have too much jewelry, just a warning. Then again, you had quite a bit in that box of yours already, I noticed when I perused your room for gift ideas that one day."

"You little snoop," she giggled, remembering the young Severus of that day with fondness as she carefully unwrapped the box in her hands. "I also love how you keep telling me what I'm getting before I finish unwrapping things."

"Yes, well, I said I could handle this _better _than I did at Valentine's Day, not that I could handle it perfectly. Take what you get."

"I love what I have," she murmured, kissing his cheek and making him blush again. She lifted the lid from the box to see a silver chain with a tiny pendant on it that had an emerald on one side and a topaz on the other. "It's lovely."

"The store I was in was involved in some kind of promotional gimmick with those stupid things," he explained, growling a little. "They had all of the house colors – house colors is the common theme everywhere it seems - and the idea was to pick the colors of the two houses of – well, they're magnetic, you see?' he leaned over and pulled the jewels apart before letting their silver backs snap back together. "My initial thought was that it was even _more _appropriate for us – well the Hufflepuff-Slytherin part anyway – because, well, 'opposites attract' or something –oh, I don't know, never mind. I'm sure it was a dumb idea, anyway. Blame the shop for forcing the idea upon everyone who walked inside," he waved it off and turned to glare out at the room.

Dinah smiled down at the necklace, her vision blurring just a little. To think that he put so much thought into this. She turned to thank him again and head to laugh at the expression on his face, as if the room had done something incorrigible to him. Sitting there in just his frock coat minus the outer robes with his legs crossed away from her and his arms folded, he looked so handsome it was almost regal. She found herself flushing as she laughed.

"You're laughing. It _was _a dumb idea, then," he turned to her.

"No, _no_," she giggled, covering her mouth to stop herself, "I'm laughing at how embarrassed you are about the whole thing. You don't need to be. This was very sweet and I love it."

"Ah... really?" his lips twitched towards a smile.

"Of course. Thank you," she lifted a finger to stroke his cheek. "But spending the day with you is the best gift of all."

"Happy Birthday, Dinah."

"Thanks," she flushed, smiling and leaning towards him. "I love you," she kissed him, her hands wandering to undo a few of the buttons near his neck.

He reached a hand up to stop her and leaned back from the kiss; "Dinah, wait."

"Hm?" she wondered, not worried as she was sure she'd be able to get back to this later. It looked like something was on his mind.

Severus sighed, his pupils shifting to the side so he wasn't quite meeting her gaze; "Does it... bother you that I'm not as affectionate in public?"

She sighed and sat back in the couch, shaking her head. "I'm going to kill Lucy." She had thought that after her friend's comment Friday morning about the kiss he had given her that maybe he had put that worry behind him, but obviously he had not. "Severus, that doesn't bother me at all."

"You're certain? You don't... wish that I would be more blatantly affectionate in front of others? That I would behave more like Black does?"

Dinah couldn't help the shocked, amused smile that spread across her face as she looked into her boyfriend's worried gaze; "Severus Snape, you are utterly infernal."

"Oh. Am I?" he smirked a little at her as amusement made its way into his eyes.

"Yes, you are," she slid her arms around his waist and leaned in to him so their gazes met; "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Um... I suppose so."

"Don't ever listen to Lucy."

"Ever?" his lips twitched towards a smile again; "In that case, should I take back your lingerie?"

"Oh, you know what I mean," she laughed.

"Yes, I just... wanted to make sure you understand," he murmured, taking her face into his hands, his gaze half amused and half concerned, "As I said I am not ashamed of loving you. I promise you that much. I don't mind anyone knowing we're in a relationship any longer and I do not, as Lucy suggested, think showing affection to you makes me appear _weak_. That is not what I meant by 'soft'. If love does anything it makes you stronger as the headmaster has always said. I only meant... if I appear too happy or smile too much in front of the students then I will be less intimidating to them. I have based my teaching style on being intimidating. If they think that I am too 'nice' then I lose that. But if it's important to you or if you would rather I ignore that then I will. You are more important than the impression I make on the students, so if you want me to-"

"Shh," she leaned in, kissing him; "That's enough. I don't want any of that. I want you to be _you_."

"So, you're... _unhappy _that I kissed you in front of the students on Thursday?" his brow furrowed as he tried much too hard to make sense of all of this.

"Of course not. That was _you_. You were comfortable with it and so it was fine. I want you to do whatever makes you comfortable and somehow I don't see that slobbering all over me in public as Sirius does with Lucy is ever something that would make you comfortable. I honestly don't think that would make me very comfortable either. Because it's just not you."

He smiled; "Yes. I don't think that going quite as far as that is something I would ever want to do. I would like something to belong to just the two of us. Something _besides _sex."

"I know," she slid her hands into his; "Me too."

"But the way your friend sounded so certain that-"

"Severus, listen to me. Lucy's great, don't get me wrong... but she doesn't know what she's talking about." He laughed and Dinah had to smile before continuing; "She knows what's right for her, but not what's right for us. She was only trying to help on Thursday by saying what she said. I'm not sure why it is but she's always worried that I'm not as satisfied as she is in some way. Maybe it's because our relationship started off progressing more slowly than theirs did, but that was a long time ago now. But she completely missed my tone of voice when I made that comment about your public displays of affection phobia. I don't know why she didn't notice that I was smiling and amused and perfectly happy when I said it, but she didn't."

"Mm. I did notice that. Everything felt normal until she spoke up."

"Exactly," she lifted their hands in front of them and let her fingers slide through his, meeting his eyes with a comfortable smile; "The reason that we... 'match' so well is that we accept each other for _exactly who we are_. I don't want Sirius Black. I want Severus Snape." For some reason her comment made him laugh a little and shake his head; "What?"

"I'm sorry," he looked quite happy and yet also a little baffled; "It's just that very early in my years at Hogwarts I came to the conclusion that no woman in the world would ever say those words."

"Well, I'm saying them," she insisted, feeling a little spark of conviction igniting in her chest.

"I know," he said softly, his eyes half closing as he leaned over and kissed her, pressing his forehead to hers; "Sometimes I can barely believe it but I do know that it's true. You are still my miracle."

"Oh, Severus," she bit her lip as her eyes welled with tears. He had called her that once before and it had been just as overwhelming. "You see then? We don't need to worry about anybody's assessments of our relationship besides ours. Remember your epiphany on that day?" she offered him a small smile as she recalled it; "We would have a party, just the two of us. Kind of like we're doing right now, actually," he smiled and she continued, trying to make herself sound like she had on that day, when they were children; "We would eat Aero Mint and you'd make snarky comments at me."

His eyes lit up as he listened to her and he grabbed her face to kiss her again, his fingers sliding into her hair and pulling her closer ; "Yes," he exclaimed when he broke it, his smile reminding her of the young Severus on that day, his face still pressed up against hers; "You're right. That was the happiest day of my life at the time, of course surpassed by other, even happier days since then but... yes, you're right. That was everything."

"Everything," she whispered, nuzzling his forehead; "Just as you said."

"That _is _why we're perfect for each other. Why I've been waiting for _you _my whole life. Why I never could have built anything real with Lily. I hadn't wanted her to stay as she was. I had in some ways, but I had also always wished she would be a Slytherin, that she would come to worship me for my Death Eater ways. I wanted to change her just as she wanted to change me. But I don't want that with you. I don't need you to be a Slytherin or even for you to understand everything about me, as long as you just accept it, and you do. You don't want me to change any more than I want you to change."

"Mm," she murmured, her voice gone for a tiny moment, "We may not understand everything about each other and we may get annoyed with each other from time to time, but we love that about each other too. I like yelling at you for your stupid evil grading and the way you overwork your students, and you love calling me a ridiculous idealist and getting annoyed about the fact that I use those 'infernal Muggle objects' all of the time."

"I do. Yes, I do enjoy all of that," he whispered, letting his forehead rest on her shoulder, his hair falling forward to cover and frame his face as his arms wound their way around her waist. "Thank you, Dinah. For accepting me as I am. For wanting me instead of Black."

"Severus," she whispered, pressing her lips to his hair as her fingers stroked the dark tendrils. It was sweet how he could be so vulnerable sometimes like this, reminding her a bit of the young Severus and also of how much he needed her. He needed her just as much as she needed him, and she was glad she had been able to be the one to show him that he wasn't alone in the world; "How could I ever want that man instead of you?"

"I can't imagine," his tone was amused; "You did hit him, after all."

She laughed; "I did, didn't I?"

"Just don't let the newspapers find out about your one random act of violence."

Dinah couldn't help but laugh again, hugging him to her, "I won't. I promise. That would be bad, wouldn't it?"

"Undoubtedly," he chuckled, lifting his head to meet her eyes and stroking her cheek; "I am happy, Dinah," he murmured, kissing her as his other hand wandered from her waist to pull her face closer to him, his tongue gently searching in her mouth and his words making her heart swell with love for him, "I have never been this happy in my life. I never imagined I couldbe this happy."

"Same here," she murmured, nuzzling her nose and forehead to his. "You're my miracle too, you know."

He sighed, closing his eyes as slight smile played on his lips; "I don't know what I would ever do without you. This birthday of yours... I wanted to make it special. To make up for how horrible mine was," he winced and looked away at his words.

"No, no," she murmured, her fingers still tangled in his hair as she turned his face back to hers and brushed her lips against his; "You don't have to worry about anything like that. You've just got to let that day go, sweetheart. It wasn't so bad as all that anyway. We realized something on that day. We realized that we needed each other. Maybe not quite how much we did, but we did realize it. And you stayed. We both stayed and worked through it. It's because we did that that we can be here now."

Severus nodded, sighing again and looking back into her eyes, managing a smile as he kissed her once more; "I suppose you're right."

"Of course I am. Now," she whispered against his ear; "Shall I go and put on my present?"

"Mmm, perhaps that's a good idea," he took her face and kissed her yet again, letting his lips trail to her ear and then letting go to nuzzle her neck. "Which present?" he teased.

She laughed; "Well, I could wear both. I could wear the necklace on its own too, I guess that would be just as kinky."

Severus smiled and stood from the couch, taking her hand to help her up and locking his arms about her waist again when they were both standing. "You should go quickly. I'd like you to be able to put it on before I attack you."

"We are impatient, aren't we?" she murmured, pressing her lips to his neck. Then she stepped back and grabbed both boxes from the couch; "I'll be quick. I promise. I'll let you know when I have it on," she kissed him and hurried into the bedroom, throwing off her robes and dressing in the lingerie, then grinning and slipping the necklace on for good measure. If he were to take the lingerie off first and the necklace stayed on... "Come in," she said softly, looking forward to having the best birthday of her life.

The door opened in an instant and Severus's dark eyes flickered with light when he saw her, taking slow steps into the room before stepping in front of her, pulling her to him. "You are beautiful," he murmured, his smile gentle as he lowered his lips to the space between and just above her breasts. While he kissed her she continued from where she had left off long ago, unbuttoning his frock coat the rest of the way and pushing it from his shoulders, leaving the black shirt and white undershirt still on.

He lifted his head from her chest and reached to untie her hair, his gaze gentle as he pressed his smiling lips to her ear; "I love you. Happy Birthday."

"Love you, too," she whispered back.

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**A/N: More in the bonus chapter!**


	147. Celebration

A/N: This is set in real-time for the books, so it's 1999, explaining why a DVD player is such a new, exciting thing. Ahh, those were the days *nostalgia*.

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CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FORTY-SEVEN

Celebration

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"What do you think? Does the snake bracelet and the garnet earrings match the topaz-emerald necklace?" Dinah demanded, walking out of her bedroom to stand in front of Severus who was sitting on the couch using his wand to play-fight with Godric.

"Um... as little experience as I have with these things, I would have to say no," Severus admitted, raising an eyebrow at her mismatched ensemble.

"Good," she smoothed her Muggle dress, satisfied, and plopped down onto the couch next to him; "I hope they get here soon with that cake. I'm hungry."

"I shall never understand you," he pressed his lips to her hair.

"Mmhm. And you like it that way."

"Perhaps," he chuckled. "Why are you purposefully wearing mismatched clothing?"

"Just changing things up a bit. Messing around with the normal system. Besides, I want to wear everything you've given me and this pretty much covers it all. The blue and green dress was a nice touch, wasn't it? Now I'm dressed for all houses."

"Whatever you say. Go away, Cat, I'm done with you," he shoved Godric away, but Dinah's cat took the opportunity to press his ears back against his head and pounce on Severus's arm, digging his teeth into the many-layered, impermeable sleeve.

"Guess he's not done with you yet, huh?" Dinah teased, as Severus tried to shake off the cat, smirking at him as they continued with their little game, Godric only clenching down harder and kicking his back legs against Severus's arm while the two growled at each other. She let them continue with that as she stood to answer the knock on the door, opening it to reveal Lucy and Sirius, the former holding a covered dish which probably held the cake. "Hi."

"Hello," Severus stopped growling to turn and nod at their two guests, Godric still latched onto his arm, looking like he wanted to become a permanent fixture.

"Hi," Lucy grinned, her gaze shifting briefly to Godric and Severus's stalemate as she suppressed a laugh. She held up the dish; "I brought cake!"

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Don't get too excited. I still say no one's going to want to eat it."

Dinah wondered what he was talking about. Especially when Lucy smacked him for his comment. "Bring it in and put it on the table. We'll have it soon," she smiled. "I'm always up for cake."

"And any other food," Severus stood and Godric finally let go as he walked over to join their group which gathered by the dining room table, but the cat still followed at his heels, his tail twitching as he eyed the motion of Severus's long robes.

"Ignore him," Lucy said, "He thinks my cake's ugly. Told me it looked like it has spattergroit. Anyway, happy birthday!" Lucy held out a fancy bit of stationery parchment with some writing on it.

"Thanks," Dinah smiled and took it, wondering if it was some kind of a card or something. Instead, it promised a shopping day together to buy an 'outfit' at a popular Diagon Alley store that sold women's clothing and lingerie. She laughed, thinking about yesterday's gift and wondering what type of 'outfit' Lucy was referring to. She did remember them mentioning a lingerie shopping day at some point awhile back; "Thank you, Lucy. We'll have to pick a good date to go down there." She handed the parchment to Severus.

As soon as he saw the store name he scowled and winced a little before handing it back; "Just don't let them gift-wrap your purchase. You'll never get out if you do."

Dinah smiled. That must have been the store he went to in order to buy her stuff both times.

Lucy shot him a confused frown, "I wouldn't let them wrap something I'm buying for myself and Dinah will be standing right there so it'd be silly to have them wrap something for her."

Sirius took the cake from Lucy and sat it on the table. "How did yesterday go? No more parselmouth issues?"

"No reporters and I didn't leave the dungeons all day, so no issues yesterday," she smiled. "I suppose you've both seen Alder's latest article?"

"Yes," Lucy said, hovering in the middle of the room, "It was really positive. I'm glad he seems to be on our side. At the very least he's not biased against you, anyway. Oh," she bent slightly, her eyes floating down to Dinah's neck; "is that a new necklace? It's pretty."

"Thanks," Dinah smiled and fingered the two-sided emerald-topaz pendant; "It's from Severus," she leaned her head on his shoulder as he smiled and brushed his lips against her forehead; "See? It's an 'opposites attract necklace'. I guess one of the stores in Diagon Alley was doing a promotional thing with house colors." She snapped the jewels apart and then back together.

"That's so neat!" Lucy exclaimed; "I'm kind of jealous."

"Well, don't look at me," Sirius said, watching his fiancée with a wary eye. "I'm not going into that store just so you can get a necklace like Dinah's. I like the lingerie on you but I'm not going in that store with all those women to pick out your underwear."

"But Severus did it," she pointed out.

"I used a face recognition charm," Severus said through clenched teeth, looking so irritated that they'd figured him out that Dinah couldn't help but laugh.

"See," Lucy grinned at Sirius, "you could do that too." She turned and caught sight of the vase on the counter that held the flowers Dinah had received from her parents on Saturday afternoon. "Flowers too! Severus you did well. All I got for my birthday was….wait a minute," she said, turning to Sirius as something dawned on her. "If you refuse to go into a lingerie store _how _exactly did you acquire my birthday present?"

"Tonks," Sirius mumbled, his face reddening.

Dinah smiled; "Perhaps a face recognition charm would be easier? And no, Severus didn't get me those. Those are from my Mum and Dad. They sent me that along with a DVD player! It's the latest thing in Muggle technology; you'll just _have _to see it!" It was convenient that now Rowena knew to deliver her mail to Severus's rooms half the time, so although she hadn't left the dungeons she had received her gift on time, and had gotten the chance to call her parents and thank them for it yesterday evening.

"I saw it," Severus grumbled although she had not been talking to him. "It looks nicest in its unopened box."

"Killjoy," Dinah chuckled.

Lucy's eyes lit up and she looked ready to start jumping up and down, "Can we see it? What does it do? Is it like one of those game things?"

Sirius sighed, but was smiling at her antics, "Dinah, don't you know better than to tell her things like that?"

"Sorry," she flushed, laughing; "I should have known after we spent so many hours playing with the Nintendo 64 that one time. Maybe we can look at it later. It's similar to a VCR but with more advanced technology... I have two films for it right now," she grinned.

"I like films," Lucy said before frowning, "I wasn't very good at that Nine Ten Do thing though. I kept dying and Dinah beat me mercilessly."

"I've had years of practice," Dinah couldn't help but be a little smug although she knew Lucy had no experience whatsoever. Still, being a video game expert had always been fun. "Don't worry, I even beat my cousin Larry mercilessly. A fact he has always hated by the way, since as a male he's supposed to be better at it."

Severus rolled his eyes; "It's bad enough that you indulge in Muggle things but must you also indulge in childish Muggle things like video games and those bizarre animated shows and books? And if you dare suggest that we watch a film tonight-"

"Great idea!" she clapped him on the back as he glared at her, probably knowing full well that she had already had the idea and was only messing around with him by pretending she had just come up with it upon his suggestion. "And this time you're going to stay. Don't worry, you can read or something while we watch, but you aren't leaving the room."

"It is too distracting to read with that infernal useless racket in the background," he snarled.

Lucy bounced over and grabbed Sirius's hand, "You don't mind watching a film, do you? We can cuddle. That is," she turned a worried look to Dinah and Severus, "unless that's going to bother you. It's sort of a security blanket type thing for me. The touching…"

"I dealt with it in Grimmauld Place during the Order days and I can deal with it now," Severus muttered, sighing and rubbing his forehead. "As long as you remain clothed."

Dinah grinned, wondering if Lucy was still worried about that conversation from before, because after yesterday she and Severus were completely past that; "Yeah, no repeats of the 'just come right in' incident. Which I am _never_ going to do again by the way, even if you tell me to."

Lucy blushed, causing Sirius to smile and plant a kiss on her cheek. Straightening up, he met Severus's gaze; "I promise our robes will remain on. However I don't recall there being any incidents where you walked in on us not clothed in the Order days. Hands might have been inside robes, but the robes were definitely on." He then turned to Dinah, "I don't blame you. It was a rather deflating moment for me as well. If it makes you feel more at ease I make sure the door is locked now, so even if you were to 'just come in' you'd have to knock."

"Always good to know," she smiled while Severus grumbled incoherencies next to her; "Shall we have cake then?"

"You can," Sirius said, "I don't think I can stomach it."

Lucy turned to him, her expression disgruntled, "I already told you, you have to eat it it's the rule!"

"Oh, no. You said it was a rule for boyfriends. I'm not your boyfriend," he insisted, lifting up her left hand and pointing out her engagement ring.

"Yeah, well it goes double for fiancés," she huffed at him, and then spun around to face Dinah, her expression entreating; "It's really fine. I promise."

Severus was smirking at the whole conversation and Dinah decided that she really had to see this thing in order to determine what all the fuss was about. She rested her hand on the dish's cover; "May I?"

"Yes, of course," Lucy assured her, "I made it for you after all. I did try writing 'Happy Birthday Dinah' on it but I'm afraid that didn't come out well at all. Then again I probably shouldn't have tried to do that part without magic, but I thought you'd really like it if I did and…well…the writing doesn't look very good."

"Oh, don't worry about the writing. It can be hard to write with frosting. That's no big deal," she smiled and withdrew the cover, and had to control her expression when she saw what lay underneath. Everybody was silent as she stared at what amounted to a gigantic lump sitting on the serving dish. It looked like the cake had deflated on one side, like an old balloon. A bright red one, to boot. The frosting that had been used to attempt to glue together the crumbled cake was thick and messy, and yellow and green frosting had been used to write the letters, but all Dinah could make out was something that looked like 'hpyyy dnh". It seemed her friend had attempted to alternate the yellow and green frosting with each letter.

"_That _is a cake?" Severus pointed, raising an eyebrow at the mangled dessert.

"Yes, it is," Lucy replied, nose in the air, "I worked all day on it. Trying to get it to look right. I know it doesn't look like much, but it should taste just fine. I really really tried to get it to look right but the colors came out all wrong then half the cake fell off and I didn't have time to make a new one…"

Dinah chuckled as she eyed the cake, unable to stop at least that little laugh from escaping, but she hoped it sounded as good-natured as she had intended it to. "Well, who cares what it looks like? All the ingredients are still edible, right? Let's dig in then!" She summoned four plates and four forks and four glasses of milk over to the table along with a cake server.

"Perhaps two of each of those things would be sufficient," Severus said, smirking at the cake with a look that said he was no more desirous of eating it than Sirius was.

"Would it please the both of you if I ate some first so you know it's not poisonous?" Lucy asked, glaring at the men.

"That's all right," Sirius said, wrapping his arms around her from the side, "I'll eat some. I watched you make it so I know nothing in it should kill me. Though I'm still worried about that 'soul' you said you put into it."

"Hm?" Dinah asked, cutting into the cake. It seemed moist and pliant enough. Perhaps it would be tasty.

Lucy sighed, taking a seat at the table, "I said I put my heart and soul into this cake earlier when Sirius was teasing me before we left. He then told me he hoped I didn't because then we'd be eating my Horcrux."

"Oh," Dinah said, sitting back in a chair as she served a piece of cake onto a plate. She smiled, but her thoughts suddenly went back to Tommy and she was afraid the smile was probably a sad one; "I don't really think that's how it works."

"Dinah?" She felt Severus's hand on her shoulder.

"Mm," she turned a weak, reassuring smile to him, placing her hand over his; "I'm all right."

"Is something wrong? Is it the cake? I followed the instructions!"

She had to laugh at her friend's panic; "No, Lucy. Relax. I haven't taken a bite of the cake yet, if you'd noticed," she smiled and stood, starting to serve the remaining three pieces.

"Oh, sorry," Lucy said, sheepishly.

"Here," she slid plates over to each of their seats as the men reluctantly settled at the table. "Something happened with Tommy on Friday, that's all. It's been bothering me, because it... well, it might be..." she shook her head as she felt a lump rising in her throat and waved them off. "Never mind. I'll figure it out. Do you want to take a bite first or should I, Lucy?"

Her friend's head tilted to the side, considering. She looked a little worried, but didn't push the matter. "It's up to you. After all, you're the birthday girl."

Dinah had to laugh, nodding down at the blob of cake on her plate. Maybe she'd be able to tell them the details later, when she was more comfortable that she could do so stably. Surely this crazy cake situation, however it turned out, would cheer her up; "Okay, we'll see what I've got myself into here. She stabbed it with her fork, breaking off a particularly moist looking piece of the heavily-frosted white cake, and brought to her mouth to take a bite.

The instant the cake passed her lips she knew she had made the right choice. Before it even touched her tongue the smell of it was wafting through her sense organs, enveloping her in creamy sweetness. The cake was moist as she bit into it, and soft, and gooey and creamy and spongy and just the way she liked it, and she felt her eyes grow wide. The frosting wasn't too sweet, either. It was the nice, creamy kind, and wizard food coloring didn't leave the annoying aftertaste that Muggle food coloring did. All in all, it was probably the best cake she'd ever tasted. "Lucy, this is delicious!" she told her friend, shoveling another piece into her mouth.

Lucy beamed, looking thrilled at Dinah's praise. "Thanks! See," she said, turning to Sirius, "I told you Dinah would eat it. Now it's your turn," she held a forkful up to his firmly closed mouth.

"It really is good, Sirius, I promise," Dinah insisted, and then pushed Severus's plate a little closer to him; "Here, Severus, you try it too. Don't glare at it, it's not a misbehaving student!"

"Please?" Lucy pleaded with her fiancé, still trying to get the offered piece into him, "Dinah wouldn't tell you it was good if it wasn't. Think of it as practice for the wedding cake."

"That will be made by someone else. A profession—mph!" Dinah had to laugh Lucy took the opportunity to shove the fork into his mouth, startling him so much that he got frosting smeared on his face.

Severus raised an eyebrow at that and then sighed; "In the interest of avoiding such a situation, I suppose I shall be forced to take a bite," he very slowly took some cake onto his fork and ate it, so the two men were chewing their pieces at the same time.

Lucy smiled, happy that both men were now chewing on her cake. "Oh no!" she gasped, "We forgot to light candles and sing 'Happy Birthday'!"

"Oh, I was so wrapped up in the cake thing that I completely forgot about that!" Dinah exclaimed, a little disappointed but not excessively so. After all, she wasn't a child. "Well, there's still enough cake left."

Severus swallowed and looked at Lucy; "The cake is decent," his compliment was, as usual, barely there but sincere for him, and then he turned to glare at Dinah; "I'm not singing."

"You're not _that _bad at it, you know," she teased, a small smile forming.

"That is not the point," he flushed. "It is childish."

"Maybe a bit, but it's fun," Lucy insisted. "Hey, next week is the Hufflepuff-Slytherin game. You two want to come with me? Sirius isn't allowed as you know, so you don't have to worry about that."

"If you recall," Severus said smoothly after taking another bite of cake; "We have all four of us been on the Quidditch pitch previously. At least, four of us were there for _some _of the time."

Dinah had to laugh, serving herself another piece of cake as she had finished her first one. If she kept this up she was going to eat the whole thing before they had a chance to light candles on it.

Lucy blushed. "That's true. I guess as long as we stay on the pitch then there wouldn't be anything for anyone to complain about would there?"

"Ideally," Dinah chuckled. "So either way I'm sure we'd be happy to go with you."

"I would be unopposed to sitting in the Hufflepuff section this time, if you would prefer," Severus said, looking at Dinah.

"Nah, I don't know that many Hufflepuffs," she smiled; "Maybe we can sit by Andrew and Mae if we're in the Slytherin stands. We should ask if they're going together and where they're sitting."

"As long as it's not too close to that Peaks kid," Sirius grumbled.

"Oh, no, I'm avoiding him like the plague, most definitely," Dinah agreed, taking an aggressive bite of cake. "Ever since he told all that stuff to the newspapers. Oddly enough though, aside from him Slytherins have been the group that have been most accepting of me so far. I guess they're split down the middle with the Muggle-born Slytherins that trust me and the more typical ones who don't care either way. Hufflepuffs do come around rather quickly, though. It's actually the Gryffindors that have resisted the most, I think. As Severus has said, they have such a black and white sense of right and wrong. They seem to have such a hard time seeing shades of grey."

"My little Ravenclaws get no mention?" Lucy teased.

"That's not true about Gryffindors," Sirius protested.

"Oh, it is too," Lucy said, turning to look at her husband-to-be, "Tell me is there anything at all good about your cousin Bella?"

"She was a crazy, psychopathic killer so I'm guessing no."

"See, you've just proven Dinah right. I don't hold any love for your dear departed cousin but even I can say she knew how to love. It was a sick and twisted love, but still love."

Dinah smiled; "Yes. Granted, not all people follow their house traits exactly, I was just speaking generally. As I understand it, Harry Potter came around a little bit when he realized what a good person you are, Severus," she nudged him.

"Don't remind me," he snarled, his turn to aggressively eat a piece of ugly deliciousness.

"Harry's a good kid," Lucy affirmed. "So all four of us are going then? This should be fun! There haven't been any dark storms lately, Bella's gone…things seem to be getting back to normal huh?"

Severus turned to look at Dinah and she had to put her fork down, turning back to Lucy; "Um... yeah, normal. So then you... the storm on Friday didn't reach Hogsmeade then, I guess..."

"Oh," Lucy shook her head, "No, it didn't. I didn't notice it anyway. Now that you mention it I did see a lot of flashes of light over this way during the night. I don't know what else I could have thought it was…"

"It was brief," she sighed. "It was over by the next morning, so I'm not surprised it didn't get far. Maybe it was weak, I don't know. The point is, I think Tommy has suffered a major setback and I don't know what I can or should do to help him next, or even if I can find him."

"I think you can," Lucy encouraged, "You helped me and there was no guidebook telling you how to do that. I'm sure you'll find a way to help Tommy too."

"You have helped many people, it seems," Severus murmured agreement.

Dinah sighed, looking from Lucy to Severus, her chest a little tight but not so much as it had been a few moments ago when she'd last tried to talk about this. "Thanks. I guess I'll work it out. It's just difficult... there's so much pressure because I don't know how much time I'll have left or what to do... and I guess I still don't always feel as confident in myself as everybody else seems to feel about me."

Lucy gave her friend a half smile, "It's easy to feel that way about ourselves sometimes I think. Now, did you still want to light the candles or play a game or maybe watch a film instead?"

"Whichever you'd like to do."

"I think we should light the candles and sing!" She grinned, ignoring the glare that Severus shot her.

Dinah laughed; "Okay, great. Sounds fun. You and Sirius are going to be singing solo, though."

"_She's_ singing solo," Sirius protested, "I'm with Severus on this one." Dinah wasn't sure she was hearing right as she turned along with her boyfriend and Lucy to stare down Sirius; "What?"

Severus wasn't saying anything as he watched Sirius with a slightly bemused raised eyebrow, so Dinah figured she'd have to be the one to explain what he had just done. Yes, Severus called Lucy's fiancé by his first name on occasion when they were speaking in private but she'd never heard him call him Sirius in public before. Yet, somehow she'd still imagined that Severus would be the one to speak the other's first name first, although she didn't know why. But that was clearly not the case.

She smiled; "Well, we're making all sorts of progress today, aren't we?"

"How's that for a birthday present, huh?" Lucy grinned.

Sirius still looked confused and Severus simply smirked; "Well, then? Are you going to get this over with and sing so that I may be dragged to not watch a film? That is if you are still up for it provided that... Sirius and I will not be singing."

Dinah's smile widened. It seemed the transition was complete.

Sirius's mouth dropped open. "Lucy," he whispered to his fiancée, "he used my name…my first name."

Lucy burst into giggles, "Well, you used his so it's only fair," turning back to Dinah she asked, "Is that better than singing or am I going to serenade you by myself?"

Dinah laughed; "I could sing with you. You know, Happy Birthday to Me and all that."

"All right," Lucy grinned, waving her wand as a number of candles – thankfully only around eight or so and not thirty-nine – flew out of her pocket to land on the half-eaten, frosted-together cake before being lit.

Dinah felt a little silly singing 'Happy Birthday to Me' while Lucy sang 'Happy Birthday to You' and the men sat there with their mouths plastered shut, watching, but it was all in good fun. Soon the singing was over and Lucy insisted that she should make a wish. She stared down at the bright red, lopsided candle-covered lump before her and thought for a moment. Yes, 'make a wish' was just a saying but she had always made sure to do so whenever she was told in this situation, all her life. She just didn't know what to wish for. Everything was perfect with Severus, so that wasn't a worry, but maybe for the parseltongue thing to blow over quickly or for her to somehow find and be able to help Tommy. But everything specific seemed to leave something else important unsaid. Finally, she reached over to take Severus's hand into her own and shared a brief smile with him, his expression encouraging, and then leaned over and just hoped inwardly for everything to 'turn out right', hoping that generic wish was as good as any. Then she blew out the candles.

"Yay!" Lucy cheered and clapped. "Now we can watch a film on the BVD player!"

"If we must," Severus snarled, and then turned a considering look to Dinah; "Everything all right?"

"Yes," she smiled. "I made a good wish, I think. But I didn't have to wish for what I want the most. Because I already have it," she grabbed his robes and pulled him to her to kiss him.

"And you will not lose it," he smiled at her.

Lucy glanced at Sirius, "Apparently you and I don't count as 'public'."

"You have not for some time," Severus admitted, voicing what Dinah had already figured out ages ago.

"Well, if we don't count as public, neither do they," Sirius said, and Dinah was about to protest that they didn't do anything _that _extreme for fear of witnessing some sort of oversexed snog-fest, but closed her mouth when Sirius did nothing more than pull Lucy over to sit on his lap.

She smiled; "I hate to stop you two," Severus snorted and she ignored him, "but if we're going to watch the BV – _D_VD player then we need to get up and go into the other room. I could summon it over here but it's more comfortable watching it from the couch. But if you want to wait a bit I'll go get the box and we can unwrap it here!"

"Go get the box," Lucy ordered, "I'm not done cuddling yet." She laid her head down on Sirius's shoulder while he wrapped his arms around her waist, tugging her closer to him to keep her from falling off.

"Yes, well," Dinah raised a good-natured eyebrow at the pair, snatching her plate possessively to her, "I'm not done eating cake yet." She carried the plate with her into the bedroom to find the DVD box.


	148. Objects

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHT

Objects

* * *

In a moment Dinah located the DVD player on an upper shelf and summoned it into her hands, carrying it back into the dining room to find Severus tapping his fingers on the table and looking pointedly away from the still-cuddling Lucy and Sirius. She suppressed a laugh and when he saw her he nodded at the box, a slight smirk playing on his lips; "Heavy?"

"Oh, it's not so bad, it's-" she sighed after plopping the box down on the table and then smacked herself on the forehead. "Guess I could have levitated it all the way in here, huh? Not just down from the shelf into my arms?"

"I never said such a thing," he protested, turning away from her, his long nose very nearly in the air.

Lucy rolled her eyes and giggled, "I'm afraid my new perch is making your boyfriend very uncomfortable."

"Well, he doesn't like to watch others. Right, darling?"

"Open your box."

She smiled and obliged, using her wand to cut along the tape on all sides and pop it open, slipping out first the remote control that had come with it, wrapped in bubble paper. As soon as she had it unwrapped Lucy squealed; "A remote! Does this work your telly, too?"

"Yes, just like the VCR and telly remotes and the video game controllers. Here, though," she thoughtfully handed the bubble wrap to Lucy, "you might find this interesting."

"Oh, what does it do?" Lucy asked, her eyes wide as she examined the clear, bumpy wrapping.

Sirius chuckled and reached around to grab it, "Here, I happen to know something about this," he took her fingers in his hand and placed them on either side of one of the bubbles, pressing them together until it popped.

"Oh!" Lucy repeated, "That's fun. Can I do it again?"

Dinah laughed and even Severus managed to look amused; "You can do it as many times as you like. It can be a great stress reliever."

"Well, that was thoughtful of them," Lucy said, enjoying popping more of the little bumps, "though I'm not sure why Muggles would think a…DVD player is stressful."

Dinah burst into giggles as Severus rolled his eyes and shook his head, but was smiling slightly; "No, no, that's not the point. They protect the equipment from getting jostled around too much in the shipping process and getting broken. Like tissue paper but... bubblier. The stress relief is just a nice bonus."

"Oh…and this works like a VCR right?"

"Exactly the same," she unwrapped the larger, DVD player and handed the equally-larger sheet of bubble paper to Lucy; "Except that you can navigate 'menus' kind of like on the internet." She flicked her wand and the rest of the box unwrapped itself before she turned to Severus and smiled; "Better?"

"Unequivocally," he muttered. "And yet now the infernal object is out of its wrapping and bared for the whole world to see."

"Oooooh," Lucy crooned, clutching the large bubble wrap sheet to prevent Sirius from accessing it as she stared at the revealed electronic device; "It's pretty. I like the silver color. Is that was makes it a DVD player and not a VCR?"

Dinah had to laugh again at her friend's total ignorance of the Muggle world. It was kind of cute, though, like a child might behave. "No, not the color. Let's go into the other room and get it set up so I can show you rather than tell you."

Without responding, Lucy jumped up from her chair, taking hold of Sirius's hand and dragging him from his, pulling him into the living room. Dinah and Severus were so preoccupied watching them that they didn't get up and follow just yet. Lucy shoved Sirius into the couch and sat beside him, snuggling into his side and resting her head on his shoulder while he put an arm around her.

"Well, what do you have to say to that?" Dinah asked, raising an eyebrow at her boyfriend.

"At least they are not cuddling on _my _couch," at Dinah's laugh he turned his glare back to the DVD player. "I suppose you must take the next step. You don't mind if I read something – anything – while you do that, do you?"

"Be my guest, my shelves are free for you to peruse. But I thought you said that you couldn't read due to the 'infernal racket'," she teased, batting her eyes at him.

"I will make every conceivable effort," he droned, shooting the device one more glare before standing and waltzing over to stare at her bookshelves.

Dinah smiled and levitated the DVD player and accessories into proper position with her television, casting her charm to make them all turn on, and settling next to the cuddling pair with a comedy DVD in her hands; "This is a funny film, you should both enjoy it. See?" she popped open the case and handed the disc to Lucy; "It's like a CD."

Lucy nodded, "I'm guessing it wouldn't work if you put it in the diskperson though, right? And a CD wouldn't work in that?" she nodded toward the DVD player.

"Exactly," Dinah beamed; "You're catching on." She wasn't going to worry about correcting her friend's name of 'discman'. It was enough that she had figured out that the two devices were mutually incompatible. She put the disc into the player just as Severus settled in on a faraway chair with an old potions reference book from her Slug Club days. Not an unexpected choice of his, after all. Instead of returning to the couch, Dinah went to perch on the arm of his chair, pushing the button on the remote control to start the film up.

"See?" Lucy whispered to her fiancé after she had watched the disc slide inside and the initial copyright warnings and company logos pop up onto the television screen, "It's like magic."

Sirius just chuckled and leaned over to kiss the top of her head, murmuring something into her hair that was too low for Dinah to hear from her current distance as Lucy snuggled more closely into him. Severus was probably glad he couldn't hear any of it.

"You _are _going to get uncomfortable on that chair arm, aren't you?" Severus turned from his book to look at Dinah, his eyebrows raised.

"Probably eventually," she settled down into his lap, reading easily into his unspoken invitation, looping one arm around his firm waist and pressing into his side, her left hand still holding the remote control. "Well, aren't we just a ridiculous foursome?" she joked at the room just as the DVD menu popped up.

Lucy giggled a bit, studying the menu. "Special features? Audio commentary? _Deleted scenes_? You mean there are scenes they took _out _of the film?"

"Most films do take some things out. For time purposes and all that," she ignored the low growl emanating from Severus, which was hard to do as it was so close to her ear and kind of... deep and rumbling and... snarky and... "Oh, hell," she murmured, elbowing him; "No growling!"

He lifted his head to shoot a highly amused smirk at her; "Really? And what pray tell will you do to stop me?"

"Hey," Lucy teased, "what's going on over there? We are over here behaving ourselves and you two are growling at each other."

"I did not growl, he did, and if he doesn't stop I am going to leave him," Dinah announced.

"Permanently?" Severus questioned, his lips turned up in a teasing smile.

Dinah was _so _glad that he could joke about that now; that he knew she would never even think about permanently leaving him. "No, silly, I'll go over there and bug them," she pointed to the remaining couch space not occupied by Lucy and Sirius. "Because if you keep growling like that I am going to get... distracted, and consequently shall distract you. And now is not a good time for any of that."

"Ahh, I see," he rolled his eyes. "Your little... quirk strikes again, does it?"

She blushed; "Just a bit. Now," she pushed the arrow buttons on the remote control, skimming down to the special features section; "Let's see how this works... I haven't read the instructions yet..."

"Fascinating," Lucy breathed at the television, and then turned to look at her; "If you want to come over here we can adjust so you can sit on Sirius's other side. He's good to snuggle with…like a puppy."

Severus growled his protest and snagged Dinah's waist, pulling her closer to him. She chuckled, "I told you not to do that."'

"Well, now you cannot escape."

"As long as he doesn't turn into a dog, I'm good," she murmured, enjoying how this felt but trying not to enjoy it _too _much and start something up. She nestled her head in his shoulder and clicked on the special features function, bringing up a new screen. "Ah, there. See, there are cast interviews and outtakes."

"Outtakes? What in the world are those?" Lucy asked, yawning.

She had a feeling from his facial expression that Severus had gone into tune-out mode and was trying not to hear a word she said. Amused, she wondered if he'd be successful; "Mistakes the actors made when doing the film," she explained to Lucy. "Sometimes they can be very funny. And don't you dare fall asleep – if you do I'll kill you and really give the newspapers something to talk about," she grinned to show that she was joking.

"Kill her and you'll end up in Azkaban for life and I won't tell you how I escaped, though I promise to visit since Lucy would probably want me to," Sirius teased back.

"If I killed Lucy I probably wouldn't look forward to your visits," Dinah faked a grimace; "Then again, now that there are no more dementors Azkaban can't be that bad, right?"

"Either way, you handle dementors quite well with that snake Patronus of yours," Severus said into his book.

"Oh, you were listening?" she teased.

"Difficult... not to. Although I shall stop doing so the moment that ridiculous film starts. You to intend to watch it sometime this century, correct?"

"Oooh, snarky," she planted a kiss on his temple, scrolling down to the back button and returning to the main screen. "Now I simply push 'enter' on the remote when this 'play' here is highlighted, and the film should start." She did so, and sure enough it began. She smiled, pleased that a thirty-nine year old half-Muggle such as herself could get the handle on new technology this quickly.

The film continued onward and Severus did a fairly good job of ignoring it, although he did snarl ever now and again at loud or annoying or stupid parts, except when he was drowned out by the laughter of the three of them. Dinah was pleased that Sirius was enjoying the film as much as Lucy was – it was her first time showing a film to him, after all. During one particularly funny part Severus did smile slightly, pulling Dinah a little closer to him as she laughed. She had a feeling his smile had nothing to do with the movie and had more to do with her laughter. And that was just fine with her.

She was not laughing, however, when she noticed towards the end of the movie that her friend seemed to be asleep. "Sirius?" she leaned forward on Severus's lap; "Is Lucy doing what I think she's doing?"

"Will you believe me if I say no? I'd really rather you didn't kill her. It would sort of defeat the purpose of me coming back I think," Sirius asked, grimacing as a small snore came from Lucy's direction.

Dinah groaned, tugging at her hair. She really _hated _it when people fell asleep during movies! "And it was so close to finishing, too! Can't you wake her up or something?" she was nearly whining, and didn't miss the soft snort of laughter that escaped Severus as he turned a page of his book.

"I can if you really want me to. She just fell asleep a minute before you looked over here."

"Well, if she _just _fell asleep then there's still time before she's in deep enough for it to be bad for her to _just _wake up, right? Right?" Dinah glanced at the film, worried that Lucy was going to miss the _best _part which was just coming up. Getting close... so close... hopefully Sirius would wake her up.

"Lu?" Sirius gently shrugged his shoulder against his fiancée's head; "Lucy, come on wake up. The film's almost over."

"Mmm," she growled at first and then seemed to realize what was going on; "Oh!" she said, blushing and shooting Dinah a guilty look, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I don't know why I keep doing that to you. Um, I didn't miss much did I?"

"Just watch! Watch!" Dinah found herself pointing toward the screen; "Best part coming. You just can't miss it..."

"_Hush_, my love," Severus murmured, pulling her closer to him. "Your friend is awake and watching. If you continue screaming at her to do so she will miss that 'best part' you're referring to."

"Um, yeah, I guess so," Dinah flushed, her cheek pressed against Severus's as he finished whispering in her ear. Suddenly she wanted their two friends to leave.

Lucy stared at the screen, and Dinah was pleased, snuggling into Severus's embrace with a satisfied smile, when her friend saw and laughed at the wonderful best part. She did fear, however, that her close proximity to her boyfriend was blocking his view of his book, but he seemed distracted enough from having to watch the film with her there in his arms.

"That was good," Lucy smiled and turned to them when the film ended; "Thanks for having us over. I suppose this counts as our 'once a week' gathering," she finished, shooting Severus a teasing glance.

"Once a week was on the condition that we do not watch Muggle films. If you add the film into the mix our gatherings decrease to once a month."

"I think it makes more sense to only have a film gathering once a month and have normal gatherings the rest of the time, rather than skipping them all," Dinah smiled. "Especially as there's the Quidditch match this Friday."

"Yes," Lucy insisted, "And we'll stay in the stands this time. I promise. Though if you'd like you can use my corner."

"Mm, we'll see," Dinah grinned, nipping at Severus's ear.

"We shall not see," he grumbled, shutting his book in one swift movement as his face flushed while Sirius and Lucy stared at them. He tilted his head to keep her away from his ear but got in trouble because as soon as his lips were within reach she kissed them. He growled, but responded nonetheless, his lips warm and inviting, but he stopped short of letting his tongue enter her mouth. "Perhaps at night sometime," he acquiesced when their lips parted.

"I'll hold you to that," she murmured, lightly kissing him once more before turning to Lucy. "Care for some dinner? It's around that time and all we've eaten is cake."

"Dinner, yes, I'm starving. For food. To eat. At the table." Lucy apparently felt that she needed to clarify that, which Dinah found oddly amusing. Severus, on the other hand, looked a bit disgusted.

Dinah laughed. "All right. Then food. To eat. At the table. It is."

Lucy's face flushed redder when Sirius gave her a look; "Off plates!" she insisted.

Sirius chuckled, "Interesting that you felt the need to make all those distinctions."

"I will say it again," Severus muttered, standing from the chair after Dinah and wrapping his arms around her waist. "Your friends are incorrigible."

Lucy smiled, her blush not going away. She didn't respond to Severus at all, just stood and walked back to the table they'd vacated in favor of watching the film. "Oh, Dinah, look! They sent up dragon-pumpkin stew!"

Dinah smiled at one of her favorite Hogwarts dishes, but was not in any rush to leave the cozy comfort of Severus's arms as they walked slowly over to the table. She sat down first, spooning an inordinately large amount of the stuff into her bowl, keeping her chair close to Severus's. "We'll have to come up with a good time to go shopping, Lucy. I'm excited. That was a great gift idea," she smiled at her friend.

"Sometime before I get married? Maybe one of these weekends soon. We can torture the boys with visions of us trying on lingerie together. Pillow fights…all those stereotypical fantasies," Lucy beamed.

Dinah giggled, especially when Severus rolled his eyes and stabbed a piece of pumpkin with a bit of force; "That sounds fun. Maybe when it gets closer to summer we could go. You don't mind spending a weekend day away from Hogsmeade?"

Lucy tilted her head to the side in consideration. Dinah was used to her friend relying so heavily on her Wednesdays and her weekends with Sirius, she had been surprised that her friend would suggest a girls-only sort of a weekend. And yet, it seemed Lucy was doing so much better now. "No, I don't," she finally replied, proving Dinah correct. "I've come a long way this year…wow. I just realized it has literally been a year since…" she gestured at the two men.

Sirius grabbed his fiancée's hand; "Since the battle anyway. I didn't look at the clock then but it might have actually been the next day when we…"

Dinah gasped when she realized what they were talking about; "May second... today is the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. Of the day that-" she turned and looked at Severus.

He was frowning at the stew, and then turned to meet her gaze; "Yes, I hadn't thought about it until now. Today _is _the anniversary of that day. It has been a year. Granted, I believe Sirius is right and our rebirth was early the next morning..."

"I don't think I got to Hogwarts until late that day…I spent a lot of hours just watching you sleep," Sirius said, moving his hand to tenderly stroke Lucy's cheek, a softer, more personal affection in his gaze than he normally showed in public; "I didn't want to be anywhere else." His lips quirked up into a smirk, "Of course I got the added bonus of listening to you dream out loud. Lucy has quite the imagination."

Severus snorted and rolled his eyes again, putting his spoon down and turning to Dinah; "I told you to take care of them."

"And I told you they are not my responsibility," she smiled, fingering his robes. "So it's been a year, huh?"

"Indeed," his gaze softened; "Difficult to believe that only that short time ago I woke up in the Shrieking Shack wondering why I was given a second chance at a life that held no meaning for me. Now I know the answer," he pressed his lips to hers and Dinah closed her eyes, indulging in the moment. "You should have come to Hogwarts over the summer. Everything would have happened much sooner," he murmured when he let her go.

"No, I think we needed to wait for the youthening potion," she teased.

He chuckled; "Perhaps. But I would have enjoyed that extra time with you."

"So would I," she whispered back.

Lucy frowned at the other couple, "Hey, now he never said what kind of dream I had. For all you know it could have been about puppies."

"What kind of... puppies?" Severus asked, smirking as he turned to eye their red-haired, flushed friend, his brow raised. Dinah had to cover her mouth to stifle her giggle.

Lucy abandoned her stew and hid her face in her hands, her ears as bright as her hair as she realized the way she had stuck her foot in her mouth with her last comment. "I said it _could _have been about puppies, not that it was. And yes I do…occasionally talk in my sleep."

Dinah smiled, remembering how Severus occasionally spoke her name in his sleep, but she didn't think he wanted that information bared for Lucy and Sirius to hear; "You can't escape the implication, Lucy," Dinah informed her friend with a lopsided grin; "Sirius's words and his expression and his tone indicated just what you were dreaming."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes I had a sex dream," she said good naturedly, "Would you like me to tell you about it? It was…"

Dinah was about to protest when Sirius cut in, a perfectly comfortable smile on his face; "Something we haven't done?"

"No, something we've done," Lucy said, and Dinah had the sudden thought that her friend's face would start giving off steam pretty soon, red as it was.

Yet, still that would never stop them from continuing this tangent - which was making Severus growl again – unless Dinah said something; "You know, generally Lucy when I make that comment you're supposed to admit you had a sex dream and then _stop_. I think the rest is understood."

"Yes. I'll, uh, try to remember next time," Lucy assured Dinah.

Dinah just smiled at her friend, feeling her eyebrows raise slightly. She wasn't entirely sure Lucy would remember that at all.


	149. Veritaserum

A/N: Long chapter. But not filler anymore! :D

* * *

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINE

Veritaserum

* * *

"Did you have a good birthday?" Severus asked as they closed the doors behind Lucy and Sirius later that evening, her making her way back to her rooms and him back to Hogsmeade.

"Mm, yes," she smiled, fingering his robes; "It was nice. And Lucy's cake was delicious. The best I've ever tasted!"

"Which is more than you can say for it's looks."

"Yes, well," she chuckled; "I suppose I can concede that one to you, partially."

"Excuse me?" he seemed a little confused.

Dinah grinned; "Doing things the Muggle way doesn't often work right for magical folk. Then again, I might win that debate because it shows just how _incompetent _wizard's are at doing anything from scratch. Muggles have better skills."

"Which, I have already pointed out," he raised a self-important eyebrow at her; "Is only to compensate for their inherent _weakness _in being unable to perform magic."

"Yes, well I think it's honorable to try and learn how to do things both ways – shows that you have many strengths."

"Really? So if you're capable of going to the store and buying your food you should still learn how to grow it all from scratch? Just a random example, of course. I can think of many others."

They stared at each other, at a standstill again, both trying to think up the next thing to say that would help them win the debate. "Yes, well, maybe it _would _be honorable," she finally retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. "I only don't do it because I'm lazy. So all wizards are lazy."

"Your arguments are creeping toward the _ad hominem _again," Severus smiled slightly.

"Hmm," she smiled. "Maybe. But I _do _still think it's a good thing to learn other ways to do things. Adding any kind of a skill to your repertoire, magical or not, is a good thing. But, I suppose, nobody can learn how to do everything."

He frowned; "I'm honestly not sure what we're debating anymore."

She laughed; "Me either. But I _am_ sure that I won."

"Oh really? You're _sure _about that, are you?" he smirked. "Shall we find a new topic then? What haven't we touched on yet...?" he paused to consider.

"Merpeople, goblins, and centaurs."

"That's quite a list," he raised an eyebrow; "And your certain our opinions will differ on the subject?"

"At least somewhat," Dinah regarded her boyfriend in front of her with a grin; "You probably, like most wizards, think that they are inferior to us."

"And you think that we are 'different but equal'," his response was immediate.

They stared at each other for a moment, and then they both laughed. Dinah smiled and wrapped her arms around him; "Well, we _are _predictable, aren't we?"

"Indeed," he agreed, nuzzling her forehead; "I can only hope that we have a lifetime of debates like this to look forward to in the future."

"I'm sure we do," she smiled; "And I _do _have a lot of thoughts on the goblins, centaurs, and merpeople topic, but it's so complicated."

"It is," he agreed.

She sighed, shaking her head; "The whole 'beast' vs. 'being' thing, and yet we treat them as inferiors, but they don't want to have anything to do with us either half the time. They think we're inferiors, and yet they are in a way subject to our whims, some of them at least. But they're as intelligent as we are, or close to it even though the types of intelligence vary, such as with centaurs. Muggles have never had to face such things because in their world there are no other species that could compete at the human level of intelligence. House elves are another topic of interest. But," she grinned at the amused look he was giving her; "I think we can save this whole discussion for another time."

"I certainly hope so," he kissed her with so much passion that she couldn't think about the sociological plight of non-human 'beings' any longer. Instead, her fingers found their way to his buttons and began working their way at undoing them. He actually lifted her off the floor in his enthusiasm and she wound her legs around his waist as he carried her swiftly back into her bedroom, pinning her back down to the bed. He finally broke the kiss and smiled; "By the way, I'm fairly certain _I _was the winner of our last debate and not you."

"Oh, would you like to argue about that?" she teased, pushing his shirt off of his shoulders.

"I would," he agreed, unzipping the back of the blue and green dress she had so carefully chosen for the party. He frowned as his hands wandered to the clasp of her necklace, his fingers so light on the back of her neck that they sent excited shivers down her spine. Why was he stalling?

"What?" she demanded, shifting with impatience.

"Nothing," he smirked; "I simply hate to destroy this mismatched ensemble you were so proud of putting together."

She laughed; "I remember how I did it. I can do it again, you know? But I'm glad to know that you like it."

"It is rather intriguing, I admit," he chuckled; "I would suggest, however, that you not do this regularly and not in most public places. I barely know anything about fashion and I don't really care to, but I am sure there are others who feel differently."

"Noted," Dinah smiled; "Now can we get back to the matter at hand? You said you won our debate? I would like to know why you think so," she let her hands wander into his hair, pulling his head forcefully down to hers for another kiss.

"Well," he murmured against her lips when they had mostly finished with the kiss, "You ended with an admission that nobody can learn how to do everything. Your tone was almost that of concession, thus making me the winner."

She gave him the most annoyed look she could muster in her current state; "Oh, is that all? Well," she smiled, running her leg up and down his as he took off her necklace and tossed it aside; "You know, it is possible to concede one point without conceding the whole argument. I still think it's good to learn to do things in different ways when you can. They can just choose which things they want to learn. There's no crime in making choices."

"And if all those choices involve magic?" he asked in a light purr, lowering his lips to her neck and then leading a trail of kisses along her collarbone towards her breasts.

"There's nothing... um... inherently wrong with that," she responded, having a difficult time keeping focused. "People have a right to make whatever choice they want. But one method is not necessarily better than another."

"I beg to differ," he removed the remainder of her dress.

"Mm, I know you do," she teased as they crawled their way back up her bed, tossing aside pieces of clothing until there were no more pieces to toss; "I _still _think if somebody learns how to do things both ways it is admirable."

"You mean wasteful."

"_No_, I mean admirable," she laughed, wrapping her legs around his waist again as he climbed on top of her.

"Mm," he shook his head, teasingly tracing her lips with his tongue; "Wasteful."

Still laughing, she let him kiss her and ran her fingers lightly up and down his spine, hoping to provide him with the same shivers of excitement that he had given her. Judging from his reaction, it worked; "What am I going to do with you?"

"Hopefully, the same thing that I am about to do with you," he murmured, his voice suggestive.

"Well... close enough, anyway," she grinned, and minutes later they were collapsed together in a satisfied heap on the bed.

"Stay here tonight?" she requested softly, having completely forgotten about whatever it was they had been debating less than ten minutes ago.

"There was never any question," he responded, playing with her hair, hoisting himself up on an elbow to meet her eyes. "I should use your shower."

"Go ahead. I'll do it in the morning," she smiled as he leaned over and kissed her, and then climbed out of the bed and headed into her bathroom. She waited patiently, letting her body slow down to prepare for sleep while she listened to the soothing sounds of the water from the other room, imagining it hitting and running off his naked body and wondering why she hadn't decided to join him. Then again, it _was _very late and she was getting tired. In a bit he came back out, fluffy hair and all, and climbed back into bed next to her; "Good night."

"Mm," she agreed, remembering what they had talked about at dinner with Lucy and Sirius as she glanced at the clock on the wall; "Happy re-birthday. It's past midnight."

He chuckled; "I suppose so. And it _is _happy, by the way. I met you," he clutched her waist and pulled her to him, burying his face in her hair and inhaling, a gesture familiar from the young Severus.

"I love you," she whispered, feeling the smile that was already on his face widen; "But you're going to have to release me," she added with a grin; "I have to use the bathroom."

"If you must," he mumbled, releasing her as she asked. She smiled when she extracted herself from his arms and saw the adorably sleepy look on his face; "Good night," she pressed a kiss to his forehead and headed towards the bathroom to use it and to brush her teeth.

For all the craziness of the week, this weekend had been nice, tame, and pleasant, and for that she was grateful. Hopefully, next week things would continue to get better with the parselmouth issue. At any rate, they certainly couldn't get worse, right?

The worst thing to worry about right now was Tommy.

She pulled on a light nightgown and found her way back into the bedroom, an indulgent smile crossing her face when she saw that Severus had already fallen asleep. It was so cute the way he clutched his pillow sometimes, as he was doing now. When they had been first 'dating', if she could even call it that, the few times she had slept in the same bed with him he had been careful and on his guard. He had laid down and stayed completely still, facing her to make sure she didn't try to get too close or do something he wasn't ready for.

But those days were long past. His guard was completely down now, and had been since their time as children, and although he was still sort of facing her he was certainly no longer stiff. His arms were wrapped around the pillow and he lay half on his stomach with his head half-buried, fluffy strands of black hair sprawled across the pillow, some covering his face, the expression on which was peaceful.

In the early days of their relationship she had thought to herself how remarkable it was that he looked so peaceful when asleep, that the strain that was always on his face during the day miraculously disappeared. Yet now that she had something to compare it to, she realized that even then there had been strain, tension in even his more peaceful sleeping face. Not so anymore. There was no strain and no tension. He looked comfortable, peaceful, and relaxed. He was even almost smiling.

Dinah smiled herself and settled into her side of the bed, feeling a wave of affection for Severus as she brushed a couple strands of hair away from his face. She didn't have to worry about him anymore. He was finally happy. That, at least, was something that she had done right.

And after all, she thought as she laid down, pulled the covers over herself, and closed her eyes... he was the most important person of all.

* * *

Monday was a sort of milder replay of Friday, but this time Dinah didn't have Sedley Alder with her as a buffer as she administered her classes. All the same, word had apparently gotten around the school that she was teaching again and the nicer articles of the more friendly reporter had softened the students a little, so she was able to get through her first-years class without too much struggle. The really odd thing was that Joseph Cantrell was actually behaving _better _than normal, causing Andrew to keep shooting him odd glances. It seemed that he was one of those Slytherins that considered her some kind of strange comrade due to her parseltongue. But at least he didn't say anything one way or another to that effect.

When she had dismissed them from class with what she thought was an easy essay to write on understanding between worlds, Mae dragged Andrew up to the front of the room. "Mr. Alder quoted me in his article!" she said proudly. "Andrew, too!"

"I know," Dinah beamed at them, arranging some papers on her desk. "Thank you. I really appreciate all the comments you made for the article. They really helped, I think."

"You know, Professor Samson," Mae scuffed her toe on the ground; "I got a sort of a strange impression on Friday when we all talked at lunch. Kind of thought about it before, too, but a lot on Friday."

"What was that?"

When she looked up her eyes were wide, but not unpleased; "I think Professor Snape actually _likes _us!"

Dinah couldn't help but giggle at that statement, lifting a hand to cover her mouth and appear at least a little bit more professional. "You figured that out, did you? Yes, I do believe he likes the both of you, but don't ever tell him I said that."

"Oh, no, definitely not!" Mae shook her head swiftly back and forth. "He's still mean to me in class a lot, anyway. Yells at me if my answer isn't exactly perfect. But if Andrew gives the same answer Slytherin gets points."

She shrugged, smiling slightly, "I can only do so much about that. At least you're not a Gryffindor."

Mae laughed; "Yeah, then I'd _lose _points. Except for during that one week when he kept giving them out."

Dinah flushed and laughed, remembering that week. The week he had decided unequivocally that he was in love with her and was so happy that he didn't even manage to hide it in front of the students. That was one of the best weeks of her life. And still, every moment she spent with him life got better and better. Now if only all of this Tommy stuff could come to a satisfying conclusion... She sighed; "Are you two going to the Quidditch match on Friday?"

"Yeah," Andrew said, generally quieter than his talkative friend when the two of them were together, "We'll be in the Slytherin stands with some friends."

"Nice ones," Mae clarified, "Not like Cantrell or Peaks or them." Andrew just shrugged at her comment.

"Well, maybe we'll see you there," Dinah smiled. "Severus and myself and Professor Ketteridge will be in the Slytherin stands, too. Meantime, you should both probably get to your next class. Thank you again for all your help with the reporters. Good luck on your essays."

The two students smiled and bid her farewell. Dinah spent her break working on the write-up for her survey before her fourth years class started up again, the same one that she had first worked through on Friday. They came in much less hostile than they had on that day, which was nice, and that class period went by smoothly as well. She had just finished a particularly annoying part of her write-up during her second break and was putting her laptop away to go to lunch when a figure appeared in the doorway. Dinah looked up and smiled at the old man with the long beard and half-moon glasses standing there, surprised to see him; "Headmaster."

"Hello, Dinah," he said, stepping inside, and Dinah frowned when she realized that he looked especially tired and worn. Odd, when the parselmouth incident and the press had seemed to perk him up so much as of late. "I assume your classes are going well?"

"As well as can be expected," she nodded, wary. "Has something happened?"

"Unfortunately, he sighed. "There is something of great importance that I need to discuss with you. But I believe you will want Severus to come along. His class should be letting out about now."

"Okay," Dinah tried not to be too nervous but her chest was getting a little tight. Was it about Tommy? The flayed baby? She hadn't told Dumbledore yet about what had happened on Friday, but she would not put it past him to have figured it out already, even if he _was _in an odd state this year. Then again, he had never been far ahead of them, sometimes even behind them at times, as they had gone about putting all of these items together. It was odd. "Let's go to Severus then."

She followed the headmaster along the hallways toward the dungeons, trying not to let too many horrible possibilities cross her mind, which wasn't difficult when she was instead focused on the headmaster's weary expression and the fact that he seemed to be walking rather slowly. They made it to Severus's classroom just as a flock of students was pouring out.

"Dinah," he nodded, smiling slightly when he saw her, and then his expression turned to a frown when he spied Dumbledore; "Headmaster."

"I would like to meet with you both in my office for a moment, if you would, Severus."

"Fine," he agreed, walking over to them as the headmaster turned and began walking ahead of them again, leading the way out of the dungeons back towards his office. "Do you know what this is about?" he murmured to Dinah.

She shook her head, "No. Not yet anyway. It sounds serious."

When they were both comfortably settled in their usual seats in front of the headmaster's desk, Dumbledore slid in on his side, regarding them with that same weary look in his eyes as he steepled his fingers in front of him. A moment of silence passed while he appeared to consider something, and then he lowered his hands, reaching underneath his desk to pull out a piece of parchment; "I have received official contact from the Ministry regarding your parselmouth issue."

Severus's eyes widened and Dinah didn't know whether to be upset or relieved. Her mind had been considering things with Tommy, the flayed baby, Eugene, or the test subject, not the parselmouth situation. But that could be just as bad, maybe even worse. "I see..." she managed.

"They are, I hope, not considering removing Dinah from her position," Severus snarled, his hands curling prematurely on the arms of the chair.

"Not quite," the headmaster frowned, eyeing the parchment again.

Dinah was about to open her mouth but Severus cut her off with her own question, although he phrased it much more bitingly than she would have; "What does 'not quite' mean?"

He sighed. "It seems the Hogwarts Board of Governors has requested the Ministry's help in making their 'final decision' of that nature. "Dinah will remain as Muggle Studies professor if she can be 'proven safe'."

"And what does that mean?" Severus growled, his teeth bared and his deep voice accentuating every syllable. Dinah had no doubt he was already planning what sorts of horrible things he could do to anyone who tried to sack her from Hogwarts. She was both grateful and nervous at the prospects.

"They want to interview you," Dumbledore looked directly at Dinah, probably trying to keep Severus as relaxed as possible by ignoring his anger; "Ask you questions about whether you intend to hurt any of the students."

"There's a catch, isn't there?" she murmured, not liking the sound of where this was going.

"Unfortunately, yes," he sighed, looking at the parchment again; "You have two choices. Either allow one of the Ministry's top Legilimens to search your mind or submit to questioning under the influence of Veritaserum. Severus, please remain calm," he said, still not looking at Severus as the latter stood from his chair, nearly knocking it over in his fury.

"Who authorized this?" Severus's voice was soft, almost a whisper. Dinah sensed so much foreboding in it that she gulped as she stared at him. She was lucky to have him on her side, but he could be very... intense in these situations.

"I am afraid there is nothing we can do, Severus," Dumbledore murmured. "This was, apparently, the only way to pacify the more angry parents, even considering the more positive articles that have been released as of late. However, we have Kingsley on our side. He has guaranteed that should you choose the Veritaserum option the questioning will be limited to only the questions on this list," he finally slid the parchment over to Dinah.

Severus, still growling, leaned over her as she read the list. It wasn't so bad, really, simply questions about whether she was attempting to revive Voldemort, whether she had any desire to hurt the Hogwarts students, and whether she used snakes for evil purposes. All of the questions were of that nature and none of them worried her with regards to revealing too much about Tommy or the prophecy. "These aren't so terrible..."

"It is the principle of the matter," Severus murmured, turning his glare from the parchment to the headmaster; "How do they know she cannot resist the Veritaserum or the Legilimency? Do they know she is not an Occlumens?"

"As far as her records state, she is not. But Kingsley has guaranteed that this questioning will be enough either way. She will not be forced to stand trial."

"But if a Legilimens is used they can see anything, right?" Dinah asked. "Whatever is on my mind at... the time?" She remembered when Severus had used it on her, how she had been thinking solely of him and so that was all he could see. She hadn't been thinking about parselmouth and thus he had not discovered her secret at the time.

"Yes. According to the letter the Legilimens will ask those same questions and only search for the truth in your answers, but that does not guarantee he or she will not discover other things within you. Legilimency would be more comfortable than Veritaserum, but you may reveal more information. The final choice rests with you."

"Veritaserum," she sighed, sliding the parchment back over to him across the desk. "It has to be. I can't risk them finding out any more about Tommy."

"You are taking this rather well," Severus hissed, sounding surprised and a little annoyed.

"What else can I do, Severus? I have to keep my job and if this is what I have to do in order to do so, then so be it."

He sighed, his face finally relaxing a margin, and turned to the headmaster; "I could teach her Occlumency, in case any risky questions come up. But if I taught it to her, I would have to use Legilimency and I... will not do that again."

"It doesn't matter, Severus," she said, "I have nothing to hide from you now."

"I still refuse to do it! It's not right!" he snapped at her, and then beseeched the older man; "But _you _could teach her, headmaster, could you not?"

"The Veritaserum will be administered this weekend, Severus. That is not enough time."

"This weekend!" Severus shouted, slamming his hand onto the desk; "You did not tell me it would be that _soon_! Of all the impudent-"

"It is only logical, Severus, for them to do so. Surely the idea of you teaching her Occlumency has crossed their minds, given that your relationship has at least in part been revealed to the public."

He growled and sat back in his seat; "At least a small amount of training could not hurt."

"I believe that it is better to leave things as they are, without any further deception," Dumbledore said quietly. "After all, you know the public reaction to the _Obliviations _she has performed in the past."

"I agree with the headmaster," Dinah nodded. "I'll just answer the questions. It shouldn't be that bad."

After a bit of incoherent grumbling, Severus managed a curt nod; "Fine. I will trust your judgment on this, Dumbledore, but only because it always seems to work. And yet..." he frowned, "You seem a bit off today, if you don't mind my assessment."

"I fear this has been a bad weekend for me," Dumbledore said, his gaze turning distant; "Dealing with the press and receiving this letter has been quite exhausting. And I fear things shall only get worse in the future."

"Are you sick?" Dinah had to ask, a little worried.

"Simply tired. And I was referring, unfortunately, to your circumstances, Dinah, when I said things may be getting worse. The Aurors have noted an increase in the dementor population in the Forbidden Forest and I fear your flayed baby has some sort of trick up its sleeve."

"Oh," her face fell and she sighed. So that subject _was _going to come up after all. She forced herself to tell Dumbledore about what had happened on Friday, and as she spoke his frown only deepened.

"Those are grave circumstances, Dinah," he finally said. "I fear Tommy's existence is hanging by only a thread as it is. That tenuous thread that connects him to the flayed baby. If he fully discovers who he is I do not know what will happen. The flayed baby may take advantage of that situation in some way. You have already said that it knows of Tommy and is searching for him... as a 'missing piece'."

"Mm," Dinah nodded, at a loss for words for a moment as she took all of that in. Granted, they were all things she had suspected anyway.

"Dinah?" Severus murmured, shooting her a concerned glance.

"It's all right," she squeezed her hands together in her lap, forcing herself not to wring them or to twiddle her fingers or thumbs or fidget in any way. She had to be strong. Needed that strength if she was going to save Tommy. "I'm all right. I can handle this. I will figure something out."

Dumbledore managed a small, weak smile just as Severus sighed with relief and stood from his chair, walking over to hers and holding out his hand for her; "Of course you will. That said, I believe lunch hour is nearly over." As she took his hand and stood up he turned back to the headmaster; "That is all for now then?"

"As far as I know," the old man nodded; "I will send your reply to the Ministry, Dinah, and let you know if anything changes. Otherwise, I believe there are a few local reporters coming this afternoon. They may ask you questions, and Mr. Alder has expressed interest in coming back tomorrow. Miss Skeeter is, as far as I know, off the case for now."

"Thank goodness for small miracles," Dinah sighed, and then bid the headmaster farewell before following Severus down to the dungeons for a very brief lunch. They had just summoned up some of today's Queen Victoria soup when a female voice spoke her name.

"Sarepta?" Dinah turned and walked over to the snake's perch, beaming when she saw what had happened. Her friend's shed skin sat next to her and she looked much more energetic than she had over the past week; "You've shed!"

"Yes," the snake sounded pleased; "And not a moment too soon. Do you think I might be able to help with Tommy now? I know you said you couldn't find him..."

"I don't know. If you can help, I'll most certainly let you know," she flashed her friend a grateful smile.

"Well, it is the least I could do after you kept those horrid reporters you talked about away from me. I'm glad some of them are coming around. Becoming less afraid of both of us."

" I know, me too. What about mating season?"

"By the end of the week, I think, I would like to go back outside, if it's not too much trouble. Maybe sooner, but that depends on how things go with Tommy and with the reporters. If you think it would be safe for you, or wise for either of us."

"We'll see. I really appreciate your understanding. Are you hungry? I'll get you something this evening. Send Godric out by Hagrid's hut. Surely he'll find something there, if that Hippogriff hasn't already eaten it all."

"Thank you. That would be nice."

Dinah gave her friend another smile and headed over to stand by Severus, who was raising an eyebrow at her in wait of an explanation; "She's shed. I'm going to get some food for her tonight and probably set her free again sometime near the end of the week for mating season, if all goes well."

"Fine," he agreed, glancing at the clock on the wall; "We have only fifteen minutes before classes re-convene."

"Okay."

"You're all right about this Veritaserum issue?" he frowned, not taking his seat just yet as he considered her.

"It'll be all right. They will only ask those questions and I will only answer those questions."

"We can only hope," he scowled. "People have been known to divulge more information than necessary when under the influence. I still think the headmaster should teach you Occlumency."

"You could show me the basics, if you really wanted to," she said. "I promise, I wouldn't mind. Severus, look at me," she said, as he had turned away from her. He turned back, reluctantly, and she continued, meeting his dark eyes directly even as he tried to avoid it; "I promise you, there is nothing left I'm keeping from you. I love you and I trust you. It wouldn't hurt me."

"That's not the point," he said, but his lips twitched into the beginnings of a smile. "You are not a Legilimens. I would hate to skim your mind when you cannot do the same for me. And I don't want you to think that it is necessary. I don't... _need _to look into your mind, Dinah. Because I also love and trust you. I do not want you to think that I need to pry or double-check your feelings. I enjoy what we have... implicit trust without any mind-reading. It is... meaningful to me. I've never had that before."

"Severus," she murmured, feeling a smile forming on her own lips. She had never thought about it in so much detail, but he was right of course. It _was _an especially meaningful thing to have. "I feel the same. I have no desire to become a Legilimens just to read your mind, because I _do _trust you. I suppose it makes sense that it works both ways. But if it's hard for you to look at me and avoid using it," she frowned and shook her head, sliding her hands into his, "I don't know, I really don't know all the details of how it works. But if you were worried about slipping into it accidentally at some point you don't have to be. You can relax about something like that happening."

He laughed, pressing his head to hers, "Dinah, have I ever shied away from looking into your eyes?"

"No," she murmured, shaking her head, understanding his answer.

"I can control it easily. I have no fear of slipping into Legilimency if I do not choose it. And I have never chosen it with you. It is, in fact, the last thing that comes to mind when I look at you. Far more pleasant, less logical things float through my head in moments like these," he brushed his lips softly against hers.

She smiled and nodded, tightening her grip on his hands; "I understand."

"Good. Unfortunately, we now have _ten _minutes before class and I should really get some food into you. This is not time for another 'time challenge'."

"How unfortunate," she grinned, releasing his hands and stepping back as she recalled with fondness the other time they had only ten minutes till class and she had spent that time 'relaxing' him.

"Oh, I'm certain another opportunity will present itself," he assured her with a mild smile and a promising raised eyebrow, before they settled down to the table for lunch.


	150. Thoughts

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FIFTY

Thoughts

* * *

"Veritaserum!" Lucy was positively shocked when Dinah told her about hers and Severus's conversation with Dumbledore. It was Monday evening and she had gone to visit her friend to suggest that maybe Dora would like to go hunting with Godric.

"Yes. This weekend," Dinah nodded, repeating herself.

"So soon?" Lucy asked, bending down to pick up Dora and scratching her behind the ears.

"Yes. It doesn't give me enough time to learn Occlumency, you see," she smiled as Godric leapt from her lap to go paw at Lucy's, wanting to jump up and join the other cat.

Lucy smiled and made room for the large brown cat, who started pawing at Dora's ears. "I suppose that makes sense. I'm glad Kingsley's overseeing the whole thing. It makes me feel better about it."

"Mm," Dinah agreed; "From what I've heard he's been very good for the Ministry."

"He is," Lucy insisted. "Don't tell anyone but I used to have a little crush on him when I was still working there…and I was dating Gawain," her friend confessed, blushing.

Dinah giggled, "Oh, I won't tell. How sneaky of you. I bet it was kind of fun, keeping it from Gawain. Sounds like you two were always kind of iffy anyway."

Lucy nodded, stroking the cats, "Yeah. It was just…convenient I guess. I don't know. He was nice and he seemed to want me for more than just my homework."

"Yeah, we all go through those things. I dated some random people besides Dylan, but it never got serious. Even the serious one, looking back on it, pales in comparison to what I have now."

Her friend blushed, smiling slightly and twisting her engagement ring around her finger, "I know what you mean. Even with all I've had to go through…I wouldn't trade this for anything. Even if giving this up meant I never would have…" Lucy sniffed a little, her eyes looking suspiciously moist.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that," Dinah murmured, remembering her friend's zombie-like state from a few months previous; "I'm glad everything's worked out now, and that it was all worth it. Just like me and the parseltongue thing, and my prophecy, and even the turmoil of thinking Severus would never love me. It was all worth it. So I know where you're coming from."

"Thanks," Lucy smiled, wiping her eyes, "So, you, ah, wanted to take these two down to Hagrid's to hunt? Meet Buckbeak?"

"I thought it might be fun. Get them out of the castle and get some food for the freshly-shed Sarepta. Plus, I've never been properly introduced to Buckbeak. Hagrid kept saying he'd show me, since I like animals so much, but with all the distractions this year... well, you know," she stood.

"Mmm," Lucy scooped up both cats and stood next to Dinah, "Well, lucky for you I'm well acquainted with the 'infernal beast', as Severus would say."

Dinah laughed and followed Lucy out of her rooms, through the halls, and out into the warm evening. "It's so nice out, isn't it? And so light, even this late. It feels like it was just winter." She took Godric from Lucy as the cats were starting to get huffy with each other all squished together in Lucy's arms like that.

"I know. I miss playing in the snow, but there's always next year. We're still on for the match on Friday aren't we? And you want me to drag Sirius along?"

"As long as the headmaster says it's okay, it's fine with me. I don't know what all the rules are. Oh!" she gasped when they neared Hagrid's hut and a loud screech rang out from the pumpkin patches. Buckbeak had spotted them, and his eyes seemed to be on Lucy. He pawed a hoof at the ground, watching Dinah's friend.

Dinah knelt down and let go of Godric and her cat took off into the patch in search of rodents. She turned to Lucy, careful to keep her voice low so as not to upset the regal creature just a few feet away; "He seems to recognize you."

Lucy grinned and pushed a few strands of hair behind her ear after she had bent down and released Dora to join Godric, "Yeah, we spent a fair amount of time together back in the Order days. Hey," she said, addressing Buckbeak and holding out a hand to him, "remember me?"

The Hippogriff made a sort of a clicking noise and tossed his head, stamping another hoof into the soft ground.

Lucy bowed, waving at Dinah to do the same. Together they bowed and stared at Buckbeak until he reciprocated the gesture. After that Lucy righted herself and took a few steps towards the creature. The animal in turn walked towards her and got close enough to nudge her shoulder. Lucy smiled, wrinkling her nose and reaching up a hand to stroke Buckbeak's neck. "Hi," she murmured.

"Oooh," Dinah breathed, in awe of the beautiful creature and the ease with which Lucy had made his acquaintance. She had never interacted with such a magnificent but potentially dangerous creature before – Care of Magical Creatures had taken care of only tamer, easier animals when she had been at school. There were definitely positives and negatives associated with Hagrid's takeover of the job. She took a hesitant step forward and reached out her arm, bowing her head again to make sure the gesture had taken.

The Hippogriff's clear eyes met hers and he nodded again, briefly, so she walked a little further, holding her hand out far enough for him to lower his head and press his soft, feathered forehead against her palm. "He's beautiful."

"Isn't he?" Lucy asked, "It was scary meeting him the first couple times and especially the first time I did it by myself. Sirius insisted I meet him. He let us sit on him. We couldn't fly anywhere which was probably just as well…" her friend blushed and Dinah wondered what the other couple had gotten up to on the Hippogriff's back.

She was not going to think on that subject too long. Besides, the proud creature would surely not tolerate anything more than heated snogging, which, she supposed, would look silly if the whole world saw them flying on Buckbeak in such a state. She let her hand drift down the creature's neck and he made a cooing nose, looking pleased to be getting this much attention. "So he lived with Sirius for a long time then, during the order days? Severus mentioned him briefly when he told me the stories, said he was kept in Sirius's room. What made Sirius decide to let him stay here with Hagrid?"

"Um, well, Buckbeak used to live here. As I understand it there was a slight altercation with Draco Malfoy and our friend here was to be killed," she said, stroking Buckbeak's other side, "He helped Sirius escape the Dementor's Kiss when he'd been recaptured after breaking out of Azkaban. When they moved into Grimmauld Place, Sirius actually let Buckbeak stay in Walburga's room. He didn't care about that stuff getting destroyed I guess. After…after he, um, died Harry inherited Buckbeak and he let him come back here, to live with Hagrid again, under the name Witherwings."

"I see," Dinah murmured, petting the creature, "I knew most of that. But I guess I wondered if Sirius had the choice to take him back or not. But I guess he has more space here, more room to roam... and I'm sure it makes Hagrid happy."

Lucy shrugged, giggling a bit when the Hippogriff nudged her again, "I suppose he probably could. I don't know; all of his stuff went to Harry when he died and they worked it out between them what Sirius was getting back. I've never really asked how that all came about. You're right, though. Buckbeak's got more room to roam here. There's the whole herd he can be with if he wants and it does make Hagrid incredibly happy."

She smiled, and then sighed, resting her head against the bird's shoulder; "It's funny how it all started with that same sort of intolerance people have for snakes. They sentenced this lovely creature to death. Even if he _had _attacked Draco Malfoy, he's just an animal isn't he? He would have had good reason. Is that reason enough to kill him, for just going about his instinctual business? They could have come up with another way. Released him far away from where there were people. Why kill him?"

"Because the Malfoys have money, influence, and power. And at the time their precious heir could do no wrong. Draco's failings were everybody else's fault. Lucius said the animal was dangerous and shouldn't be around students, shouldn't be allowed to live. No one wanted to lose the backing of the powerful Malfoy family so they did what he wanted." Lucy sighed, "I wonder if I have to invite them to the wedding. They are technically Sirius's cousins…"

Dinah chuckled, "I doubt you have to. From what Severus says they've kept to themselves pretty completely ever since the final battle. He used to be their friend but he hasn't spoken much to them since around the time he became Hogwarts's headmaster. Seems they had a lot of personal issues to deal with. Although I guess Sirius has seen Narcissa, hasn't he? When going through the Lestrange's estate those times."

"Yeah," Lucy nodded going to stand behind Buckbeak's wing, "but I don't think they really talked much, especially not that first time…I suppose even if I did invite them they wouldn't come anyway. Rumor is Narcissa is a bit…pissed that I'm in possession of this ring," she said, holding up her left hand.

"Oh, it was a family heirloom, wasn't it?" Dinah frowned. "Still, Sirius is the one who inherited Grimmauld Place... though I suppose the pureblood supremacy types could argue he didn't deserve it."

"Exactly. Apparently it belonged to her great-great-grandmother or something. I don't even know, but it's ridiculous because the woman was related to Sirius too and I'm guessing they passed things down on the whole male preference primogeniture anyway, which would mean it belongs to Sirius regardless. Oh!" Lucy gasped, lifting her head from where it had been resting on Buckbeak's back, "Guess what?"

"What?" Dinah blinked, surprised by her friend's excited tone.

"I'm an aunt! Fleur had the baby last night. I just found out this morning. A girl. Victoire is her name. It seems so weird…Bill's a father."

"Wow, congratulations! That's so exciting," she smiled. "Time flies, doesn't it? You're still pretty young – no offense, I can't really say much on that subject after what happened the past few months," she chuckled. "But it _can _be weird when your peers start getting married and having children. My best friend Rosa didn't get married until last year, though."

"Thanks," Lucy smiled, "Yeah, it's weird. Tonks and Bill. Well, I don't think Charlie's going to get married anytime soon. Now that I'm engaged I keep getting comments about puppies myself…"

Dinah couldn't help but burst into laughter, startling Buckbeak who huffed with indignation and tossed his head again, but a gentle hand stroking his neck seemed to calm him down; "I guess you two walked right into those jokes. Granted, I don't think foxes and giant black dogs are size compatible. Still, you should probably refrain from fooling around too much outside of your human forms," she teased.

Lucy laughed, and hid her face in her hands. Dinah was sure her friend was blushing again. "We can't and they're not. If you really want to know…his…you know…is…" she held her hands an appropriate distance apart, "and I'm…." she held her hands a little farther apart indicating her fox size. His ... you know... was apparently half the size of her entire body.

"It's okay," Dinah giggled. "I'm sure it wouldn't be as fun as animals anyway. You know, apparently dolphins are the only ones besides humans who actually enjoy it on an aesthetic level. You know, besides spreading the genes and all that."

"Interesting. We do retain some human instincts as animals and I can't say we've never considered it but…he got…excited and it was pretty clear it wasn't going to work."

She shrugged; "Well, then again with male dogs they do tend to... get excited. It's why in the Muggle world more often than not they get neutered, and half the time it doesn't stop them from getting excited anyway." She laughed; "They don't fix animals so much in the wizarding world. I'm surprised these two haven't had kittens yet," she nodded at the two cats who were prancing back up to them, a small shrew in Dora's mouth and two mice struggling in Godric's.

Lucy laughed, "Yeah. Then again Severus did invent that spell like you suggested, didn't he? With everything that's gone on this year I'm not sure we need to throw kittens into the mix." She gave Buckbeak a scratch as he eyed the cats. "We'll have to see if he'll give us a ride sometime. Sirius will probably have to come though. He's got experience flying Buckbeak. I don't."

"That sounds fun," Dinah knelt down in front of her cat; "Really, Godric would you kill those poor things already? Dora's shrew is already dead." She looked away as he dropped one mouse on the ground and pinned it there with a paw, biting down on the one in his mouth before tending to the second one. "That's better," she turned back with a sigh, smiling a little at Lucy's disgusted look; "You weren't supposed to watch, you were supposed to look away, like me," she informed her friend.

"I'll remember that for next time," Lucy muttered, looking a little pale.

Dinah lifted up her cat and flicked her wand to send his 'presents' into her robe pocket, intending to wash the clothing as soon as possible after feeding Sarepta. "The protection spell wasn't my suggestion, it was Severus's. And I use it on them when I remember but I don't always. So who knows what will happen, huh?" she scratched under Godric's chin as he purred, and Buckbeak watched, a little hungrily. She pulled her cat a little further away from the large beast. "We should get back. It's getting dark."

"Yeah," her friend agreed, giving Buckbeak one last pat, "Do you want that?" she gestured to the shrew Dora had dropped at her feet, "I don't need it."

"Dora thinks you do," Dinah teased when the grey cat placed the dead shrew right at Lucy's feet. "We can probably just leave it there. I only need one I think, anyway. Or give it to Buckbeak," she took one of the mice from her pocket and tossed it to the Hippogriff, who caught it out of the air and ate it with a shriek of happiness; "Though it's so small it's probably no more than single crisp to him."

"Probably," Lucy grinned, picking up her cat, and toed the shrew towards the Hippogriff, "I don't mean this as an insult," she told him, "I simply don't want to touch it."

The gigantic birdlike creature eyed her suspiciously for a moment, his head cocked, and then he took the shrew and pushed his head against Lucy's shoulder, asking for more.

"Sorry, buddy," Dinah smiled, petting him. "We've got to go for now. But I'm sure there are plenty more where that came from if you just look. Thank you for letting me meet you," she smiled as he pushed his head against her shoulder next, and she hugged his neck. "You turned out all right, didn't you? Despite what you had to face. Maybe I and the snakes and Tommy will turn out all right, too."

* * *

After dropping Godric off in her rooms Dinah continued on her way toward the dungeons where she planned to stay tonight with Severus. After turning into adults they had permanently removed the restriction that they could only spend the night in each other's rooms on weekends and during emergencies such as dark storms, which was just as well. She was finding more and more that she was getting used to sleeping with him by her side. The dungeons felt as much like home as her own rooms, probably more so.

The door to the bedroom was closed when she got there, with just a slit of orange light peeking out through the cracks, and so she figured Severus was in bed already. Probably reading. She headed first to feed Sarepta the mouse and then went straight to the bathroom to wash her hands.

She pushed the bedroom door open to find that Severus had apparently been reading but was not any longer, his book sitting next to him on her pillow, open upside down to a marked page. Instead, he had pulled up the left sleeve of his nighttime robes and was staring intently at the faded dark mark that was etched there, as though waiting for something to happen. He didn't even seem to hear her come in.

She forgot all about taking off the dead-mouse-pocket robes and walked over to climb into the bed; "Severus?" she moved the book from her pillow and settled in next to him, peering with him down at the dark mark; "Has something happened with the dark mark?"

"No," he murmured, still glaring at the mark with a frown on his face; "And that's what's bothering me."

"I'm sorry?" she didn't quite understand.

Severus sighed, turning to meet her gaze; "I have been waiting, expecting it to react ever since we first heard the flayed baby speak in the Dark Lord's voice. And when the headmaster spoke to us this morning, outlining the grave situation we are in and the flayed baby's possible goals, I was certain _something _would happen, but it stays like this. Neutral and faded, like a benign tattoo."

"You think if the flayed baby has an obvious plan for revival, it will react?"

He nodded; "The last time The Dark Lord was close to reviving the dark marks began to burn."

"Yes, the year of the Triwizard Tournament. It sent Karkaroff into hiding."

"And led to his eventual death, yes. But I don't understand why they are not reacting this time. If the Dark Lord is about to be revived, or even if he is close to it, it should be happening as it did then. Yes, he knows after Potter's blathering that I am not on his side, presuming his revived form would retain those memories, but there is no way to differentiate between dark marks once they are burned into his subjects. Everyone's will react. If he plans to be revived he would want his Death Eaters to return to him, and yet nothing."

"Maybe his revival is different this time," she murmured, resting her right hand on the smooth skin of his outstretched left arm, over the mark, causing him to flinch; "Did it hurt?" she worried.

He sighed again; "No. I'm sorry. It still shocks me that you can touch it without fear. It doesn't match you, this evil symbol. It doesn't match you at all. Even though there's a snake. I _am _sorry that it's a snake."

She smiled, resting her head on his shoulder and tracing the long snake issuing from the skull's mouth with a single finger, following its twisting body towards the crook of Severus's elbow, marveling at how soft, smooth, and pale his skin was, even underneath this symbol; "Don't worry. You didn't choose the symbol. Besides, it's not just a snake, it's got a skull, too. That makes a difference."

"Does it now?" he murmured, pressing his lips into her hair and then resting his cheek on her head as he sighed a third time; "Either way, it's never going to disappear. If the Dark Lord is revived everything will change, Dinah. I don't know how or what will happen, but it will."

"Hush," she stroked the mark again, feeling the tension in his muscles lessen; "No matter what happens, we'll make it through together. And I will find a way to help Tommy. Even if the Dark Lord is revived-"

"Don't call him that," Severus's insisted, "Of the two of us, at least you should be able to say the name. You are stronger than me in that respect, and he's never held you under his power like he has me."

"Fine," she smiled, tilting her head to kiss his shoulder before turning back to the mark; "Even if Voldemort is revived, it won't last. Because Tommy is in there. This symbol is nothing more than a sign of what happened to that poor boy because he was completely alone in the world. When you look at it that way, it's more sad than it is frightening."

She felt Severus shaking his head; "No one in this world is like you, Dinah. I could never have imagined, before meeting you, that anyone could see it that way. Not even Potter or the headmaster can see it that way."

"But you've accepted my explanations of Tommy. You and Lucy and Sirius have, as well as Harry and the headmaster. That makes a difference. Knowing that I have at least that many people on my side. Especially you, Severus."

"I resisted for quite some time."

"Yes, and I can't blame you, after what he put you through," she placed her other hand over the mark and felt Severus press his head closer into hers. She slid her right hand down his arm the other way to entwine her fingers with his; "But you did eventually accept that Tommy is what he is, and that I can help him. I _will _help him. I promise you that much. I promise Tommy and the entire wizarding world that much."

"I believe that," he nodded, reaching with his right hand to trace the mark with her, and then resting his palm over the back of her left hand, stopping her from tracing it and turning his arm over, hiding the dark mark from them again as he pushed his sleeve down. "The Dark Lord has a more formidable opponent to contend with in you than he has ever had before. I doubt he expects anyone to try to 'kill him with kindness', so to speak."

She chuckled; "It's the classic storybook solution. Destroy the enemy by using the one thing that they are incapable of understanding. It's how you and Harry were able to defeat him, too. Or at least how you were both able to trick him long enough that he essentially walked into his own defeat."

"Perhaps," he agreed. "Either way, we should be prepared for anything."

Dinah sighed; "I think I'm prepared for _too _many possibilities. It's hard to focus when they're all spinning about inside of your head."

"This year has led us down many roads, I'll admit," he agreed. "And there are still more questions than answers. I can only hope that will be rectified soon. Well," he sighed; "I suppose that's all we can say for now. I still expect the Dark Mark to react and find it odd that it doesn't, but I can't force the answers to appear."

"Right," she nodded; "We've tried all year and been unsuccessful."

"Mm," he agreed, frowning as he moved so that he could meet her gaze; "Well, did you at least enjoy your trip to visit that infernal beast?"

Dinah couldn't help but burst into laughter, burying her face in his neck and squeezing her arms around his waist; "I love you."

"And I you," his light, amused laughter was warm as he hugged her back; "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"That's just what Lucy said you'd call Buckbeak. You are utterly predictable, my darling," she lifted her head to kiss him as his fingers reached for the upper buttons of her robes, and then she remembered something and pushed on his chest to drive him away; "Wait, not these robes!"

"That was the idea," he raised an eyebrow at her; "It's why I was attempting to remove them."

She giggled, moving to stand from the bed; "I'm sorry. But I was going to take them off anyway. Wait, I'll just do that now. You don't want to touch the pockets by accident. It's where I put the dead mice."

"Ah," he chuckled, his eyebrow still cocked at her as she took the robes off, revealing her undergarments. "And you're going to put your dead mouse robes on my chair?" he gestured to where she'd just laid them.

"Uh, sorry," she flushed, climbing back into the bed and taking his hands, placing them squarely on either side of her bare waist; "We can clean the robes _and _the chair in the morning, can't we?"

"I suppose," he teased, his dark eyes dancing with happiness as he leaned down to press his lips to her neck, his fingers moving to the clasp of her bra. "You are sufficiently distracting so as I can tolerate them being there for the time being."

"Good," she murmured, unable to stop smiling as she pressed her lips to his ear, tracing the edge with her tongue as his silky hair tickled her nose and his warm fingers wandered over her bare skin. Tingly, glorious moments like these made all of her troubles this year completely worth it.

It was just as she had told Lucy.

Severus was worth everything.


	151. Sectumsempra

A/N: The excitement starts! I know you're all thinking: 'Finally!' LOL. Please review! :)

* * *

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE

Sectumsempra

* * *

Tuesday was bright and sunny and thus she and Severus had decided to wander the grounds during the first half of the lunch hour. They were stuffed with students practicing frantically for the Quidditch Match on Friday, and Severus's eyes were locked on the Hufflepuffs.

"Severus?" she waved a hand in front of his face as he glared at a group of them.

"They are skilled," he murmured, watching Agrona Huntingdon's friend, the keeper Eloise Midgen perform a complex airborne trick. "I don't know why they practice so hard. They have not yet won a game. Even if they win this one they will not earn the cup this year. Could they not simply let Slytherin beat them in that case? It is my house's last chance to overtake Ravenclaw in the current standings."

"Winning isn't everything, you know," she rolled her eyes, laughing good-naturedly at her competitive boyfriend; "Maybe they just want to do their best because it's fun and about good sportsmanship."

"You are so idealistic," his lips curled into a snarl, half at her and half at the speed of the Hufflepuff seeker as she zipped past them, followed behind by Jania Whitehorn, one of Lucy's favorite Hufflepuff students and a reserve player.

"Yes, well," Dinah chuckled. "All the better to balance you out, don't you think?"

He hissed as another complex move was performed; "What I think is that perhaps I should not have changed my mind about the Slytherin cheating system."

"Severus..." she narrowed her eyes at him and made her voice a warning tone.

"Well, it's too late now either way," he placed a hand on her hip and guided her swiftly away from the Hufflepuffs; "But it has worked for us up until now."

"Which is why Gryffindor has won so many Quidditch Cups lately," she had to point out, making him growl at her. Dinah offered him a sweet smile; "Simply stating a fact, darling."

"Keep your facts to yourself," he snapped, pulling her over to where the Slytherin team was practicing instead. "Well, at least they are also doing well," he glared at the chaser Tobias Vaisey, the Muggle-born Slytherin he disliked because of his birth and his first name, but shrugged; "Vaisey is improving, I suppose."

"I don't think he was that bad to begin with, but I'm glad to see you're relaxing your harsh opinion of him," she smiled, and then groaned as Silvester Tande, the seeker, tripped one of his teammates in order to get ahead of them; "Tande, on the other hand..."

Severus shrugged again; "Say what you will about him, but he is at least not serving detention with me for academic dishonesty. He is... in the middle, you might call it. With respect to the Slytherin traits you so loathe."

"Loathe is a strong word, my love," she murmured into his ear; "You know very well that I don't _loathe _anything."

"Mm, yes, I suppose not," his lips twitched towards a smile.

"May I quote you on that, Professor Samson?" a friendly voice said next to her.

"Alder!" she smiled when she and Severus turned around to see the _Daily Prophet _reporter that had slowly come over to their side of things; "Of course you can quote me on that; it's the truth."

"Mm, I've gathered that," he smiled, tapping his notepad where he had written down her words; "I wondered if you might give me a few statements about the Ministry's choice to administer Veritaserum to you this weekend."

At his mention of the Ministry's plan, Severus's muscles tensed and his hands curled into fists at his sides. Alder frowned at him, looking a bit nervous. "It is not you, Alder," Severus assured him in a low voice; "It is the very idea that I despise."

"There's not much to say," Dinah admitted; "I simply assumed that the easiest option would be to just let them-"

"Hey!" the voice of an excited student nearby interrupted them; "It's Mr. Wilkins! Look! Hi, Mr. Wilkins!"

"Wilkins!" Severus hissed, his reaction instant. Before Dinah even had a chance to process what those words meant, her boyfriend's eyes had taken on a determined look, his expression a snarl of absolute loathing, and his hand had ripped his wand from his robes as he spun around to face where the young Gryffindor girl was pointing and waving.

Sure enough, a familiar figure was walking with his back to them, slightly tanned and muscular with shortly cropped blond hair. Dinah had to break into a run as Severus shoved a surprised Alder out of the way, bolting after Eugene so fast she could not keep up with him. Their nemesis since January stopped in his tracks and turned to see Severus Snape running him down with his wand raised and his expression murderous, and it was his turn to bolt, turning and taking off, running almost as fast as Severus.

"You will _not _get away!" Severus shouted, raising his sleek black wand as he ran. "_Sectumsempra_!" a flick of his wrist and a stream of light and it was done. Dinah barely had time to gasp and feel her eyes widen before the spell hit Eugene's leg, sending him sprawling to the ground as blood gushed from a wide, diagonal gash across the back of his calf.

Dinah skidded to a stop as Severus halted, and the look on her boyfriend's face was so positively furious, his lips curled over teeth bared in a scowl as he glared murderous daggers at his old 'helper', that she was almost a little frightened herself. "It is done," he murmured, his voice soft and satisfied as he slipped his wand back into his robe pocket, marching up to Eugene who had turned to face them, still seated on the ground as his hands clutched at the wound. He wasn't trying to escape anymore, though.

"Well-met, Severus," oddly enough, their nemesis managed a slight smile.

"You will have that scar for the rest of your life," Severus bit out, reaching down and grabbing Eugene by the collar of his robes, lifting him up so that they were eye level with each other, his expression as dangerous as it was before; "Where's the test subject?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"LIAR!" Severus hissed, as a small group of awestruck students started to crowd around them, Alder pushing in to the front, his pad and quill ready along with another reporter that Dinah didn't recognize. Probably a local one; "Dinah," Severus turned to her and his gaze lost a tiny fraction of its hostility; "Check the area. Use _Homenum Revelio_."

"Of course," she agreed, withdrawing her own wand from her robes and raising it, some of the students flinching a little at her action. She shot them what she hoped was a reproving look and spoke; "_Homenum Revelio_." A soft, barely visible wave of clear energy emanated from her wand, bathing the area around them, but no presence was revealed. She shook her head and put her wand away; "Nothing."

"For now," Severus turned back to Eugene, tightening his grip on the other man's robes; "I am done playing games, Eugene. You know we know what you've been up to and you know that we want answers."

"Which I would give to you if you would let me breathe," he croaked out from where Severus's grip on his robes was constricting him.

"Why should I give you that courtesy?" he sneered, his teeth baring again, but he did loosen his grip by the slightest margin; "You have made our lives a living hell for the past three months, positively _ruined _my classes, blocked all of our attempts at finding answers to anything going on around the school, and allowed your mysterious 'friend' to youthen us for no apparent reason. I have had it, do you hear me? _I AM FINISHED_. You will give us answers or you will have more scars to contend with."

"It can all be explained," Eugene's eyes were slightly nervous as he met Severus's gaze, and then he turned his head to look at Dinah only to be met with another glare. Yet she was sure her glare was less threatening than Severus's was. "Perhaps over lunch? I am sure you must be hungry by now," he offered her a smile.

"Do not speak to her as though you are still our friend," Severus snarled, re-tightening his grip on Eugene's collar and forcing their nemesis to face him again; "It is much too late for any of that. We know what you have tried to do to us."

"All the same," Dinah murmured; "I _am _slightly hungry and if Eugene is willing to speak with us perhaps we should take him up on that offer. _Before _you choke him to death," she placed a hand on Severus's arm and he loosened his grip again.

"Fine," her boyfriend snapped, his dark eyes boring into Eugene's, searching but obviously without success. "Alder!" he turned to bark at the reporter.

Their friend visibly jumped, uncomfortable at being faced with the full rage of Severus Snape; "Yes, Professor Snape?"

"Fetch the Aurors from the grounds and send them in after us immediately. Dinah and I will take Eugene to the headmaster."

"Must he be involved in this?" Eugene murmured.

"YOU DO NOT SPEAK!" Severus shouted at the man. "Or I will use a full body-binding curse on you." He withdrew his wand and grasped Eugene's wrists, placing them on top of each other before pointing his wand at them and wordlessly causing ropes to appear, twining them together. "Come with us," he snarled, yanking him by the arm and marching back towards the school entrance as Alder scrambled away to find some Aurors.

"What is going on, Professor Samson? Does this have anything to do with your parseltongue abilities? Are the three of you trying to revive Voldemort somehow?" the local reporter hurried to keep up with them. Obviously this was a nosy, Skeeter-like one.

"No comment," Dinah refused to lock eyes with the reporter as she walked alongside Severus towards the building. This was the last thing they needed right now. And yet the reporter trailed them all the way into the halls of Hogwarts, where they were lucky enough to catch Dumbledore heading away from the Great Hall.

The headmaster's eyes widened as he locked eyes with them and then grew dark and determined and he marched forward. Dinah again had the privilege of witnessing the full strength and determination of Albus Dumbledore, the most powerful wizard alive. "Eugene," his voice was harsh as he locked eyes with the potions assistant; "I see you have seen fit to return to us. Perhaps unwillingly," his gaze shifted from Eugene's bound wrists to Severus's angry face.

"As far was we know, it's willingly," Dinah clarified. She would almost be amused if this situation wasn't so sudden and potentially dire. "Severus just wants to... make sure."

"A wise decision," he nodded curtly at Severus and then looked back at Eugene; "What do you have to say for yourself, then?"

"I can explain everything," the potions assistant murmured, glancing down at his constraints; "But is this really the best place for it?"

"Point taken. We shall, perhaps, reconvene to an empty classroom to discuss this. Ah, Harry," Dumbledore turned and nodded off in the distance and the snoopy reporter looked ecstatic, running over to where Alder was guiding Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and a rather nervous-looking other young Auror that Dinah didn't recognize in their direction.

"Potter," Severus scowled at the boy when they reached them; "Of course. This day just gets better and better."

"Pleased to see you, too, Professor Snape," Harry murmured, locking eyes with Eugene; "Mr. Wilkins."

"Harry Potter," Eugene nodded, rather amiably Dinah thought. But if he was trying to revive Voldemort then it would make sense that he would be pleased to see Harry, only because he thought he would be able to reverse the boy's defeat of the dark wizard.

"Weasley, Longbottom," Severus snarled at the other two and then looked at Alder; "Is this the best group you could come up with?"

"P-Professor Snape," the nervous boy stammered, and Dinah realized that his nervousness was directed solely at Severus. If this was Neville Longbottom, then she understood why. Of all Gryffindor students, Severus had particularly had it out for this boy, seeing as he had considered him somehow incompetent. And yet this was the boy that had killed Nagini.

"Pleased to meet you, Neville," Dinah hoped her smile would offset Severus's death glare.

"Um, likewise..." he managed a smile in return. He seemed like a nice boy. Sometimes Severus's preferences really did make no sense.

"Harry, Ron, Neville!" an excited voice shouted, and Dinah looked up to see Lucy rushing over to them. This whole group was getting horribly crowded. But her friend's expression changed to one of shock and horror when she realized who was standing in-between them; "Eugene!"

"Lucy," Dumbledore turned to her; "Perhaps you would be so kind as to assist Weasley and Longbottom on watching the area for the test subject while Dinah, Severus, Harry, and I interview Eugene over lunch?"

Why Eugene's mouth twitched into a brief, tiny smile at the mention of lunch, Dinah had no idea. Perhaps he was thinking about her eating habits again.

"Of course," Lucy agreed, smiling, "Maybe I can give them tips, share my wisdom."

"Thank you," Dumbledore smiled, "I have a feeling cancelling classes today may be in order, now that our friend has shown up on school grounds again. If you three would please let Professor McGonagall and the other faculty know, I would be most grateful."

Lucy nodded, turning to the two boys, "I'll go inform Professor McGonagall and meet you out front at the Main Entrance. Good luck," she turned to Dinah and Severus, a slight concerned look crossing her face again.

"Thanks," Dinah smiled and Severus gave her a short nod, and Lucy and the other two boys took off in separate directions.

"Professor Dumbledore,' the nosy reporter burst in; "Does this have anything to do with-"

"No press," Dumbledore said firmly, gesturing to an empty classroom down the hall. "Severus, take our... 'guest' into that room, will you? I said _no press_," Dumbledore's voice was booming and authoritative when he turned to the reporter who had shoved his way in the middle of them all and opened his mouth as though to ask another question. But the headmaster's rebuke had him subdued.

Alder frowned down at his notebook, but then shrugged, offering Dinah and Severus both nods before wandering off towards the entrance, probably to try and talk to Ron and Neville. The second reporter took a few glances around and then scurried after Alder.


	152. Revelations

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FIFTY-TWO

Revelations

* * *

Dinah followed Severus down the hallway that stretched across the front of the school, turning into a door on the left just in front of the Great Hall to enter an unused classroom full of long tables scattered haphazardly. She lifted her wand and moved two of the tables together, adjusting five chairs around it so they would all have a place to sit.

"Good," Severus nodded at her, and then led Eugene to one of the chairs, forcing him down into it with a shove. "Might want to take care of that," he said with a smug sneer, pointing with his wand down at where Eugene's _Sectumsempra _wound was still dripping blood.

"I could if I had my hands free," Eugene murmured his reply as Severus sat on his left and Dinah on Severus's.

Severus snorted; "You could, could you? Well, we shall have to wait and see what the headmaster says about that." He turned around in his seat, and Dinah followed his gaze to see that Dumbledore and Harry had entered the classroom.

Dumbledore sat on Eugene's other side, across from Dinah and Severus, and Harry was about to sit next to him when he shook his head; "Would you mind patrolling the room while we conduct this interview? Walk around and make sure no one spies. But leave the main door open. We do not want to arouse too much suspicion. Simply keep checking it."

"Of course, Professor Dumbledore," Harry nodded, and started walking about the room, taking stock of the area.

"Now then," Dumbledore steepled his fingers in front of them and regarded each of their gazes – Eugene's, Severus's, and Dinah's, in turn; "Where shall we begin? Ah, our food is here."

Dinah almost jumped when plates of chicken salad sandwiches and glasses of lemonade appeared in front of each of them. She sighed and picked up a sandwich, turning to regard Eugene with a frown; "Headmaster, can his restraints be removed?"

"Ever the empathetic one," Severus sighed, turning to Dumbledore; "Yes, it seems our lovely potions assistant has a wound that he must attend to." Severus's tone when talking of Eugene was so full of disgust and hatred that it surprised Dinah. He was really milking this reappearance of their nemesis for all it was worth, that was certain. Then again, she remembered her sweet little teenage Severus and the torment and misery that Eugene had put him through, especially in the early days of their youthening, and she had to admit that she understood why her boyfriend despised the man so much.

"Ah, up to our old tricks I see," Dumbledore said, understanding in his eyes as he met Severus's gaze.

"It was a quick, fairly small wound in a non-vital area," Severus tossed off his explanation. Dinah had come to those conclusions right away and had no real objection to him having used the spell. Yes, it was dark magic, but Severus was always in perfect control of it. And it had in some ways been quite an impressive thing to see, she thought with a slight flush, taking a bite of sandwich as Severus continued; "I simply wanted to stop him in his tracks. And to leave a scar," he added with a sneer.

"Clearly," the headmaster murmured, not looking _too _worried about it as he turned back to Dinah; "Yes, I believe he can be freed to attend to that." He lifted his wand and pointed it at Eugene's restraints, causing them to disappear, and then pulled the wand back very slowly, observing Eugene's reaction to the gnarled stick that was – supposedly – one of his and the test subjects' goals to obtain.

Oddly enough, Eugene paid the wand no attention, instead reaching for his own wand and performing some charms on his leg to slow the bleeding and wrap the wound up. The headmaster frowned and put the elder wand away, his brow furrowing at Eugene's apparent disinterest in it.

"Well," Severus, also frowning along with Dinah, wrapped a hand around his glass and took a sip of lemonade before continuing; "Shall we get this over with? It's really quite simple. You are up to something sinister and you are going to tell us what that is."

"It's_ not_ that simple," was Eugene's reply, and he flinched at Severus's death glare.

"You said you could explain everything," Dinah said, hoping to stave off any of Severus's rage and keep things running smoothly.

"I can," was all he said, taking a sip of his own drink.

"Well then?" She raised an eyebrow at him, not liking the way he was beating around the bush about things.

Eugene chuckled; "You have spent so much time around Severus that you have his mannerisms down to a T, Dinah."

Severus almost smiled at that, but his expression shifted quickly back into one of anger as he glared at Eugene, who was most _definitely _beating around the bush. "That is irrelevant. If you are having such a hard time explaining yourself, perhaps we'll start with a specific example. Your recent escape along with the test subject and your argument with him."

"I'm not sure to what you are referring," Eugene bit into a sandwich, not meeting Severus's gaze.

"You know I saw you, Eugene!" Dinah found herself snapping, annoyed that he would be pretending that whole episode hadn't happened when it had caused her so much stress at the time. "The test subject looked at me, said you had company, and you both jumped out the window. Unless he's been using memory charms on you, you ought to remember it!"

"Dinah is right," Dumbledore said, Eugene watching as his hand wound its way around his lemonade glass. He had ignored his sandwiches thus far, probably because he had been coming from lunch when Dinah and Severus had found him, so he had certainly eaten already. "I am afraid if you keep acting as though you know nothing we will have to use harsher methods of interrogation. We know you are an Occlumens, so Veritaserum will not work, but there are other things that can be done," Dinah had never heard the headmaster's tone so dangerous before. "Perhaps we will start with something easier then. Why was the youthening potion administered to Dinah and Severus?"

"That was a mistake," a hint of regret flashed through Eugene's eyes; "It should not have happened."

"That's what you told the test subject," Dinah said. "It seems it wasn't your idea, but his. But you should at least know _why _he wanted to do it to us. We have theories as I'm sure you know but we would be most grateful if you would give us the actual _answer_.'

"Who is this test subject to whom you all continue to refer? I confess, that is the part that baffles me."

"Enough of your stalling!" Severus spat, his hand drawing his wand from his robes again and pointing it at Eugene's face; "Stop playing the innocent. You know exactly to whom we are referring. And you know that we have plenty of evidence of his existence and of the sinister plan you two have concocted, probably to bring destruction down upon the entire wizarding world. Do not pretend you don't know!"

"I have done nothing wrong," Eugene's voice was quiet, almost hurt. Dinah just didn't know _what _to make of this man anymore. It seemed he was back to sending them mixed messages.

"If you've done nothing wrong _why _can't you just explain everything to us?" Dinah demanded, taking a long, frustrated sip of her lemonade; "It would save you a world of trouble and you might get the privilege of having Severus's wand removed from your face sometime this century. At least give us _something_!"

"I will tell you everything, very soon," Eugene murmured, his gaze shifting to Dumbledore who was lifting his glass, and then back to Severus and Dinah, and then to Harry walking around the room and listening to their conversation, and then to Dumbledore again, and then to Dinah, as though he was avoiding prolonged eye contact with any of them.

His behavior didn't escape Severus; "What is wrong with you?" he murmured, glaring; "Look directly at me when I'm talking to you, you insolent sneak. Why did you lie to us from the beginning? You said you were advertising for human testing but that magazine you showed Slughorn was a farce. And yet you produced an effective potion. Who did you test it on, then? Who was in your rooms making noise, collecting wizard cards, and drinking the potion? If not a test subject of yours, then who?"

"I drank it myself," Eugene murmured, sipping his lemonade and not meeting any of their gazes.

"More lies!" Severus snarled, and Dinah sighed. This interrogation was getting nowhere.

"Eugene," Dumbledore said, lifting his lemonade glass to his lips as Eugene looked up at him with an odd glint in his gaze; "I am afraid that if you do not give us something more to go by immediately then we shall have to restrain you again and call in the Ministry to take legal action," he took a drink.

Eugene, for some inexplicable reason, let out a sigh of relief and nodded; "I understand, headmaster." His eyes didn't leave Dumbledore.

"I see," Dumbledore gave Eugene an odd look, and then opened his mouth to speak but instead cut himself off with a choking cough, his lemonade glass slipping from his fingers and shattering to pieces on the floor as his hand came up to clutch at his throat; "What has happened?" he managed through gasps; "My lemonade has been tampered with."

"Ours was fine!" Dinah gasped, not sure what was happening but a sinking feeling creeping across her mind, that they had walked right into a horrible trap.

"You have poisoned the headmaster! How could we not have seen this?" Severus voiced her worries in a shout, standing from his chair and driving the tip of his wand into Eugene's neck; "Surely to get at his wand... this has been your plan all along, has it?" he snarled, and then turned his head and tossed his room key across the floor where it skidded to Harry's feet; "Potter! Go fetch a bezoar from my stores! DO NOT DAWDLE, POTTER! I may be able to slow this progression but we have no time to waste!" Harry broke into a run towards the door.

"Oh, no!" Dinah moaned, burying her face in her hands. How had they just let Eugene force them into a meeting with Dumbledore over lunch. He had been eyeing the progression of the lemonade towards the headmaster's lips ever since the beverages had appeared in front of them, waiting for this moment. He had been the one to suggest a meeting over lunch, he had even pretended to _not _want the headmaster present to throw them off the scent. And yet they had seen none of it and now the headmaster was in such dire straits and there might not be enough time to save him.

Dinah's thoughts were cut off as Severus's hand landed on her shoulder, his fingers digging in as he murmured; "Wait, Potter," in a tone that frightened her more than any he had used yet today. "Look," he murmured to her in that same tone, a tone suggesting doom.

She withdrew her hands from her face and looked up, across at the headmaster who was no longer gasping, but staring at them as his face contorted and his hair darkened and his beard shortened, the wrinkles around his eyes slowly melting into his skin and disappearing from view. "No..." Dinah whispered as the reality of the situation hit her. This was, perhaps, worse than poison, and yet it was happening.

They now saw across the table a handsome young man of no more than eighteen years, his long, light-brown hair pulled back at the nape of his neck in a ponytail, his face smooth and unlined and clean-shaven, but with familiar ice-blue eyes and half-moon glasses sitting atop a crooked nose.

Albus Dumbledore had been youthened.

"_What...have...you...done_?" Severus seethed, his expression livid as he pushed his wand more deeply into the skin of their enemy's neck; "Explain immediately or you will receive more scars than you will ever be able to hide."

"Please, listen to me!" Eugene pleaded, his expression changing instantly from one of calm indifference and satisfaction to one of panic. It seemed that some kind of switch had been flipped inside him; "I can explain this!"

"Headmaster..." Harry's voice from across the room was breathless as he took step after slow step in their direction. When Dinah turned to glance at the boy she saw that his gaze was shocked and dismayed. "Is that really you?"

"What have you done?" a new voice had Dinah's head turning again as the boy across from them spoke for the first time, repeating Severus's words as he removed the glasses from the top of his nose, staring down at them and at the hands that held them, unlined and smooth as his face. He set the glasses down on the table next to his plate of untouched sandwiches and continued to turn his hands over and over, apparently unable to stop staring at them.

"This had to be done. He is not harmed," Eugene insisted, still watching Severus as though afraid he was going to murder him.

"Not harmed!" Dinah found her voice; "You saw what the youthening did to Severus and I! You were so desperate to find a cure for us, or you seemed to be, so even if you are planning something sinister _why would you youthen another person_? Least of all him!" she gestured to the still in-shock young Dumbledore, knowing full well how it felt. "How could this possibly fit into your plans?"

"It is... complicated," Eugene admitted with a sigh, his eyes still locked on Severus's.

"Use the reversal spell immediately!" Dinah's furious boyfriend ordered, jabbing his wand into Eugene, who flinched at the impact.

"I'm afraid I don't know the reversal spell," Eugene replied. "My... friend never taught it to me."

"Ah, so you do admit that he exists!" Severus's eyes glinted with triumph.

"I can. Now." Eugene sighed, and Dinah again sensed relief in him; "Now that it is safe to do so."

"Explain yourself," Severus snarled.

"You say, Dinah, that the youthening potion did terrible things to you and Severus," he ignored Severus's snarl and instead placed his hand on the long black wand, trying to push it away from his neck. To Dinah's surprise, her boyfriend relented a tiny margin, pulling his wand back far enough to reveal the ugly red spot its poking had caused, but still keeping it within an inch of Eugene's skin. "I am aware that it did at first, but that did not last. You both got used to your youthful forms."

"No thanks to you!" Severus snapped, his dark eyes flashing.

"I'm sorry for what I did in class, Severus. I was only doing what I had to do."

"Apologies!" Severus spat; "Worth nothing! You utter despicable-"

"I have done nothing wrong!" Eugene protested again, desperation coloring his words as his eyes darted around the room as though searching for something; "The potion does its work well. It sent the headmaster back to the exact age that he needs to relive."

"That is impossible," the young Dumbledore spoke again, his voice no more than a whisper, and they all turned to face him. He was looking at them with a pleading expression, frightened and vulnerable and barely like the wise old mentor she, Severus, and Harry were familiar with. Dinah's throat tightened as she watched him. She knew _exactly _how this felt and how it changed you, and the horrible familiarity was difficult to bear. She saw sympathy in the young Auror's eyes and even Severus pulled his wand a bit further from Eugene to turn and look at the headmaster, his gaze softening as he considered his old friend. "This can't be... the age that I'm supposed to return to." Dumbledore stared down at his hands again and Dinah noted that his speaking had changed. He didn't normally use contractions. The potion was truly a powerful thing.

"The potion works," Eugene said softly, looking down at his lap instead of at Dumbledore as he massaged his neck with one hand.

"But this is the age... the age that my sister died and my life ended," Dumbledore's head shot up to look at them all again, his eyes landing on Harry; "You know."

"I know," the boy said softly, sighing and stretching his wand hand out towards Eugene; "I am about to do what Professor Snape has threatened if you don't explain yourself as he said. I have used _Sectumsempra _before."

"Let me handle this, Potter," Severus snapped, glaring at the boy.

"We can both attack him, Professor Snape," Harry retorted, returning the glare.

"That's enough, both of you!" Dinah found herself exclaiming, standing and holding her hands between them, receiving surprised glances from both sides; "_I _will handle this." She sighed as they both lowered their wands to watch her curiously and looked at Dumbledore; "Headmaster, I understand how this feels. We will figure something out," Dinah encouraged, and then turned a glare to Eugene, fingering her wand in her robe pocket just in case she needed it; "Eugene, we need an explanation and we need one _now_. A real one if you don't mind."

"This had to be done."

"Why? _Why _did it have to be done? You are trying to destroy our world, to revive Voldemort, to unite the Hallows? What does youthening Dumbledore have to do with any of that? How could you do this to another person, Eugene? It is just about the most vile, unfeeling-"

"Stop it!" Eugene stood from his chair in one swift movement, instigating Severus to whip his wand around and hold it back up to his neck; "Stop speaking to me as though I'm trying to ruin peoples lives or as though I am some sort of evil dark wizard! I'm not! I have done nothing wrong!" Those words again. But Dinah just couldn't trust them.

"How can we believe that, Eugene? _How_, after everything that has happened?" she demanded, removing her wand from her pocket and raising it a little, extending it towards Eugene.

The potions assistant looked hurt again, almost affronted. And weary, as though this whole ordeal had exhausted him more than it had any of them. Again, difficult to believe, but that's what Dinah saw in his eyes as he protested; "All I did was try to grant an old man's dying wish!"

That was an odd response, and when Severus and Harry's wands lowered further along with hers, and Dumbledore's young gaze shifted in confusion to Eugene, she knew that the rest of her group felt the same; "What old man?" she had to ask.

"This old man!" a new voice shouting from the open doorway had all of their heads turning to see a figure removing some sort of invisibility cloak to stand before them. Eugene let out a sigh of relief and Dinah noticed out of the corner of her eye that he sat back down. But her gaze was locked on the figure in the doorway.

An old, withered, wrinkled and bald man stood hunched there in loose-fitting robes, holding the expended cloak – not Harry's or surely the boy would have said something by now – in one hand. He was frail and bony and appeared to be on his last legs as he coughed into his sleeve, but he was completely unfamiliar. Still, he looked up at them, standing tall as he managed a toothy grin and said in a gravelly voice; "Hello, Albus."

Their gazes, even Eugene's, all shifted back to Dumbledore, whose young face was a pale mask of shock as his brilliant, gentle blue eyes locked on their mysterious guest. His lips parted and his young voice murmured one, softly-spoken, awestruck word.

"Gellert."

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**A/N: Please Review! :D**


	153. Subject

A/N: Thanks everybody for your response to the last update! I'm glad to hear that I surprised some of you with Grindelwald's appearance! I was waiting to write that bit for ages! Kat, looks like you were right about the identity! Cool! Thanks for not sharing the spoiler in a review, and thanks for all your nice reviews up through now (thanking you here since you don't have a site profile). Thanks also to everyone who has favorite story/story alerted this fanfic and to all my reviewers!

Okay, VERY MILD DUMBLEDORE/GRINDELWALD SLASH WARNING for this chapter and the next. Nothing explicit. And it's at least half-canon so it's not out of the clear blue either :)

* * *

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FIFTY-THREE

Grindelwald

* * *

"Gellert?" Dinah repeated in astonishment, sure she hadn't heard correctly.

"Impossible," Severus murmured next to her.

"No, it's true!" Harry shouted, pointing with his wand at the withered figure; "I saw him in a scene through Voldemort's eyes last year! That's him! That's Gellert Grindelwald!"

The old man chuckled and coughed once or twice more, but his grin did not disappear. He took a few steps and out of the corner of Dinah's eye she could see the young Albus Dumbledore scoot his chair the tiniest bit backwards, away from the ancient, advancing dark wizard. "Very interesting things, these rebirths," Grindelwald murmured as he walked towards their group. "You were all so shocked when they happened, spending days searching through the records of those killed in the battle, checking to see if any more people were revived. And yet, how easy it was to forget one old man killed by Lord Voldemort in the topmost cell of Nurmengard. No one cared for Gellert Grindelwald, his body dumped carelessly in the forests of mainland Bulgaria without even a proper burial. Imagine my surprise when I awoke there, very much alive and, for the first time in fifty-four years, free of imprisonment."

Dinah gaped along with the rest of them. This was almost too much to take in at once. This old man had been hovering around the entire time, involved in the events of the year in some inexplicable way. Unless he was...

"We did not think to check for your rebirth!" Dumbledore exclaimed, his hands clawing at the table as Grindelwald advanced ever-closer; "Why? How could I have overlooked that? You're back, then, to take my wand, to take the cloak. To unite the Hallows and revive Voldemort!"

"Ha! Albus, have you learned nothing after all these years?" Grindelwald let out a bark of laughter, but he looked more annoyed than pleased; "Has not this boy already told you that I feel remorse for those days?" he pointed a gnarled finger at Harry, whose wand was still raised at the old man.

"I half-believed it until now," the young man murmured, staring at his old enemy and – Dinah also knew now – the man that he had once tragically loved. The man that he still saw in the Mirror of Erised.

Grindelwald had now made it within a foot of the tip of Harry's wand, and eyed the outstretched item as though it were a harmless stick as wild, barely-concealed laughter danced in his gaze. He locked eyes with Dumbledore again; "I was free for the first time in ages. Being imprisoned in solitary confinement for fifty-four years gives a man time to think, Albus. As I am sure you must suspect."

"Please stop this," Dinah was surprised to see fear in the young Dumbledore's gaze as his hands clenched into fists on the table; "Go away, Gellert. Let this go. Leave me in peace."

"Ha! You still don't understand!" Grindelwald snapped; "I have waited a near lifetime for this, Albus. I am not about to leave you so easily. If you knew the struggle that I have endured all these years, after my rebirth, and over the past year, maybe you could see things my way... or maybe not. I am lucky enough that I was able to find Evgeni in Bulgaria and enlist his help to get me into Hogwarts. Rest assured I will not leave until I get what I want."

Dumbledore's hands closed protectively around the Elder Wand at his old nemesis's words, but his gaze didn't leave the old man's eyes.

"Wait," Severus spoke for the first time since he had said 'impossible'. "Then the test subject is – Eugene's mysterious friend is-"

"The test subject. Eugene's mysterious friend. Your primary suspect," the old man coughed and then chuckled, reaching into his robes; "A person that shall appear before all of your very eyes right..." he withdrew a clear vial of bright red liquid from an inner pocket, removed the lid and lifted it to his lips; "Now."

"No, don't!" the young Dumbledore's scream was desperate as he made a useless attempt to stand and grasp for the potion, but it was too late. Grindelwald swallowed all of it down in one gulp, and then after a fit of coughing their shocked eyes were watching another transformation.

The old man's stance began to straighten and his body filled out, the bones slowly being covered with lean, young muscle as his skin paled and bright, golden, curly hair sprouted from his bald, shining skull, cascading in ringlets around his face, which was taking on a youthful, merry look, the wrinkles dissipating as color came back into the filling-out cheeks. The robes hung better on the young body, fitting him well and closely. Dinah found herself staring at the most beautiful young man she had ever seen. He was quite effeminate, actually, almost petite, and a scent wafted from his hair as though it had been freshly washed with a generic shampoo. Mixed with the youthening potion he was always taking, the pomegranate shampoo scent was complete. Yes, this was definitely a person who, as Dinah had once suspected, was quite vain about his appearance.

And yet, in the laughing, freshly-youthened brown eyes Dinah could see a barely-concealed sadness. A despair she had heard of before, in descriptions from Tommy and from a snake and in the sadly humming voice that she had heard that day in January in Slughorn's rooms. There was also a sort of soft weariness in his eyes, matching the weariness that had been in Albus Dumbledore's eyes all year long. Ever since the rebirth, in fact, according to Severus's testimony.

"No," Dumbledore whispered, averting his eyes; "No. Not this. Anything but this."

The young man snorted, that sad look still reflected in his gaze although he managed his teasing smirk nonetheless; "So disappointed to see me then, Albus? I might have thought. Yet, perhaps this youthening will be a gift to both of us, wouldn't you say?" his voice, near the end, was soft.

"What do you want from me?" Dumbledore whispered, still not looking at the other man.

He laughed; "Many things, Albus, but we shall get to them in time. Provided Mr. Harry Potter takes his wand out of my face," he laughed again, but it quickly turned into a cough, causing Eugene to sigh and Dumbledore to look up again at the other man. "Excuse me," the young Gellert Grindelwald said. His younger voice was no longer gravelly and so Dinah got the hint of a Bulgarian accent that she had heard when she had encountered him hooded in the hall talking to Eugene before their escape. "There is much to tell. If no one objects I would prefer to start at the beginning."

No one spoke, and Dinah turned to exchange a glance with Severus, who shrugged, indicating that like her he was now at a loss and had _no _idea quite what was going on or where this was headed. Harry looked similar as he lowered his wand from Grindelwald's face.

"Well, then," the young man chuckled again, turning his mischievous expression to the other blond male at the table; "I must thank you, Evgeni. You have put up with my whims this long year, and have done all the horrible things that I asked you to do with little complaint and – mostly – understanding and trust. In a way," his gaze now shifted slightly to Dinah's boyfriend as his lips turned up in amusement; "you were my own personal Severus."

"I don't like the way you word that," Severus growled, sitting down in his chair and letting his wand hand rest on his leg, not ready to attack but still in reserve just in case.

Dinah followed suit and let herself sit down in her own chair, while Grindelwald sat next to her and Harry sat next to Dumbledore across from them. It was still hard to believe that this was true – that they had finally identified the test subject and that it was _Gellert Grindelwald_, a man who was supposed to be dead but for that mysterious old magic that revived those who still needed to be alive for one reason or another. She supposed in a way it made sense that nobody had thought of Grindelwald as a candidate for rebirth, and yet who was she to judge who did or did not deserve a second chance.

"It was you this entire time, Gellert," the boy with the long brown hair was still staring at the golden-haired boy in disbelief, his fingers curled protectively around the Elder Wand; "How? How did I not see it?"

Gellert chuckled and shook his head; "Because you never change, Albus. You go around helping everyone else with their problems. You are capable of solving everything anyone else has ever had to face, and yet you never do anything for yourself. The minute something connects to _you _and your personal life you can't see it. You could never see me until I appeared in front of you. That is something I counted on."

Albus sighed; "Yes. That and the lust for power are my greatest faults. Yet you are here for that latter reason. You are still chasing after the Hallows, Gellert."

"Don't be ridiculous, Albus. I gave up on the search for the Hallows long ago."

"Then how do you explain the symbol in Eugene's book? The _Tales of Beedle the Bard _you were carrying around and discarded in the lake?" Severus demanded.

He scoffed, turning to look squarely at Dinah and Severus; "You two and your mystery-solving. You've been on one giant wild goose chase this entire time. Had I known how difficult you both would end up I may have chosen not to youthen you."

Dinah felt just a little bit insulted and Severus's snarl showed the same.

"You can't honestly expect me to believe that you gave up the search for the Hallows so easily, Gellert," Albus murmured. "It was your life's goal. It was everything to you. And all evidence this year points to you trying to unite them to revive Voldemort."

"Circumstantial evidence, Albus. Hardly anything to go by." Gellert sighed. "You do not understand at all. The symbol in the book that you saw, Dinah," he turned and spoke to her as though they were long-friends, and Dinah supposed since he had been following them around like a puppy at least since the youthening that he probably felt like their friend, or like something of theirs at any rate. "I have had that book for years. When I met Evgeni we got a hold of some of my old things and that potions book - very helpful in developing the youthening potion, by the way – was one that I had owned ages ago and placed the symbol in. The only thing it proved was that I was a part of this."

"So you are saying that this is like when I first saw the symbol around Xenophilius Lovegood's neck and Viktor Krum told me that it was Grindelwald's symbol. I told Xenophilius that and he insisted that it was not your symbol and told us the tale of the Hallows and sent us down that path. But this time... it really _was _just your symbol?" Harry looked shocked and Dinah couldn't blame him. Was Grindelwald really suggesting that the symbol in this case was nothing more than an indication of his presence and involvement?

"You are an intelligent boy," Gellert smirked at Harry; "I can see why Albus kept you around all these years. Severus as well. You two have more in common than you'd like to admit."

"Stick to the subject matter at hand, Grindelwald," Severus hissed, looking disgusted at the comment as his hand tightened around his wand and Harry winced a little.

Gellert ignored him. "And Dinah. Of all the people who might understand my position, it is you. Yet I can see you have not done so quite yet..." he admitted, regarding her annoyed expression.

"What _about _the Deathly Hallows book?" she prodded, getting a little sick of people always telling her that she was the perfect, understanding Hufflepuff. Well, it wasn't that bad, but it was getting a little bit redundant as of late. And what did telling her do about it? If she was going to understand this situation she would do so of her own accord, regardless of whether outsiders kept pointing it out to her. But she was a little frustrated this afternoon.

"That book had nothing to do with the Hallows!" his eyes suddenly took on a wild look as he slammed his hand onto the table, causing Albus to jump and back his chair up some more. What exactly was the young headmaster afraid of, Dinah wondered. Was he still afraid that Grindelwald knew who killed his sister? "I bought it because it was _your book_, Albus. I read it because it had your words, your language, in the footnotes and essays. I forced Evgeni to buy hundreds of chocolate frogs just so I could collect cards with your picture on them and _look _at them."

"He has about a thousand of those cards by now," Eugene said, speaking for the first time in ages.

Gellert snorted softly; "Yes, but then I decided I had to stop living in my dream world and move forward, and I tossed the book in the lake. There was no longer any time to beat around the bush. I wanted the real thing. I wanted _you_," he looked squarely at Albus, that oddly haunted look in his eyes again.

"What are you saying, Gellert?" Albus murmured, tilting his head back away from the other man, looking like he didn't believe a word of it. Dinah wasn't sure she did either. Collecting that many cards seemed silly when looking at one ought to be enough. Then again, fifty-four years of solitary confinement would probably drive a person a little mad, and she wasn't sure Gellert Grindelwald had been all that stable to begin with.

"Isn't it obvious?" he sighed, staring down at the table. "My goals this year have had nothing to do with the Hallows. Fifty-four years in prison gave me a lot of perspective, Albus. Yes, when Voldemort was there demanding the wand's whereabouts I was prepared to die, ready for it, accepting of it. But that was when I thought I would have no chance at freedom again. When I awoke I realized... I wanted to _live_. I had something that I could do. And I did it. With Evgeni's help. Or at least, I've gotten this far."

"And the flayed baby and the dementors?" Albus demanded, looking bolder and a little angry as he squared his shoulders and met the other young man's gaze; "The connection to the dark storms? You are going to sit there and deny that that had anything to do with you when we all _know _that it did?"

"That was all an unfortunate coincidence," Gellert murmured, his eyes blazing; "I didn't expect that thing to latch on to me, but it did. It was here and it needed some kind of darkness, some kind of despair to strengthen it and I suppose I fit the bill better than anyone else. Although I won't deny that its presence was _convenient_."

"So you _do _wish for its revival," Severus snarled, raising his wand; "Or at least you don't care that you've been helping it along all this time."

He snorted again; "That was one thing and this was another. It had nothing to do with my goals, and so no, I didn't care what it did with me. I had more important things to worry about than that."

"You are still the same then;" Albus glared at his old nemesis; "You still care nothing for anyone but yourself and you go about life focused only on your own goals and whims."

"A person can only change so much, Albus," Gellert chuckled, gesturing to Eugene; "My young friend here also often criticized me for those values. But I am who I am. And yet he still remained willing to help me. I have nothing but gratitude for that."

"Don't mention it," Eugene muttered with a sigh.

"Besides, that flayed baby or incarnation of Voldemort or whatever it was only made a superficial connection to me. It's deepest connection was always with Tommy and with you, Dinah. I was just another random pawn in the game. It liked my despair. Reveled in it. And I didn't care either way if it did or not. Despair will do that to you."

"But why despair?" Dinah had to ask.

Gellert sighed; "This is why I wished to start from the _beginning_." He broke off suddenly into a series of coughs, lifting his robe's sleeve to his face to muffle and cover them.

"What are you playing at?" Albus asked softly, watching Gellert with a wary eye; "What is going on here?"

"I'm sorry. Wait one moment;" Gellert reached into his robes and pulled out another vial of the youthening potion, swallowing it down in one gulp. There was no visible transformation, but he seemed to be able to breathe better. "My despair connects directly to this situation. I was dying, you see. Even before Voldemort came to interrogate me I was on my last legs. Something with the lungs I expect. Probably cancer or emphysema, I really don't know. I have – obviously – not been examined for it. When I was reborn it was like some kind of cruel joke – the magic revived me, but with the same disease."

Everyone just stared at him. Dinah didn't really know _what _to say to that. It was horrible, but as she understood it the old magic _did _revive everyone in the same state they were before they died. But it didn't seem to make sense to revive someone that was dying naturally anyway. But it was Grindelwald's will to live that had summoned the magic to him. Maybe that was enough for it. Turning to look at Eugene, she saw that the man's expression was sad, and in an instant her feelings for him softened. She didn't know all the details, but she had a feeling she understood his mixed messages a little more now. He _had _just been trying to grant an old man's dying wish. Yet, she still did not know what that wish was.

The young, handsome Gellert Grindelwald burst out laughing; "Oh, do I get some sort of sympathy from this group now? Very interesting. Well, I did not worry too much about the disease at first, not when I had so many other plans and when I was free. Surely, I could find a cure while I made my way to Hogwarts to accomplish my goal. But in order to get into the school unnoticed I needed an accomplice. It was then that I met Evgeni."

Gellert's gaze turned to the potions assistant and he continued; "You were perfect, Evgeni. The most brilliant potions master in eastern Europe, a prime target for the silly Horace Slughorn. All we had to do was meet the man, and as expected he jumped at the opportunity to hire you as his assistant and future successor. I was in Hogwarts. I admit that it was much more _convenient _hiding in your rooms as we tested the potion, but then once I administered the youthening I had to move to the Forbidden Forest," he looked pointedly around at the group; "Not the best place for someone dying of lung disease, really, but I suppose I can't complain. I'm still here today. I made it to my goal."

"But why all the sneaking around?" Harry asked.

"Should I take back my comment about your intelligence?" he snapped; "Do you think the world was ready to see Gellert Grindelwald alive? Do you think I would have escaped re-imprisonment in Nurmengard if anyone discovered me? And more important, _Albus _was not yet ready to meet me. I wanted us both at this age. It seemed... the only thing that might work. And while Evgeni kept trying to perfect the youthening potion for me and I tested his concoctions, we tried to cure my disease. It seemed promising at first, with him on my side. I even thought the youthening potion might cure it, but unfortunately we were never able to include such properties. It does help, though. If I keep taking it, I can stave off the worst symptoms for some time. Yet, that time keeps shortening the longer I go on..." his eyes flitted down to the table for a moment, but when he looked up they were still glinting and he was still grinning. But Dinah had a feeling that he, like Severus, was good at hiding his true emotions.

"Perhaps I could have stayed in Evgeni's rooms were it not for you two!" he snapped, turning his glares on Dinah and Severus; "Spying and nosing about in the back rooms, trying to ruin my plans at every turn. And yet I suppose I should thank you both. Your skills in potions helped Evgeni to develop ours in record time, Severus, and your prophecy, Dinah, gave me the brilliant idea to use the two of you in my test of the potion. I had to test three things. One, that it sent me back to the proper age – this age, the age when I first met Albus, and you were the second test. The test to see if it really allowed you to relive the time that you needed to. To see if you could fix your problems. And you did, but if you don't mind my saying so it _took you both long enough_!"

"I hardly think you are in a position to judge us, Grindelwald!" Dinah found herself snapping as Severus scowled at him; "After all, we didn't _ask _for you to youthen us!"

He scoffed; "Do you know how annoying it was following you two around those three months waiting for you to come to your senses? You!" he pointed at Dinah; "You and your complete and utter lack of self-esteem about your parselmouth abilities and about your prophecy and 'oh he'll never be able to love me'. You are like Albus, in some ways. You could help other people with their problems, empathize with other peoples predicaments, but not work things out for yourself."

Dinah stared at him, and found herself hanging her head. He was right, in some ways, yes, but did he really have to say it? She felt Severus's hand on her arm and looked back up at Grindelwald.

"Well, I'm glad to see that you've at least come to your senses by now. Impressive, taking charge of interrogating Evgeni while these two," he pointed to Severus and Harry, "couldn't stop arguing about who got to do it. At least you've finally discovered your strength."

If he was trying to sound somehow benevolent, he wasn't doing a very good job, Dinah couldn't help but think. He sounded more mocking, and the young Dumbledore was glaring at him as though he thoroughly disapproved and expected such behavior from him. And yet, that look of weariness, sadness, fear, and longing was still barely visible in the ice blue eyes.

Gellert had now shifted his annoyed glare to Dinah's boyfriend; "And _you_!" he pointed.

"Careful, Grindelwald," Severus said dangerously, raising his wand.

But Grindelwald didn't look in the least frightened; "What can you do to me, Severus? I am already dying," he laughed and shook his head; "You were just as bad as her. On and on and _on _with your endless devotion to a dead woman who never loved you when you had _this _right in front of you!" he gestured ceremoniously to Dinah.

Dinah managed to feel offended for a moment before Severus growled and pulled her into his arms, pressing his head to hers. She closed her eyes for a moment and leaned against him. That was over now. Didn't Grindelwald understand that? Maybe it had been annoying to him, but it had all worked out. He had no right to complain or to drag all their old problems back to them. When she opened her eyes she noticed that Harry looked a little upset at Grindelwald's offhand reference to his dead mother, and she felt another wave of anger toward the young dark wizard.

"I was foolish, yes, but that is none of your business," Severus said, lightening his grip on Dinah's arms by the barest margin and adjusting so that his head was still next to hers as he glared over her shoulder at their elusive 'test subject'. "Do you know what I think?" he snarled, his voice a dangerous purr in her ear; "I think that you are a sick bastard, using us to further your plans with absolutely no regard for our privacy. The headmaster is right. You have no concept of anyone but yourself. How much time did you spend following us around and spying on us for only your pathetic whims?"

"Oh, don't worry, I have not observed any of your _intimate _moments," his tone was mocking and Dinah found her cheeks grow hot as Severus's fingers dug a little into her upper arms. "I simply needed to observe the progression of the youthening for my second test. And do not pretend that you aren't grateful for it. I've heard you talking. It may have been hard at first but you actually _miss _being children now! I gave you a gift!"

"BUT IT WAS NOT YOUR PLACE TO GIVE IT!" Severus shouted, his flushed face livid and causing Harry to look a tad nervous; "IT WAS NOT YOUR LIFE! And I would have found Dinah on my own. We both could have fixed our problems without the potion!"

"But I did not have the _time_ you have, don't you understand that?" Gellert shouted, standing from the table and glaring around at all of them, his expression only softening when it passed over Eugene and Albus. "I suppose I should not judge," his tone suddenly quieted and he looked down at the table. Dinah was starting to think that he really _was _a little bit mad. "After all, I did not go about everything the right way myself. I thought I had so much time at first. _So _much time. Thought for sure we could discover a cure, but then on that day it became evident that there was no hope.


	154. Reunion

A/N: Long chapter. Again, VERY MILD DUMBLEDORE/GRINDELWALD SLASH WARNING for this chapter. Nothing explicit.

* * *

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOUR

Reunion

* * *

"The potion was complete," he sat down again, his gaze shifting to Albus and a slight smile turning up his lips; "It did almost everything we wanted it to do. It sent me back to this age, but it did not cure my illness. It only made it a little better for a few moments. Yes, it only youthens but does not cure or erase. You still have your dark mark, Severus; and you, Albus," he extended his hand across the table toward his wary familiar; "You did not have this the last time we saw each other at this age, the symbol of your brother's anger," he lightly touched the other young man's crooked nose, and Dinah was surprised to see unhidden affection in his gaze.

"Don't touch me!" Albus spoke for the first time in ages, shoving Gellert's hand away from him and backing up, his blue eyes tormented; "You ruined my life! You destroyed everything! And yet you think you can just come back here and – and- do whatever it is you're trying to do? You can't! I don't want you here! It's because of you that Ariana died and my life was ruined! It's because of you that I can't do anything for myself anymore! I gave up on trying to help myself when I realized that all it did was lead to destruction. My sister is dead because of you!"

"Do not think that I don't regret that," he murmured, and then smiled at the fear that crossed his young friend's gaze; "You still worry about that, don't you? That I somehow _know _which of the three of us killed your sister. Which of us dealt that final blow."

"No. No, please. Don't," Dinah had never seen so much fear and terror in the headmaster's eyes. Even in his young form, it was surprising to witness.

Gellert shook his head and laughed, and once again it held affection; "Honestly, Albus. Again you cannot see the truth. Don't you think that if I knew I would have told you during our duel in 1945? Don't you think that if I knew who killed your sister I would not have run away at the end of the battle when it actually happened? I do not know. I do not know any more than you or Aberforth know and why should I? We were all in the same place and I saw everything you both did. I do not know."

"You..." Albus hesitated, his eyes taking on a considering, almost hopeful look, as his clenched fists relaxed and then loosened where they sat on the table and he leaned forward; "You don't know?"

"No. I don't know. When she died I knew that I was in trouble. That I had overstayed my welcome in Godric's Hollow. I knew one of us was responsible but I did not know who, but either way the blame would land on me. If I knew who it was I might have argued my way out of the situation or had something to dangle above the both of you, but that state of not knowing was too much. You may not believe me but I did not wish that girl harm."

"Liar!" the other young man's eyes were now shining with unshed tears; "You lied about everything that entire summer! You were _happy _to kill my sister! Happy to see our family destroyed because it furthered your own goals! You used me!"

"I was a foolish child, Albus," Gellert's gaze shifted to the table again; "We were both foolish children. But people change. You already know that I care nothing for the Hallows anymore, that I felt remorse for the past and that I even tried to protect your grave from the hands of Lord Voldemort. Even now, is it so hard to believe that I really did love you?"

There was a collective gasp around the table and Dinah felt her heart start to race. It was all coming together now, beginning to make sense. Was it possible that both of these men were reborn for that reason?

Albus, on the other hand, looked terrified. Whether terrified because he knew Gellert was lying or terrified of hoping that he wasn't, Dinah didn't know; "Liar!" he said again. "You never loved me! It was all an act! An act to get me on your side, to use my abilities! You tricked me all summer! Those moments we spent together were nothing but a clever ruse on your part to string me along!"

"That's what I thought, too," he said with a sad smile; "I thought it for a long time, but I was wrong. As I said, fifty-four years in solitary confinement gives one... perspective." Gellert sighed; "I don't expect you to believe me right away, but hear me out. There was not so much despair at first when I thought I had time. As I said, I have not changed much. I thought perhaps once the youthening potion was ready I could skip straight to step three, try it on you and see if it sent you back to the same age. To this age. If it did I thought I could be reasonably confident that we were meant to reunite and fix the problems of our past. I did not think you would come around right away, but I thought it might be... fun," he smirked, "to mess around with you for awhile, get you to see things my way." He sighed and stared down at the table; "But then I realized that I had no time left. That even the youthening potion could not keep me alive much longer."

"I realized then just how foolish I still was," Gellert murmured, and now tears shimmered in his own eyes as he stared at the table; "I didn't know how much time I had, but I could not risk running through with it without knowing if it would work. Because this was my only chance. That was when the despair began, that day of the Slug Club party in January."

Dinah bit her lip. That was the day she had heard the humming and the despair, and she felt it again now, positively emanating from the beautiful young man in front of her. Gellert Grindelwald, knowing that he would not live much longer and that he might never get a chance to fix the mistakes of his past and reunite with the man he loved, humming his sorrow and loneliness during the dark storm and looking at wizard card after wizard card of his beloved Albus Dumbledore. She now knew why she felt so much camaraderie with the 'test subject' on that day. After all, it had only been shortly after the day she and Severus had decided their relationship could not progress beyond its current state. The day after she had committed herself to believing he could never love her.

Yet here Severus was, his hands still on her arms and his head over her shoulder as they listened to Gellert speak, his silky black chair tickling her cheek and his warmth surrounding her. There was still hope. Maybe even for this young man, who obviously was not so sinister as he initially seemed. Not perfect, certainly, but not beyond redemption either.

Dinah managed a small sigh, and her boyfriend shifted to look at her, cocking his head slightly as his eyes asked the simple question if everything was all right.

"Mm," she managed, nodding. "I just understand now."

Gellert looked at her, and the smile he gave her this time was not mocking or sinister, but kind and reflecting that same camaraderie that she had felt; "As I suspected. You were the first to come around, Dinah."

She chuckled; "Yes. I suppose that's why I was sighing." A look at Albus, though, showed that although his eyes had softened as he watched the other young man he still did not completely trust him. But perhaps that would come in time.

"I didn't know what to do anymore," Gellert admitted. "And then I heard it. I heard the screaming of her prophecy, echoing everywhere as she came and spied in my room for the second time. I heard the specific words 'she will relive the past' and then it became clear. She could be youthened. It was a part of the prophecy. _I _wasa part of the prophecy. I had to be a part of it. It was the perfect chance to see if the youthening potion really _worked_. And I knew you two had problems of a sort already. It was so easy to decide to administer the potion to the both of you. So very easy."

"That seems like rather a stretch of logic," Severus managed with a smirk, still seeming skeptical as the headmaster did; "And how did you recognize the words? They are supposed to be in parseltongue."

He chuckled; "With all your intelligence you haven't figured it out yet? I, like Albus, am self-taught in the language. I cannot speak it but I understand it. I knew that darkness had already latched on to me, knew it when it possessed that poltergeist right under my nose. I think it wanted the prophecy to go into effect so that you could help it get to Tommy, Dinah, but I don't really know. It liked being around me, though. I suppose my energies resonated with it somehow. But had it not liked me so much I may never have gotten the idea for the youthening. So although it was at times annoying, I still maintain that it was convenient."

"And it drove everything down the path of Dinah's prophecy," Severus growled.

"Which is not necessarily a _bad _thing, Severus, need I remind you?" Gellert retorted. "It _does_, after all, still say that she will bring peace. Besides, I cannot take back the youthening now. Although Evgeni was not very happy with me after that," Gellert shot his friend a wry smile.

Eugene sighed; "That was an understatement. I got involved in this because I thought I could help an old man's wish come true. Yes, I knew he was Gellert Grindelwald but after he told me his story I had no doubt that he was completely trustworthy after all his time in Nurmengard, all the thinking and contemplating he had done. His plight moved me and I volunteered to help. He has actually teased me that had I gone to Hogwarts I would have been in Hufflepuff. Like you, Dinah."

Dinah sighed and nodded. There it was again. Well, she was sort of getting used to it.

"But I did not expect it to take this turn. I was furious when he youthened you both. The potion was supposed to be for him and him alone, but I wanted help from other people in designing it, and so I needed to lead you and Severus and Slughorn along by pretending that I was conducing human testing, thus the transfigured advertisement. But I _never _intended for you to be youthened. And yet I simply could _not _reveal Gellert's involvement. He begged me to keep you from figuring things out, to slow your investigations, to do everything I could. I was already involved and I still wanted to help him, so I agreed, although I was not happy about it. Yes, Severus, I _know _that I tormented you in class, and I cannot tell you how sorry I am about that. Nor did I like pretending so much incompetence, but you must understand that I _had no choice_."

Severus's expression was still harsh as he turned to Eugene, but it was no longer dangerous; "We'll address those issues later."

The potions assistant sighed and nodded; "For what it's worth, I did try to make it up to you both by designing a reversal. It was the one thing I did that was against Gellert's wishes, but I just didn't think that you two should have been youthened, especially as miserable as it made you both seem at the beginning. I did try, but it didn't work. And then he told me that he had a reversal spell prepared for ages and once again we clashed."

"Yes," Gellert agreed; "I kept watch on both of you as you progressed along your – _too long_, have I mentioned? – youthening journey," he shot them glares and they glared back at him. "At any rate," he continued, "I wanted some sort of very obvious confirmation that the youthening had done what you wanted it to do before I administered my prepared reversal. It was nice, of course, when you slapped that man for calling him names and when you accepted her parseltongue abilities and when you comforted him about his past and when you both first became intimate and when you _finally _decided that you were in love with her and when you decided to help Tommy and to accept your parseltongue abilities, but none of those things were enough. I needed it to be _exact_."

Well, now Dinah was definitely feeling annoyed again and Severus looked much the same. How much had this man _seen_,anyway? He had certainly done a good job at listing all the important turning points in their relationship while youthened.

"Oh, don't worry," Gellert tossed off, reading their thoughts; "I was mostly observing from a distance when I did observe things and a lot of that was from conversations you both had about the incidents later. The main thing is that I wasn't satisfied. But then you both said point-blank that the youthening had been a good thing, and I knew. You may have heard me outside on that day. If you had used _Homenum Revelio _at that moment you would likely have found me, but neither of you used it. And then, of course, my intense relief and emotion summoned that flayed baby again. When it attacked you, Dinah, and you were both sufficiently distracted was the perfect time for me to administer the reversal, and so I did. All that remained was the third task."

"That's when you heard us arguing in the hall," Eugene sighed, looking at Dinah. "He spent a few days in the Forbidden Forest in-between, leaving me tormented and wondering what he had done to reverse your youthening and by the time he showed up again I was almost ready to quit on him, but I didn't."

"Again," Gellert smiled at Eugene; "Thank you."

"Yes, well," Eugene grumbled; "Either way, Gellert didn't want to set this in motion until he had a good plan. He needed to see if the potion returned you to the correct age before he could reveal himself to you, headmaster. It's why I waited to say anything specific about him until you had drank the lemonade and been transformed. Then I knew everything was over. You can't imagine my relief at that."

Albus frowned, speaking again for the first time in a while; "I see."

Gellert chuckled; "I myself snuck into the kitchens much earlier than Evgeni got into the castle. I was simply waiting for the house elves to receive a food request from the headmaster to inject a tiny, invisible dose of the potion into his drink. I expected that you would both speak in his office, but Severus, ah – changed my plans. Obviously."

"_Obviously_," Eugene glared at Gellert, his eyes shifting down towards his wounded leg.

"My apologies," Gellert offered, and then cut himself off with a fit of coughing.

"Gellert?" Albus turned his frown to the man sitting across from him, his young eyes still suspicious but also reflecting a hint of worry.

"Ah," Gellert smiled; "Is this a show of concern finally, Albus? Are we making progress?"

"I don't know about that," the young headmaster sighed, eyeing him; "But you should take care of that, shouldn't you?"

"I'm working on it," he withdrew more youthening potion from his robes and drank it; "Even as a young man today seems worse than usual. Probably because I stayed in my old form as long as I did. I have been keeping myself very close to the age of youthening for a long time now, because it better staves off the disease. But I wanted to transform in front of you – blame it on my foolish vanity," he chuckled. "I still make mistakes, especially as before I transformed that most recent time I was fairly certain I was close to death. Staying in my old form for just those ten minutes put a lot of strain on my body. I don't think I have much longer..." he shrugged; "Either way, you cannot imagine _my _relief when you took the potion and reverted to this perfect age," he cocked his head and smiled; "You are just as handsome as ever, Albus. Do you remember that summer? Some of our... moments together?"

"Do not try to – do not make me think that I have – no! No, I do not!" Albus, flushed, growled his response.

"Still resisting," Gellert chuckled; "Well, that was to be expected. I should still have time enough to rectify that. Have my words not made an impact on you, Albus? What about my collections?" he withdrew a wizard card from a robe pocket and slid it across to the other man; "One of hundreds, as you know. And I was in your office. I probably should not have snuck in there that day but I wanted to be there, to see your things. It did not help that these two continually tried to identify me and figure out what I was doing," he pointed to Dinah and Severus; "A side effect of the youthening, I suppose. Still, that dog of yours was a particular thorn in my side," he offered them a glare.

"Snuffles is diligent," Dinah murmured her response, shrugging, and Harry looked amused at her comment.

"Always has been," Severus muttered agreement. "If you think we can control him you have another think coming."

"It's just as well, I suppose," he shrugged, and then laughed; "I must admit that it _was _at least convenient the ridiculous conclusions you all kept drawing about the true nature of our goals. At least it kept you away from the truth while I got things in order. Evgeni and I working together to revive Voldemort indeed!" he snorted.

"Why?" Albus whispered; "Gellert, you devoted your _life _to the dark arts and to similar goals as Voldemort. How can you say that you don't care for those things anymore?" his voice began to raise. "You are not the type to just bury those goals!"

"Oh, I'm not, am I?" Gellert demanded, raising an eyebrow; "I know for a fact that you don't hate me that much, Albus. You're just afraid. You don't want to hope. You don't want to believe that I love you."

"Because I can't! I can't possibly believe it! You pretended to love me, yes, but those moments we shared were all lies! All lies as you used me and then it culminated in you _killing my sister_! If you had never showed up she would still be alive today! You were good at acting, and perhaps you felt some lust, but none of it was real. You used me from the very beginning. You were horrible. I wish I'd never met you," tears glistened in his eyes again.

Gellert looked much the same; "Really? Really, Albus?" he said softly, "Because as I understand it you still see me. You still think of me. I am the 'last image in the Mirror of Erised'."

Albus twitched slightly in his seat, and then shook his head; "No. That's a weakness of mine. The problem is that I know I should _not _feel that way, and that's the truth. The truth lies in the fact that that will never happen. It is a dream that won't come true. Because you don't love me. You'll never love me. It was all an act and it still is now."

"Why would I go through everything I did this year just to keep lying to you, Albus?"

"I'll never understand your whims." Dumbledore was most definitely in denial.

"Yes, it was all an act at the time, or at least I thought it was. I convinced myself that it was." Gellert averted his gaze from Albus, staring down at the table; "My goals were different in those days, my priorities not in order. And yet I realized as I sat alone for fifty-four years in that prison, that what I thought was a lie was actually real. I _did _love you back then, Albus. Our moments together were the happiest I ever had. I thought I was so happy because I was working towards my goals, because I was going to get what I wanted, because I would have power. But the minute I left Godric's Hollow I never felt happiness that strong again. I realized that my happiness was from _you_. Lying in your arms, living out that 'act' that turned out to be the truest thing I ever felt in my life!" his head shot up and tears shone in his eyes again; "You must believe me, Albus, I never wanted to do what I did. I never wanted to cause the death of your sister. Yes, I ran away without facing the truth but I was afraid and I was stupid and I don't expect you to forgive me but I just thought that maybe... maybe if we took on these forms again you would see fit to at least _understand_. Please, Albus."

Dinah watched for the headmaster's reaction. She found that she believed Gellert Grindelwald, the test subject she had so identified with, wholeheartedly now and only hoped that the rest of the group could do the same. Especially Dumbledore, who had been too lonely his entire life and too miserable this year while he searched in vain for a reason for being reborn that she was almost certain was staring him in the face right now, pleading with him for understanding.

"No," the other boy almost whimpered as a few tears broke free from his eyes. He swiped at them; "No, I won't believe it. I can't. I can't understand. You ruined... everything..."

"I'm so sorry, Albus," Gellert whispered; "I truly am. I never... I never intended to put you through everything that I did. I tried to hide from it for a long time, to hide from the guilt over what I did to your sister. It's part of the reason I avoided you as long as I did, but then I had to face you in our duel. I thought if I defeated you I would be able to forget all of that, take my power, and move on. But _you _defeated _me _and I was imprisoned in Nurmengard. It gave me all the time in the world to figure out the truth. I love you, Albus."

"No."

Gellert opened his mouth to try to explain more but what came out was a series of coughs, and Albus's eyes shot up to him again, understanding finally starting to glimmer in the blue depths. "I don't have much time left, Albus," Gellert murmured, taking another sip of potion and then sighing; "I thought I was all right with death until I was reborn and realized I had a second chance. Now I won't let myself die until I make you see. I have long not cared about Hallows or pureblood supremacy or power. Yes, I may still have some lingering prejudices and I still make mistakes. I am not perfect. Even now I was vein enough to take on my old appearance and shorten my life for simple showmanship, but you have to believe me when I say that I love you. Albus," he stood from the table.

"Don't!" it was the other young man's turn to stand, backing up as Gellert walked around the table, approaching him.

"Why can't you give me a chance?" Gellert demanded, stepping ever closer; "You have always touted understanding and the strengths of love and forgiveness. Couldn't you, for once in your life, stop using them only to refer to others and use them for your_self_? I know that I have made mistakes," his voice shook a little towards the end and his eyes took on that pleading look again; "But can't you forgive them? I know I have done stupid things and continue to do them, but you can accept me _despite _my faults. Like those two did for each other," he turned and gestured to Dinah and Severus and Dinah turned, exchanging a surprised glance with her boyfriend. Despite his complaining about them moving too slow, perhaps Gellert Grindelwald had learned something from his observations of their relationship.

"Dinah and Severus?" Albus took a break from backing up to turn and look at them along with Harry and Eugene, allowing Grindelwald time to catch up. But Dinah had a feeling the youthened headmaster did not want to back up anymore after all, seeing as he turned back to Gellert who was now standing directly in front of him and did not move again. Dinah was surprised to see that Albus was nearly a half a head taller than Gellert, when the two men stood next to each other.

"Yes," Gellert murmured; "They are still so different from each other and they don't understand all of each other's behaviors but they love each other _despite _those faults and even because of them." Dinah sighed as Severus's arms wound around her waist and she leaned against him, watching with bated breath as Gellert continued his speech, turning again to entreat Dumbledore as his eyes filled with tears; "I cannot change the way I am, Albus. I am selfish and foolish and I follow my whims with little care for how they affect others, but I _do _love you. I would give up all my whims for you. Please," his head fell against Albus's chest, the golden curls falling forward to cover his face; "Please accept me as I am. As they have done. I have been alone too long. We have _both _been alone too long."

"Gellert," Albus's hands slowly, hesitantly, lifted to rest on the other, smaller man's shoulders; "Is it possible? Can we really... fix this?"

"It is already fixed, in a way," Gellert's head lifted and he offered the other a flirtatious smile, tracing his fingers along Albus's cheek as Dinah got a view of how he might have behaved when they were boys together in Godric's Hollow, following a whimsical dream with no other cares in the world. That was probably what he was doing, given the flush that arose in the face of the young, handsome Albus Dumbledore. "After all, we were reborn weren't we? And the youthening potion sent us back to _these _ages, didn't it? That's enough evidence for me, but perhaps you lack perspective."

"You truly haven't changed, Gellert. And yet..."Albus's eyes grew distant; "I have searched endlessly since the rebirth for a reason, and I have come up empty time and time again. I had given up. And yet now I feel... _alive _again. And yet I feel you are trying to trick me. I can't... I don't..."

He laughed, "I'm not trying to trick you, Albus. I am the same Gellert you loved long ago, but now I know my own feelings. Forgive my selfishness and my foolishness and my whims and believe me. Albus," he stroked his cheek again, leaning forward.

"Gellert..." Albus couldn't say another word as the other man kissed him, and in an instant his hesitancy disappeared and he responded, his arms wrapping around Grindelwald and pulling him closer, returning the kiss a hundredfold, as though he had been waiting for this moment his entire life. And, Dinah knew, he really had been.

"Albus," Gellert whispered, the sadness and despair in his eyes replaced with pure joy as a single tear slid down his cheek; "It worked. It really worked. The potion!"

"Gellert," Albus whispered, pressing his lips against the other man's again, stroking the tear from his cheek and pulling him into his arms. "It's over," he murmured, closing his eyes as he rested his head against that of his old lover returned to him. "Thank you. For not giving up on me."

"I am not known for giving up." Gellert Grindelwald, second only to Voldemort for the title of most powerful dark wizard of all time, looked surprisingly petite held in the arms of his lover, Albus Dumbledore, his face a mask of pure bliss as he closed his eyes and the two beautiful young men melted together. In a moment, Grindelwald's eyes opened again and he looked across, meeting the gaze of one of their group; "Thank you, Evgeni."

"You're welcome," Eugene replied, smiling back at his friend, and Dinah knew that everything those two had done this year had been on the level. She forgave the youthening and the troubles they started as she realized it had all served to give Professor Dumbledore a second chance at life. The reason for rebirth he had been searching for this whole long year.

Severus managed a laugh and shook his head, pressing his lips to Dinah's hair. She smiled and snuggled against him as Harry watched the youthened lovers in their embrace, looking as satisfied as she felt. It really was over.


	155. Serpents

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOUR

Serpents

* * *

The reverie of the room was broken by a scream.

Startled, they all jumped and turned towards the door, only to hear another scream, and then another, and then a small misshapen humanoid figure flew into the room.

"The flayed baby!" Dinah stood from her chair along with Severus and they both reached for their wands. Eugene and Harry followed suit a split second later as the demonic creature began shooting spells.

"It might have followed me," Gellert murmured, letting his arms drop from Albus's waist and turning to draw his own wand along with this lover. His glance shifted to Dinah and Severus; "I don't know, but this might be my fault. I'm sorry if it is."

"It's all right," Dinah shook her head; "It was only a matter of time anyway."

"Harry," the still-youthened headmaster turned to the boy; "Go and find Lucy, Weasley, Longbottom, and the other Aurors. Get someone to evacuate the students from the grounds and then come back here."

"Yes, Sir," Harry paused; "I'm glad. For you two. That you were able to work things out."

"Thank you, Harry," he smiled, using the Elder Wand to deflect some of the haphazard spells the flayed baby was shooting out across the room as Dinah, Severus, Gellert, and Eugene did the same. "Now go."

Harry hurried from the room and Gellert watched him go with a sort of bittersweet smile on his face. When the boy had disappeared he sighed and nodded, turning back to Albus. "Good. The boy is gone. He doesn't need to see this."

"Doesn't need to see what?" Albus asked as they all ducked a giant wave of spells above their heads. The flayed baby seemed more disjointed than usual today, Dinah couldn't help but think as she tried to defend against its chaos.

Gellert emitted a soft chuckle and shook his head, holding his wand to his chest as he met the eyes of the other, brown-haired male in front of him, his gaze filled with a sort of resigned happiness; "I love you, Albus."

"I love you, too," Albus replied, confused, "But Gellert, what-?"

"_Pomeverto_," the shorter, golden-haired man cut Albus off with a point of his wand, and then a soft, barely visible jet of red light hit the other man. In an instant he changed form, and before them stood the familiar figure of Albus Dumbledore, ancient headmaster of Hogwarts, long white beard and all, except for the fact that his half-moon glasses still sat on the table.

"Gellert, what have you done?" Dumbledore murmured.

"I'm sorry," his smile was sad; "It has to be this way. And now..." he lifted his wand to point it at himself.

"Gellert, no!" Dinah had never seen such desperation in the old man's face and voice as he reached out to try and stop the younger man; "If you turn back, you will die!"

"It was only a matter of time anyway," Gellert replied, his expression still sad and his voice calmly resigned.

"Gellert. Please."

"_Pomeverto_," he murmured, and then the light left the wand again and the old, shriveled, bald man from before was standing in front of them. The ancient figure of Gellert Grindelwald that had been killed by Voldemort in the topmost tower of Nurmengard, and then reborn to join again with his old lover. The old man doubled over in a fit of coughing.

"Gellert!" Dumbledore reached out to grasp his shoulders, supporting his companion and preventing him from collapsing to the floor.

"Well, then," Grindelwald rasped, chuckling as he weakly lifted his head to offer his counterpart another toothy grin; "Here we are. But it was all worth it, wasn't it?"

"Gellert..."

"It seems that again I am not afraid of death," he said; "Now that I've lived a worthwhile life." He let his hands drop from where they had been clutching the headmaster's arms for support and his knees buckled as another wave of coughing spilled blood from his mouth onto the floor while Dumbledore watched helplessly.

"Headmaster, look out!" Severus suddenly exclaimed, and Dinah's head spun to see one of the spells of the flayed baby flying at the headmaster as her boyfriend's wand hand shot out, sending a shield charm at it. But it was too late. She watched as if in slow motion as the shield charm skimmed by no more than an inch above the other spell, which slammed into Dumbledore's back just as the other man had been straightening to turn and defend himself.

But the old man had not reacted quickly enough. There was a collective gasp from herself, Eugene, and Severus, and Gellert looked up from the floor in horror as spots of blood began to appear on the front of Dumbledore's robes and the headmaster's knees buckled, causing him to collapse to the floor next to Grindelwald.

"What have you done?" Dinah screamed at the creature, which was still shooting random dangerous spells out all over the room, some of them ricocheting off the walls and firing back towards them as Severus and Eugene continued to attempt to block them. She found, though, that she couldn't move anymore; "Stop it! You're supposed to be Tommy!"

"'Missing piece!'" the creature spoke in Voldemort's voice, its red eyes flashing as its head spun around the room, searching like a demented puppet for its missing piece.

"Severus!" Dinah grasped his arm, stopping the wave of defensive spells; "Can you do something? Can you heal it?"

He turned his wand on to the headmaster as Eugene continued to fight the searching creature. Severus tried one healing spell after another, ending on a strange, repetitive chant that sounded like a song, the counter-spell for _Sectumsempra_. But nothing happened. "No," he whispered, shaking his head as pain and shock flashed across his eyes; "It won't be healed."

"No!" Dinah exclaimed, feeling tears spring to her eyes.. She clutched Severus's arm more tightly as she stared at the two old men, now lying next to each other on the floor. How could this be happening? How? Today had started out seeming like such a nice, normal day. "How could you?" she let go of Severus and took a step towards the creature which was now flitting towards the door, Eugene on its tail. "_How_?"

"It wants me," the creature ignored her scream of demand as its red eyes flashed. "The missing piece. It understands. I will find it!" it spun out of control again and flew out the door.

"No! Tommy!" Dinah didn't know what to do anymore as she took a few steps after the flayed baby, fearing that it would somehow find and destroy her young friend. But a cough from behind her had her halted in her tracks, unsure which way to go. Eugene was the same as he stood by the door, looking back and forth between where the flayed baby had escaped and the two old men. Severus was frozen in that same spot on the floor, his wand still stretched out towards Dumbledore but not doing anything more to try and heal him.

"It's all right, Severus, Dinah," Dumbledore managed, his blue eyes twinkling the way that they normally did, seeming so out-of-place in this moment. "I, like Gellert, have no fear of death."

"I never meant for this to happen," Grindelwald murmured through gasping breaths; "It was always only me that was supposed to die after this. Forgive me, Albus."

"Nothing doing," Dumbledore's twinkling gaze landed on the other man; "This was probably the correct path from the very beginning. And yet it has been quite a worthwhile path, as you said. I struggled all year trying to find a reason for my rebirth, incapable of following the progression of this year's great mystery. I should have known at that moment that the truth would have something to do with _me_, when I could not see it. But we were both foolish, Gellert. In more ways than one."

"Not anymore," the dying old man managed another toothy grin, sliding his gnarled hand into Dumbledore's before he turned to Eugene; "Again, thank you. You, at least, knew that _my _death would be at the conclusion of this adventure. But you can rest assured that you have fulfilled my wish many times over. You should have no regrets."

"Thank you, Gellert," Eugene's whispered voice was thick with emotion. "It has been... an experience. Sometimes even fun."

He laughed, and it ended in a series of gasping coughs; "Yes. Fun. I don't regret it." His gaze landed back on Albus; "Well, then..."

"Ariana is waiting," Albus's gaze shifted skyward.

Gellert chuckled next to him; "Yes. I think I owe her an apology."

"She knows," Albus said; "Everything is right again for both of us."

His companion nodded, and then the frail old man closed his eyes for the last time. Dumbledore stared at him for awhile, before turning his own, fading gaze to the two of them.

"Dinah, Severus," he managed. "Thank you. Like Eugene, you have both made this year worthwhile. Dinah..." his gaze landed on her; "You can finish this. It is all on you now. Now that I know the Hallows have nothing to do with this I can see the path you must take. And you will take it. I know you will."

Dinah managed a smile through her blurred vision; "Then you are back to the benevolent, all-knowing Dumbledore we are all so familiar with?"

He chuckled; "Perhaps so. For a moment." His gaze shifted again; "Severus... it seems that we were both reborn for the same reason. But I am old and have lived my life. You have an entire life to live over... the right way. But for me," his hand tightened around Gellert's, "This is enough."

"Dumbledore!" Dinah cried out, the tears finally breaking from her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. How cruel was it for him to be reborn and only get one year before losing his life again? She turned to look at Severus. His eyes were closed in pain. He was... perhaps... remembering the other time Dumbledore had died.

"It is not you this time, Severus." As usual, Dumbledore knew everything. Even now, in this state, he could tell what Severus had been thinking. Severus opened his eyes and looked again at his mentor and friend. "You have been..." Dumbledore continued, "redeemed." He glanced once more at the dead form of Grindelwald next to him and his eyes lightened. "It's true. This ... love... is what we live for." He closed his eyes, and it was over... again... and for real this time.

Dinah turned and covered the few feet between herself and Severus in an instant, burying her face in his shoulder and sobbing. His arms came around her, holding her so tightly she could barely breathe. They stayed like that as long as they could, which was not much longer than a minute.

"We have... to go," Severus said softly.

She looked up to see that there were tears on his face but his eyes were now dry. She bit her lip and tried to quell her own tears, nodding. "I know," she lifted a hand to stroke his cheek, and then kissed him briefly, "I know. This isn't over yet."

"It went out onto the grounds," Severus said, "We'll follow."

"Tommy," she whispered, "We have to keep it away from Tommy." She looked down at the two men on the floor and bit her lip; "But what about the headmaster?"

"Potter will take care of it," Severus murmured, inclining his head towards the door where Harry was rushing into the room with Ron behind him as they both gasped at what they saw and Eugene hurried to explain the situation to them; "He always does."

She nodded, and then turned, forcing herself not to look back as she and Severus left the empty classroom, running down the hall that was now filled with scrambling, screaming students, while Neville and the remaining Aurors tried to get the place under control. Alder and a few other reporters were rushing around trying to get statements from people, and Dinah and Severus caught Lucy's eye near the main doors as she shuffled some small students toward their rooms in the midst of the chaos. They nodded at her, and Dinah hoped her expression reassured her friend that they were going to take care of this.

Lucy nodded back, looking like she understood, and Dinah turned and headed out the door with Severus at her heels.

The scene outside was more chaotic than inside. Sometime in the midst of everything the grounds had become swarmed with dementors, and more Aurors tried to fight them off, Patronuses flitting by every which way.

"Tommy's this way!" Dinah pointed across the grounds in the direction of the lake, an area that she and Severus had walked around many times since they had met this year. She didn't know how she knew that her small friend and the flayed baby would be there, but she did. Severus didn't question her knowledge, just followed her, but as they got closer a veritable wall of dementors blocked their way.

Dinah winced as she skidded to a stop, trying not to let the wave of despair coming from the dementors overwhelm her; "We can't get to him like this! _Expecto Patronum_!" The shining white snake left her wand in a rush as she forced her thoughts back to happy times with Severus, and she tried to ignore the fact that at least one reporter was gleefully noting the form of her Patronus. It wasn't as though they didn't already know about it. She had tried to use the fact that her Patronus took the shape of a snake in her favor during the interviews last week, because Patronuses were known expressions of happiness and good and most normal Death Eaters could not conjure them in the first place, but she was afraid it had caused more of a stir of gossip than a wave of people coming over to her side. But that wasn't important right now.

"There are too many of them!" Severus snarled, lifting his wand; "_Expecto Patronum_!" a flash of light left his wand and Dinah was watching another snake weave in and among hers.

She blinked and looked down at her wand, wondering how she had managed to conjure _two _Patronuses. But, looking at Severus and the expression on his face as he watched the two snakes, she realized in an instant that that wasn't the case. His awe slowly shifted to a smile and he turned to look at her. Dinah met his smile with one of her own as she felt her eyes brimming with tears again. It wasn't possible! "Severus!"

"Dinah," his gaze was soft and she had no doubt that the joy he was feeling matched hers; "I suppose that is the evidence, then, if you still needed any. You are my happiness."

"I didn't need any. I know. Just as you are mine," she whispered back, wiping her eyes and smiling as she turned back to the two snakes. It was still a miracle, though, seeing that their Patronuses were now the same, the two snakes gaining strength as they slithered amongst the dementors. The dark creatures began to disperse, unable to maintain themselves in the presence of the symbols of Dinah and Severus's love; their ultimate happiness. Soon the space leading the way towards Tommy had been entirely cleared of dementors, and the two serpents entwined with each other, their heads pressing together in what seemed almost like a sort of kiss, before they both dispersed back into hers and Severus's wands.

"I can make it through now," she murmured as Severus hurried up to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She closed her eyes and leaned against him, taking a moment to revel in the bliss of what had just happened, but only a moment. She lifted her head and kissed him before letting her hands slide from his shoulders; "Tommy needs my help."

"And you shall give it," he nodded, leading her into the path, shooting a glare at a nosy reporter that seemed bent on following them. Luckily, Severus had his usual impact and the reporter scurried away, especially as the dementors, not to be deterred for long, started floating back into that space, but they did not follow any closer. The empty, grassy area that she and Severus now occupied was eerily calm.

Dinah felt her heart racing as she looked around, trying to think of what to do next as her head seemed to cloud with a fuzzy fog of confusion. Tommy was close, she could feel it, but she also felt darkness and despair. As though it was creeping in on them even as the dementors hung back. Looking at Severus, she saw that he was staring at his dark mark again; "Do you feel anything?"

"No," he frowned; "The air feels like the Dark Lord, everything feels like the Dark Lord, but it is not responding. I don't like this."

"Come on," she grasped his arm, right over the mark, and pulled him forward along with her, walking further along the grass until they made it to a spot close to where a hill bent down to the path that branched off towards the lake. The path they had followed many times before, when they had seen the flayed baby after passing the fox Lucy and Snuffles playing in the snow, when they had fought off dementors previously before heading back down the path to experience their first intimate moment, and many times just walking around this general area of Hogwarts, both the grassy hill and the lake and the path.

Hovering just in front of that path, the grass matted down and blowing away from it in a circle, was the flayed baby, but Dinah's eyes were not locked on that horrifying creature. Instead they landed on the small, brown-haired boy standing in front of it, looking up as if transfixed by the demonic red eyes; "Tommy!" she ran forward, Severus following close behind her.

She stopped when she got close and the boy turned, his gaze sad and hopeless and sort of ... blank as he looked at her. It frightened her, reminding her of the flayed baby she had seen in her dream long ago, the one that could not be helped. "Dinah," he said softly, his voice and expression devoid of emotion.

"That's him," Severus murmured, and Dinah realized that for the first time he could actually see the boy. "That's a young Tom Riddle. The same one from the headmaster's pensieve scenes. Yet he looks... different."

"He_ is _different. This is Tommy. Only a part of that boy. The good part. Tommy," she raised her voice, addressing the boy; "Tommy, are you all right? Please stay away from that thing."

"It's all right, Dinah," he murmured, emptily. "There's no point anymore, anyway. The evil thing found me. It's not going to let me go," he turned back to it. "I remember now. I know what I became. I am Lord Voldemort."

She heard a hiss as Severus drew in a breath next to her but she could think of nothing but the pain those words sparked in her chest and how her heart twisted when she heard them. "No! No, Tommy, don't! You're not! You're different from that!"

"You tried, but it doesn't matter now," Tommy turned to her, inclining his head at Severus; "Is that your friend? The one who accepted you?"

"Yes, and he can – many people can – we can all accept you, too," she pleaded, taking a step forward as the flayed baby turned a margin of a turn towards her. She tried to ignore it; "You can fight that thing off."

"No," he shook his head, flinching away from her as she reached a hand out toward him; "Maybe you could fight that thing off, but I never had a chance. Not from the beginning. I should have disappeared on that day in the bathroom. I shouldn't have stuck around as long as I did, thinking I could hide from it. I can't. I am alone. I am... it's missing piece."

"But Tommy, you're _not _alone!" she whimpered, fighting back tears; "Tommy, _please _... if you let it take over you... if it gets revived..."

"I don't care anymore," he looked away from her, back at the flayed baby. "There was never any hope."

"Missing piece!" the flayed baby hissed in Voldemort's voice, floating towards Tommy as the boy stretched out a hand towards it, closing his eyes and waiting for them to connect.

"NO!" Dinah screamed, running at them, but she was too late. The flayed baby melted into Tommy, and when she reached the boy he spun around, his eyes glinting with red in a face full of evil.

"Lord Voldemort," his face twisted into a horrible smile as the boy, Tom Riddle, glared at Dinah; "has returned."

* * *

A/N: Please review! So, a lot happened in this chapter :-P I was debating titling it "Tragedy" but then I didn't want to give stuff away, so I went with the titular "Serpents". And the shameless plug of the story title with the Patronuses little kissy move :-D Hope it's not too cheesy :)

Sorry about the Grindelwald and Dumbledore deaths, too :( I hated to do it but it was planned from the beginning. At least they got their happy reunion first.


	156. Battle

A/N: Yaaaaay, thanks so much for the wave of reviews accompanying the last update! I am sooooooooo glad that everybody likes how the "excitement" is playing out so far, although I completely understand the sadness about Grindelwald and Dumbledore. I do wish I could let them live but I really just can't :( - it just wasn't the way I saw this playing out.

Oh, and one reviewer pointed out that since the rebirths apparently don't cure diseases and the individuals that are reborn are revived just as they previously were, Dumbledore should have been reborn with the cursed hand. I confess I read that and it was a total "D'oh! *smacks head*" moment. I hadn't even thought of that! But now that I HAVE thought of it I have come up with a reasonable explanation that still fits with the story and the "rules" myself and CommanderValeria have established.

So, as I'll elaborate more on later in the story again, the rebirths come about to revive those killed through "evil" or "unnatural" means. People killed by Voldemort directly or indirectly due to his actions, a very unnatural creature due to the sheer number of Horcruxes he made and also a "pure evil" creature since Tommy (the missing good) separated from him, the cursed hand actually counts as a part of that evil or unnatural magic, thus it WAS cured (it came from the ring Horcrux, connected to that evil unnaturalness). Thus, it wasn't a "normal" injury and could be cured. Phew! Makes sense to me :-D I might try to edit the story to include those details later but for now I'll just leave the explanation in this A/N.

* * *

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIX

Battle

* * *

His body floated into the air to hover as the flayed baby had, and he raised a hand, conjuring a spell.

"Dinah, NO!" Severus ran forward, shoving her out of the way and conjuring a shield charm around them as the spell flung forwards, landing on the ground around them with an explosive impact.

"Severus!" Dinah whimpered, feeling tears on her cheeks as she looked up at him; "They joined. Tommy let the flayed baby overtake him!"

He sighed, letting his head fall forward onto hers and shaking it; "That spell could have killed us both, for all I know. Yes, they joined. What does that mean?"

"I don't know, but I'm not giving up!" she shoved him off of her so they could stand up together; "He can still be saved! Tommy!" she turned to entreat the floating Tom Riddle or young Voldemort or whatever it was in front of them, intending to keep calling him Tommy this entire time. It was the only way to connect to him.

"Dinah," the voice saying her name in a mocking tone from the boy's lips was not the same as it was in the flayed baby or in Tommy. It was sort of a strange combination of the two. The voice and tone fit that of the young boy, but not the young Tommy. The young Voldemort. A voice laced with evil, hatred, and a lust for power; "Tommy is gone. I am Lord Voldemort and I am alive again, thanks to you."

"To me?" she didn't want to believe those words.

"Yes," Riddle hissed; "You connected to Tommy and made him accessible to me for the first time since we separated all those years ago. I just needed him to realize who he was. Your prophecy was perfect. And that ghost girl, a part of it from the beginning, was the final link, telling him who he was. I remember both parts of me now that we've joined. The pathetic Tommy crying in a bathroom, weak and desirous of friends. And also... the stronger half of me, Lord Voldemort, going on to do great things after abandoning that worthless piece. Yet I needed that piece to revive, and now it is back and so am I."

"Then Tommy is still in there!" She felt a glimmer of hope.

"Tommy gave up. He could not fight me. He was only able to join me because of that. I would not take a piece that was worthless. That goodness is dead."

"No! No, I won't accept it! You're still in there, Tommy! Tommy, listen to me, you're _not _alone, you are still-"

"SHUT UP!" he shot out a spell and she jumped to the side to avoid it. "I do not need you anymore! You have outdone your usefulness! Now I must return to my previous position, take over the wizarding world, re-obtain that most powerful Elder Wand, and establish the reign of Lord Voldemort yet again!" he lifted his hands and set out a shower of random spells which cascaded around them as they cast shield charms to deflect them.

Something about his words didn't seem right, Dinah couldn't help but think, frowning as she considered the thing in front of her. If Voldemort was truly revived, then why did he still look like a child, first of all. Second of all, why was he still shooting haphazard spells out like the flayed baby had when he could presumably use two well-placed _Avada Kedavra_'s to get them out of his way? At the very least she expected a _Crucio_ or two, but his behavior was sporadic. Thirdly, Severus's dark mark _still _was not responding, she realized when her boyfriend was grasping his sleeve-covered arm without any expression of pain on his face. Instead, he looked confused.

The evil red eyes turned to Severus, though the Tom Riddle that possessed them did not stop shooting spells; "Ah, yes. I remember you, my loyal Death Eater. And yet... you were _not_, were you, Severus?" his eyes glinted and his lip twisted maliciously; "You lied to me the entire time. Even when I killed you it didn't last, and you were somehow revived? You and that headmaster and countless others that I eliminated. How I long to rectify that. Traitor!" He shot a spell at him, though again it was a strangely random one.

Severus snarled right back as he deflected the spell; "You have no _idea _how much I would love to destroy you, right now, _My Lord_," his tone was mocking. "And yet," he murmured, lowering his wand; "That is not how it is supposed to be this time."

Dinah sighed, feeling a small smile form as she felt a wave of gratitude towards her beloved Severus. He really _did _understand. Now if only she could convince Tommy of that.

"Coward!" Tom Riddle's dark eyes flashed with a burst of red again as he glared at Severus.

Severus snorted, not even a hint of his past aversion to being called coward showing in his eyes as he smirked at the creature in front of him; "You know nothing."

Dinah smiled as she turned back to Riddle, using her wand to reflect the spells shooting off at her with all the defensive measures that she had learned in her research with Severus; "Tommy," she said softly, firmly, holding her shoulders steady as she met the gaze of the young dark wizard; "Listen to me. If you still have the memories of our time together then you should also still remember how it felt. Remember Sarepta? Remember our talks?"

"Hmph," Tom Riddle snorted; "I recall those times, yes, but they mean nothing to me. All of your pathetic efforts at saving that boy were useless. He could never fight me. We are one and the same."

"No," she whispered; "The real you is Tommy. You just couldn't stay that way because nobody ever gave you a chance. But _I _am giving you a chance. You _are _loved, Tommy. Sarepta and I both love you. Myrtle did too. Yes," she admitted when the creature scoffed; "she did turn on you but you can't take her moves of that sort seriously. It's a part of her nature. Maybe she's a bad example but she _was _your friend for countless years! She turned on Voldemort yes, but she loved Tommy! And even as Voldemort you had Nagini. You had Bellatrix Lestrange. She loved you unconditionally!"

"She was a groveling fool, useful only because she believed everything that I said without question. It was her weakness and her downfall, that love! And Nagini was mine because I made her mine. I desire no love from others, only worship! And you are a fool if you don't realize the value of that!"

"You're the one who is being a fool! Love did not destroy Bellatrix! She's the other voice! She still wants to be near you! And Nagini trusted you just as Sarepta trusted the both of us! Even if Nagini was sinister and evil and even if you used control to get her on your side she still truly had affection for you. I _know _the parseltongue thing is difficult to endure, the way people react to it, but that's all changing! _I _am changing it! For both of us, just like I said I would! It was difficult at first but people are coming around. They're starting to understand."

"If you think they're starting to understand then you are sorely mistaken, you fool!" the boy who looked superficially like Tommy laughed at her; "They will always know that parseltongue is a sign of the dark arts. You will never achieve peace!"

"It's _not _a sign of the dark arts and snakes aren't evil! You _know _that, Tommy! You know it's true! The snakes at the orphanage weren't evil, they were your friends! Remember when you wanted friends!"

"A FOOL WANTED FRIENDS! I HAVE ABANDONED HIM!" Dinah and Severus ducked the next wave of random spells as Tom Riddle screamed at them.

"No, Tommy was not a fool!" Dinah exclaimed, tears stinging her eyes; "He was just lonely and he had a right to be lonely considering everything that he had to face, but he never deserved that loneliness! You – yes, _you _are still Tommy! You did bad things but they weren't your fault! You were descended from the Gaunts and you had those tendencies and you couldn't help yourself but you still had goodness in you! Even those traits are not inherent! You were able to empathize with me as Tommy and able to understand others. That part really existed. It wasn't a lie. Please bring it back."

"Tommy was weak."

"You weren't weak," she made sure this time to keep treating him as though he were Tommy. Tommy was still in there. She could still get him back. "You had so much to endure and no one to endure it with you, but you weren't completely alone! Remember what they told you at the orphanage! Your Mum loved you-"

"My mother _died_!" he shouted, sending another wave of spells at them. "If she loved me so much why did she succumb to that _weakness_? She didn't even care enough to try and save herself from death and you say she loved me? She could have stayed alive for me but she chose not to! She was weak! She was weak because of fear of magic and fear of life. Fear so strong she couldn't even fight to stay alive for the son she supposedly _loved_?"

"Your mother made mistakes yes, but we are all only human. Mistakes and weakness are a part of being human, but they don't have to destroy us, Tommy! Your mother had faults but she did still love you! She never intended to abandon you!" Dinah had a flashback to Eileen Prince, Severus's mother who had loved him but been unable to fight to keep her sense of self in the shadow of her abusive husband. It was so similar, and yet she knew Severus still loved his mother despite all those things, and at least _he _knew that she hadn't abandoned him on purpose. But he had had more chances than Tommy had ever had.

A quick look at her boyfriend gave no indication that he was thinking about that one way or another. He was too intent on trying to protect them from the spells Tom Riddle was still shooting out.

"Liar! You ought to know about fear and weakness though, shouldn't you?" Riddle mocked. "If my mother was like anyone she was like_ you_. Afraid of everything and hiding from the world! Weak! Just like you!"

"Do not speak to Dinah in that way! She is stronger than you could ever be!" Severus shouted, _that _at least drawing his undivided attention, but the young revived Voldemort only scoffed at him.

"I know I made mistakes too, Tommy!" Dinah entreated; "But I was able to overcome them. The world knows about my parselmouth abilities now and I intend to fight through it and change things! To end the stigma! I won't back down anymore. I am _not _weak!" And she found that she believed those words now. Believed them wholeheartedly. And it felt good.

He laughed; "Not weak, indeed? You are the weakest of them all. You should be trying to kill me and yet you are not! You actually think you can bring Tommy back! You are the _only _person who thinks so! You are the only fool in the world who is on his side!"

"That's not true! I have brought many people over to your side, Tommy! Severus and Lucy and Sirius and Dumbledore and Harry! They've all come to see and understand you and understand what I am trying to do for you! Even Bellatrix! She has been trying to find you all year! We all love you and want to help you!"

"Love leads to nothing but weakness and death! Just like my mother and just like Bellatrix and Dumbledore! Dying for love is the ultimate weakness! It is why I have dedicated my life to avoidance of such at thing and to eliminating all those who would suggest that it is some sort of strength! They are pathetic! Death is the end of everything!"

"It's not! Even if we die the things we do in life are real and important, Tommy! They do not get erased simply because of death! _You _are real and important. I couldn't have gotten the courage to change the world's view of parselmouth without _you_! You gave me strength!"

"I WILL NOT FACE DEATH OR LOVE!" Tom Riddle screamed, sending out another wave of spells; "I am stronger than that! I am... stronger..." he seemed to strain to force the words out and the spells surrounding him began to slow. "What? What is happening? My revival!" He sent out another wave of spells but again they fell flat, and Dinah didn't know _what _to think.

Severus growled and rushed back to her side; "Something is wrong, Dinah. He's weakening."

"WEAKNESS!" Riddle shouted, straining to send out more spells; "How can I be weakening? This was the great revival of Lord Voldemort! I must... return... must... fight... No... weak... weakening... why?"

Dinah, staring at the boy in front of her, was suddenly overwhelmed with a horrifying realization. "No," she whispered, clutching Severus's arm; "No," she said again as he stared at her and the boy continued to weaken. She shook her head; "We were wrong. We were so wrong. There is no revival. How could I not have seen it?"

"What are you talking about, Dinah?"

"How could the union of a missing good and something that was already dead – the flayed baby – bring about a revival of Voldemort? This thing in front of us is still the flayed baby, not a living Tom Riddle. Severus, it... it was just joining back with Tommy. It may have gotten a boost of strength from the immediate connection and it may _think _that it can be revived but it can't. It's still dead. But the missing good was overtaken by it. None of the tales mentioned reviving the dead... they only mentioned one thing. Going back to that other state... going back to the _real _flayed baby."

"Dinah... you're saying that-?"

"Yes," she whispered, watching in horror as the Tom Riddle before her began to fade and weaken; "Tommy kept the flayed baby in our world long enough for it to think it had another chance at revival. But it could only go one of two ways. They could stay separate forever or join together. If Tommy overtook the flayed baby it would be okay, but if the flayed baby overtook Tommy... it would just go back to the way it was before. I have to stop that from happening!" she let go of Severus and ran forward as the creature in front of them floated weakly to the top of the grassy hill; "Tommy! Tommy, don't!" The creature curled up into a ball and some sort of energy formed around it.

"Dinah, stop!" Severus ran and tackled her to the ground with him, producing a shield spell over them both just as a wave of energy burst out from Tom Riddle. Dinah closed her eyes as she felt the ground shake around them from the impact of whatever last bit of energy it had, and then for a few moments there was nothing but silence.

And then she heard it.

Whimpering.

"No," she whispered, forcing her eyes open. At first all she saw was the shadowed grass below them; all she felt was the warmth of Severus hovering over her and the coolness of the ground underneath them. Then she lifted her head and looked out at the top of the hill only to be met with a scene directly out of a dream.

The flayed baby. Not sinister or red-eyed but squirming and wailing and inhuman as its less than an eighth of a soul struggled on the ground, helpless and empty. Blank and alone.


	157. Empathy

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVEN

* * *

Empathy

* * *

Severus moved from above her and they were both able to stand, and she saw in his gaze that he was as shocked and disturbed from the sight as she was. "Is that...?" he managed, turning his look to her.

"Yes," she whispered, her throat tightening as she looked out at the pathetic figure on the grass; "Yes, that's it. That's what Voldemort and Tommy have become." She shook her head; "Nothing should have to face that."

"It's starting to fade," Severus murmured.

"No," Dinah gritted her teeth, fighting back tears and clenching her fists at her sides; "If it fades then it's stuck that way forever. I can't let that happen. I still have to save it. Dumbledore and Harry said it couldn't be done but I won't let that stop me."

"Then go," Severus stepped back, extending his hands toward the flayed baby in a gesture that told her to go ahead and do whatever it was she had to do. His eyes were filled with trust in her, and she felt strengthened.

She took a deep breath, and inched towards the figure in front of her. In the dream, so long ago, she had encountered it on a different hill, the hill on a different side of the castle where she had been first caught by Wortham and Lee speaking parseltongue, but aside from that this was complete déjà vu.

In a moment she was at its slowly-fading side, watching it squirm and wail, its lonely cries echoing across the grounds. She turned and knelt in front of it, watching it for a moment. Its once-red eyes were squinted shut as it struggled. There was no threat here. Only emptiness.

Harry and Dumbledore had said the creature was in a way disgusting, and Dinah's initial impression of it in the dream had held a tiny bit of that along with a sort of irrational fear and aversion to it, but she felt none of that anymore. She could only feel pity and a heart-wrenching sadness. Only what she thought was a tiny idea of what this must feel like, and she didn't like the feeling at all.

"Tommy," Dinah whispered, watching for any kind of reaction. It did nothing but continue to squirm and wail, but she didn't let that stop her; "Tommy, it's Dinah. I'm still here. I'm not afraid. I want to help you."

It didn't respond at all.

"Tommy!" she tried again, tears stinging her eyes. She recalled the feelings you got from dementors, the feelings she'd felt when she had hid from her prophecy and her parseltongue. Her guilt and her feelings of weakness. She had sudden flashes of what it felt like when you had a really bad fever, and you were so overheated you barely knew who you were or what was going on around you, and how frightening that was. She recalled seeing her friend Lucy in a blank, zombified state as she used the only mechanism she thought she had to protect herself from despair at the loss of those she loved. She remembered Severus telling her about his past not too far from here, tormented from the lonely life he had had to face. Yes, they had all endured such things but they had all had people to help them through them. Tommy had had none of that.

"I won't give up on you, Tommy!" she stressed, clutching the cool grass on either side of her to support her as she looked down into the flushed face of this lost figure; "I am still your friend. I won't let this happen to you. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. Please come back. Please don't give up!"

It was still squirming, and worst of all, it was still fading.

"Tommy!" she screamed, blinking back a wave of tears, calling to him, demanding strength from both of them to try and get through this. She looked up at Severus, standing across from her and saw that his gaze was shocked and solemn, his expression sad for her but hopeful at the same time. He wasn't giving up on her, just as she would not give up on Tommy.

She looked back down at the flayed baby and forced a smile; "Remember how much fun it was talking to Sarepta together? Remember how we were friends? Sarepta wants to see you again, Tommy. We both want you to come back to us. We miss you. You were such good company." She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath, forcing no more tears to fall as she continued to entreat the creature. Dared she hope that its rate of fading was slowing? "Come _on_, Tommy! You're not alone in this world, do you understand that? You never have been. You always had the snakes. You've always had your Mum. You've always had _me_. I always wanted to see you, to talk to you, to help you. We were kindred spirits, you know? We endured a lot of the same things. I was grateful to have you as my friend."

Nothing.

"Oh, please don't do this! Don't let this happen to you! You don't have to be empty like this! You can have friends, you can have love! You already have it! I'm still here, Tommy. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not giving up on you! Do you hear me? I'm not!"

It still didn't respond.

"Please, Tommy, please. Please," Dinah whispered, squeezing her eyes shut over the flayed baby as she clutched the grass tightly in her fists, remembering the young boy who had smiled at her in that bathroom so many times, who had talked to her and understood her and been on her side just as she had been on his. Recalling that that boy had always been there within the young Tom Riddle from the very beginning, just wanting a chance at life and at real friendship. And now he lay here like this, in this empty, lonely, tragic form. She didn't believe it was hopeless, though. Nothing was hopeless, not even the hope that Voldemort could have a second chance. That Tom Riddle – Tommy – could be all right again.

"You deserve so much more than this, Tommy," she whispered. "I won't let you stay like this forever. This should not happen. It's not natural and it's not right." She sighed as a wave of sadness washed over her along with a soft, gentle conviction; "No one deserves this."

"Dinah?"

She gasped and lifted her head. Tommy's voice! She had heard Tommy's voice! Opening her eyes, she noticed that the squirming flayed baby was more opaque than before and its arms and legs were slowing in their flailing. "Tommy! Tommy, yes, it's me! Dinah! I'm here! I'm still here!"

"You're not... gone?" the voice, not issuing from the flayed baby's lips but instead from a place Dinah could not quite determine, murmured with surprise and a sort of gentle disbelief.

"I will never leave you, Tommy," she insisted, hope fluttering in her chest as she spoke her conviction; "You are my friend."

The arms and legs slowed, and the squinted eyes twitched. Dinah had a sudden flashback to her dream, when the baby had slowed and its lids had opened to reveal the red, demonic orbs, signifying its initial foray into their lives. But when the lids opened this time there was no red - only a soft, gentle brown.

Familiar eyes.

Dinah gasped and sat back as the flayed baby changed form in front of her, shifting back towards the form of the boy from before, floating up above the hill. She rushed into a standing position, registering the surprise on Severus's face before she turned around, facing away from him so she could follow the form-changing creature in front of her.

Suddenly the changing stopped and Tommy's feet touched the grass again as he stood before her. Not in a bathroom and not facing down a flayed baby. Whole, and smiling at her.

"Dinah," he took a few steps forward.

"Tommy," she knelt down to meet his eyes, unable to stop smiling. "Tommy, you're really...?"

"I think so," he smiled. "No one ever... stayed with me that long, Dinah. No one ever tried so hard to change what everybody said couldn't be changed. They convinced me of that a long time ago, I think. That I couldn't change. Back there at the orphanage..." he stared down at the grass.

"But they were wrong, Tommy," she whispered, fighting back tears of joy; "They were so wrong.'

"I know that now," he looked up at her, and his young eyes were filled with peace and comfort; "Thanks to you, Dinah."

"Tommy!" she couldn't stop herself from hugging the boy in front of her. No longer Lord Voldemort and no longer an empty flayed baby, but a whole, happy child. At peace. The peace her prophecy had told her she would bring.

"I think I have to go now, Dinah," Tommy said when their embrace ended. "I think I've stayed here too long."

"I know," she whispered, nodding and wiping a final few tears from her eyes; "I know you do. It's all right, though," she smiled at him; "I'll never forget you."

"Will I still be able to see you, Dinah?"

"Of course you will," she smiled. "I'll know that you're always thinking of me. And you'll know that I'm always thinking of you. We're friends after all, aren't we?"

"Yes," he agreed with a smile; "We're friends."

"Tommy," another voice spoke, and Dinah looked up to see that another, semi-transparent figure had appeared on the grass. A little girl with slightly unruly black hair, but a very happy expression.

"Do I know you?" Tommy turned and cocked his head at her; "You look... familiar."

"I'm Bella. I've been waiting for you, Tommy," she smiled, and then frowned; "For a long time, I think. I don't remember all of what happened, really. I remember that there was a lot of darkness and a lot of anger, but that's over with now. I think we're supposed to go home together."

Tommy's innocent brown eyes lit up and his face turned up in a smile as Dinah gasped. Bellatrix Lestrange, then, was at peace too. "I think so, too," he agreed. "You're also my friend, then?"

"Yes," the little girl smiled, holding out her hand; "I am."

Tommy turned his smile back to Dinah; "I have to go now."

"Go on then," she smiled; "I'll still be here. Always."

"And Sarepta? Will you say good-bye to her for me?"

"Of course," Dinah replied; "I will most definitely do that. She'll be glad to know everything is okay again. Just as glad as we are."

He beamed, and then his expression took on a look of gratitude as he took a few steps back, getting closer to Bella; "Thank you.. for everything..."

"I was happy to do it, Tommy. Because we're friends," she stood from her kneeling position, unable to stop smiling at her small friend. Her friend who was now truly happy and at peace.

"Yes. We'll always be friends. Good-bye, Dinah."

"Good-bye, Tommy. And thank you." They were such simple words to express the immense gratitude she felt towards her young friend. For helping her this year, with her parseltongue and her prophecy, and for just being her friend. For not giving up and coming back to her when she asked. For everything.

He offered her one more smile before turning and taking Bella's outstretched hand, and the two children started walking off together, fading from sight after just a few steps, and then the grounds were quiet again.

And peaceful.

Dinah sighed, relief flooding through her as she let her head fall forward and shut her eyes, inhaling the fresh air. The next thing she knew warm arms had wrapped around her from behind; "Severus," she smiled, pressing her head back into his and lifting her hands to clutch at his arms, letting her eyes flutter open again.

"You did it," he murmured, tightening his grip around her, his eyes shut and his face as peaceful as hers and as the two children's who had just disappeared.

"Yes," she murmured, unable to stop smiling as she cuddled against him; "It's over."

"Mm," he let his arms fall from her shoulders and opened his eyes, stepping back so that he could turn her around to face him; "I don't think anyone could have done it but you, Dinah. But what I saw just now proves it. Voldemort is at peace."

"Yes," she blinked as the man she loved used the real name for the first time in probably his life. He could do that now. Because there was no longer any Dark Lord. "Tommy is at peace."

"Tommy, then," Severus smiled and nodded, lifting his sleeve to glance at the dark mark; "And this was never meant to burn again after all. I confess, that's quite a relief."

She smiled, placing her hand over the mark; "Yes. It is, isn't it?"

"Very much so," he smiled and let his sleeve fall back down, taking her hands; "I suppose Hogwarts will go back to normal now, for the first time in years."

"Probably," she agreed. "Hopefully."

"Now is as good a time as any, then," his lips twitched into a hopeful smile, and Dinah watched him curiously to see what he was referring to, "to get married," he finished, watching her reaction.

She felt her breath catch in her throat, not sure if she'd heard right, but desperately hoping that she had; "Severus!"

"That is, if that is all right with you," he teased.

"It..." she murmured, bringing her hand to cover her mouth as tears brimmed in her eyes again; "Yes. Yes, of course! It's perfect! Yes, let's get married! Of course I'll marry you!"

His eyes lit up and he nodded, pulling her into his arms, first in a tight embrace and then leaning back to kiss her, looking more overjoyed than she had even expected at the fact that she had just agreed to become his wife; "I love you."

"I love you, too," she whispered, still hardly believing this was happening, and then it hit her again and the joy was too much to handle; "I love you! Severus, I love you!" she launched herself into his arms again, this time _her _the one who was unable to stop repeating the phrase as she kissed him and their mouths melted together again in perfect bliss.

"Professor Snape, Professor Samson, I finally found you both! I wanted to-" the new voice that Dinah heard broke itself off with a loud groan.

She giggled and withdrew from Severus, her arms still locked around his waist and his around hers as they both turned to see Harry Potter standing before them with an annoyed look on his face; "Harry?"

The young Auror sighed; "Why is it that every time I try to tell people something important I am interrupted by _snogging_?" His frustrated tone indicated that this was, apparently, a common problem of his.

"I really couldn't say," she laughed.

"What do you want, Potter?" Severus demanded, his normal attitude popping back into place as he glared at the boy.

"The grounds have cleared of dementors and all the students are safe. Is it over then?" Harry started off with a question.

Dinah nodded; "It's over, finally. There will be no more danger."

"Good. Then you took care of it? What about that Tommy?"

"He is at peace. Voldemort is healed."

"Then the Horcruxes went back to him?" Harry demanded excitedly; "His soul reformed?"

"I'm sure of it," Dinah smiled and nodded. She hadn't thought about that in so many words before, but now that Harry had mentioned it she was indeed certain that it had happened.

"Wonderful! Amazing!" the boy looked shocked. "The headmaster was right, then. Nobody could do it but you!"

"Is there anything _else_, Potter?" Severus interrupted, a bit loudly.

Harry grinned; "Sorry, yes. We've arranged to bury Professor Dumbledore in his old grave, with the Elder Wand of course. And they're going to bury Grindelwald next to him. I think that's what he would have wanted."

"I'm sure of it," Dinah murmured as Severus nodded. She felt a small wave of sadness come over her as she remembered what had happened. The headmaster's death along with the man he loved. And just moments ago.

"Professor McGonagall is taking over as headmistress, like she had intended to previously before the rebirths," Harry said, his gaze cautiously shifting to Severus; "That is, unless you are interested in taking the job again, Professor Snape."

"I have no desire whatsoever to take on that position," Severus growled; "I simply want to continue in my role as Defense of the Dark Arts professor and live a normal life with Dinah."

Dinah smiled. That sounded like the greatest thing in the world.

Harry also smiled; "I see. Well, I'm sure I can't really blame you. You deserve a little normalcy after all these years and everything you've done."

Severus rolled his eyes; "Thank you, I very much needed _you _to tell me that, Potter," he snapped, and yet he wasn't speaking _quite _as harshly to the boy as he normally did.

Harry seemed to notice that too, because he smiled slightly before turning back to Dinah; "The reporters are running amuck trying to figure out what's been going on, but I think the general consensus now that the area has calmed is that you did something _good _and not something bad. Still, there will probably be a lot of questions."

"It's all right. I can handle that."

"Good," he smiled. "Well, would you two like to come back to the castle now?"

"What an infernally ridiculous question, Potter," Severus growled, smirking at the boy; "Where else do you think we could go?"

"Well," Harry grinned and adjusted his glasses; "I thought you two might want to stay out here and do a little bit more snogging or something." Obviously, he was completely over whatever part of him had wanted Severus to stay devoted to his mother, Dinah thought with a laugh. That was good to know.

"Potter..." Severus warned.

"Okay, okay," he laughed; "Come on, lighten up, Professor Snape. I _hear _that you're actually capable of doing that from time to time now."

"Get in the castle, Potter!" Severus bit out the order, pointing. Harry grinned and marched off ahead and they followed him at a slower pace. "That boy has never shown me the proper respect," Severus grumbled.

"Yeah, well... in that case, you shouldn't expect him to start now," Dinah giggled; "Besides, he was just teasing."

"Whatever," Severus sighed, and soon they were walking behind Harry through the front doors of Hogwarts.


	158. Peace

A/N: Thanks so much for everyone's great response from the last chapter! In answer to some of your questions, no, the story is not over yet, I wouldn't even say it's _almost _over (well, I suppose, relatively, number-of-chapter-wise, it is, but…). It's probably not the best writing move (XD), but there will be about 20 or so more chapters illustrating Dinah and Severus starting out their life together, followed by a series of about 15 shorter "epilogues" showing snippets of their life over the years. Sooo, they'll be around awhile. Plus there will be the Severus POV story, "His View of Things", which can be found on my profile, CommanderValeria's stories which will continue having appearances of Dinah and Severus (99.9% written by me), and some extra short stories co-written by us.

So, basically, from this point forward everyone should consider the stories "genre" as changing from "Romance/Drama/Mystery" to "Romance/Humor/Fluff" … XD again, lol. Anyway, though, I hope everybody still enjoys it (there will be a few more little dramatic or pivotal scenes of course, life isn't always perfect, after all), but overall it'll just be fun reading from here on out. Please keep reviewing, though! :) I'll probably be releasing more chapters at a time now, and they will be longer (like this one).

THANKS SO MUCH FOR EVERYONE'S REVIEWS AND INTEREST SO FAR! I APPRECIATE IT SOOOOOOO MUCH AND JUST LOVE ALL YOU GUYS! THANKS AGAIN! :D

* * *

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FIFTY-EIGHT

Peace

* * *

The entrance hall was a mess of professors, reporters, and Aurors all wandering around haphazardly talking amongst themselves and trying to figure out what was going on. Minerva seemed to be trying to calm down some particularly pushy reporters and Alder was running around talking to Aurors and writing stuff down, trying to get information. The door to the classroom where Dumbledore and Grindelwald had passed away was still open and there was a large crowd gathered near the doors, pushing in to see what was going on. Some of the professors and even some reporters seemed quite upset, but the scene didn't seem like it was as desperate as it might have been when Dumbledore had first died. Probably due to the chaos and confusion that abounded this time. At least before, everyone _knew _what was threatening them. This time few people had any clue why the dementors and the 'evil creature' were there.

There was less of a sense of danger, then, and little had Dinah known that there didn't need to be. There had never been as much danger from the flayed baby as she had expected and there had _certainly_ been no real danger of Voldemort's revival. The reporters would surely love to hear that.

Dinah caught sight of Lucy in a nearby corner, crying probably due to the news of Dumbledore's death, just as the rest of the room caught sight of _them_ and Dinah had the sudden feeling that she was going to get attacked.

"It's over!" Harry announced, trying to stave off the wave of reporters that started clamoring towards them; "The grounds are safe again."

That only made things worse rather than better. The wave didn't stop and the next thing Dinah knew she was surrounded by reporters. The only thing that kept them from getting bowled over in the excitement was the fact that Severus was scowling in such a way that the reporters hung back a couple of feet from their collective group, shooting out questions too fast for her to be able to answer them.

"Professor Samson, did you have anything to do with the dementor presence outside?"

"What was that creepy childlike thing we saw float by?"

"Mr. Potter, we have evidence that Professors Snape and Samson were with you when Dumbledore died! What was their involvement?"

"Professor Snape, what do you have to say about the fact that _your _Patronus is the same snake as Professor Samson's?"

"Professor Samson, does this connect in any way to your mysterious prophecy?"

"Will you stop?" Dinah's gaze shifted along with Severus to the source of the shouted voice. Lucy had taken a step forward, wiping at her eyes as she entreated the group, "A man died and all you can do is attack those poor people with questions. I'm sure later, when we've sorted ourselves out they will be more than happy to answer your questions but now is not the time."

Dinah felt a rush of gratitude for her friend as the reporters backed off a little, giving them room to breathe as Minerva rushed forward, pushing through the crowd and making more space; "Yes. Please refrain from questioning for the time being. There are things that need to be taken care of, important arrangements that must be made. Severus, has Harry offered you my proposition?"

"Yes," Severus replied, still glaring at the retreating reporters; "I have no desire for the position. It is all yours."

"Very well, then. Harry, you and I will go back and meet the Aurors in the classroom. We must take care of the bodies. The rest of you may come if you wish, but do not get too close."

Dinah had to admit, she was impressed by the way in which Minerva took charge of the situation. She would make a very good headmistress indeed. As the older woman and Harry stepped aside to approach the classroom Dinah hurried forward to greet her friend, pulling Severus along behind her.

Lucy, sniffling, hurried to hug Dinah as soon as she was within reach; "I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm fine," Dinah smiled, feeling relaxed as she slid her arms around her friend to return the hug. Things were really going to be normal now, and she and Severus had many, many wonderful people on their side that they never had before. It was tragic what had happened to Dumbledore, but surely the old man was now at peace too; "Harry was right. It really is over."

"Good," she said, stepping back, "because I'm getting really tired of constantly being on guard. No matter what Mad-Eye used to say."

Dinah knew a little bit about the Auror Mad-Eye Moody from what Severus had told her about the struggles of past years. "Well, don't worry. All that's left to get through are these maniacs," she made a wide gesture at the crazed reporters, "and I'm sure we can handle it. But Tommy is at peace now. And, you'll be glad to know, so is Bella," she smiled.

"Oh, that's good," Lucy grinned, and then frowned. "I don't…I don't know what to do. There's not really anything for us _to_ do."

"Yes," Severus agreed, also frowning; "I'm not particularly inclined to go back into that classroom, unless either of you are. I think we should leave that to Minerva and the Aurors. If there is to be a funeral I'm sure we'll hear of it."

"No," Lucy shook her head, "that's fine. I don't need to see that. I think we all know I don't deal with death well."

"I think we should double check with him though," Dinah murmured, and got confused stares from both Lucy and Severus. She managed a slight smile; "I mean the portrait, in the headmaster's office. It should be activated now. At least let him know how everything turned out, make sure all my theories were correct. Not that I'm really worried, but... well, you know."

"Indeed," Severus agreed; "At the very least it would get us temporarily away from these reporters."

"All right, that sounds like a good plan," Lucy nodded, and then a distressed look came over her eyes, "I'm sorry I'm just so…confused right now. Everything's happened so fast."

Dinah opened her mouth to try and reassure her friend but was interrupted by another voice calling hers and Severus's names. The three of them turned to see Slughorn approaching followed by a somewhat hesitant Eugene.

"Glad to see you are both safe. Miss Ketteridge," the aging potions professor nodded at Lucy in way of greeting.

Lucy sighed and refrained from rolling her eyes. "Professor Slughorn. I trust everyone in Slytherin is doing well?"

"Oh, very well, very well. All clustered in the common room wondering what's going on like the rest of them," he explained with a glance at Severus. Dinah was sure had her – well, her fiancé now, she thought with a slight flush – had he been in Hogwarts he would have, as Slytherin's head of house, been the one to make sure the students were all right and settled in, but he had been with her. Thank goodness he had been with her!

"By the way," Slughorn added. "Eugene here has told me everything. All the details. Oh, don't worry," he added when he saw Dinah's worried look; "I haven't gone blathering about to these reporters any of it. You and Eugene will have to make the final decisions about how much to divulge, of course. But I thought you should both know that I've forgiven the boy and intend to keep him on as my potions assistant," he clapped the still-nervous-looking Eugene on the back. "Intend to have him take over my position sooner or later, too. All in all, I think what he's done has been quite admirable, although difficult to deal with when we didn't know the details."

Dinah nodded, offering Eugene a smile to contrast her fiancé's firmly-set frown. "That's fine, I think. It's good to know you really _were _our friend this whole time," she extended him a hand.

"Thank you, Dinah," Eugene looked immensely relieved as he shook her hand; "Again, I am _so _sorry for all the trouble I've caused." His nervous gaze shifted to Severus. "Professor Snape, that goes double for you. I hope you can forgive me."

Severus, still scowling, managed a curt nod; "Well, seeing as you _did _do everything ultimately for the headmaster's sake, and it did make him happy, I suppose I can let that much go," he extended his hand to shake Eugene's, very briefly; "I don't think we'll ever be the best of friends, however."

"Yes, we all know Sirius already holds that position," Lucy said, stifling a giggle.

Dinah chuckled at the glare Severus shot her friend, and Eugene managed to laugh as well; "Considering the wound you gave me today, I doubt we can ever return to our previous relationship, whatever that was," he admitted. "But I do hope you'll still offer your insights on my potions projects from time to time. I value your input."

"We'll see," Severus responded, looking away from the other man with an annoyed expression. Yes, Dinah had a feeling there would always be at least _some _level of animosity there; "If so, it won't be in the immediate future."

"Understood," Eugene was taking it rather well though. He almost looked amused as he glanced down at his bandaged leg.

"Wound?" Lucy questioned, pointing at Eugene's bandaged leg, "Severus, did you do that? Is that why Tad looked so thrilled when he told me you'd attacked Eugene?"

"Merlin's beard, was that an entertaining tale!" Slughorn burst out laughing as an irritated flush crept into Severus's face; "Seems Severus here not only attacked Eugene but he used his specialty – _Sectumsempra_, you know. I have heard a lot of things about that spell. Smyth has been enthusiastically informing the Slytherin common room of what he witnessed."

"Infernal Muggle-borns..." Severus snarled.

"Now, now, there you go again using that term as though it has anything to do with his behavior," Dinah chuckled, laying her hand on his arm; "Besides, it's good to know that a Muggle-born Slytherin is the center of his house's attention for once. And it _was _sort of impressive to see. No offense, Eugene."

"None taken. I suppose I shall be 'impressed' with the scar for years to come," Eugene said.

Lucy grinned, "Oh, I don't know. It might come in handy. Some girls are very impressed by scars, Eugene."

The reinstated potions assistant chuckled; "Well, we'll see about that. I suppose it can't hurt. By the way," he looked at Dinah and Severus again; "I have decided not to try and market the youthening potion. It served its purpose and I don't think it is something that needs to be advertised. It is, um... too much trouble than it's worth, I think."

"Mm," Dinah nodded, feeling a small twinge of relief at his words; "I think that's very wise, Eugene. It did help us and it did help Dumbledore and Grindelwald, but... I don't think it was _necessary_. People can fix their problems on their own, even if it takes longer. It's better... more natural that way."

"Yes," Severus agreed, frowning; "Not to mention all of the other problems that could come about from a society that just kept youthening itself whenever it wanted to. I do agree that you should not introduce it to the public."

Slughorn sighed, rather dramatically, but nodded; "Such a shame. Powerful potion, that. But I suppose it's all for the best." Dinah smiled. At least the potions master was back to his old enthusiastic behaviors.

"Well," Lucy said, "I'm in agreement with the others on that score. However, we probably should be going, or I should at any rate. There must be something I can do besides hover here in the entrance hall. I should…oh! I should write Sirius. I don't know if he could have seen the dementors and that from Hogsmeade but it really wouldn't do to have him show up here looking for me."

"Good idea," Dinah agreed. "Though he might want to come around anyway, given everything that's happening. I guess..." she sighed, feeling a little sad again, "well, I guess you'll have to talk to Minerva now to figure out when he can come and what the rules are and the like. I hope she lets him join us and Quidditch on Friday, if the match isn't cancelled." Severus didn't look as enthusiastic as she did about the idea, but he didn't make any complaint either.

"Yes," Lucy nodded, looking out over the crowd, "I'm sure that will all be sorted out in time. I don't want…to bother Minerva with my problems right now."

"Yes... well, I'm sure we'll see you around soon. I have a feeling I won't get through the day before the reporters find me again, but perhaps we'll see you at breakfast tomorrow."

"I'll be there," Lucy confirmed, waving as she headed towards her rooms; "Good luck with the portrait."

"We should go before they attack us," Severus said, resting a hand comfortably on her waist. "The reporters, that is." He turned and gave one more stiff nod to Eugene and Slughorn. "You might have to face down reporters too, you know," he raised an eyebrow at their former nemesis.

"Yes," Eugene nodded. "I'm prepared to deal with it. They won't get the recipe out of me; I am the only living person who knows all of what is in that potion. Eventually, they will give up. But I know I'll have a fight on my hands."

"Best of luck with that," Severus's tone was only _slightly _mocking as he led Dinah away from them. She managed to offer them a smile and a wave before she was shuffled into an empty, quiet hallway.

They continued along until they came to the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office. "Sherbet Lemon," Dinah said quietly, sighing as the door opened; "It's a little ironic that that's the password that is in use right now..."

"Mm," Severus agreed, not saying anything else on the subject which was probably just as well. They headed up the stairs and pushed the doors open into the silent office. It was almost eerie, the quiet, Dinah thought, until they made it into the portion of the room that held the headmaster's desk and were greeted rather enthusiastically by his portrait.

"Dinah! Severus! How nice to see you!" the image of Dumbledore clapped his hands together with a smile, his blue eyes twinkling and looking just like they had during the years that Dinah had gone to school with him and the years Severus had worked for him.

She'd never really spoken to one of these portraits before, and pushed a certain, slightly bothersome thought to the back of her mind before addressing it; "Everything's been taken care of."

"Ah," the smile remained; "Just as I expected it would be."

"Severus!" another voice shouted, and a familiar look crossed Severus's face. Familiar because Dinah was used to him scowling at most people that spoke to him, and this other portrait was obviously no exception. "Come to take over the position again? This feels rather redundant!"

"No, Phineas, I have _not _come to take over anything," Severus retorted to the picture, and Dinah remembered Sirius's ancestor from the stories and the pensieve. Apparently he was just as annoying in person.

"Ah," Dumbledore repeated, still smiling, cheerful and full of knowledge; "Then you have declined the position."

"There is no reason for me to run this school. Minerva is a much better choice for the job. I desire only to continue on as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor as I prefer teaching anyway. Although there are those who would be surprised at that."

"I was at one point," Dinah agreed, cracking a smile; "The students do learn from you, though."

"And that is the point," he nodded, regarding the portrait of the headmaster. "You also might like to know that Dinah and I are getting married."

Dinah felt her smile widen and her face flush. This was only the second time the subject had come up and she found that hearing the words again was a very pleasant experience. Dumbledore looked as pleased as she did; "Oh, congratulations to both of you then," he said. "That is wonderful. I am sure you will be very happy, and you do deserve that after everything you have both been through."

The annoying man in the neighboring portrait snickered; "You're always associating with those Mudbloods then, aren't you Severus?" When they all three turned death glares on him Phineas held up his hands; "Right, sorry!" he exclaimed, and then vanished from the frame.

"You do, of course, both realize that you will need to inform Minerva of the situation so that she may prepare for whatever it entails. I am afraid we have never had a married couple teach at Hogwarts before. Nor do I think we've ever had any professors involved in romantic pursuits before this year," Dumbledore's portrait said, looking amused.

"Yes, well," Severus's annoyed look made Dinah assume he was thinking about Lucy and Sirius and their lack of most types of social restraint, and she covered her mouth to hide her smile. "We will speak to Minerva about it as soon as we are able. As far as the completion of Dinah's prophecy is concerned..."

"Has young Tom moved on then?" Dumbledore asked, turning his gaze to Dinah with an expression that suggested he already knew the answer.

"Yes," she nodded. "Bellatrix Lestrange too, I think. That's all that was supposed to happen, wasn't it?"

"I believe so, although I did not see it right away for what are now obvious reasons. If we think about the words of your prophecy, it becomes quite clear. 'When the Dark Lord's destruction is incomplete; The truth long invisible to all but one child.' That part we thought we understood, and Myrtle was indeed the child in question. The destruction was not, however, incomplete in the way we thought."

"The flayed baby was unable to move on with Tommy – the missing good – still present in the world, correct?" Severus asked.

"Correct. But Tommy did not behave quite like a Horcrux as we originally thought. If Tommy _was _similar to a Horcrux the flayed baby would have still been _alive _but it's nature was more that of a ghost – dead but remaining in the world. As long as it remained tied to the world it was – apparently – able to connect back to its living form enough to stave off the emptiness we saw at King's Cross – enough to give it a bit of Voldemort's nature. Which is, I believe, why you heard it speak in Voldemort's voice and why it was able to summon dementors and produce random dangerous spells. But it would never have gotten any more power than that, and so there was never more threat than what the Aurors, Patronus charms, and basic defensive strategies could handle."

"The world was never in danger," Dinah said, voicing what she had already determined.

"Very little danger, at any rate," the headmaster's portrait agreed, nodding. "The parts of the prophecy referring to you are rather straightforward. Your power discovered late in life, years bringing difficulty, resisting your destiny, even reliving the past and facing darkness again through the work of Gellert and the fact that you once again had to reveal your parseltongue abilities to the world. And, of course, the dark storms and dementors may have had a part in that 'darkness' as well."

"Yes, of course." She had figured this all out already, but it was nice to hear it explained by the headmaster. It was almost like a sort of closure, both for the prophecy and for Dumbledore's death.

"'And,'" he continued quoting her prophecy, "'meeting the last incarnation of the Dark Lord shall return that darkness to light; She will be the first to bring peace.' That is, of course, where we began drawing most of our erroneous conclusions."

"And also why I came to think that the prophecy was invalidated," Dinah agreed, nodding, "Which, I suppose, was an erroneous conclusion in and of itself."

"Yes, but had you not thought it was invalidated you may not have returned to us," the image's eyes twinkled.

"True. So true," she hated to think of what would have happened had she not returned, and walked a few steps to wrap her arms around Severus's waist and lay her head on his shoulder as he held her against him, the portrait watching them with happiness; "Though, on the other hand, had I known the truth about the prophecy maybe I wouldn't have hid from it in the first place. Of course, in that case the resisting my destiny part wouldn't make sense either..." she frowned, all of the different ways she could look at this making her head hurt.

Dumbledore chucked; "Which is why we must not analyze these things too closely. The main point is that you were not meant to bring peace to the _world _as Harry did, but you were meant to bring peace to the missing good. And, if I remember the references you looked up correctly, no other person has ever managed to do so, thus making you the first."

Dinah nodded; "That's sort of what I figured. But... what about the other people... the ones who were not helped? Are there other flayed babies roaming around stuck in that horrible state?" the idea was horrifying.

He shook his head; "I do not believe so. The flayed baby was an extremely unnatural state brought about by the sheer number of Horcruxes Tom Riddle created. It was never supposed to exist, and you were the only person – perhaps in the world – with enough kindness, empathy, and courage – yes, courage," he added with a smile when Dinah blinked. "Simply a different sort of courage which we will address in a moment – to help save it. That is why you were the one to make the connection to this particular missing good. It was in your nature. If there are any other missing goods floating around, I suspect they are connected to beings that, though pure evil, are much more 'intact' than the flayed baby was. I would assume some of those missing goods might be able to find their way back on their own, but I cannot be certain. There are still many mysteries in our world."

"Perhaps I will try to investigate that, then. And I think I have an idea of who might help me," Dinah said, recalling a conversation from much earlier in the year that still needed finishing.

"Of course," Dumbledore didn't ask to whom she was referring but Severus drew away far enough to shoot her a questioning look and she just smiled at him. He would find out soon enough.

"I also think," the headmaster's portrait continued, "that that unnatural nature of Voldemort is what brought about the revivals that happened last year. That old magic is so rare it was mostly forgotten about before the rebirths, and I believe that people were granted rebirth because they should not have died in the first place, and they should not have died because the circumstances surrounding their deaths were so deeply tied in to Voldemort and the fact that his reign, his nature, and his evil _was _so unnatural and wrong. That, of course, in combination with needing to come back for another."

Dinah nodded, tightening her grip around her fiancé. That made sense, too.

"Headmaster," Severus said, turning back to the portrait as Dinah slipped away from him, but still stood close; "There is no danger of anyone uniting the Hallows then, is there? Potter intends to return the wand to your grave – where you will be buried with Grindelwald - and let its powers die off naturally, as planned."

Dumbledore's portrait smiled and shook his head, making no comment one way or another about the joint burial, but looking rather peaceful; "No, and I do not know that uniting them would have done much in the first place, although it was a fear for awhile when we were chasing down false leads. The wand's power shall die off, the invisibility cloak will continue to be passed through the Peverell line as it should be, and the stone, I am happy to say, will likely never be found. With Gellert's reformation and subsequent passing, I believe the list of potentially threatening people seeking the Hallows should be down to zero. And I am very happy and proud to say that neither of you has ever shown the least desire in possessing them for yourselves. You are both to be admired for that."

Dinah smiled; "Power for the sake of power is a foolish desire."

"Yes," Severus agreed; "I have not desired power in that way for many years now; not since I've seen what it can do to people. What it did to me, in the early years... though I suppose as in Dinah's prophecy all of our struggles are part of the paths that make us who we are. And I can happily say that now I have no regrets."

"I am glad," the portrait replied; "As I am sure you both know, I desired nothing more in my life for you both than the peace you now share. You both have immense courage, but it is of a different nature than the Gryffindor variety. There is much to be said for the sort of courage you possess in particular, Dinah – the courage not to destroy evil, but to love it and return it to good. That is a sort of courage very few people can boast of."

"Love," Severus said simply, citing Dumbledore's favorite power.

"Yes. Love. But only a true Hufflepuff such as Dinah could have used the power of love to do what she did. To 'return darkness to light' in the words of her prophecy. To show that love to all beings no matter how evil is a remarkable strength indeed."

"I don't know," Dinah said, "I think others – people who are not Hufflepuffs – could do that, if they just learned."

"Ah, yes, but we need one like you to teach them that," Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling; "Which is why I stand by the choice that I made to hire you on as our Muggle Studies professor. Those things said, I do believe there is another we must bring into our conversation. HAT!" Dinah jumped at the sudden loudness of the headmaster's voice, and then she turned with Severus as a cough and some grumbling issued from behind them.

Up on a high, nearby shelf, the Sorting Hat was shaking itself around and blinking as though it had just woken from a nap. "What?" it demanded, it's eyes first lighting on Dumbledore's portrait, and then on Dinah; "Oh, it's _you_," it regarded her with a frown, since she was certain the look on her face showed her proper level of annoyance with that hat.

"We must do something about your Gryffindor bias," Dumbledore's voice was firm; "There was no reason for you to sort Dinah into two houses."

"She had plenty of courage," the hat retorted, and if it _had _a nose Dinah was certain that it would be sticking it in the air.

"Yes, but most if not all students have traits of multiple houses. Dinah's Hufflepuff traits should have been plenty enough for that house to have been the obvious choice. I am aware that Gryffindors are known for courage and for saving the world and that you chose that house because of her prophecy, but the world can be saved through the courage of Hufflepuffs just as easily as it can be saved through the courage of Gryffindors. Although Dinah only saved one individual, I am certain she could save the world as well. Slytherins and Ravenclaws could, too. You must select houses based only on personality traits, not on actions."

"Godric made me!" the hat protested, and Dinah tried not to let the image of her cat making a hat and how that sounded sort of like a Muggle childrens' book distract her from the seriousness of the matter at hand; "I should know the meaning of Gryffindor courage. Potter was easy, wanting to be put in Gryffindor from the beginning, understanding the value of Gryffindor. If I allowed a non-Gryffindor to save the world, my loyalty to my maker-"

"I am sure Godric Gryffindor does not require that sort of loyalty from you," the portrait cut in; "All of the founders had flaws one way or the other, but Gryffindor at least stayed on good terms with his colleagues. I am sure he would respect the ability of even non-Gryffindors to use their own types of courage to benefit others. I am not asking you, I am telling you. No more sorting bias. I will make sure my successor, Minerva, knows this too."

The hat sighed; "Fine. I suppose she _did _have the most Hufflepuff traits of them all. Sorry, Miss Samson."

Dinah shrugged; "That's fine, I suppose. Thanks."

"Fine, then it is settled. And if there is ever a person who _does _have equal traits of more than one house, please let them make the final decision which to be sorted into." The hat nodded and seemed to drift back off to sleep.

"All that said, I still think sorting is a little too... dividing as it is right now. I don't think that it should be abolished anymore," Dinah admitted, "But I do think we need to increase contact between members of different houses and impress upon people that they do have traits _besides_ those of their own house. If you think it's a good idea, headmaster, I have been tossing around the idea of organizing weekly sessions where students are required to participate in some inter-house association."

"I think that is an excellent suggestion. You have many goals, don't you? Quite ambitious and Slytherin-like, and of course you are _both _intelligent as Ravenclaws and even Severus was able to understand your views of Tommy like a Hufflepuff might," his eyes twinkled; "Yes, I think more inter-house association is a _wonderful _idea. Speaking of goals, though, you _are _nearing completion of that survey write-up, aren't you?"

Dinah laughed, "It is nearly finished."

"Good," he yawned, "Then I believe I shall nap too. Enjoy the rest of your year," the portrait gave them a wave and then walked to disappear off the side of the frame.


	159. Planning

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FIFTY-NINE

Planning

* * *

Severus sighed; "That went well, I think," his gaze shifted to the framed portrait on Dumbledore's other side and he frowned; "You know what this means don't you?"

"What?" she teased, having some idea of where this was going as she admired the still image of a pale, long-nosed man with shiny black shoulder-length hair.

"Mine is now the only image that does not move," he scowled at it.

She grinned and rested a hand on his arm; "That's a good thing. I don't intend to let it move for a _very_ long time. Besides, it's still the nicest one to look at."

He chuckled, "I'll never understand you." Turning around, he pulled her to him and gave her a long kiss; "We're both free now," he whispered against her lips before drawing back an inch or two, and the sheer amount of relief and promise in his voice caused a flush to rise in her cheeks.

"Mm," she agreed, sliding her arms up around his shoulders, loving every minute of looking into his eyes and face when he was smiling like this. There would be years and years of smiling ahead of them. They were truly free.

"Oh, Dinah, Severus, you are both here," a voice broke them out of their reverie and Dinah turned, letting her arms slip a bit from his shoulders to see who it was. Minerva was standing just inside the doors. She was alone.

Drawing the rest of the way from Severus, she started heading over towards the new headmistress, and they stopped just in front of her; "We were just talking to Dumbledore's portrait, tying up some loose ends."

Minerva nodded; "Understandable. Harry and I have decided to tentatively schedule the funeral for Friday afternoon, postponing the Quidditch match a week."

"Fine," Severus nodded, regarding Minerva with a considering expression; "You intend to remain Gryffindor's head of house even as headmistress, until a replacement can be found?"

The older woman smiled slightly as she regarded him; "Yes, I do, for the time being at any rate."

"Then we remain rivals."

"Indeed," she agreed. "Though this year I really couldn't guess _what _the outcome of the various cups will be. The houses are fairly even, but the Quidditch teams seem to be heading towards a Ravenclaw win."

"Only if we lose this upcoming match," Severus's eyes flashed with determination; "Perhaps I shall give my students an incentive."

"But no cheating," Dinah nudged him pointedly.

Minerva smiled; "Ah, you are going to be an ally to us all, Dinah. You have _already _been most useful this year in keeping Severus in a good mood."

"I try," she laughed. "My major role in this relationship seems to be softening his behaviors around everybody, but I'm guessing I must do the job well."

"Extremely well."

Severus was glaring at them both, probably annoyed at being talked of as though he was not there, but he shrugged and spoke to Minerva again; "You should know, that Dinah and I intend to marry."

"Marry!" the old woman looked positively shocked; "You mean as in wedding marry? As in husband and wife marry?"

"Yes, I do believe that is the only kind," Severus replied with an amused raised eyebrow.

"Oh, of course," she flushed; "Well, congratulations. That is... well, I must say that is a different sort of thing to deal with as headmistress. Although Lucy is marrying as well, but she will not be married to another professor. I suppose you would like to share rooms then..."

"Yes, and sooner rather than later, but we haven't discussed all the details at present. The headmaster's portrait simply suggested we let you know right away so that you may prepare. But please do not tell anyone else about this yet."

"Mm," Dinah agreed, nodding; "The students probably don't need to be bombarded with this information right away. They have enough on their plates. Anyway, they'll know soon enough when there are suddenly two Professor Snapes running around."

"Yes, that should be interesting to deal with. Well, again, congratulations. We'll discuss more of this later, but there are things I must take care of here and I'm afraid the reporters outside are positively nagging me to get you out to answer questions, Dinah."

Dinah sighed; "I suppose it's just as well. Okay, I'll go out and give them what they want. Thank you for telling me." They bid Minerva farewell and headed back down to the still-empty hallway before Severus nudged Dinah's arm and she turned to see what he wanted.

"You wish to be called Professor Snape?" he looked pleasantly surprised. "Because, of course, I will not force you to."

She smiled, taking his hand; "Yes, I do wish that. I'm usually pretty up on the whole liberated woman thing, given my sociology background," she flushed; "but I don't know, I've just always dreamt of the day that I could change my name. Sort of symbolizing that I was finally married to the person that I belong with. Even if it _will _confuse the students."

"Mm," he seemed too happy to say anything specific, so he just kissed her.

"You know," she said softly when he broke the kiss; "I'm glad we were able to talk to the portrait, but... well, it's not _really _him... that whole portrait enchantment thing can be so deceptive. It's hard to admit that it wasn't real. Most people don't, but... I feel like I have to."

Severus sighed; "Yes, I know. The thought crossed my mind often during my tenure as headmaster – which is why I refused to speak to the portrait much about... what the headmaster had made me do... killing him..." he shook his head; "But even if it isn't the same I do believe that it channels the thoughts appropriately. I'm sure the headmaster – the real headmaster – feels the same as the portrait, although those feelings may be of a slightly different... essential nature."

"Yes," she agreed, feeling better about it as a wave of peace washed over her; "You're right," she leaned against Severus and he hugged her to him, their heads nestled together for a few comfortable moments; "I'm sure he feels the same."

He nodded; "I suppose, then, that we shouldn't keep your horrible reporters waiting."

"I suppose not," Dinah sighed, releasing him and turning back to face the halls leading toward the front of the school where a million people waited to hear the whole story of what had just happened.

She was ready for them.

* * *

"Professor Binns," Dinah addressed the aged ghost floating in the air on the other side of the History of Magic classroom teacher's desk. "I've brought some things that you might like to see. Some of it will be in the newspapers soon, quotes from the interviews I've given, but I wanted to give you direct access to the _all _of the information. Mae?" she put her hand on the shoulder of the small girl she and Severus had recently plucked from the Ravenclaw common room.

Mae Yates smiled and shyly placed the wooden box she was holding onto the desk; "Professor Binns, these are notes made by my ancestor, the squib Raymond Scrump, called Jonathan Yates in the Muggle world. He spent a lot of time with some isolated wizard tribes and learned a lot about things that aren't well-documented yet in normal society. But the facts are all here."

"I see," the History of Magic professor raised an interested eyebrow as he glanced down at the items.

"Yes, although some of the items are hearsay and reports that can't be verified after the fact, they are mostly very detailed. And I have some facts of my own – things I directly witnessed – to back them up. Some of the things discussed, including what I had to face, are rather 'ghost-like' so I thought they might fit with some of your brother's mysterious theories," Dinah smiled.

"Ah," the normally stoic professor managed a smile; "So then my brother's ideas do have some basis in fact after all. I appreciate the fact that you remembered my comments from our previous discussion. Of course, the facts will have to be verified first. But that may be a worthwhile pursuit."

"Yes, I'd like to find out more about some of it myself, especially the 'missing goods' which you'll see in some of those notes and read a little about in my interviews. I figured you would be a good person – er, ghost for the job. Of course, there doesn't need to be a rush. I have a lot of other ... pursuits on my list, as I'm sure you must as well." Actually, she figured he probably didn't have much to do but there was no reason to risk insulting him when she wanted his help.

"Yes, yes, but I will look into this. Perhaps influencing wizard researchers to devote more time to the study of isolated communities will being more unique things to our attention. I am surprised it has not been done before. Perhaps I can summarize these notes and put together something to give to the Ministry or other researchers. I am sure there are other historians who might be interested. I will let you know once I've perused all of the information."

"That's all I ask. Thank you."

"Thank _you_. And you, Miss Yates, for the use of the information. Perhaps my brother's pursuits shall not be in vain after all," he gave another vague smile, and if Dinah didn't know any better she would have guessed he was very happy to know that his brother's efforts hadn't been for naught. Not only that, but she suspected he was probably glad to have something useful to do with his time.

"I hope so," she returned the smile and then turned around, heading out of the classroom with Severus and Mae. She looked down at the child when they made it out; "Thank you, Mae. You should probably get back to your common room now. It's getting late."

"Okay," the girl beamed; "Good night, Professor Samson! Professor Snape!" She waved and hurried down the hall towards Ravenclaw tower.

Dinah turned and headed with Severus along towards the dungeons. She had taken care of her animals after talking to the reporters and before going to get Mae and so there was no reason to go back to her rooms tonight, which was just as well. The halls were finally quiet and peaceful save for the clicks and echoes made by hers and Severus's footsteps as they left the chaos of the day behind. The reporters had asked a lot of questions and she had given them the basic gist of what had happened as well as a recitation of her prophecy, finally gone public after all of these years. Still, she didn't think they fully understood what had happened between her and Tommy or the full implication of it, which wasn't really so terrible. They seemed more focused on the fact that she had somehow 'made the bad things go away' and less on the fact that Voldemort was now at peace. Actually, she got the most confused looks when she tried to explain that part, but at least they were confused and not trying to paint her as some sort of Death Eater for 'helping' Voldemort. They, at least, seemed to understand that it was a good 'help' and not an evil one.

"Sarepta," Dinah noticed the snake when they made it into the dungeons' living area. Her friend was crawling across the back of the green couch, not in her usual place curled up on top of one of the shelves, and seemed restless.

"Dinah," Sarepta nodded at her in greeting; "You have been gone longer than usual today. Did something happen?"

Dinah sat down on the couch and let her snake friend crawl onto her arm; "Yes. Tommy wanted me to... say good-bye to you for him," she smiled. "He's moved on."

Sarepta regarded her with surprise in her eyes, and when she spoke her voice was happy and relieved; "Oh, that's good to hear. And the darkness is gone? Everything is taken care of?"

"Yes," Dinah smiled.

"Good. I wish I could have seen him again, but the important thing is that he is healed." That was one of the nicest things about animals sometimes, Dinah thought, and she especially felt it today. They didn't ask too many questions. Which was good because Dinah didn't feel like explaining things anymore. She was feeling rather tired. But not _too _tired, she thought with a slight flush. She was looking forward to some nice intimacy with her future husband, and no worries to tie them down.

"Yes, that's the important thing," Dinah agreed with Sarepta.

"And of course you must be relieved, too," Sarepta encouraged. "Me, I am ready for mating season. I should probably be out there now but it is late. Could I go tomorrow though?"

"Of course. I've always said you're free whenever you need to be. Thank you so much for your help. I know Tommy appreciated it, too."

"You're welcome."

"Are you hungry? I can try and have Godric get another mouse for you if you need it."

"No, I'm not that hungry yet. And I can always get something tomorrow if I change my mind."

"All right," Dinah agreed, smiling and letting Sarepta back onto the couch to slither around some more. She _was _quite restless. Well, the need to mate could do that to a person – er, a snake. Dinah laughed and turned to Severus, standing from the couch and heading towards him.

He was regarding her with a thoughtful expression; "Is 'mouse' mouse?"

"Huh?" she stopped. That didn't seem like something Severus would say. "What are you talking about, is mouse mouse?" Maybe the events of the day were making him a little loopy, though that didn't seem like something that would happen to him either.

Her fiancé's eyes lit up; "Then I got it right!"

Dinah flushed and felt a little twinge of nostalgic happiness. He was behaving a little bit like the young Severus. "Got what right?"

"I made hissing noises, asking if something I am always hearing you say to Sarepta means mouse. If you got 'mouse mouse' out of it then it must mean I made the right noise," he offered her a smile with a raised eyebrow; "I suppose I'm well on my way to understanding the entire language like Dumbledore and Grindelwald, right?"

Dinah found herself laughing, running forward and wrapping her arms around him, feeling lighter than she probably had in years; "Perhaps. Though you might want to practice a little more before you go hissing at snakes. I'd hate to see you get bitten, even if adder venom _is _weak and the most recent Muggle death in Britain was in 1975."

"And even though I'm a potions master who could make an antidote in less than a minute had I access to my stores?" he added with a smile.

"Yes," she smiled, "Even then," she leaned forward to lightly brush her lips against his, and when his smile widened and his arms tightened around her she kissed him again, this time letting opening her mouth as he did so their tongues could gain access to each other, intensifying the kiss. The relief she felt at being free and being engaged to this man was translating physically to a fluttering heart, inability to stop smiling, and deep pleasant arousal.

An arousal which only intensified when he let his lips leave hers and instead wander along her jaw and down to her neck. The gentle caresses of his tongue and his mouth spread into a smile against her skin as she buried her face in his shiny, smooth, soft hair, inhaling its fresh scent. "I love you," he murmured, and she couldn't wait anymore.

"Severus, I love you," she responded with all her heart, burying her face more deeply in his hair and pressing herself closer to him. His lips returned to hers and he half-lifted her up into his arms, and they managed to make their way into the bedroom, collapsing onto the bed together in a rush of kissing and stroking and hugging and just being enveloped in each other. Together and free and engaged to be married.

Soon after, they were collapsed on the bed together in ecstasy, letting their breaths and bodies slow.

"Severus," she whispered against the soft, smooth skin of his neck as his arms wound around her; "I'm so happy."

"Oh, Dinah," he sighed, and again she heard so much happiness and relief in him as he kissed her forehead; "So am I. I don't think I know what to do with myself, I'm so happy."

She laughed, remembering everything they'd had to endure up till now and how they had both been certain at various points that they'd never experience this much happiness together. But those days seemed distant. Like a dream. This was now their happy reality. She adjusted her position and let him slip limply out of her, lifting her head to rest her forehead on his and meet his smiling gaze; "I know what we could do with ourselves. We can talk about how to go about this... marriage thing," she pressed her lips to his; "my future husband."

Severus chuckled, his dark eyes shining; "We could. In my opinion sooner is better than later, but I am willing to go about things however you want to. Weddings are, apparently, a very elaborate dream of some women."

She grinned, sitting up along with him and drawing the covers up over their lower bodies; "Yes, they can be. But I don't think there's any reason for us to wait. My family is very small and I don't need a large wedding. After all, we both know how much you don't like gigantic affairs."

"Mm, that's why we're perfect for each other, correct? I am willing to have such a thing for your sake and yet you are fully accepting of the fact that I do not enjoy such things. But you really aren't just saying that for my sake?"

"No," she smiled and shook her head, entwining her fingers with his. He really was the most amazing person on Earth, and he was all hers; "I'm not. I want to marry you, sooner rather than later as you said. I think I would just invite my family, Rosa and Luke, and Lucy and Sirius... as long as Sirius is okay with you."

"It seems we are all... friends, now. At least acquaintances," he frowned, his brow furrowing and Dinah couldn't help but laugh. He shrugged, turning a smile back to her; "That is fine. As there is not really anyone for me to invite – don't look like that," he murmured, stroking her cheek with an affectionate smile when she felt her eyes grow sad; "Yes, I have spent much of my life alone. But I no longer feel any of that pain or loneliness. As you said once... it doesn't have to hurt anymore. And it doesn't. Nothing hurts anymore."

"Oh, Severus," she felt her chest tighten again as a wave of relief washed over her. She kissed him and slid her hands into his hair, keeping their heads pressed close together; "I'm so glad."

"I have you to thank for that," he nuzzled his nose against hers, and she felt a happy flush rising in her cheeks. His lips brushed softly on hers again before he drew away and finished. "And, were he still alive, I would certainly have invited the headmaster. But," he frowned, a little bit of sadness reflected in his gaze and she felt it too; "that is not the case. Though I'm sure he, like the portrait, would be pleased with our decision."

"I'm sure," she agreed, nodding. She felt a small smile form as an idea occurred to her; "Would you like to get married on the Hogwarts grounds? Maybe somewhere near where we always used to walk, or by the lake, or where you told me you loved me the first time?"

"Mm," he nodded, looking pleased at the idea; "I think that is a fine choice. Of course, there is the matter of permission..."

"It don't think it will be that hard. Minerva would probably be fine with it as long as we didn't advertise or make her deal with the arrangements. Of course, we'd still have to get her to lift the restriction on Muggles entering Hogwarts, just for my family."

"Seeing as you're faculty she would probably do that. You should also tell your family, shouldn't you? Before we go about setting dates and the like," he frowned. "Do you think they will be fine with it?"

"I'm sure, if not right away then very quickly. They know you're perfect for me after all – oh, don't scowl!" she stroked his cheek, laughing; "I know it's bizarre but we should be glad about it. Still, I wonder if Rosa will call you cute as much now that we're adults again? Of course, _I _still think you're cute. Mm, I'm not helping, am I?" she chuckled, as his scowl had deepened.

"Not particularly," he growled, but his scowl softened into a smirk.

"Uh oh," Dinah grimaced as another thought landed on her; "Do you realize what this means?"

"What?"

"You're going to - oh goodness, this is too much!" she tried to stop herself but she burst into a fit of giggles, unable to stop as she rested her forehead on his shoulder; "I can't imagine. The possibilities are endless! Everything that could happen!"

"Do I _really _want to know what you're going to say?" he sounded apprehensive and, she thought, he probably had the right idea.

She lifted her head to meet his frown; "You're going to have to meet Aunt Mildred."

Severus blinked; "Ah, I recall you mentioning her. And this is really such a big deal?"

She chuckled; "You'll see. It can't really be explained, unfortunately, you're just going to have to find out for yourself. But I apologize in advance."

"I see... well, I'll take your apology into consideration;" he didn't understand the gravity of the situation _at all_, Dinah feared, but there was nothing she could do. He changed the subject, smiling and lifting their entwined hands so that they could both see them; "We have forgotten one other important thing. I'll have to get you a sparkling ring to rival your friend's... surpass hers, even."

Dinah blushed; "You're right," she laid her head on his shoulder, smiling at their hands, imagining the sparkling ring sitting there on her finger. And even better: "We'll need wedding bands for both of us, too. Really throw the students for a loop when they see you wearing one. If you want to, that is."

"I want to," he kissed her hair; "Perhaps we can go looking... this weekend?"

"Yes!" she grinned, lifting her head, excited by the prospect; "We can look around London, if you want. And then maybe visit my parents and Rosa and Luke and tell them the news? Find out when they're available to attend a wedding?"

"Sooner rather than later," he agreed with a slight smile and a nod; "I have no need of an extended engagement."

"Same here," she smiled, glad that they were on the same page with this; "Especially as I have absolutely no doubt of the fact that we belong together."

"I'm glad we agree," he voiced her thoughts, kissing her, letting their lips linger together for a few moments before he drew away; "especially since we now share Patronuses."

"Oh, yes," her chest fluttered at the memory. Seeing the two snakes together had been one of the most joyous experiences of her life; "That was amazing. Although it makes sense, I just never expected – didn't even cross my mind that-" she broke off, smiling at him.

Severus laughed; "Yes, it didn't really cross my mind either. But it makes perfect sense. As soon as I conjured it and saw it there I knew it was right."

"It?" she teased, her eyes twinkling; "Not 'she'? It doesn't get a name anymore?"

He feigned annoyance; "Patronuses are simply a manifestation of pleasant thoughts, not sentient beings. They have no gender."

"Oh?" Dinah cocked her head; "I'm not sure I've ever heard of a male doe."

"Oh, shut up," he growled, but his eyes were happy as he kissed her. "The most important thing is that it fits. It fits _you _and you are the absolute source of my happiness, Dinah. And you are quite snakelike, after all," he teased her back.

"Oh, but so are you," she fingered a strand of his hair, grinning; "You know 'Snape' sounds a lot like 'snake', right?"

He sighed and rolled his eyes; "No, I have _never _heard that one before."

She giggled at his annoyed expression; "Well, it fits with Slytherin, too. Speaking of which, when would you like me to move down here with you? You'll have to animal-proof it first, though, unless you want more blue and magenta potions switched around."

"Probably _broken_, knowing Godric," he sighed, a smile reforming on his lips; "But soon. If Minerva does not have a problem with it I would be happy to have you move in here before we are married. Though keeping the situation from the students might be difficult."

"Oh, they won't figure it out. It's not as though they come to our quarters anyway – at least not mine, as mine are separate from my office, and you can always keep your door closed. They won't see anything more than what they already have, at any rate. And perhaps next year we can officially announce our marriage to them," she smiled and he returned it, and then another thought occurred to her; "What about during the summers?"

"Your home in London is better suited for two people than Spinner's End. It is also located in a much better area."

"Mm, but you're all right with living in the middle of a Muggle neighborhood? And with leaving your childhood home?"

"I admit Spinner's End is familiar, but it never held any particular joy, least of all during my childhood," he frowned, and then shrugged; "We can decide what to do with it later. I may keep the property, just not live there. Perhaps one of these other weekends we can go and clean the place out, make decisions."

"Mm," she repeated, agreeing, and then another thought struck her; "Hey, Severus?"

"Yes?"

"Don't mind my asking, I just thought of this," she smiled slightly as she regarded him; "If I ever called you Sev, would you object? I haven't really had the desire to do so yet, but it's a cute nickname and if someday I slip into it or it gets easier to say it during quick moments..." she watched for his reaction.

He smiled; "Why would I object? Yes, Lily is the only person who ever called me that before, but she does not own the name. You called me that once, accidentally, and drove me away, but if that's what's worrying you, please don't. That was a long time ago. You know everything has changed since then."

"I know," she flushed, feeling a little sheepish.

"You may call me Sev. I do, however, love the sound of you speaking my full name. I have gotten used to it."

"Oh, me too. I love your name. It's sort of beautiful," she giggled as he flushed; "But I just thought I might enjoy calling you Sev every now and again, too."

"Then please do so."

"Okay," she grinned, kissing him; "Sev... Sev... Sev..." she alternated the name with more kisses, enjoying the freedom they now had in their relationship to do absolutely anything they wanted. He was smiling as well, enjoying her use of the nickname. She smiled and kissed him extra lightly, letting her tongue just barely graze his bottom lip as her arms around his bare shoulders and the joy of their previous discussion sparked a gentle arousal within her; "Severus..." she murmured his full name, slowly, after drawing away.

"Mm," he closed his eyes, his smile relaxed; "I do enjoy that the most."

"Me too," she admitted, and kissed him again as his hands wandered down to her waist and he pinned her back onto the pillow. She laughed along with him as they made love for the second time that night, happy and ready to begin their life together.

* * *

A/N: An extended love-making scene can be found in "The Serpent's Kiss – Bonus", on my profile.


	160. Closure

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTY

Closure

* * *

"There you go," Dinah smiled and leaned down, Severus hovering over her as she extended her hand so it touched the cool evening grass, making a ramp for Sarepta to slither down; "Thanks for everything. It's been fun."

"It has," her snake friend agreed amiably, making it down onto the grass and turning around to face them; "I can already sense the males around. I must choose the right one, though. They will have to be patient."

"Males? Patient?" Dinah teased.

"I know," Sarepta agreed with a slightly frustrated sigh; "But I will figure things out. I'm sure I'll see you around. If you do get a pet snake, you must introduce me."

"Oh, most definitely," Dinah grinned. She had talked about it with Severus this afternoon, and they had decided it was probably time for her to go ahead and get a pet snake like she'd always wanted – one from a pet store, not wild, and it was so nice that her fiancé was open to the idea, too. Everybody knew about her parseltongue by now, and the attitudes about her seemed to be softening, so now was as good a time as any. She wasn't even hooded right now as she talked to Sarepta, although she had waited for the evening because the snake killing rule was still not _officially _reversed and she didn't need too many students around while she did this. The few she passed had looked, but then went back to their business. They had known she was keeping a snake in the school anyway. Things were really dying down on that subject, attitudes relaxing.

It felt very good.

"I won't come too close to the school, but I like to have my litter over by those boulders near the forest," she inclined her head to indicate the location; "If you want to see the snakelings you may come and do so. They do not stay but for a couple of days."

"Oh, then I'll try to make it to see them then!" Dinah exclaimed, bringing her hands together in the excitement. She had never really got to play around with baby snakes before – young ones, but not babies. Much cuteness would abound, she was sure, and it would be fun to annoy Severus with how much she indulged in it. She looked at her friend and felt her gaze soften; "Thank you, Sarepta."

"You're welcome," Sarepta replied. "And thank _you _for the friendship and the respect, not to mention food and a safe place to stay. It was nice to associate with friendly humans. I will make sure to visit you when I can."

"Likewise. Good luck with the males."

"I will need it," her friend sighed again, shaking her head, and slithered off to go and face down the males.

Dinah smiled, standing so that she could turn and do the same; "Well, that takes care of that. We're going to visit her from time to time – or at least I am – and she said we can come and see the baby snakes when she has them!"

"I see," he lacked the proper enthusiasm about her statement, but Dinah supposed it was just as well.

"Speaking of babies," she flushed; "I never asked – specifically – how you feel about children. Since we're getting married and all, and the subject will surely come up eventually..."

"Hm," he frowned, regarding her; "I am indifferent to the idea. If we do not have children I will be fine with it, but if we do I will love them and probably come to the conclusion that I wanted them from the beginning – if we have them." At her smile he continued, "Either way, I have a feeling you want children, and if you do then I want whatever makes you happy."

She smiled, wrapping her arms around him; "I do, I think, want children, but I don't see a need to plan it all out right away. Granted I'm not getting any younger – although I don't really feel old – so if we're going to have them, probably within the next few years would be ideal... biologically and all that. Plus, I can't really see us raising teenagers into our seventies."

Severus chuckled; "No, that I _would _be opposed to. Shall we just see how things go then?"

"I think that's a perfect idea. Again, right now the main thing is that we're getting married," she gave him a brief kiss, as a few students had just wandered by; "One step at a time and all that," she teased.

"Indeed," he agreed, a light smile on his lips as he took her hand, leading her with him into the school. Minerva greeted them at the entrance, looking relieved; "Yes?" he asked her in that perfect raised-eyebrow monotone style he had. Once again, Dinah found herself being a little turned on by it.

"I've been looking for you both," the headmistress was holding a piece of parchment. "I just received this owl from the Ministry regarding the Veritaserum they had intended to administer to you this weekend."

"Oh," Dinah's face fell and she grimaced. In all the hubbub that had been going on recently she had forgotten all about that particular annoying detail.

Minerva was smiling, though; "It seems they have changed their minds."

"What?" Severus demanded, shocked disbelief on his face. Dinah just blinked, sure she had heard wrong.

"Yes, Severus, they have chosen _not _to administer the Veritaserum after all, in light of the recent reports from what happened on Tuesday and a general softening of attitudes towards you and your abilities. They do note that they will be 'keeping an eye on you', though, but I think that's much better than forcing you to submit to questioning."

Dinah hadn't realized how apprehensive she had really been about the Veritaserum thing until now, and she exhaled, leaning against Severus as relief filled her up; "Yes. _So _much better."

"Good," Severus replied with a stiff nod, hugging her to him; "Then they have managed to come to their senses. I suppose I shall not have to hex them now."

"You intended to hex the Ministry?" it was Minerva's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"I was contemplating it," he admitted, and Dinah had to laugh.

* * *

It was the last day that classes would be suspended before starting up again on Monday, and the grounds were filled with sunshine Friday afternoon as Dinah stood around with Severus by the lake, her in her dress robes and him in his semi-dress robes, watching as people shuffled in from the school and from Hogsmeade and from countless other locations, slowly filling up the rows of chairs lined up in front of the tomb which held Dumbledore and Grindelwald, the tomb which had once held Dumbledore alone and was now moved from its resting location to be put back on display for this – his second funeral.

The words were quite strange to think. The rebirths that had come about just a little over a year ago were in some way still completely unbelievable, but Dinah's gratitude for what they had done for her – _and _for Severus – was infinite. Because he was here standing next to her, very much alive and going to be so for years to come.

"There are fewer people, I think, than the first funeral," Severus mused, watching as students filled the back and middle rows and adults the front ones, leaving spaces for the faculty and members of the Ministry in the very front rows which were reserved. "I read of it in the _Daily Prophet _but – of course – was unable to attend."

Dinah was about to respond that he could do so now because it wasn't his fault this time and everybody knew it when an old man with familiar blue eyes walked stiffly up to them; "They say that you two were there, that you know the details about this," he said, his voice gruff as he inclined his head towards the tomb; "They're both in there. They _say _that they 'made up'... that he would have wanted this."

"Yes, Aberforth," Severus said cautiously; "He would have. And they have reconciled. Grindelwald never meant to cause your sister's death and regrets it."

He snorted; "That's easy enough to _say _– but I suppose if you were both there and saw it I can let it go. Never be fond of that man, though. The things he and my brother did during that summer – most of it ridiculous talk of the dark arts, and some of it... yes, well, just say it kept me up at night from time to time. Quite infuriating."

Dinah seemed to recall that this man, the barkeep of the Hog's Head – had what was in her opinion a much _more _unusual fondness for goats, but didn't make mention of that.

"Though I guess he was happy in those days, until Grindelwald ruined everything," Aberforth sighed; "Ariana's portrait says she's forgiven them both – I hope it's true for the real Ariana. Guess I just have to force myself to believe it and press on, because I can't force them to take the invader out of the tomb."

Lucy and Sirius wandered up to them, the latter nodding and saying; "Hi."

"Hi," Dinah smiled at them and Severus gave a brief nod. Aberforth managed a friendlier smile when he saw Lucy.

Lucy, on the other hand, looked a little like she might cry and ran forward to hug the old man. Dinah recalled that the two apparently got on rather well, especially as they both lived in Hogsmeade; "I'm so sorry," she said.

"It's not your fault," Aberforth replied, wrapping his arms around her, "It would have happened whether you were the one there that night or not."

"Yes, and think of all the good things it did," Dinah said, taking Severus's arm as she realized that Lucy was referring to the rebirth, which she had been the chosen vessel to bring about. "Dumbledore is at peace with Grindelwald. Take it from me – he was _very _happy before he died. Very happy."

Lucy nodded, stepping back from Aberforth and turning to look at Dinah, "There is that and you're right a lot of good did come from it." She took Sirius's hand and smiled, "A lot of good."

"Well, I suppose I'd better be seated before all the good seats are taken," Dumbledore's brother grumbled; "You two should come by the bar one of these nights, I'll treat you to half-priced drinks," he told Lucy and Sirius before wandering off to sit in the third row. He probably could have gotten away with sitting in the first row, being brother of the deceased, but Dinah knew that they were still somewhat estranged and he was probably more than satisfied sitting in the third row and drawing less attention to himself.

"Your Weasley brood has shown up," Severus muttered to Lucy, nodding off towards the top of the hill where a cluster of red-haired people along with Harry and Hermione were walking in their direction. A woman with bright pink hair separated from the group and raced toward Lucy to hug her, followed behind by a tired-looking man carrying a small boy.

Lucy grinned at Severus over the woman's shoulder while Severus eyed the other man cautiously, "They're hardly my brood," Lucy teased, stepping back and looking her friend up and down; "Look at you! Starting to show. Oh! I've been rude," she grabbed the child from the man and turned; "Dinah, this is Tonks, Remus, Teddy, and baby," she gestured to each person in turn, ending with a gesture toward her friend's stomach where a tiny bump was visible.

"Ah," Dinah smiled; "I've heard... a lot about the both of you. Very nice to meet you," she extended her hand towards Tonks first.

"Hi," Tonks said, smiling and taking her hand. "Watch this one," she said, gesturing to the boy in Lucy's arms, whose hair had turned blue and who was reaching for her, "He likes to grab hair." Dinah giggled as he grasped a strand of hers with his small fingers; he was adorable, just like in the picture Lucy had shown her at Christmas, but he had grown fast since then and was about twice the size, she thought.

"Teddy turned one last month," Lucy explained, holding tightly to the boy and pulling his hands back as he started to pull a bit on Dinah's hair.

"Severus," Remus finally spoke up, nodding with as wary an expression as Dinah's fiancé, his gaze shifting down to where their arms were still linked as though he had never expected to see such a thing in his life.

"Lupin," Severus nodded back, nearly scowling as his gaze shifted from the werewolf to Sirius and back again; "Both of you in the same place, standing here in front of me again. Together. Lovely." Dinah managed a short laugh and he sighed and continued; "However, seeing as I have forgiven Sirius his transgressions and you were never as much a part of the ... issues as the rest of them..." he seemed to consider.

"Yes, but I didn't do much to stop it," Remus frowned; "For that I apologize."

"True, but I suppose that can be overlooked now," he unhooked his arm from Dinah's and extended his hand toward the other man.

Remus looked surprised, but was happy to shake Severus's hand. They dropped hands quickly, though, which wasn't entirely surprising. Still, _so _much progress had been made between the two still-living Marauders and Severus.

Tonks smiled at her son in Lucy's arms, and then turned a teasing gaze to Sirius; "I hope you're prepared to have a litter, Padfoot. Lucy might be an only child but she does love kids. Lots of little Padfeet."

Remus rolled his eyes at his wife, but managed a chuckle. "You know dear, together they are in fact…Padfeet."

Dinah gasped, smiling at how cute the term was for her dog and fox friends, but Severus cut her off before she could comment, rolling his eyes; "You may want to refrain from using that term unless you look forward to losing your hearing when Dinah starts squealing due to the 'cuteness'."

"Oh, hush!" she laughed, nudging him.

Sirius just smiled and shook his head at Tonks, "We'll get there soon enough on our own." Lucy smiled, and Dinah realized that she felt similarly to how they must feel, given hers and Severus's Wednesday decision to just let the children thing take care of itself.

"Oh, no," Lucy muttered, her gaze shifting across the grounds to where a group of people from the ministry including the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt himself, were heading down the hill towards the set up chairs. But as far as she knew Lucy liked Kingsley, so her apprehension must have been directed at someone else.

"What?" she asked.

"I forgot to warn you about that," Tonks said, glancing in the same direction as Lucy. "He had to come, to represent the Ministry and all that. Probably would have come anyway…he does ask about you sometimes."

"The blond," Lucy explained, looking at Dinah, "is Gawain."

"Ah!" it hit Dinah; "Your old boyfriend."

"Robards," Severus sneered; "Rarely had to deal with him but always found him irritating. Come, we should find our seats," he whisked her away from the group and Dinah once again found herself the one who had to do all the smiling and waving good-bye to make sure they appeared friendly and sociable. "Aww, you mean you don't want to stay and keep chatting with all your old friends?" she joked when they were heading down the center aisle towards the front row.

"We talked long enough. Besides, I am now more concerned with my future than my past." He frowned and stopped as they passed Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione settling down in the second row on their right; "Potter!"

"Um, yes Professor Snape?" Harry looked surprised to be addressed so suddenly.

"My office. After the funeral," he ordered as though Harry was still his student. Dinah blinked. She had no idea where that had come from or where it was going.

Harry looked just as confused as she did; "Are you going to give me a detention or something? I don't think that's legal."

"_No_, Potter," he glared; "There is simply something I need to discuss with you before you leave the school, which I hear you intend to do this evening. Don't argue with me. Just come."

"Uh, yes Sir," Harry just shrugged at the confused looks his friends and girlfriend were giving him, as Dinah and Severus walked away.

"What was that all about?" she asked as they settled into some seats in the middle of the left side of the front row.

"You'll find out soon enough," was his mysterious response. He smirked; "I'm surprised you haven't loudly announced our engagement to Lucy yet."

Dinah flushed; "Oh, about that. Actually, I sort of decided that I don't want to tell her until I can surprise her with my ring and how much sparklier it is than hers;" she chuckled; "I guess I can get caught up in the competition too. Not that she'd ever want to switch places with me any more than I would want to switch with her."

"Mm, romantic competition _does _make little sense, doesn't it?" he chuckled. "Well, you may tell her whenever you wish it. I'm simply surprised you've been able to restrain yourself."

She laughed; "It's not easy, but I can manage." They watched silently as the seats continued to fill up, and in a moment Slughorn and Eugene appeared, trying to find seats in their row. Eugene greeted them both. Dinah smiled and offered him a hello while Severus simply grunted and looked away.

"I'm glad you're both here," Eugene said, robust to Severus's almost-rebuke; "I fear we might be the only people here for Gellert in any way..." he sighed and looked up at the white marble tomb; "I did consider him a friend."

"I know," Dinah offered her sympathy; "He was a good man. He had flaws, but ultimately he was redeemable. Due to love, of course. It's always due to love."

Eugene smiled, looking like he felt a little better as he sat down on Slughorn's other side three or four chairs away from them, putting the distance between himself and Severus that the latter required.

In a little bit she saw Lucy come back down the aisle with Sirius, following Tonks and Remus and carrying the baby again. The four of them sat down in the front row on the other side of the aisle, and then a wizard in black robes walked to the front of the tomb to start saying things about Dumbledore. Dinah sighed and leaned against Severus as he put his arms around her and they listened to the wizard talk, their positions similar to when they had cuddled on the couch to read together all the time during the early days of their relationship, but this time there was sadness involved. She knew Severus felt it too. And yet she had done most of her grieving when it had actually happened, and so it was quieter – easier – to deal with it now, so she just listened.

The wizard talked about the miracle of the rebirths last year and about Dumbledore's life and the great things he did. There were very few things said about Grindelwald, simply a brief mention of the fact that he and Dumbledore had reconciled and the headmaster would have wanted his friend with him after that. The rest of the speech was devoted to the headmaster. As the wizard went on Dinah listened to the sounds of the grounds around them. She heard some sniffles and sighs coming from the surrounding attendees, but those sounds were overshadowed by other, more pleasant ones. The birds singing in the trees, waves lapping up against the shore of the lake, the wind blowing the long grass and reeds... Confirmations of life even in the face of death.

And, of course, Severus was still warm next to her, and she knew Dumbledore had been right. Her future husband's rebirth was so that he could live a real, long life... the life that he deserved... with her. They still had many more adventures ahead of them. And the headmaster had wanted that for them too.

All in all, the funeral was not so terrible, and she did not cry. Things were all right like this. It wasn't unnatural anymore and the headmaster was at peace.

Soon the attendees were all standing and shuffling out as Minerva and the Ministry went about taking care of the final arrangements. "That went well, I think," Dinah withdrew herself from Severus's arms so that she could stand and straighten her robes.

Severus nodded his agreement, also standing. She was glad he had skipped out on the outer robes today – it was much too warm outside to be wearing that many layers. "It feels like a validation... having been able to attend this time, with no hostilities being directed towards me."

"Mm," she smiled and nodded, taking his hand as they headed toward the center aisle.

They were just passing the last row of chairs when a running Lucy caught up to them. "Dinah, hold up a minute. Do you think I could talk to you for a little bit? I mean if you're not busy," she asked with a glance at Severus.

"Of course not. Severus just has to go prepare for some mysterious meeting with Harry," she teased him and he rolled his eyes.

"Um, okay," Lucy said, looking a little confused as she pulled Dinah away, leaving Severus to continue on his way towards the dungeons and meet the boy; "So, I was wondering if you'd like to come to a really impromptu engagement party?"

Dinah bit her lip and gave a strained smile and nod. Of course her friend had to say _that_ of all things. She had to hold it in – couldn't tell her yet – had to wait until she had the ring... "Sure, um... when?"

Lucy frowned a bit at her reaction; "Well, now. I mean it's not an actual engagement party. Not really planned like I said. The whole family's going to be at Hogsmeade House and we haven't really had a chance to celebrate with everyone yet…They don't know a thing about it. I just thought it'd be nice," she shrugged, "and maybe you and Severus would like to come. I know he has issues with Harry and the Weasleys and Remus and I know it's last minute so if you guys have plans I'll understand. Please don't think you'll hurt my feelings…"

"Oh," Dinah knew her friend's last words meant that she shouldn't but she did still feel a little bad. She smiled; "Thanks for the invite, but I don't think... well, that's a lot of Severus's old enemies and rivals in one place at once and we did have some plans." Plans to call her parents and Rosa and make sure they were home this weekend so they could visit and tell them the news.

Lucy giggled a bit, "Dinah, really, it's okay. Like I said, it is really last minute and I didn't think Severus would be comfortable with all the people there."

"Okay, but thanks for the invite. I'm sure you'll have fun. Should I get a gift?"

"Oh, no. Sorry, I probably should have mentioned that. No gifts required. I mean if you find something that you think we just have to have I won't refuse a gift but don't feel obligated to."

"Okay," Dinah smiled; "Have fun then. Give everyone our regards. Severus's too, of course. It's just my job to do it for him," she winked.

Lucy laughed her understanding. "All right, I will. Enjoy your weekend," she waved, heading towards her rooms.

Dinah continued the rest of the way down the halls, her ears catching a particularly interesting conversation as a group of students passed by.

"Did you see Professors Snape and Samson _cuddling _at the funeral today?" one Hufflepuff girl demanded.

"I know!" another girl squealed; "I mean, I know the newspapers say they're supposed to be in a relationship and all but actually seeing it was weird!"

"Yeah, who could believe the greasy git could actually get a _girlfriend_?" a boy chuckled.

"Oh, don't say greasy, you'll lose points!" the first girl squealed, pointing anxiously as she spotted Dinah.

Dinah gave them her best Severus-style raised eyebrow and they scrambled away. She was getting pretty good at this intimidation thing, she thought proudly to herself, laughing as she continued towards the dungeons. She would probably stop with the one-hundred points from the house of anyone who calls him greasy stuff though. It could get ugly especially as a new wave of students came next year. She didn't want the houses to be competing with negative points after all, and anyway there was no more need to protect Severus from that sort of mocking. They had accepted their young selves and she would always be there to guarantee that he knew his hair was just perfect like it was.

His office door was open and so was the door to the living quarters. He had his back turned to her as he sat on one of the chairs facing the coffee table and she as just a bout to announce her presence when he spoke.

"Farewell, Lily."

Dinah held her breath to keep from revealing herself, taking a step back into the shadows as she realized he was holding the picture and letter that used to be on the table by the pensieve, looking down at them. She didn't feel worried, though. She just listened.

He sighed, and she could hear the smile in his voice; "Thank you... for being my friend. We both had our flaws but at least you sustained me long enough so that I could one day meet Dinah. I only hope that you are as happy as I am now. I'm sure you're at peace."

Dinah found herself smiling and felt a little silly wiping tears from her eyes as she listened. Severus Snape was entirely hers now. He was silent for awhile, obviously finished with what he had to say, and he had said it beautifully. She smiled and made her footsteps loud, alerting him to her presence.

"Ah," he turned and smiled, standing from the chair, not appearing concerned and not hiding the items from her as he wrapped his arms around her waist; "Just thanking an old friend for guiding me to you."

She smiled; "I understand."

"Indeed," he murmured, his smile filled with nothing less than complete relief and happiness as tears glittered in his dark brown eyes; "I love you," he insisted softly.

"I know," she whispered, taking his face into both hands and kissing him deeply as he pulled her close to him, holding her tight and responding with so much heartfelt emotion that she could barely breathe. She indeed felt thoroughly loved by the time the kiss was over.

He cleared his throat after they released each other; "Well, I suppose we should take care of business then." He led her into the office, his face quickly falling back into its mask of stoicism. He was _amazing _at controlling his emotions; she didn't know how he could change them so fast. "Where's Potter?" he demanded.

"Right here, Professor Snape."

Dinah jumped and clutched at her chest as the boy announced his presence, apparently having just walked by as Severus spoke his question. "Don't ever do that again!" she insisted, as Harry laughed and apologized and Severus managed to turn a half-smile, half-smirk on her.

Her fiancé stormed across the room and shoved the items which he had still been holding into Harry's hands; "Here."

"What?" Harry didn't look at them, was rather looking at Severus with an expression of the utmost confusion.

"Don't ask questions, just take them!" Severus snapped, and then sighed; "They are of more use to you than they are to me anyway."

Harry finally let his gaze shift down to the two papers, crumpled and worn from many months of use, and his eyes widened when he saw the smiling, ripped picture of his mother and the second page of a letter that mentioned – of all people – Gellert Grindelwald. "Professor Snape!" his head shot up and his expression was now awestruck, "You are ... _giving _these to me?"  
"You always were quick," Severus snorted, living up to his title as the official owner of sarcasm.

"Th... thank you..." the boy murmured, staring down at the picture of his mother as a small smile formed on his face; "Thank you."

"Yes, well, I believe you have the other half of both things at any rate," Severus replied, tapping his foot impatiently on the floor; "Well? Was there something else? I meant for you to come and get these items, not stay all day."

"Oh, sorry," Harry laughed, looking up at him with that same look of admiration he had when he gushed about how much Severus had done for the wizarding world; "You really are the bravest man I've ever known, Professor Snape."

"You are trying my patience, Potter," Severus's teeth were now gritted, and Dinah felt a familiar twinge of excitement in her body as her beloved did his 'work'.

Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, savior of the wizarding world, and a talented young Auror, simply smiled; "I hope you are both very happy."

"We are," Severus managed a civil response, but did not let himself go so far as to smile at the boy; "Thank you. Now leave."

"Of course. Good-bye, Professor Samson," Harry gave Dinah a wave which she returned and then the boy was gone.

Severus exhaled, shaking his head; "Thank Merlin that's over with. Now there is only one more matter to attend to."

"What's that?"

He removed his wand and gave it a dramatic flick, and suddenly the room was filled with strings of silvery light as his cupboards opened and all the tiny vials that held memories from his pensieve opened themselves and spilled their contents into the air. But they did not stick around long. Instead, they poured at once back into his head and disappeared into the folds of his greasy black hair.

Dinah stared, as awestruck as Harry recently was, when he was finished. "What did you do?" she murmured.

"What I should have done a long time ago, but I wanted to wait until this prophecy ordeal was over with, just in case this item proved useful," he tapped pensieve, which had long been no more than an empty bowl as he had stopped using it to look at memories ages ago. "But we didn't need it after all, and I most certainly no longer need it myself. The memories are where they are supposed to be," he tapped his head next; "I will always have them, but I do not need to dwell on the past. I want to make new memories with you."

"Severus," she closed her eyes and stepped forward to hug him, indulging in the familiar warmth. "Me too. I want nothing more. But what about the memory of when we first saw each other?"

"It came originally from me," he said, offering her an indulgent smile; "So I know it is still there. Even if we cannot consciously recall that moment it obviously made an impression on us, because we did look at each other. Interesting, isn't it, that that is the same age we were returned to in the youthening?"

"Mmhm," she agreed, smiling and lifting her head to kiss him; "So we lived it out, then, as though we had taken the next step and met at that moment and grown to love each other. But I don't mind having waited this long for it – it's worth it. You're worth it."

"As are you," he murmured, moving their heads together once more so that he could softly kiss her lips again and speak against them; "We are here now, and that is all that matters. And," he smirked and stepped back, resting his hand on the pensieve again; "This product should fetch a rather good price in London tomorrow."

She laughed; "We'll be rich. Maybe I'll buy a rare, exotic snake for a pet."

"I hardly think the money from my pensieve should go to your purchase of an infernal reptile," he feigned indignance; "Perhaps the _rings _should be more of a priority for you?"

"Oh, they are, they are," she chuckled; "Besides, since they don't sell snakes as pets in the wizarding world we'll have to go to a Muggle pet store anyway. Don't you just look _so _forward to that?"

"Infernal witch," he growled, grasping her around the waist and pressing his lips to hers in a ferocious kiss. But when he drew back he was smiling; "Marry me?"

"Yes," she murmured her response in an instant, kissing him again as they made their way back into his living quarters and towards their bedroom.


	161. Rings

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTY-ONE

Rings

* * *

"I can't believe you agreed to look in the Muggle jewelers first!" Dinah mused to Severus as they walked into the department store she had bought some clothes for him and Sirius in around Christmastime. "Especially since we already sold the pensieve at Diagon Alley and could easily have looked around there."

"Yes, well," he grumbled, glaring at his surroundings as he followed her meanderings towards the jewelry counter; "This was closest to your parents house and I also assume you've always imagined your ring coming from a Muggle store... knowing you," he grimaced, but the fact that the had taken that into consideration was flattering enough to belie his attitude.

Dinah turned to watch him as they walked, not focusing very well on where she was going as she did so. But it was more fun to indulge in the treat of seeing him in Muggle clothes again, although they were – of course – the black ones. "_Someday_..." she made her voice sinister.

"Someday what?" he demanded, turning his glare from the store onto her.

"Someday I'm going to get you to wear the white shirt."

He scowled at her as predicted; "I have no need or reason to wear the white shirt you purchased."

"But you'd look nice in it! I know! How about we work our way up to it? You can wear the blue shirt, and then the red, and then the white. An easy progression. Oh, and you should wear the jeans, too. The blue ones I mean, not the black. It'll be sexy," she leaned across to kiss his still-scowling lips.

"You do not give up easily, do you?" he glared.

"Not at all, not when dressing up my adorable Sev in Muggle clothes is the topic of discussion," she winked and he flushed at her use of the nickname. "Well, come on, we're nearly there, I can see the jewelry section," she grasped his hand, dragging him over to the counter where all number of lovely rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and watches were displayed. "Oh, look at that!" she pointed at a beautiful gold necklace decorated with leaf-shaped diamonds.

"We are here for _rings_, Dinah."

She laughed, lifting her head to look at him and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear; "No harm in looking." She blushed at the half-smile he was giving her.

"Did I hear someone mention rings?" a voice asked, and they turned to see the shopkeeper standing behind the counter smiling at them. Severus cleared his throat and put on a stoic expression, and Dinah had the sudden thought that maybe he liked the idea of shopping for jewelry in a Muggle store better because nobody knew who he was.

"Yes. Wedding and engagement rings, to be specific," Dinah smiled and latched onto Severus's arm, figuring now was as good a time as any to mess with him.

"Ah, well congratulations," he smiled; "That section is over to your left," he gestured and Dinah pulled Severus along, staring down at the many rings.

"Hmm," she frowned, "In the interests of matching, the engagement ring and the wedding bands should have the same base metal. I'm thinking you would prefer silver for Slytherin. Gold is the hated Gryffindor, after all," she grinned at her husband.

"Mm, yes, but if we both had gold it might be representative of our collective 'second house', the hated Gryffindor," he smiled slightly. "Which I think, since we are both getting them, may be somewhat appropriate. But the ultimate choice is yours."

"Oh, I just don't know!" she clawed at her hair, not even wanting to look at the rings until she had made this most important decision.

"I don't know what you're talking about..." the jeweler began slowly, and she flushed and looked up, embarrassed that they had gone spouting off about house names when this man was standing there watching them. Severus did not look pleased at the realization. "But," the jeweler continued, "if you are debating between gold and silver we do have two-tone gold rings, with a combination of white and yellow gold," he pointed to a spot in the display case.

"Oh! That might be the best way to go then!" Dinah hurried to that section, Severus following at a more reasonable pace. She leaned over and perused first the male wedding bands; "Look, they have wedding bands with both colors. I like the ones with the little bit of silver on the top and bottom and the gold in the middle. Do you?"

"It will do."

She chuckled; "I'll take that as a 'yes, I love it'. If I got one of these gold wedding bands with the diamonds all around the edges it would match sort of, but opposite. You know, gold sort of on the outside and the silvery diamonds in the middle."

"Seems logical enough."

Dinah knew he was just humoring her, but she found she was really starting to like the idea. "Well, we'll file that thought away for future consideration. Now to look at the two-tone engagement rings..." she allowed her gaze to, finally, drift to that area of the display case, letting it rove over all of the rings. Thick ones, thin ones, tiny diamonds, big diamonds, three-stone and solitaire... too many infuriating choices!

And then she saw it. A gold outer band with a swirling silver, almost snake-like little silver band in the center, its round diamond sparkling in the lights from above, while three tiny diamonds glittered on either side of it, making it sort of like a three-stone but more like a seven-stone. "That one!" she and Severus both spoke at the same time, pointing to it. Dinah lifted her head and smiled at him, feeling light. "I guess that was easy after all."

Severus laughed, his gaze pleased; "It fits you. And it fits the scheme you just mentioned... the 'matching'."

"Then I want that one."

"You're certain? You don't want to look elsewhere?"

"No," she smiled and shook her head, feeling perfectly comfortable in this decision; "I want that one."

"Excellent choice," the jeweler beamed, glad to be making a sale. "Would you like it wrapped?"

"I do not intend to surprise her later," Severus rolled his eyes; "Simply boxing it how you normally do would be fitting. And the wedding bands?" he turned to Dinah as the jeweler went about selecting the ring.

"Well, the ring itself wasn't too expensive, as far as engagement rings go, but how do you feel about the bands? If I get this one with the diamonds for myself," she pointed to the ring she was referring to, "They're the smallest ones and it's not about size..." She flushed; "Did I just say that?"

"Your mouth went off as it usually does, yes, but I understand your meaning," he replied pleasantly.

"Why you!" she swatted at him, laughing; "It's okay, I don't think he was listening," she gestured to the jeweler; "Then do you like the silver-with-gold-in-the-middle one that I showed you before?"

"Yes, I do. That one will do nicely. Are we done then? That quickly?"

"Don't look so surprised," she smiled. "Of course we can't wear the bands right away, but hopefully soon."

"Indeed," he turned back to the jeweler who was placing the boxed engagement ring in front of them; "Those two bands," he muttered, pointing them out. He turned to Dinah; "The card?"

"Yes, yes," she smiled and pulled out her credit card, walking over to stand in front of the register. She had explained to him that Muggles never purchased things this expensive with cash and so they would work out the pricing details and exchange rate stuff later if they ended up purchasing at a Muggle store.

In a few moments the purchases were complete and the jeweler wandered off to help some new customers. "Well then..." Severus took the boxed engagement ring from the bag before handing the rest of it with the wedding bands inside to Dinah for her to put in her purse. He popped the lid open, regarding the ring for a brief moment, and then removed it and grasped her left hand in his.

Dinah could do nothing but stare, hear nothing but her slow, anticipatory breathing, as she watched his right hand, holding the ring, come closer and closer to hers, his left hand spreading her fingers, and then he was slipping it on, his warm fingers brushing against hers as he pushed it slowly past each joint towards the bottom where it would rest. It sparkled so much in the light. She looked up to watch his expression, so solemn as though this was the most serious thing he would ever do in his life, and yet his gaze was also soft, a very light smile on his lips.

And then it was done, and he withdrew his hands. Dinah felt her chest tighten as she stared at the ring on her finger, still sparkling. She was wearing an engagement ring... she was _actually _wearing one! Her head shot up and she felt just a little bit teary as she regarded him in front of her; "Severus..."

"Dinah..." his lips twitched into a broader smile; "I suppose this makes it official?"

At a momentary loss for words, she could do nothing but fling her arms around his neck and kiss him, briefly for the public place, but with no less love than if she had let their lips linger together longer; "Now all we have to do is set the date."

"You might want a dress of some sort," he murmured, grazing her lips with his once more, pleasantly surprising her.

She had to laugh; "Yes, I guess so. I love you."

"Love you," he responded, hugging her waist to him before letting her go, taking her hand into his again and turning it around to inspect the ring; "It's beautiful. You're beautiful."

"Oh, Severus..." she smiled, and then laughed; "Now to go and show this to Mum and Dad, right? And to show the adult you off to them as well... try not to scare them, okay?" she asked as the beginnings of a scowl started to form on his face.

"I cannot help it if I intimidate people," he shrugged, looking like he was actually _happy _about being able to intimidate people. But Severus was Severus, and she loved him just as is.

* * *

Dinah tried not to laugh as she watched her parents stare at Severus, her fiancé staring back at them with an expression of annoyance at their reaction, which unfortunately only made them stare more. Dinah didn't think she'd ever seen either of her parents' eyes so wide, especially her mother's as she gaped up at Severus. "Well," Dinah finally managed to speak; "Would you like to invite us in or are you going to leave us in this doorway all day?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Dahlia murmured, her finger fumbling for the doorknob as though she forgot it was already open. Ed was still functional enough to grab his wife's shoulders and guide her to step backwards so that she offered Dinah and Severus a space through which to access the front hall. "So..." she managed when they were in; "You are... Severus?"

"Yes..." Severus's irritated monotone and raised eyebrow combination was one-hundred percent classic

"Yes, well, pleased to meet you," Ed said gruffly, extending his hand and shaking Severus's before a sheepish look crossed his face; "Or, well, I suppose we've already met, haven't we?"  
"Presumably," Severus looked like he thought Dinah's parents were mental, and she couldn't exactly blame him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Dahlia offered a hesitant hand towards him as well, apparently forgetting that she had hugged him the last time they had visited; "You are simply rather... um, striking as an adult. But not in a bad way, of course!" she added quickly.

"Indeed?" Severus arched an eyebrow. Dinah suddenly realized that he hadn't said more than one word in a row since her parents had opened the front door. His 'striking' look was, of course, enhanced by the fact that he had insisted upon replacing his frock coat and outer robes over his Muggle clothes the minute they had driven away from the department store.

"Severus, you might want to be a little more sociable in your responses," she nudged him.

"What is one supposed to say to such comments?" he hissed back at her.

"Well!" Dinah's father seemed to snap out of their stupor first, although he was still eyeing Severus with a sort of surprised caution; "Shall we go into the sitting room? Dahlia, you had made refreshments," he reminded his wife.

"Oh, yes, refreshments. We had biscuits and tea last time but I made lemon and custard tarts this time... and some lemonade, so nice out today, you know. Well, please, let's all go in. I'll bring it out."

Dinah nodded, taking Severus's hand and leading him to the sitting room, sitting on the far edge of the sofa while he sat next to her and Ed settled in the chair across from them he had been in before.

"I apologize if I've been rude," Severus began, cautiously, and Dinah was relieved he had finally chosen to speak.

"Oh no, don't worry," Ed responded with the same caution; "We were the ones staring at you. It's just a surprise... the youthening reversal, that is. Not so much with Dinah, but we had never met you in this form..."

"Understandable," Severus agreed, and then there was more silence.

"So, Dinah tells us that the whole prophecy thing is finished and everything is all right," Dahlia was smiling again when she made it back into the room, setting the lemonade and tarts onto the coffee table.

Dinah, ever the food-lover, especially in nervous situations like this, grabbed two of each type of tart, grinning at Severus's raised eyebrow with a sheepish shrug.

"Yes," he admitted, turning back to the two older individuals across from him; "Although I am sure I couldn't tell you anything more than Dinah already has, as I heard her end of the conversation. But, thankfully, the prophecy is fulfilled, we are both safe, and Dinah's parseltongue abilities seem to be slowly being accepted in our world. However, the headmaster..." he frowned.

"Oh, yes," Dinah's father sighed, taking a glass; "She did mention that. He was a good man. His passing is unfortunate."

"He helped you so much, Dinah," her mother said, tears in her eyes; "I'm sure he helped you as well, Severus."

"Yes," Severus admitted, his response short again. Dinah wondered if he was thinking again about the fact that he had committed the act the first time, but he simply looked contemplative as he took a custard tart, one of the headmaster's favorite treats. And Dinah had already explained to her parents about Severus's acts as a spy over one of their phone conversations. He knew that they knew about the situation and that they trusted him as much as she did.

Dahlia smiled and shook her head; "You know, it almost seems like it wasn't real, that you were sixteen the last time you were here, Dinah. I could almost convince myself it was a dream if not for the evidence."

"Evidence?" Dinah looked up from her tart, confused; "What evidence?"

"Oh!" she stood from her chair; "I forgot. The pictures we took last time, of course."

Dinah gasped; "The pictures!" She had completely forgotten about the pictures her parents had taken of them at Easter. From the look on Severus's face, so had he.

"I'll go get them," her mother disappeared for no more than a few seconds and then came hurrying back with a packet of developed pictures, placing them in Dinah's hands before going back to settle into her chair and munch on a lemon tart.

Dinah didn't know why she felt so apprehensive about opening up the packet, but she did. Very slowly, Severus watching her every move, she lifted the flap and pulled out the pile of prints, holding them so that Severus could see. The first few images were pictures of scenery, obviously taken before Easter, and then she laughed as she skimmed through a few of her parents with Aunt Mildred, Uncle Winston, and Larry, before she tucked a picture of Mildred and Winston in the backyard at the back of the pile and came face to face with the first of the pictures concerned.

Dinah felt her throat closing as she stared down at an image of her, sixteen years old as though it was a picture taken from 1976, except it was not fading as pictures from those days did, but was vivid. Recent. Across from her smiling face, looking annoyed, was a boy. Stringy black hair framed a pale face with a long nose, and indignant dark eyes, half glaring at the Easter basket in front of them and half glaring at the camera which was being so presumptuous as to try to take his picture.

She continued to flip through, witnessing picture after picture of her teasing the agitated Severus, who only seemed to get more and more annoyed with each image, especially the ones where she was trying to shove food in his face and he was fighting her off. She found herself laughing as she flipped through them; "Oh, Sev, look! Remember these?"  
"Mm," he responded, and when she looked up into his face he was sort of smirking down at the images, but it wasn't an annoyed smirk, it was _almost _a smile; "You continued trying to feed me, as usual."

"I did," she laughed, blinking back tears that suddenly began stinging the backs of her eyes; "Oh, Severus, I can't believe these. I mean, here it is. Us! As children! Captured forever, I – oh! Severus..." she stopped when she landed on the last picture. After about ten minutes of unsuccessfully trying to get a smiling picture of the two of them, Dahlia had pretty much flat-out ordered Severus to smile. He had resisted, of course, but Dinah had begged and teased him and after a moment he had consented, laughing and wrapping his arms around her shoulders and smiling, caught up so much in the moment and in the happiness of them being together that he had forgotten to try and look annoyed. And then there he was. Really smiling, right at the camera. Their heads pressed together and his arms around her shoulders as she leaned into him, both of them young and both of them blissfully happy.

"I don't believe it. It's perfect," she cradled the picture in her hands, and then looked up at her fiancé through slightly blurred vision; "Severus..."

His reached out and brushed a tear from the corner of her eye with his thumb, his eyes gentle; "It was real, Dinah. I know."

"Mm," she murmured, resting her forehead on his shoulder, and then turning to look at the picture again, handing it off to him. "You're really smiling."

"It was easy. I was smiling because I had you in my arms;" when she cuddled closer to him he murmured; "Odd... this picture. I have never actually seen myself smiling like this in an image before. And yet... when I do, my appearance does not bother me as much as it usually does."

"You're beautiful," she insisted, stroking her finger across his young face on the image. "And now we'll never forget ... our time as teenagers. Not that we would forget anyway, but it's so nice. This confirmation of it that will never, ever go away. I still miss it a little, you know. Being youthened."

"As do I," he admitted, tilting her face up to kiss her. "But..."

"It was real," she nodded. "It was really real."

"Yes."

Dinah heard a gasp from across the way, and then flushed as she remembered that her parents had been watching this exchange the entire time. When she turned to look at them they were both smiling.

"You really _are _the same Severus," Dahlia murmured as she looked at the man sitting next to Dinah, all her caution disappeared and her face filled again with the affection she had shown him when he had left at Easter.

"Obviously..." Severus raised another eyebrow.

"I'm sorry," she looked sheepish and turned to her husband for support, but he just shrugged, looking much the same; "It's just we'd never actually met you as an adult before and it seemed almost like meeting a different person. But... you're not."

"Yes," Ed cracked a slight smile; "You are the same nice, although somewhat grumpy, young boy who loves Dinah."

"There was never any question about that," Severus responded, grasping Dinah's hand as he met her father's gaze with a firm one of his own. "Loving Dinah."

"Of course not!" Dahlia enthused; "And you protected her throughout this prophecy ordeal just as you said you would."

"Yes, well, there was no question about that either. Although I fear she did not need so much protection, to be honest."

Dinah laughed; "Well, during the skirmish with Tommy when he was acting like Voldemort you did have to use shield spells twice to protect us when I was so distracted that I forgot to."

He chuckled; "Then I should consider myself successful, I suppose," his gaze shifted to her other hand and he gave a little nod, indicating the ring, hinting with his expression that she was going to tell her parents the news.

He was right, of course. Now seemed like as good a time as any. "Um, so..." she cleared her throat and faced her parents; "neither of you seemed to notice already, so I'll just tell you. Now that you realize Severus is still Severus and – hopefully – think that he's still perfect for me, well..." she lifted her hand and their eyes widened. Dinah smiled; "He has proposed to me and I have accepted."

"Proposed?" Ed blinked.

"You mean as in... proposed _marriage_?" Dahlia asked.

"Yes," she found her lips twitching into a smile. She loved just thinking about it. And all she could think when her parents both sat up from their chairs at once and ran forward to hug her and gush on about how wonderful it was, was that her family was really weird.

"When? How? What can we do to help? Do you need money?" Dahlia demanded, still clutching Dinah's hands and gaping down at the ring every few seconds after all of the gushing had died down a bit.

"Um... I don't think we need money, no," Dinah laughed. "It's going to be very small. And very... _soon_, if we can help it. We want to have it at Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts!" Ed exclaimed; "You mean, we can actually _go _there? I thought Muggles were not allowed at Hogwarts."

"They're not," Severus admitted with a frown; "But we think that Minerva McGonagall, the headmistress, will see fit to make an exception. Ideally."

"Oh, I would just _love _to see that school!" Dinah's mother gushed; "Heard so much about it for _years_, after all! Such a wonderful, magnificent place from what you're always telling me! And magic absolutely _everywhere_! Fascinating! Have you bought a dress? Have you invited Rosa?"

"Yes," Dinah grinned, nodding; "Or, well, no, actually," she flushed at Severus's questioning raised eyebrow. "Well, no to the first question and yes to the second. I don't have a dress yet. But I called Rosa right after I talked to you both yesterday. I was going to ask if we could visit over he weekend but they already had plans and so I told her about the wedding over the phone, because we want to have it soon and I needed to know when she might be available to attend. She basically said 'Any time. Any place. We'll change all of our plans just to make it to the wedding.' And she did say they were pretty much free of any major obligations for the next month."

"A-"

"A month!" Dahlia cut her husband off with a shriek of surprised excitement; "That soon? My goodness, you two really _do _want to hurry, don't you?"

"Yes," Dinah admitted shyly, extracting her hands from her mothers and playing with the beautiful ring; "No reason to wait. We just need a dress and a wizard to perform the ceremony and to make sure you, the other relatives, Rosa and Luke, and Lucy and Sirius are available..."

"Ah, your friends from Hogwarts. Right. That's all you're inviting?" Ed asked.

"That's all," Dinah took Severus's hand again, hoping her parents didn't pry too much about why he didn't have more people to invite. She'd explain that to them later. Luckily, they both just nodded.

"I know of something else you're going to need," Dahlia smiled and winked; "A photographer. You'll have to smile again, Severus," she turned her teasing gaze to her future son-in-law.

He grimaced, but nodded; "Again, if Dinah is next to me I shall be able to manage. But perhaps we do not need a professional photographer. One person to take wizard photos and one person to take Muggle photos should suffice, even if they are only amateurs. Unless you would prefer a professional," he turned to Dinah.

She smiled and shook her head; "Larry dabbles in photography as a side hobby, and I'm sure Lucy or Sirius would be happy to take the wizard photos. Those don't need as much care anyway because they just move."

Dahlia smiled; "Then you both sound like you have everything under control. How wonderful."

"You will be good to her," Ed said gruffly to Severus, patting his arm.

Dinah's father's tone surprised her. It was less of an order or a question and more of an... acknowledgement of the truth. Severus seemed to realize it too and responded only with; "Yes," squeezing Dinah's hand.

"You'll just have to set a final date," Dahlia said; "Are you going to have a reception? Cake? Dinner?"

"Oh, nothing so extravagant," Dinah shook her head. "But... well, maybe a little cake. I think I have an idea of who can make it, too..." she smiled, recalling one of the tastiest cakes she'd ever eaten, just a week ago.

"Please tell me you aren't thinking what I think you are," Severus turned an apprehensive glare on her.

She giggled; "Don't worry. Magic can be used for the presentation. You just let me take care of the cake part," she laid her head on his shoulder and he grumbled, but nodded.

"Oh no," Ed's gaze shifted to Severus and he managed a chuckle; "I just realized something. My sister is going to meet you."

Dinah laughed; "Yes, I have imagined possible scenarios over and over and over again but I simply cannot fathom how that will turn out. But they must attend. Just let them know for me, will you? I don't think my ears will be able to handle all of the screeching if I tell Aunt Mildred on my own."

"And you wish that suffering on your poor, aging father instead?" Ed joked.

Dinah offered him a sheepish nod and a sweet smile; "If you don't mind?"

He laughed; "All right, dear. Yes, I will tell her. And let you know when they are available..." he shook his head and rolled his eyes, his normal expression when thinking of his bizarre sister.

Severus looked from Dinah's father to Dinah and back, frowning; "I continue to hear all this mysterious tell about your Aunt Mildred but I still do not understand what the issue is."

Dinah's father sighed, rather dramatically, and clapped a hand onto Severus's shoulder; "That, my future son-in-law, I am afraid is something you will have to discover on your own."


	162. Invitation

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO

Invitation

* * *

Dinah could no longer wait. The excitement was building up so much she could not stand it anymore, which was just as well because it was finally the perfect time to do it. She marched into the dining room Monday morning at breakfast, heading right over to Lucy's side of the room, sitting next to her friend and slapping her left hand squarely on the table in Lucy's view. She smiled and said; "Mine's sparklier than yours."

Lucy's mouth dropped open, "Dinah!"

Dinah giggled and held her finger to her lips; "Shh. We don't want the students to know yet. Not until next year." She looked across the way and met Severus's eyes as he came in to breakfast, having followed at a much more reasonable pace behind her without asking why she had ran ahead of him. He took one look at her with her ring held out and the blissful look on hers and Lucy's faces and had to smile. It was a smile full of love and affection only for her, and she returned it.

"Well, if you're keeping it secret I suggest you take your hand off the table and maybe take the ring off too. I only say that because mine lasted maybe four hours without someone noticing."

She laughed, "Thanks, but I'm not too worried. The students are still not especially cognizant of the full extent my relationship with Severus. At least, many of them aren't. I don't think it's a conclusion they would immediately jump to. But I'm not going to flaunt it and I can always cast a concealment charm on it during class if absolutely necessary." She smiled at the ring again, tilting it back and forth so the diamond sparkled in the light.

Lucy grinned and hid her eyes. "Stop that, you're blinding me." She took a bite of her bagel before continuing; "To be completely honest though I think mine got outed so soon in part because Ginny was the one who noticed and she'd been making noises about us getting engaged since at least the start of the school year."

"Yes," Dinah smiled. "I'm afraid I don't have any students who are quite so attached. Then again, it's possible Mae might notice. I'll hide it during my first years' class."

"Mae's pretty great. She came to one of my office hours to spend the entire time inspecting my ring. She approves by the way. I might just have to invite her to the actual wedding…along with a few other students."

"That's nice," Dinah said; "I wonder if I should invite Mae and Andrew, too... then again, it's probably better to keep it quiet until next year from all the students. Not that I think they would tell if we asked them not to, but friends have a way of noticing things." She flushed. "Uh, speaking of actual weddings. I am officially extending you an invite. Both you _and _Sirius are invited."

"Oh!" Lucy said, looking excited, "Thanks. We'll be there. Just let me know when and where. We keep getting asked when we're going to set a date but right now I'm busy concentrating on finishing up the year and we're enjoying just being engaged so they're just going to have to be patient."

"Mm, I guess that's where we differ then," Dinah couldn't help but grin as she regarded her ring again; "Not that I don't enjoy being engaged. I do, but since there isn't a whole lot to worry about for the very small wedding we've planned and since I look _so _forward to becoming Severus Snape's wife, we've decided to get married very quickly." She turned her grin to Lucy; "That said, how does Thursday next week look for you?"

Dinah watched her friend's reaction, seeing the slight surprise that she had expected to see. After her parents had begged them to spend the night on Saturday (which staved off yet _another _opportunity for Dinah to get Severus to sleep with her in her London home), they had been there when her father called Aunt Mildred on Sunday afternoon. Thankfully, he had used a quiet land line and so they did not hear the excitable old woman's side of the conversation but listening to her father's side had been enough to make Severus just a tad wary of her busybody aunt. But once they had determined when her other family members were available, it had been easy enough to flag down Minerva on Sunday evening and get all the details worked out.

"Um, well I... I have class," Lucy was saying, "but other than that…it sounds great! Of course, I do have a bit more family to plan on than you, not that that's bad or good, just takes more effort you know," Lucy said, grinning at her friend.

"I understand," Dinah grinned; "And don't worry about class. That's the best part! Minerva has said that you and I and Severus can _cancel_ our Thursday classes! I know a weekday is weird but we wanted the weekend for a brief honeymoon."

"That's wonderful," Lucy clapped her hands together.

"Oh, and I sort of wondered..." Dinah said, blushing, "Would you be willing to make the cake?"

She had to laugh at the way her friend's eyes bugged out. "Really?" Lucy asked. "Are you sure? I mean you saw it last time and the boys refused to eat it…"

"They ate it eventually," she smiled. "Lucy, yours was absolutely the best cake I've ever tasted and I would _love_ to eat the same thing at my wedding! It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but..." she flushed again and managed to look sheepish for what she was about to ask; "Well, would you mind maybe using magic for the actual _design_? Make it the same way you did before, of course, but for the looks department... no offense meant, of course."

Lucy beamed. "Of course! You won't regret this I promise."

"Wonderful! Now there's just one more thing... oh, I'm hungry!" she reached for a bagel from the basket and went about smothering it in jam; "Do you want to go to Diagon Alley with me this weekend and use my present! I thought maybe we could peruse shops for wedding dresses, too. I still need one and I'm sure you'd enjoy looking around although I guess it's still early yet for you."

"Yes! That sounds fun! Oh, I'm excited now," she grinned, "Although, and please don't take this the wrong way, but wouldn't you rather have your mum go dress shopping with you? I mean I'll go with you no problem, but…well if I found something I'd want Aunt Molly to see it before I bought it."

Dinah smiled; "Oh, Severus and I actually spent the weekend at my parents'. We talked about everything already, and Mum says whatever I think would probably be great. It's not going to be a big wedding and I don't think I want anything overly fancy, just... something nice."

"Oh," Lucy said thoughtfully, and Dinah realized that her younger friend was probably more focused on all the normal fancy details of a wedding, like Dinah had been at that age. But now all she wanted was to be married to Severus. The other things seemed just like extra flair, and she felt no real desire to go overboard with it. "That's good then," said Lucy. "Yes, let's do it. We can stay the night at Grimmauld Place if you'd like, but then you'd probably rather not. Either way it's fine and who knows maybe I'll find some…things for the wedding night."

"That's the idea," Dinah said, winking; "You know they sell very fancy bridal lingerie at that store."

Lucy blushed, "Yes, actually I do."

Dinah grinned and rolled her eyes, causing Lucy to laugh. For being so obvious about her sex life, her friend could certainly turn red at the oddest moments. "Well, I should probably get back over to my fiancé. Oh, and Grimmauld Place is fine. We'll have to decide on more details when it's closer to the weekend."

"Yes, yes, of course," Lucy said, glancing up at where the figure of Professor Slughorn was making its way cheerfully towards the tables. She grimaced; "You'd better get going before Slughorn gets a hold of you. Save yourself."

"Oh, yes, definitely," Dinah agreed with a laugh, abandoning Lucy to Slughorn's whims as she wandered back to plop into her seat next to Severus, taking her second jam-covered bagel with her.

"There is food over here too, you know," he said sarcastically.

"Yeah, well..." she just laughed, taking a bite of her bagel.

"All of the proper plans have been made, I assume," Severus continued, taking some eggs onto his fork.

"Yes. We'll go shopping this weekend. Stay at Grimmauld place. I haven't been there in awhile," she took a break from eating to turn and offer him a smile.

"Hmm, yes," he returned it vaguely.

She laughed; "I guess the mistletoe won't be there anymore, though. You know, the one with the little snake, like our Patronuses?"

"I think I recall that, yes. However," he took his bite before continuing; "Seeing as I am not going there with you, you were intending to kiss Lucy under it?"

"You!" she swatted him and he chuckled, picking up a bagel. "See if I ever try and catch _you _under a mistletoe again."

"I had every right to say that, in return for the comment you made about Potter at one point..."

Dinah paused, recalling a moment when they were teenagers that she had teased him about that; "You remember that?"

"I have an excellent memory."

She just smiled and turned back to her food, piling her plate with eggs. This day felt exceedingly normal, aside from the obvious presence of Minerva instead of Dumbledore at the head of the staff table, but she had been there most of last week too, and it was getting easier to accept the change. Other than that, classes were starting up again, the students were generally cheerful, exams needed to start being planned, parchments graded... and she was getting married.

Life was good.

* * *

Dinah answered the knock on her door during her break on Wednesday, leaving behind the box she was currently packing, to find Severus standing on the other side looking a bit agitated. He seemed to be holding a letter of some sort in his hands, and was looking at that rather than at her. She grinned; "You know you didn't have to knock, you _do _have a key."

"Ah, yes," he frowned, still not looking at her. "I wasn't thinking."

"What's going on?"

"Something we should discuss," he looked up from the letter and gave her a vague smile, then looked out into the room.

"Oh!" she opened the door all the way to allow him entry and stepped backwards into the room, "What do you think? I'm almost done packing. It looks empty, huh? I should be able to move everything to the dungeons tomorrow no problem."

"I see. Very nice," his mouth twitched in a smile and she knew he was thinking again about the fact that they were going to be living together and getting married, and how much that pleased him.

Dinah smiled. "Now, what is it that's bothering you?"

"Ah. Yes," he looked down at the letter again, the frown returning quite easily to his face. "I received a letter this morning by owl... from the Malfoys."

"Oh," she blinked, surprised, looking at the broken 'M' seal on the envelope. "The Malfoys?"

"As I've told you, I haven't... spoken with them in a long while," Severus explained, his eyes skimming the words in the letter at rapid speed. "They have kept very closely to themselves since the Dark Lord's defeat, as I understand it. They had many things to work out on their own and have been in contact with very few people."

"That's only understandable, I suppose," she agreed, nodding.

"I was close to them at one time, you know." At her second nod, he continued; "But that was under the pretense that I was on their side. Still, for many years I worked with them, got to know them. They trusted me with Draco and I tried to fulfill that trust while still remaining faithful to Dumbledore's wishes."

"You did well," she said. "After what you did with Draco and the unbreakable vow how could they not trust and respect you?"

"Yes, but unfortunately the moment I did the deed that Draco was assigned the Malfoy family fell out of favor with the Dark – with Voldemort." Ever since Tommy had been given peace, he had been trying to break the habit of calling his old master the Dark Lord. He succeeded at it about half the time, but it was still early yet. "They resented me then, at least Lucius did, and I was never able to quite determine how Narcissa and Draco ultimately felt about the act I committed on the tower, although it was done by their request and through the unbreakable vow."

"I see. That's difficult to interpret."

"Yes, I thought... well, I was starting to think that I might never hear from them again. And then I receive this," he held the letter out a bit to emphasize his point. "I assume they have heard about the recent... incidents in the newspapers," he said. "They have requested my presence at Malfoy Manor this weekend for a..." he stared at the words of the letter again, looking like he didn't believe them, before concluding his sentence, "visit."

"A visit? Really?" she looked incredulous. "That _is _a surprise."

He nodded. "I do not know what they want, or even if it's good or bad."

"They aren't horrible people, at least not as much as they originally seemed, as you've said. I'm sure it isn't for anything bad. If they hated you they would just ignore you."

"Perhaps," he didn't look or sound convinced.

"You're going to go?"

"I can't very well say no. As I said, I _was _close with them, in a way, for a long time. The only reason I have been avoiding them is because I assumed that was what they wanted. Not that I had any desperate desire to see them, mind you, just..." he trailed off.

"I understand," she said, and she did. She couldn't quite put it in words, but she could tell what he was feeling about the situation. It just made a sort of intuitive sense.

"I should go. I will go," he looked decidedly at the letter, and then sighed. "I want you to come with me. But I don't know how well that will go over..." he looked very torn at the prospect.

"They should at least know _of _me, I'd assume?" Dinah played it casual, though the thought of visiting with Severus's old colleagues, the notorious Malfoy family, was rather unnerving. "Because of the incidents?"

"I can only assume."

"Does it mention... um, 'guests' or anything? In the letter?"

"Not in so many words, no. The most it says is here," he pointed to a spot in the letter and read. "'We understand that you may be busy due to the nature of your recent exploits; however, please do not let those things deter you from visiting'. As they must know _something _about our relationship from the newspapers, perhaps that's an offhand reference. I couldn't say for certain. Well, here. Go ahead and take a look at it yourself," he handed the letter to her.

"Mm," she took it from him and began to read, feeling his arm sliding around her waist as she did so. She stepped closer to him so that their bodies were resting against each other, and finished reading. It was a short, simple invitation. She turned to look at him. "I will go. I know they aren't exactly... friendly to people of my birth, but I can handle that. As long as I'm with you and you want me there."

"You're going to be my wife," he said in a firm tone, leaning across to briefly kiss her lips. "I can't go off for a weekend to visit colleagues or friends or whatever they are and not take you. You are... you belong with me now. Always. And if there is a chance the Malfoys will become a part of my life again, even in some small capacity, they will consequently become a part of yours too, regardless of their opinions of Muggle-borns."

Dinah smiled, loving the sound of everything he had said. "I know."

"Oh," he frowned as if something just dawned on him; "You had planned to go dress shopping with Lucy this weekend, hadn't you?"

She shook her head; "It's fine. This is more important. We can just reschedule that. If we have to take only an evening instead of the whole day, that's fine, but maybe Minerva would let me take Monday off or something. The students should have an easy enough time accepting all our days off since they know of everything we've had to deal with lately. They won't think much of it."

"True. Which is how we've managed to wrangle Thursday and Friday for ourselves. Then I suppose..." he glanced down at the letter with another frown and then shrugged; "A weekend at Malfoy Manor it is."

* * *

"Hey, do you have a minute?" Dinah asked Lucy at lunch, interrupting her conversation with Professor Slughorn, but she figured her friend probably wouldn't mind.

"Sure," she told her friend, "If you'll excuse me Professor?" she asked Slughorn.

"Of course, of course," he said, standing and grasping Dinah's hand before shaking it vigorously; "Congratulations, Dinah! Such exciting news!"

"Yes. Thank you. Again," she teased him good-naturedly. At this point all the faculty knew of their engagement, since it would have been a lot harder to hide it from them than the students, and Slughorn had been particularly enthusiastic about the news, gushing on every time he saw her or Severus, which annoyed Severus to no end.

"You two must have much to talk about, being in the same boat and all. Please, go about your business," Slughorn smiled before waving them away and turning to the professor on his other side.

"What is it?" Lucy asked, standing up and walking with Dinah back towards their classrooms. Severus had already left to prepare for a particularly evil exam he was due to administer to his fourth years.

She tried not to think about how unfair some of the questions she'd seen were, and let her vindictive fiancé teach as he saw fit; "Well, it seems that Severus and I have other plans for the weekend, so we'll have to reschedule our trip."

"Oh," Lucy said, looking a little disappointed but hiding it pretty well. "Well, that's all right, but we won't have another weekend before the," she looked around to make sure no students were nearby, "wedding to go shopping."

"It's okay," Dinah said; "I asked Minerva and she said we could take Monday – cancel our classes and go, if you wanted. Severus and I are telling the students we're canceling classes due to legal stuff and interviews and the like, but you might be able to use that excuse too."

Lucy nodded and smiled, "Or I could just tell them I've got an appointment for my wedding. Even if Ginny and Hermione ask questions about that I highly doubt they're going to want to go lingerie shopping with me."

"Great idea," she grinned and stopped at the door to her classroom, leaning against the frame; "You won't _believe _where we're actually going this weekend."

"Where?" Lucy demanded, her eyes bright with interest; "Azkaban? Madam Puddifoot's? Oh! Some Muggle wedding shop?"

Dinah couldn't help but giggle at her friend's eagerness. She shook her head when she stopped laughing. "No. Malfoy Manor."

"Oh," Lucy said, her enthusiasm gone and her face expressionless, "Well, I'm sure they're perfectly lovely. I've never had the pleasure of meeting them myself and I think I mentioned earlier Narcissa seems to think my engagement ring is hers but really I'm sure they're fine."

Dinah frowned. She hadn't expected this sort of bland response from her friend. She shifted a little in her stance; "Well, I didn't say it was excitingly wonderful news or anything, just surprising. I mean, yeah, it's weird. But they invited Severus and he used to be friends with them. He doesn't like to say friends but I think he _did _consider them friends but has been very cautious about thinking that ever since Lucius fell out of favor with Voldemort a couple of years back..."

"Sorry, it_ is_ surprising. I've never had any dealings with them really so I suppose I shouldn't have responded like that. I've just heard some stories from Sirius, then there's the way they've always treated the Weasleys…I guess I'm being unfair to them. They have kept to themselves since the war and I'm sure they realized where they went wrong and such," Lucy said, also shifting around.

"No, that's okay," Dinah agreed, actually kind of appreciative of hearing Lucy's thoughts on the matter so she had an extra person to bounce her own thoughts off of. "I know they're not perfect and they are definitely still more... Death Eater-like than Severus, certainly, although I guess they're sort of coming around. I mean, I'm trying to be my empathetic Hufflepuff self and all that, but I _am _nervous. I don't think they'll like me. After all, I'm a 'Mudblood', right?"

"No," Lucy shook her head, "If anything you're Muggle-born. I guess they do deserve some of that Hufflepuff forgiveness. Draco at least seemed to get in over his head with the whole thing…didn't really understand what it all meant."

"Yes," Dinah agreed softly; "Voldemort wanted _him _to kill Dumbledore, but he couldn't do it. Severus did it for him. To help him."

Lucy considered; "I can't imagine how hard that must have been. I, obviously, wasn't there so I didn't know until long afterwards…"

"Yeah," she nodded. "That's why it helps that he was reborn and that was sort of erased for him. Not that any of us wanted him to pass away a second time, though..." she shook her head to clear the sad thoughts and laughed; "Anyway, though, I guess I probably shouldn't call myself a Mudblood in front of Severus. He might kill me."

Lucy grinned. "Perhaps. If he does, though, I happen to know someone whose murder conviction was overturned so I'm sure we'll do all we can to help him get out. If only because I know you'd hate the thought of him locked up in Azkaban for the rest of his life."

Dinah had to laugh; "Right. Thanks, much appreciated." She sighed, "Well, I guess it'll be all right. I'll just be friendly and unassuming I guess. They don't know I'm coming, but Severus insists that he will make it clear very early on that they should be nice to me."

"I'm sure he will. Of course," Lucy giggled as, "you_ are_ blonde so you should fit right in."

Dinah raised an eyebrow at her friend; "I don't think it's quite that simple," she smiled slightly. "Besides, as I understand it they are all platinum blond. If my hair was much darker it'd be light brown."

"Ah, minor details. It's sort of like how people point at my head and declare I must be a Weasley. I don't know where they get that from, honestly," she teased.

"Isn't it funny how people just make assumptions?" Dinah grinned. "Well, I guess I should be getting class ready. Thanks for talking with me. It helped to just get my thoughts out, I think."

"Anytime," Lucy said with a wave as she headed to her office.

* * *

"Mmm, you are now mine," Severus murmured into her ear Thursday night as they leaned against each other in bed, naked and sweaty but very content after a love-making session in their _own _bed for the first time. "And, of course, I am also yours," he added, offering her a half-smile, half-smirk; "I wouldn't want to offend your views on gender equality, after all."

"No, you would not," she chuckled, cuddling against him with a contented sigh as she looked around the room. Nothing much had changed right here, of course. It was still glowing with the warm light of the bedside lamps, the soft green comforter and black blankets were still pulled over them, and all of the furniture was in the same place, but there were other things around. The closet was open and now had both her clothes and Severus's in it. Her 'infernal Muggle contraptions' including her laptop and mobile were up on a shelf (though the more 'offensive' objects such as her telly and video games Severus had insisted be stuffed into a cupboard where he didn't have to look at them all day), and some of her decorative items and knick knacks had been placed in strategic locations around the room.

The other rooms were similar, so it was an unassuming sort of change, but it really made the place feel like home. Granted, the thing that _most _made it feel like home was Severus.

There was a loud bang from somewhere out in the living area and Severus snapped to attention, yanking away from her and looking around the room; "What was that?" he glared at each wall in turn as if expecting them to answer him.

Dinah laughed, placing a hand on his arm; "I'm sure it's just Godric, Severus. You know how he likes to make random noises sometimes, and there's a lot to explore in his new home."

"Infernal cat..." Severus growled. "If he destroys anything..."

"How could he? You cat-proofed the entire place, remember?" That was another big difference outside. Severus had switched all of his shelves to cupboards with doors so Godric could not access his potions and had made a few other animal-proofing changes, so that the living area _did _look a little different than normal, especially when you factored in the addition of Salazar and Helga's cages. "He won't hurt anything. Try to relax, okay?"

"All right," Severus sighed, laying his head on her shoulder; "I shall _try _to relax. I am now the proud owner of three 'pets'. Right. Exactly. Fine. Must get used to it."

"I said relax, not go mental, darling," she chuckled, kissing his hair.

He frowned and nodded; "Fine. I suppose it will be something that I'll get used to. And, if keeping pets is the only way to keep _you_," he lifted his head to kiss her, smiling again; "Then I will gladly take on even more of the beasts. Including the snake you insist upon purchasing."

"A male," she said. "So I can name him Slinky."

"If you say so."

She smiled. It was cute how he just humored her when she went off about things like that. It was that acceptance they always talked about. She didn't understand everything about him and neither did he understand everything about her. But they accepted it, indulged in it, and took those traits as a part of each other. "We should go to sleep. Big day tomorrow what with the Quidditch match and all that."

"My _last chance _at the Quidditch Cup," he agreed dramatically. "If we can garner enough points, we'll still be in the running to beat Ravenclaw."

"Then you shall have to focus very hard tomorrow, won't you?" she teased. "Oh, but if I see any cheating..."

"I have told you that _I _am not responsible for that! I have said 'don't cheat' but I cannot guarantee that they will listen to me."

'What do you usually do when students don't listen to you?"

"Take away a thousand points and give them eternal detention," his answer was swift.

"Well, then there you have it," she kissed him, grinning.

Severus smirked; "That was not meant to be taken literally and you know it."

"Then take off ten points and give them an hour of detention," she yawned and laid down, snuggling her head into the pillow. "This is _my _bed now."

"_Ours_," he corrected, smiling and joining her in the laying position, reaching his arm across to pull her close to him. "It is nice to know this won't go away."

"Mm," she felt herself getting sleepy, turned over onto her side to face him and let her arm travel to lightly wrap around the lower part of his waist; "Your closet is now permanently more colorful." She knew that was a weird statement to make, but she was getting a little too tired to think logically.

"Is that so?" he sounded a little sleepy too.

"Uh huh," she closed her eyes. "And someday you're going to wear the white shirt, too."

"We shall see about that," his tone was sarcastic but Dinah felt a flash of warmth and a little flutter of her heartbeat as his lips brushed against hers, and then she heard the rustling of his pillow as he settled down more comfortably for sleep; "Night."

"Goodnight," her lips curved into a smile and she let sleep find her. There were no more noises from Godric and all she could hear was the slow rhythm of hers and Severus's matched breathing, and all was peaceful and happy.


	163. Malfoys

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTY-THREE

Malfoys

* * *

Malfoy Manor was gigantic and imposing in the dark of night. If Grimmauld Place had seemed so at some point, it no longer did after this. The surrounding hedges felt tall enough to consume them and blocked out half of the night sky's stars.

But, Severus was by her side, so she felt secure enough. "This is it then," she murmured, still unable to take her eyes off of the gigantic building in front of her. "This is where you... worked..."

"Only occasionally. Most of my assignments, thankfully, were at Hogwarts away from the atrocities being committed here. Away from the Dark Lord."

"That's good," she stared up at the manor again, shivering a little even though the night was warm. But she had to at least _try _and hide her nervousness.

Severus was staring, too. But he had an odd look on his face that was hard to interpret. It was like there were many thoughts spinning around underneath the surface but she just couldn't place what they were. They were meaningful, though. He only got that look when he was thinking about something very important, often something surprising and worthy of consideration. In a moment he turned to regard her with that same expression, and then turned to look back at the manor, his brows furrowing in consideration; "I am here again."

"Déjà vu?" she guessed.

"Mm," he agreed, still staring up at the house. "I didn't expect to come here again. It is as though I am walking towards another meeting with ... him. But I also saw the boy – I saw Tommy, so I know it can't be. And yet standing here does bring back memories. But I'm _not _standing here to go meet with the Dark Lord – that's the most amazing thing of all. I am standing here..." he spun his head around to catch her gaze again and his eyes lit up with a sort of shocked recognition; "with _you_."

He looked so dumbfounded by the idea that she had to smile; "That's a good thing, right?"

"It is a miracle, Dinah," his eyes softened.

"Aw, Severus," she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder for a few moments as he held her close, and the whole place seemed less threatening. In a moment, though, she sighed, keeping her cheek resting against the fabric of his outer robes as she let her eyes drift up towards some of the lit upper windows; "We should probably go in, though."

"We should," he agreed, releasing her and stepping back, taking her hand into his and pulling her forward, each of their steps echoing in the dark night, towards the large main doors.

He didn't hesitate when they made it to them, probably because hesitating would only prolong the nervousness and doubt they both felt, and knocked on the knocker, releasing her hand in the process.

The door creaked open, but Dinah saw nobody standing there until a voice squeaked; "Yes? Master Snape?" She looked down to see a small, frail-looking female house elf in tattered clothing that appeared to have been cut from some drapes. Her large, expressive eyes were fearful as she looked up at them.

"Yes," Severus's tone was all business; "And this is Professor Dinah Samson. She will be my guest for the duration of the visit."

"Yes, of course, Mistress Samson," the house elf bowed low to Dinah, so low she nearly fell over, and Dinah frowned. She couldn't go off on a tangent to these people about how to treat house elves, not today at any rate, but she hated to see this poor creature in such a position. She had heard stories about their previous house elf, Dobby, and how he was treated, and could only hope that this new elf of theirs was a little better off. She didn't seem to be too beat-up looking, just frail, and so maybe the Malfoys had improved in their treatment just a little bit.

"Thank you," she said, smiling as the house elf stepped back to let them in. The foyer was huge, with large twin staircases leading to the upper levels and a sense of eerie spaciousness. The whole place had a sort of dark, bluish-grey feel.

"Um... you're welcome," the elf's ears twitched in surprised confusion as she looked up at Dinah.

"What's your name?" Dinah was going to at least be properly friendly and kind to the elf. She didn't look to see what Severus's opinion of all this was, rather avoided his gaze as she waited for the surprised elf to answer.

"Daisy," Dinah hadn't realized it was possible for a house elf to look more bug-eyed than they did naturally, but Daisy certainly did. The elf shook her head and continued; "You shall both be received in the parlor. Follow me," she gestured and began hurrying down a side hall.

Dinah followed her at Severus's side. When the elf was far enough ahead not to hear them she said; "I still don't see why wizards can't either hire human servants or just do things themselves."

"I really couldn't say," he muttered. "Much as I would love to get into a debate with you right now, I think we should probably put it off."

Daisy had just pushed a large door open into a well-furnished parlor full of stately grey and silver furniture. A few steps led down before the main floor was raised. The carpet was also a dark grey, almost black, and the end tables were all lit with candles sitting in silver holders, casting flickers of light around the room. Dinah had no idea how anybody could live in such a gloomy place.

Severus settled into the far right corner of the sofa and Dinah sat next to him on the middle cushion, crossing her legs and settling her hands on her lap, trying not to be too nervous. But she was. She was _very _nervous, her heartbeat quickening as Daisy made her way back to the door.

"Master will be here as soon as Daisy informs him of your arrival," the elf said, her eyes drifting shyly towards Dinah. "Is there anything you both need? Drinks?"

"No," Dinah smiled and shook her head, glad to have something to momentarily distract her from her nervousness. "We're fine here. Thank you."

"You're... welcome..." Daisy actually smiled, though she still looked confused, and then closed the door, trapping them in the dark parlor.

"Do they usually, um... take long to come and greet guests?" Dinah asked nervously, shifting her legs around so she had her left crossed over her right instead of her right crossed over her left. Then she frowned and thought better of it, returning it to the old position and resting her hands on her knee. No, her upper thighs. No, at her sides was better. No, on her knee. Wait, maybe-

"Stop!" Severus said firmly, pinning her hands to her knee when their twitch indicated she was about to move them again; "This will be fine. The Malfoys are not monsters. The worst thing that will happen is that they will ignore you. And if they do, we will leave."

She sighed; "Okay. Okay. Sorry. Thanks."

"Yes," he offered her an amused smirk, and then they both looked up as the door across the way clicked.

Dinah managed to make her startled jump very small, hopefully invisible, as the door creaked open to reveal a tall man dressed in all black, like Severus, but his clothing was fancier and a lot... shinier. A reflection of his high station in society. He held himself in that way too, his wealth also reflected in his regal stance. His shiny black boots were pointy and they clicked as he walked down the stairs, the clicking only stopping when the boots hit the carpet and became muffled. His platinum blond hair was loose and long, framing a smooth, stately face with a high forehead, and he carried in his hands a long cane with the face of some sort of snake carved into the top, reminding her again how her favorite animal was so commonly accepted as a dark arts symbol. All in all, he was just as intimidating as the house was, perhaps more so.

"Severus," he managed a slight twitch of a smile as he regarded the other man.

"Lucius," Severus responded, and Dinah suddenly realized that he had stood up when the other man had entered and so she hastily stood next to him, drawing the attention of Lucius Malfoy via a swift turn of his head to stare at her.

There was a slight smirk, but it wasn't an adorable smirk like Severus's were, although his face _was _quite handsome, now that she was staring right at it. "Ah, Daisy did say we had another... 'guest'. I can only assume this is the woman of concern from the articles. I am only half-surprised that you brought her with you. Dinah Samson?" he questioned, although whether he was asking her or Severus or whether the question was rhetorical and he already knew who she was Dinah couldn't even begin to determine.

"Yes," she responded cautiously, with a little nod; "Please pardon my intrusion."

"Hm," he frowned and turned back to Severus; "I wondered if you might at least mention her if not bring her. The articles say... many things about your relationship."

"Your letter said not to let anything deter me from coming," Severus replied stiffly; "I intended to come with Dinah or not come at all, thus she is here."

"Oh, please don't explain," Lucius replied with another quick, considering glance at her, and Dinah had to force herself not to fidget at all. He turned back to Severus; "The invitation stands as it was. If you must bring her then you must bring her. Then your relationship is as the newspapers state?"

"We intend to marry."

"Really?" both of Lucius's eyebrows shot up his forehead at once, and he almost looked amused; "I see. That is... a surprise. Then your taste in women always runs to the Muggle-born."

"That is irrelevant, Lucius. I would marry Dinah were she a pureblood. And I am afraid I must make perfectly clear at this very moment that if anyone in this house uses a certain... term in referring to Dinah, we both intend to leave immediately."

"No, of course not," Lucius frowned. "The word will not be used. But you certainly _have _changed, Severus. Granted, much of that is probably your true nature revealed after all of these years... I still cannot believe you were fighting against the Dark Lord all that time."

"I played my role."

"Yes," for a moment, the other man's eyes seemed to soften; "You did. And you played it well. Which is part of the reason we've asked you here today. But we will discuss that later," he turned to Dinah; "Professor Samson, as long as you are with Severus you are welcome here."

Dinah most definitely caught the implication that if she was _not _with Severus she wasn't welcome here, but she was going to take what she could get; "Thank you," she said politely.

He turned back to Severus; "Dinner is prepared and the rest are in the kitchen. If you would both just follow me please," he turned on his heel, blond hair spinning behind him, and marched out of the parlor.

They followed, and Dinah could only assume that by 'the rest' he meant his wife and son. They walked down a hallway and finally emerged into an immense kitchen with a long black table set in the middle. A woman stood in front of a chair and boy sat near the far end of the table. They both had the same platinum blond hair as Lucius.

"Severus!" the woman turned and smiled at him, and her eyes widened when she saw Dinah; "Oh. Then this mustbe..."

"Professor Samson!" a new voice exclaimed its surprise and Dinah and Severus looked to see a familiar figure standing in a doorway near the back of the room, staring at Dinah.

"Astoria Greengrass?" Dinah couldn't believe what she was seeing, and feared she probably looked as surprised as the girl. The boy on the end, obviously Draco, smirked at her reaction and turned to look at Astoria.

"Miss Greengrass, _what _are you doing here?" Severus demanded, glaring at the girl.

The sixth-year Slytherin flushed but managed a grin; "The Malfoys are kind enough to mask my apparition when I visit. It seems I finally managed to land Draco even _without _your help!" she beamed.

"Is that so?" he smirked.

"Um, yeah. I got to know him through my sister – well, I sent an owl on my own, actually, pretending I was my sister... yes, well it was a whole interesting process, definitely, which would have been alleviated if you'd helped me like I asked you to, but no harm done. I'm here now," she grinned and walked up to place both hands on Draco's shoulders.

"I admired her ambition," Draco admitted, smiling slightly. "Hello, Professor."

"Draco," Severus nodded briefly at the boy and then continued to address Astoria; "Do you have any idea the consequences of being away from Hogwarts without permission like this? How long has this been going on?"

"Um, most weekends since around the time you two got youthened, actually," she flushed and sat down next to Draco, gesturing to the three Malfoys; "I thought about skipping this weekend but they assured me you wouldn't any take points away."

"Oh they did, did they?" Severus arched an eyebrow and Dinah could sense about twenty or so points were about to be removed regardless of what the Malfoys thought.

"Yes, well," she frowned; "I told them that you'd been taking a lot more points from Slytherin than usual lately but they didn't believe me."

That comment seemed to make Severus lose his fire. He looked warily around at the Malfoys and then sighed; "I suppose I'll let it go. Seeing as even if I take points you are going to keep coming here, taking them away will serve no purpose."

Dinah sort of wished that he would have went through with it and proved the Malfoys wrong, especially now that Astoria was grinning and the blond family was giving her 'I told you so' looks. But she stifled her sigh.

"We enjoy having Astoria here," the woman who was most certainly Narcissa said, smiling slightly; "She is good for Draco. I'm surprised you brought her, though," she nodded at Dinah, who was starting to feel conspicuously like she was a conversation piece rather than a participant.

Severus opened his mouth, his facial expression indicating that he had prepared a snide comment, but Lucius interrupted him.

"Yes, Narcissa. Would you believe that Severus and this woman are engaged to be married?"

The collective remainder of the room gasped. Astoria shook her head as though she had not heard correctly, Draco's mouth was hanging open and looked rather ridiculous, and Narcissa's eyes were as bugged out as Daisy the house elf. "Is this true, Severus?" the latter asked.

Severus's lips twitched into a slight snarl and his eyes reflected annoyance; "Judging from your reactions I highly doubt Lucius would have made that up on his own. Thus, I told him. Thus, yes it is true."

"But that is unbelievable," Narcissa's eyes flickered from her husband to Severus and finally to Dinah before turning back to Severus. Then she smiled; "Well, I suppose that is a good thing, that you've finally decided to settle down with someone. Even if it _is _a Muggle-born," she winced when Severus glared at her; "Ah, of course I mean no offense by that. I know you have... sensitivities to the issue." She turned a very slight smile to Dinah and nodded, the first direct acknowledgment she'd given her; "Congratulations, I suppose. May I see your ring?"

Dinah regarded the other woman. She seemed at least a little bit more open and friendly than her husband, but she also remembered Lucy's comments about her being jealous over Lucy's receiving of the Black ring. Yet, there was no need to be rude. These people were not really so threatening; "Of course," she murmured her agreement, allowing herself a small, friendly smile and walking forward, holding out her hand to show Narcissa.

"Oh, it's lovely," Narcissa Malfoy commented; "You have excellent taste, Severus."

"We both purchased it," Severus said.

"I see," Narcissa didn't look up but continued to regard the ring; "How... modern."

"Dinah is modern," he was being very short in his responses.

"Well, about most things anyway," Dinah let herself laugh a little, trying to get more comfortable with her company. "I still miss phones with cords sometimes," she bit her lip, realizing the Muggle electronic reference might have been a bit too much for the time being... or ever, with these people.

But Narcissa didn't make any sort of comment about that – maybe they didn't even know what she was talking about, in which case she probably sounded crazy. Well, there was no point in worrying about that now. "The silver swirl in the ring," Lucius's wife continued; "It's rather... snakelike."

"Yes," Dinah admitted.

"They say you are a parselmouth."

"I am," it was her turn to be short with responses. Mostly because she didn't know what else to say.

"Yes, that _was _the most... intriguing portion of the articles. Amazing that someone of your background would have the ability," Lucius murmured, and Dinah found her eyes floating to his snake cane again, a symbol of what being a parselmouth had meant to the wizarding world for so long.

"Lucius, you're forgetting," Narcissa said to her husband, turning back to Dinah; "There were plenty of other interesting things in the articles," she looked different for a moment, like she was about to say something but thought better of it; "Well, we should discuss things of that nature over dinner. It should be prepared now. Please sit down," she nodded at Severus and gestured to two chairs on the right side of the table from where they were standing as Lucius settled himself at the head of the table closest to them. Dinah found herself sitting nearest to the man at his left with Severus on her right. Narcissa sat at the table's foot, which seemed a mile away from her husband, and Astoria released Draco's shoulders to sit next to him, him closest to his mother's seat, on the other side of the table from Dinah and Severus and closer to Narcissa's end than to Lucius's, so that the only people seated directly across from each other were the Malfoy couple. It was strangely impersonal. Fitting, Dinah supposed, with the stark surroundings.

The moment they were all settled the food appeared in front of them and Dinah found herself staring down at a fine china and silver place setting of what appeared to be very high quality dragon steak. Side dishes included fingerling potatoes with herbs and olive oil and a mixed greens salad with vinaigrette dressing. The drink was red wine.

Contrary to popular belief Dinah _was _capable of restraining her eating behaviors in formal situations, and she did so now, taking her knife and fork and carefully cutting a piece of steak off to chew slowly. It was good, and she assumed it had been made by Daisy the house elf. Amazing how talented those little creatures were, and yet they were enslaved for that talent.

Dinah had just taken a sip of her wine and was placing the goblet back down on the table when the silence was broken by Narcissa; "Strange, isn't it Severus? The last time we all drank together we were toasting the Dark Lord."

"Hmm, yes," Severus murmured , turning his goblet around in his fingers before taking a sip of the wine.

"Things change," Lucius said, and Dinah couldn't tell if he meant that positively or negatively.

Dinah was starting to get the impression that Draco was rather the quiet type around his parents. He seemed oddly submissive for all of the stories she'd heard about him tormenting Harry and leading the worst group of Death Eater Slytherins. But perhaps that's what happened when you were raised in the shadow of Voldemort, and he was – after all – just a boy, and thrust into worse circumstances than even Harry had been. And in these grim, strict surroundings she got the impression that his parents were rather dominating, or at least that they _had _been when they had been enjoying the favor of their Dark Lord. So Draco was the type to follow in their footsteps and take control when he was around his peers, but was actually insecure around his family and the older Death Eaters. It made sense, especially given his difficulties in his sixth and seventh years at Hogwarts. Myrtle had even latched onto him like she had Tommy during the former.

And yet, Dinah got a sense that things were more subdued now. The house was as intimidating as ever but the people were not. In fact, she thought as she glanced from Lucius to Narcissa and then to Draco, they seemed almost shrunk by their surroundings, like they didn't fit here as well as they used to. There was a sort of mismatch now. The more Dinah thought about it the clearer it was.

"You were really deceiving the Dark Lord that entire time?" Narcissa asked quietly, regarding Severus with calm disbelief.

"From the moment he decided to kill the Potter family," Severus admitted.

"But you were the one who delivered the prophecy to the Dark Lord," Lucius said.

"Yes. Thank you. I had forgotten." So much sarcasm.

"Yes, well," Lucius cleared his throat, looking as appropriately sheepish as he could at Severus's comment; "The newspapers say something about the Dark Lord finding... peace?"

"I saw the boy. And the girl," Severus looked pointedly at Narcissa.

"Yes," the woman nodded, that look coming into her eyes again as though she had something to say, and this time she said it, looking at Dinah, her expression completely non-hostile; "There was a very brief mention of my sister in what we read. It says that you... helped her."

Dinah shook her head, keeping her expression humble; "I don't know that I really helped her that much directly. She was waiting for him – for Tommy. She had forged a very strong connection to him that persisted even after her death. But I suppose that if helping Tommy allowed her to reach him then yes, I helped her too."

"That's good," Narcissa sighed, mild relief in her eyes as she put down her fork and sat back in her seat, considering Dinah; "Bella always had some... issues. She _was _attached to the Dark Lord, so much so that she thought Draco's mission was a good choice and an honor..." that topic seemed to bother everyone at the table, who began to look agitated as Severus raised an eyebrow at Narcissa. She hurriedly continued; "She just had such a one-track mind. Could be careless to her family, her friends, all through trying to please him. But he never... gave her what she wanted. I guess that's different now, though. I can only assume that it's a good thing. So thank you," she almost smiled at Dinah, her expression sincere; "for helping my sister."

Dinah felt her cheeks flush and nodded, letting a smile form on at least her own face. Maybe these people would be able to accept her after all, given time; "You're welcome. I think she's happy now." She shot Severus a hopeful glance and he half-smiled and nodded.

"It is all much to absorb, even after we have taken this year to consider everything that has happened since the second fall of the Dark Lord," Lucius admitted, turning a piece of meat around on his fork and frowning as he considered it; "The idea that the Dark Lord or some essence of him would return _again_, only to be... healed... and thus completely changed... The entire concept is quite difficult to grasp."

Severus sighed; "I admit I felt that way for a long time, Lucius. I certainly resisted Dinah's empathy towards the man as long as I possibly could. It is still hard to believe, but I cannot deny what I saw with my own eyes."

"I see," Lucius replied, and the room went silent again. Dinah ate her food slowly, finding that she really liked the potatoes, but the silence _was _getting a little unnerving. She was just debating whether or not she should start up a conversation or – what sounded safer – make Severus do it when Daisy shuffled into the room.

"Master?" the house elf asked timidly as all eyes in the room turned to stare at her.

Dinah's eyes quickly shifted from the elf to Lucius, though. In time to see the expression of anger and disgust that came over his handsome face.

"Daisy," he bit out, glaring at the cowering elf; "You dare show your face in the dining room? We have guests, as you can see. House elves do not come out of the kitchens when their Masters are entertaining guests, _do they_?"

"Daisy is sorry, Master," she cowered; "But she had to ask... we do not have enough currants for the pie... Daisy thought she would make a cherry cheesecake instead but..."

The glare that came over Lucius's face was chilling, his expression full of mocking disgust and superiority as he stared down at his 'servant'. "You did not purchase enough currants for the pie beforehand? You have known we would have guests here for nearly the past week. Explain yourself!"

"Well... Daisy knew there would be guests, but not two guests, and Mistress Astoria. The pie will need to be bigger..."

"You stupid creature!" his tone was disgusted and the expressions on Narcissa's, Draco's, and Astoria's faces ranged from the same disgust down to simple annoyance. "You shall be punished for your lack of preparation. And what if our guests do not want cherry cheesecake?"

"I hardly think the choice of dessert should matter to me, Lucius," Severus muttered, taking a bite of potatoes and not meeting anyone's gaze at the table. That was certainly the most he was going to say, and yet it was a lot for him, and Dinah felt grateful.

But she couldn't take her eyes off the look Lucius was giving his poor, innocent 'servant'... more like slave, really. His hand shot out and snapped around Daisy's wrist, yanking her in close so she could see the anger and disgust in his face; "You are _lucky_. Get in there and make the cheesecake, then, before we entirely finish our meal!" he shoved her roughly away and she nodded, rubbing at her wrist as she shuffled back to the kitchen.

Lucius looked at Dinah and she suddenly realized she was staring at him with the saddest, most pathetic look on her face. Flushing, she cleared her throat and turned back to her food. At least Daisy hadn't been hurt too badly – it had been worse for Dobby, she was sure. Yet, she wanted to say something. She held her tongue though, forcing her thoughts down into submission. It would do nothing but make them annoyed with her, and she had to remind herself that it was not so easy to change people's opinions. If she just went off on them they would completely close themselves off to anything she was saying. There was no point in that.

She had to remember that changing another's mind about something had to be done very slowly and very carefully. And more often than not one needed to teach by example and not through words. Maybe if they spent more time in the presence of this family, over the years the Malfoys would come to see what little point there was in some of their view and behaviors.

Narcissa huffed out a sigh; "It is so hard to find good help these days. I hope, at least, the rest of the food is to your satisfaction."

"It's very good," Dinah kept her tone demure, making sure her eyes remained locked on her plate.

"Good," Lucius still sounded annoyed, but his tone was less harsh than it had been when Daisy was present. Dinah chanced looking up again, allowing her gaze to float around the room. It was still subdued, everyone quiet and focused on their food. She was surprised when Lucius broke the silence; "Well, as you can see then, Severus, much has changed since the old days with the Dark Lord..."

"Yes, I had noticed that," Severus replied smoothly, taking another sip of his wine. He was much more elegant than Lucius, Dinah thought. The other man seemed to overdo it a little. "However," her fiancé said in firm monotone, placing his goblet back onto the table with a clink, "I don't believe that the 'old days', with Voldemort, are anything to think fondly of."

Narcissa gasped a little and the rest of the table turned to look at Severus. "You speak the name," she murmured.

"Yes. There is no longer any reason not to."

And this amazing man was _hers_. Dinah almost couldn't believe it.

"Perhaps not," Narcissa sighed, "But I still do not believe I could do it."

"The disrespect of it," Lucius murmured; "It is not something that easily leaves you."

"Yes, I long felt that way. But he holds nothing over us now. The dark mark will never burn again," Severus looked pointedly at Draco for a brief moment before continuing; "That said, I do not believe he, as he was when he ruled over us, ever deserved our respect."

"No. No, we know that now," Narcissa said softly, and Dinah actually sensed some emotion in the woman's voice as she watched her speak. "He never cared about us," Narcissa continued, shaking her head to make her point. "We thought he did but he didn't. It was all an illusion. When Lucius was in his favor we had everything. But then in an instant he took it all away."

"Yes," Lucius, surprisingly, seemed subdued and his gaze appeared softened again as he regarded first Narcissa and then Dinah and Severus; "We have taken a large part of the past year simply trying to... understand that."

"Our family didn't matter to him!" Narcissa said fiercely, and Dinah almost chuckled at the comical way hers and Severus's heads seemed to be turning from one end of the long table to the other. But the mood wasn't fitting for that kind of amusement.

"We thought we were important," she continued, stabbing a potato with her fork; "But he only wanted us when we were still 'useful' to him, and he cared nothing for how we felt about anyone but him, least of all each other," she sighed and relaxed her arm, letting the fork slip from her fingers, sadness and regret crossing her features as she turned to look straight at Severus; "If the Dark Lord had his way Draco would probably be dead right now. Or at least he would have been ripped away from us forever. We would never have had the chances we have now, had Astoria come here on the weekends and keep us company like this... all of this would be nothing if Draco had done what the Dark Lord had asked of him."

"Perhaps," Severus wasn't looking directly at Narcissa as he casually pierced some salad for himself, but Dinah could tell that he sensed what was coming and didn't know what to expect. Neither did she.

"No. I'm sure of it," Narcissa's voice was full of conviction. "You may not have truly been on our side, Severus, but you always, _always _watched over Draco. The Dark Lord never did that. And the Unbreakable Vow..." she paused and Severus finally looked back up to directly meet her eyes. She shook her head; "Even if it was what Dumbledore asked, even if he was already dying, you didn't want to kill him, but you did. You did it to save Draco. I wanted to thank you for it a very long time ago, but with everything that happened I could not. After the rebirth I – _we_ – should have thanked you but there was just so much to take in then and you had your own worries and... well, anyway, that's why we asked you here this weekend. There are really no words to express it, but we... Lucius and I... and Draco..._ and_ Astoria... Severus, we are so grateful. You saved my son, just like you promised you would," tears shone in her eyes as she gazed at Dinah's fiancé; "_Thank you_."

Dinah watched Severus's face for his reaction. His expression was a near perfect mask as it always was when he wanted it to be, but she knew him well enough now to see past most of that. In his eyes there was surprise, relief, and gratitude. "I do not regret my actions," he responded sincerely. "I was happy to help Draco. Though the action itself was... difficult," he gave a slight frown and Dinah knew just how much of an understatement that was; "and I wish that it had not been necessary, I don't believe any other person should have been forced to undertake the mission, least of all your son."

"We know," Lucius spoke again, and when Dinah looked at him his expression of gratitude was as sincere as his wife's. "Thank you."

"I should be the one thanking him!" Draco spoke up for the first time in ages, and Dinah turned to look at the boy along with Severus. The platinum blond shook his head; "I didn't know what I was getting involved with and I was in way over my head from the very beginning. I realize now that you knew that the entire time and everything you did that year for my sake was to try and stop that – stop it from going too far. I didn't listen to you and I kept resisting your help, but... at that moment on the tower, I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there. I don't think I could have done it... killed the headmaster, I mean," he sighed and stared down at his plate; "but if I didn't the Dark Lord would have killed me immediately. But you fixed it. I should have thanked you immediately but there was so much going on..." he looked up and the sincerity and gratitude in his gaze was tenfold that of both his parents' combined; "Just thanking you is probably not enough, but it will have to do, I suppose," he said quietly; "Thank you, Professor Snape."

Astoria just nodded, standing up to go wrap her arms around Draco's shoulder's again, as both young adults watched Severus.

Severus stared at Draco, again sincere surprise and relief reflecting in his dark eyes. Even his face showed some shock this time, albeit barely. "You're welcome, Draco," he murmured, averting his gaze back to his plate, almost seeming embarrassed.

"Severus," Dinah smiled and placed a hand on his arm, feeling the relief that he felt. These people did not hate him. They were infinitely grateful for everything he had done and more than that, they were his friends.

A slight smile formed on his face; "Dinah." He said no more than that, but acknowledging her presence with a smile revealed just how much their connection meant to him.


	164. Acclimation

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOUR

Acclimation

* * *

"You seem... happy," Narcissa murmured, watching them with curiosity.

"I am," Severus replied simply, looking up to meet her gaze.

"That's good," Lucius said, and once again their heads had to swing to the other end of the table. He was offering them a look much like his wife's; "It suits you, I think. Even if it _is _with a Muggle and I have always wished to prevent exposing Draco to any mixed marriages..."

"Dinah is not a _Muggle_ Lucius, she is a witch," Severus almost growled, but managed to keep his voice somewhat civil. Dinah felt a wave of gratitude for his defense; "Granted, it would not matter if she were a Muggle, however the lack of distinction between Muggles and Muggle-borns is something that the Dark Lord touted but which has no basis in reality. You would do well to remember that."

"Ah, yes, well," Lucius cleared his throat and took a sip of wine; "The world is changing, I realize that. You shall simply have to forgive us if it takes us a while to change with it."

Dinah's fiancé sighed and his response this time was calmer; "Yes. I do realize that change of that nature is difficult. I have faced much the same this year. But at least you are aware of the changes. That is the first step."

"Mm, it's difficult. But we have little choice in the matter," Narcissa admitted. "I do hope, though, that you will be willing to visit again on occasion. Ah, of course Professor Samson would be welcome as well."

"I hope so, especially since we will be married," Severus smirked. "However, yes, I am sure more visits will happen. Oh, and Miss Greengrass," something seemed to occur to him and he turned to the girl who had taken her seat next to Draco again and was finishing up the last of her salad; "If you speak a word of this engagement to any other student at school, Slytherin will lose enough points to guarantee that it will not win the House Cup until your grandchildren are attending Hogwarts."

"Uh," Astoria flushed and Draco looked half-surprised and half-amused at Severus's Slytherin point-taking threat; "No, of course not," she responded, taking her last bite.

"You know," Dinah was finally feeling comfortable enough to mess with Severus a little bit; "That threat would have held more weight if house points were actually _cumulative _from year to year."

"Yes, well," Severus flushed a little, scowling and taking an indignant bite of his steak. She laughed.

"Ah, it seems our dessert has arrived," Lucius said, and Dinah turned to see that a delectable-looking cherry cheesecake with yogurt had appeared in the center of the table.

"It looks delicious," she offered.

"Hmph, yes, well," he frowned; "It should have been a currant pie but I suppose we shall have to make do. At the very least it appears to be well-made," he summoned a slice to his plate.

Dinah did the same, floating a small slice over along with a scoop of yogurt which settled in next to it. Taking a bit of yogurt onto her fork first, she then took her first bite of the cheesecake. "Very good," her tone was again polite and demure but inwardly she was in utter cheesecake heaven and debated whether or not to have Daisy make her a wedding cheesecake. Oh well, she had already asked Lucy and the Malfoys probably didn't want to 'donate' their 'slave' to her for a day.

Severus, on the other hand, was frowning at her; "What?" she asked.

"You are eating too slow."

She raised an eyebrow at him; "We're in company."

"I see," he was still frowning; "I didn't realize you possessed such self-control."

"Snarky," she retorted.

"Well," Lucius spoke up, and Dinah flushed with the realization that she and Severus had started going into private conversation territory full of inside jokes. The blond man was eyeing Severus; "I heard that Slytherin lost its chance at the Quidditch Cup this year."

Severus's expression shifted to a snarl at being reminded of the situation and Dinah groaned inwardly. If she was in anyone's company but the Malfoys' she would yell at them for bringing the subject up again. Severus had been in a _terrible _mood yesterday after Slytherin had lost to Hufflepuff in the Quidditch game and she had only been able to get him more cheerful by lunchtime today. "Yes," he admitted; "It was a very bad loss. Hufflepuff came out of nowhere. Quite infuriating, but I assure you I had nothing to do with it."

"Mm, yes, but Astoria has told us you now discourage our house's normal... methods by which we win."

Severus shot Astoria a glare that made her shrink back in her seat; "I do not need to explain my choices. I have simply reconsidered my personal definition of the word... ambition. It should, usually, refer to the desire to accomplish things on ones own using the general methods. If you accomplish things using methods that others do not use, how can you safely say that you have bested them? There is no comparison, in which case a win via cheating is not a win at all. It _is _logical, when one thinks it through."

Dinah couldn't help but smile, feeling very proud of her fiancé's conclusion. She couldn't have said it better herself.

"So you're saying," Draco began, apparently more talkative now that he'd gotten the thanking out of the way; "That cheating is _weak_?"

"Of course. Why do you think it is so tempting and so _easy_?" Severus raised an eyebrow at the boy; "What is ambitious about getting something that you want the easy way? I believe our house's values have been warped over the years. That said, I still favor our house, disfavor other houses, and intend to take more points from Gryffindor than any other house and give Slytherins special privileges, so do not look at me like that," he ordered the two stricken-looking teenagers.

Dinah rolled her eyes. Well, he had regressed again. Then again, it was sexy so she would just let it go.

Draco smiled a bit; "Well, you're still my favorite professor then."

Severus just rolled his eyes; "You are no longer a Hogwarts student, Draco."

"Astoria is, though," Draco smiled at his girlfriend; "Of course, you didn't help her find me. But I suppose it makes sense that you didn't approach us beforehand..." he shrugged; "Still wish we had won the Quidditch game, though."

"Well, _you _were probably pleased at the outcome," Lucius murmured, addressing Dinah with an air of self-importance about him; "They say you are a Hufflepuff, after all."

"Actually," Dinah admitted, "I have never really followed Quidditch in that way. I enjoy the games but I don't really have a ... preference over which house should win." In fact, the best thing about Friday's game was that Severus had happily held her hand throughout it even though neither of them had something to cover their laps with. And of course, they had enjoyed sitting with Lucy, Sirius, Mae, Andrew, and Jania Whitehorn and Tad Smyth, two of Lucy's favorite third-years.

"Interesting," Lucius mused. "I doubt that is a common opinion."

"Dinah is anything but common," Severus muttered, smirking slightly; "Her idealist mind matches the fact that she does not seem to have a competitive bone in her body."

"You always seem to choose women who are so different from you, Severus," the other man considered Dinah's fiancé; "I must admit it is baffling."

"I can't explain it," Severus shrugged, finishing the remainder of his wine.

"I read that you share Patronuses now, too," Narcissa said. These people certainly read the newspapers more diligently than Dinah ever had, that was certain. Although they probably had a lot more time on their hands.

"You read correctly," Severus's expression indicated – at least to Dinah – that he was getting tired of this third-degree.

"It was a doe the last time we saw it, but it was fading. That was the strangest experience, you know? When the doe landed in Bella's mansion, requesting help for Sirius's girlfriend in your young voice. It was almost as though we were back at Hogwarts." It was interesting, Dinah thought, that she referred to Lucy as Sirius's 'girlfriend' rather than his fiancée, and her tone when speaking the word had been quite flippant and uninterested.

"It would have been interesting to hear," Lucius agreed. "The fact that you have been able to conjure a Patronus charm all this time is also fascinating. If the Dark Lord had seen..."

"Hence why I never used it in his presence," Severus rolled his eyes.

"I wonder if _we _could produce Patronuses," Narcissa mused.

"Most likely, if you tried," Severus agreed and for some reason this seemed to please at least Narcissa. The remainder of the table was neutral on the idea. When there were no further comments Severus turned to look at Dinah; "Eat faster."

She laughed. He apparently wasn't going to let this go. She grabbed her last piece of cake swiftly with her fork and stuffed it into her mouth; "Better?"

"Much," he replied with amusement.

"Well, we all seem to be done with our cheesecakes," Narcissa said moments later; "If you are all ready our plan was to move to the parlor for the remainder of the night. I think Lucius had considered challenging you to a game of wizard's chess, Severus. Hadn't you, dear?" she addressed her husband.

Lucius offered her an agreeable smile, "Yes," he turned to Severus; "Granted, you always seem to come out the winner."

Dinah covered her mouth and laughed; "That's nothing unusual." Her words managed to elicit a slight smile from Narcissa. Perhaps this group _would _come to accept her eventually, although she was certain she'd need to give it time. The cheesecake platter and their individual plates disappeared from the table in response to a wave from Lucius, and she assumed Daisy was somehow watching and knew that signal to mean that they were finished. Lucius stood and it was as though the rest of the family was on autopilot, standing in response to him.

When Severus stood as well, Dinah quickly joined the group, her chair squeaking a little in her haste. She flushed and stared at the floor. A brief touch of Severus's hand to hers had her looking up again, and she realized that the Malfoys weren't paying any attention to her and had begun walking out of the room. She tilted her head questioningly at her fiancé.

He offered her a look that said he didn't know what to expect either and they followed the Malfoy group back towards the parlor.

* * *

The parlor was mostly quiet as the hours passed. After some brief talk with Narcissa about nothing more personal or detailed than the weather and a few questions from Astoria about what to expect in Muggle Studies next year when she would be _forced _to take it, Dinah apparently became uninteresting to the group, and so she immersed herself in an interesting old book about the history of Slytherin house.

It wasn't as though anyone was being rude, though. Narcissa was reading a book herself, the two teenagers were on a chair talking in low voices with Astoria perched on Draco's lap, and Lucius and Severus were absorbed in the wizard's chess game. Every time Dinah looked up it appeared that they had restarted, and the implication that Severus was winning as usual was clear.

Finally, the silence was pierced by the sarcastic gloriousness of Severus's baritone voice saying; "I am afraid I won't be able to grant your request for another rematch, Lucius. It is getting late," he gestured to the grandfather clock in a corner.

"Yes, it's just as well I suppose," Lucius was frowning, and Dinah had a feeling that pretty much everyone who played any kind of game with Severus ended up demanding rematch after rematch after rematch. She was certainly no stranger to the situation. Lucius snapped his fingers and in the flicker of an instant Daisy was at the door. He looked down his nose at the creature with a haughty expression; "You will show our guests to their room. I assume," he tilted his head to Severus, "that one room will suffice?"

"One room will do," Severus responded flatly.

"This way please," Daisy gestured.

Severus nodded and took a step in that direction as Dinah set her book down and followed. "Good night," Severus said when they made it to the door.

"Yes," she agreed with a little nod and another hesitant smile at the intimidating family; "Thank you for dinner and for having us."

"Mm," Lucius gave her a brief nod and then looked at Severus again; "Breakfast is promptly at eight. Daisy will wake you. Good night."

The house elf led them back into the main entrance hall and up the left of the two flights of stairs. They followed the upstairs hallway towards the back of the mansion and then left, down one long hallway before turning right at another and right again further back. The elf stopped at the third closed door on the left and pushed it open into a large guest room with stately furniture and a bed with a shining silver comforter and many, many throw pillows for decoration. "This will be the room Master Snape and Mistress Samson will stay in," Daisy murmured; "The family hopes that it meets with their approval."

"It is lovely, thank you," Dinah smiled at Daisy, noting that a slight bruise might be developing where Lucius had squeezed her wrist earlier. But if that was the extent of her injuries she was better off than most house elves under the control of former Death Eaters. Still, things just _had _to change. Hopefully, Hermione would make a difference in that respect, and sooner rather than later. Dinah wished she could do more, but she had devoted most of her energy to the human problems, which needed just as much work.

"Mistress Samson is very kind," the elf offered her a small smile, pushing the door open further; "Please go in."

Severus headed into the room and Dinah followed, watching him as he returned the small bag they had packed to normal size and placed it on the floor against the right wall. She sat on the bed, glad that it was soft despite the room's stiff décor, and turned back to Daisy; "The dinner and dessert tonight... it was quite delicious. You have a great deal of talent."

Daisy blushed and shook her head vigorously; "Mistress Samson is _too _kind. Cooking is a house elf skill. Daisy learned just like her fellow house elves. She does her job."

"Well, even if that is true, you do your job well, and there is something to be said for that," Dinah offered.

The house elf's ear twitched and she offered a slightly sheepish grin. "Well, thank you. You are then one of the ... witches house elves would like to work for, I think," her tone was wistful and Dinah realized that she was being very, very careful not to speak ill of her masters, which was a criminal act to a house elf. Yet, Daisy knew that there were better families to work for than the one she had.

Dinah shrugged, not quite sure how to answer that; "I do my best. I personally prefer doing things on my own, though. Actually, I do many things the Muggle way." A slight snort from Severus as he settled on the bed next to her made her smile.

"That is quite unheard of here," Daisy smiled; "Is there anything else you both need?"

"No," Dinah responded as Severus shook his head to reaffirm that negative; "Thank you very much. I suppose we'll see you in the morning then."

"Breakfast at eight, wake-up at seven thirty," Daisy nodded, and then slipped from the room, closing the door shut behind her with a click.

"Are you satisfied?" he asked, and when she looked at him she saw that his eyebrow was raised.

"As much as I can be," she sighed and nodded, her gaze drifting back to the closed door where Daisy had left; "I'm not used to the idea of having a house elf as my alarm clock. We're not getting one, just so you know. A house elf, not an alarm clock."

"I wouldn't dream of it. I don't do well with servants. I had a Wormtail once," he scowled; "That did not go over well. Though I suppose I took joy in making him as miserable as possible."

"Mm," she nodded. Peter Pettigrew had, of course, been the one to ultimately betray Lily and James. Not only that, apparently he was extremely annoying. She tilted her head and smiled a little; "Well, that went well, didn't it?"

He nodded, considering the visit; "As well as could be expected, I suppose. It is good to know that they... are grateful, I suppose," his mouth twitched into a very slight smile when she took his hand.

"Severus," she murmured, her brow furrowing as something occurred to her; "Do you want to invite them to the wedding?" When he just gave her a look she retorted; "Well, I was just asking!"

"It is too early for that," he said with a firm shake of his head, and she nodded, understanding his meaning. But she hadn't felt comfortable leaving it unsaid, just in case he wanted them there. "Perhaps if we were getting married at a later time, at a different place," he continued, frowning; "But no. There would be too many Muggles, they probably do not want to go to Hogwarts what with the potential hostility towards them, and I doubt your pair of animagus friends want to associate with the Malfoys any more than the Malfoys want to associate with them."

"You're right, of course," she agreed. "I just wanted to mention it... just in case. That is, if you wanted them there, I wouldn't be opposed."

"I appreciate the gesture, but no," he shook his head again; "You notice that I did not mention the date of the wedding nor did they ask."

"It's true."

"Then it is understood," he looped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin over her shoulder and murmuring into her ear; "We shall simply continue to associate with them on occasion, when circumstances permit, and see where things go from there."

"Er... yes, that sounds... reasonable," his proximity was a little too stimulating for this subdued room, she couldn't help but think. It clashed, but rather nicely. She placed her hands over his arms and leaned into him; "They aren't so bad."

"Indeed," he agreed, seeming more interested in nuzzling her ear than he was in talking about the Malfoys; "They are not perfect, but they are improving."

"Improving is the main thing, even if it's slow."

"Yes."

"You've improved a lot yourself, you know," she smiled as his hair tickled her cheek.

"Yes," he said again, his lips wandering towards her neck.

Okay, this really _was _getting too stimulating. "Severus... uh, Severus," she turned her head to face him, allowing his lips to access hers in the process and making this even more difficult. She smiled and met his eyes; "We probably shouldn't be doing this right now, not on our first visit."

He frowned, loosening his grip on her; "You're probably right."

"I don't know how close we are to where anybody else's rooms are, but at the very least I think house elves see everything."

"True, but they _are _trained to ignore things of that nature."

She rolled her eyes; "That's so ridiculous. I don't know how some wizards can do it. Maybe they're _trained _to ignore it, but that can only go so far. It's like in court when they tell the jury to ignore some piece of evidence. Sure, they _try _to ignore it but the damage is already done. They've heard it. It colors their judgment nonetheless."

"Ever the thoughtful one," he kissed her and stood, "Then I suppose we should change into our nighttime robes."

"Yes," she followed him over to their open bag and extracted the silky purple robes that Severus had given her for Valentine's Day, turning away from him to put them on so as not to tempt him – or herself – any further. "You know," she mused as she dressed; "I wonder..."

"Wonder what?" he asked from behind her.

"Where Astoria usually sleeps," she laughed.

"I don't even want to begin to guess," he muttered; "Miss Greengrass is a rather... interesting fixture in this house. Still, I wonder if perhaps I should have helped her in her efforts after all. I had no idea Draco would have an actual interest. He and her sister were only passing acquaintances."

"Ah, yes, but I think it says something that she was able to get him on her own. She was very dedicated," Dinah smiled; "Did you know Lucy told me once that she apparently compared the plot of an entire book to Draco's sixth year? That's definitely dedicated."

"_Obsessed _is a better word," Severus grumbled.

Dinah laughed; "I wouldn't say too much more on that, my little psycho-obsessed stalker."

"That was a long time ago," he huffed, and she heard the swoosh of his robes as he tossed them aside and the shuffle of him pulling on his nighttime ones; "Of course, she seems much less so now that she's hooked him, so I suppose it's just as well."

"They were very cute," Dinah pulled on her robes and turned to face him, smoothing the silky material on the front and buttoning up the top buttons.

"I suppose," he turned back around, frowning in consideration. Finally, he sighed; "Yes, it is good for Draco to have her. He endured much more than he ever should have during his time as a Hogwarts student. His path almost seemed like mine at times, but... he avoided it, thanks in large part to the Dark Lord's defeat. It's good to see him happy with her. It makes me wish, again, that I had met you sooner."

"Me too," Dinah smiled, remembering their time as teenagers. Also, it seemed that Severus truly cared about Draco, and she already knew that he had made every effort to keep the boy safe during his time at Hogwarts. She had a feeling that if they did have children he would make an excellent father. But all she responded with was; "They sort of reminded me of us as teenagers, cuddling on the chair like that."

"Yes, slightly," he smiled a little, walking over to the bed and drawing back the covers on his side.

As Dinah climbed in next to him a sudden thought occurred to her and she shot him an annoyed look; "Do you realize what this means, Severus?"

"What?" he gave her an odd look.

Her arms folding across her chest of their own accord, she had no trouble looking huffy, because that was how she felt; "Well, we have spent the night in my rooms at Hogwarts and in the dungeons. At Spinner's End and at Grimmauld Place and at my parents' house and at the _Malfoy's _of all places... and we still haven't slept in _my _house yet! At this rate we're going to spend the night at some random inn on our honeymoon before we sleep in my house! Which is going to be _our _house by the way!"

To her unexpected surprise, he covered his mouth and started laughing, which was only more annoying. "I'm sorry," he muttered in a moment; "I simply had no idea it made you quite this annoyed. You know, perhaps it's not such a bad thing. It might even be... interesting."

"Yeah, how so?" she glared.

"I am not opposed to the idea of your – our – house being something we know we're going to come home to after the school year is over," he explained, his hand reaching across to trace her cheek, the warmth and softness calming her and making her smile despite herself; "It will be a sort of treat in that way."

"Yes, well, it's not the usual way of doing things, that's certain," she smiled, lifting a hand to trace the back of his.

"Ah, well, I don't think either of us is necessarily... conventional," he raised an amused eyebrow at her.

She laughed, turning her head to press a kiss to his palm, enjoying the look of contentment that crossed his face whenever she did little things like that; "There is that, I'll admit. Okay. I think I can accept that. As long as the moment we enter our new home together for the first time is one of the greatest moments of our married life."

"I'm sure that can be arranged," he smirk-smiled. In fact, he looked rather pleased at the prospect of arranging it. He lifted the comforter for her; "Now, shall we sleep?"

"Mm," she agreed, cuddling down into the bed as he laid down and draped the covers over them; "Are you glad we came?"

He frowned, considering, and then finally nodded; "I think so."

"I'm glad," she leaned across to kiss him; "It turned out to be a rather interesting visit, in my opinion. And as long as I'm with you, I'm welcome here. That's not so bad."

"I don't like the conditionality of the statement, but at this point it's all we can hope for," he agreed, regarding her with a smile as he reached an arm around her; "Good night."

"Good night," she closed her eyes and let herself fall asleep in the strange but interesting environment that was Malfoy Manor. Having these people as 'family friends' was going to be even more interesting.


	165. Dresses

A/N: Just FYI everyone, another chapter in the Severus POV co-story, "His View of Things", has been posted, and there is another picture of Dinah and Severus (the young versions) on my deviantART page (my deviant ID is sakuralum52). This picture was NOT sketched by me but was done by a reviewer on this site by the pen name of The Sweet Suffering, and it is just amazing! Thanks again to The Sweet Suffering for drawing it! It's a more realistic style than my drawings, which is just great. I also hope to have more of my own art up soon, too :)

And of course, continuous thanks to all of my reviewers. I know all these extra, post-drama, fluffy chapters are probably a huge writing _faux pas_, but I can't help it! I can't put Dinah and Severus down! :D Please stick around, though, and read the rest of it and the epilogues. I have great plans for the conclusion, if I ever get there XD

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CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIVE

Dresses

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"What do you think of this place?" Dinah asked, pointing to the picture of the small inn on her computer screen.

"I refuse to look," Severus turned away, burying his long nose in the parchment he was grading. "Why you must make reservations for us over that infernal Muggle object is beyond my comprehension."

"Just perusing, darling," she didn't let him faze her. He was going to have to get used to her using this in his presence from time to time and she figured exposure was the best method. "There are fewer wizard inns and I just want to see what our choices are. Besides, this place looks nice."

"Then print a picture onto a piece of parchment – none of that pasty-white Muggle paper – and show it to me that way."

"That's a lot of effort for just one look, silly," she nudged him and started to move the laptop over in his direction, slowly, making him growl. She laughed and pulled it back; "Would you rather I just told you about it then?"

"Where is it located?"

"The Cotswolds. It's been designated by the Muggle government as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, you know."

"Wonderful."

"Yes, well," she laughed, taking the rat from her shoulder and placing her on Severus's leg; "Helga wants you to make a decision."

"You and your infernal animals!" he snapped, throwing down the parchment and his red quill to glare at the adorable creature. Dinah took the opportunity to flash the computer screen at him. He sighed; "You tricked me."

"Only slightly. If I annoy you that much would you like me to move back to my old rooms?" she teased.

"No, you do not annoy me that much," he tucked her loose hair behind her ear and placed a kiss on her cheek; "The place looks agreeable. Do you think perhaps there are some wizard inns in the same area?"

"Perhaps. We can investigate. I really do love the area. I visited there with my relatives every now and again. My aunt and uncle live nearby, oh but don't worry not close enough for them to intrude upon us. I've taken that into careful consideration."

"Your aunt is really so pushy as to intrude upon us during our honeymoon?"

"Hmm, I don't know, but I wouldn't risk it," she said mysteriously. Truthfully, she didn't think Aunt Mildred would be _that _bad but she had to make sure Severus was as adequately prepared as he could be for meeting the woman.

He raised an eyebrow at her but didn't get a chance to say anything due to the knock that sounded on the door.

"Oh, that must be Lucy! It's open!" Dinah called, her heart starting to race a little at the thought of going wedding dress shopping with her friend.

"Hi!" Lucy said when she appeared in the doorway, looking a little tired but very cheerful and excited. "Ready to go…shopping?" she trailed off, her surprised gaze drifting to land on Severus for some reason.

"Dinah," Severus's sudden snarl almost made her jump as she turned to look at her fiancé; "Would you mind removing your rat from my leg?" he finished through gritted teeth.

"Oh!" she flushed and laughed, plucking Helga from him. It was cute how he had forgotten she was there until Lucy started staring. There was hope for him yet in the animal department.

Lucy grinned, "I'm sure there's a euphemism in there somewhere but I'll let it slide this time. Oh," she frowned as she scanned the redesigned living area, "you've put in cupboards. That's going to make messing with your potions so much more difficult."

"That was the idea, troublemaker," Severus smirked, using a term for Lucy that if Dinah didn't know any better actually had friendly undertones.

"Well," she offered Lucy a smile, "Actually it was more for Godric than for you, since for all I know your fox self is dexterous enough to open half of those doors." Severus snorted at her comment.

She giggled, "I'm not sure. We'll have to try it out sometime…when Severus isn't around. What's that?" she pointed to the image on Dinah's screen as she approached them.

"I'm just looking for ideas for small inns to stay at on our honeymoon. What do you think?" she turned it some more so Lucy could get a better view.

"Oh, it's beautiful. Teaching is great but it makes it hard to plan trips whenever you want…but then you do get a lot of time off in the summer. I suppose if I want a nice long honeymoon I'll have to plan a summer wedding," Lucy frowned, looking put off by the idea.

That was unusual. Dinah figured most people would _want _summer weddings but she knew Lucy had a thing for snow. She herself liked this one – spring – the best. "Or you could always postpone the honeymoon or have a second, bigger one at a later time," she suggested to her friend.

"That's true," Lucy agreed, "But that looks lovely. You should go there. It should be fairly decent weather I'd think and not yet tourist season so it won't be crowded."

"Well, as long as we don't find a wizard alternative," Dinah teased, looping her arm into the annoyed Severus's. "Granted, I don't see that it should matter. Nobody is going to be seeing us anyway so even if we perform a bit of magic what can it hurt? We're going to be given total privacy," she murmured in his ear.

He shifted and cleared his throat; "Don't you have shopping to do?"

"Mmm, yes," Lucy grinned, flushing a little at their intimacy, "Though if you're not leaving the room perhaps there's not much of a point to this expedition."

"Excuse me?" Severus looked baffled.

"Well, it's mostly a lingerie store and if you're not leaving the room Dinah probably won't have the opportunity to wear said lingerie."

Dinah laughed; "I put it on at the start and he takes it off. Plus I'm really looking for bridal lingerie – to go underneath the wedding dress."

"Ah, right. Well, first step is probably finding the dress itself so you, or we really since I'll be doing the same thing, know what type of lingerie will work under the dress. Don't want anything showing that shouldn't be," Lucy said, stepping back from the computer, looking anxious to get going.

Dinah shared her enthusiasm; "Well, let's go then. I'll just put this site in my favorites," she clicked the appropriate places on the screen, ignoring the roll of Severus's eyes, and then shut down the laptop and stood up, leaning over to plant a kiss on her fiancé's lips; "Don't forget to do what you need to do at lunch. You won't forget, will you?"

"Hardly," he smirked.

"Guess where he's going, Lucy? Severus, tell Lucy where you're going!"

"I highly doubt she cares. Ow," he added when she gave him a playful swat.

Dinah laughed; "It didn't hurt. Lucy, he's going to get real dress robes. Not semi-dress robes, real ones, for the wedding, over lunch break!"

"Nice!" Lucy enthused, "Take Sirius with you. He'll need some new ones for the wedding too. I mean he has some and he'll tell you he doesn't need new but I'd like him to get another set that can be special, like my dress." Dinah wasn't sure her fiancé would be particularly enthused about going shopping with Sirius, even if they _did _get along rather reasonably as of late.

Severus just looked at Lucy; "He can purchase his own clothes," he turned back to his parchment; "If you want him to come tell him yourself. I will be in Hogsmeade at noon." Dinah didn't really think Sirius would take up the offer either.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "That's okay. I doubt he'd go even if I ordered him to. I'll have to drag him to the shop one day…or make Remus and Harry do it."

"If you must. Now, I have class in less than an hour and five more parchments to grade, do you both think you might leave now?"

"He's just cranky because I didn't let him finish his grading last night. You didn't have any complaints last night, though," Dinah teased him, causing him to clear his throat yet again and wave them off without looking up. His ears turned a little pink, though.

Dinah laughed and gestured for Lucy to start heading out. She turned back to Severus; "Have fun," she pat him on the head playfully, causing him to growl at her again and her to laugh once more before following Lucy toward the office and the dungeon exit.

Lucy closed the office door behind them as they exited into the hallway; "Enjoyed being back at the school again?" Dinah's friend smiled as they walked through the halls.

She chuckled; "Oh yes. We had to spend a pretty subdued night at the Malfoy's, but I made up for it last night. I can't imagine how people can live with house elves always under foot, watching every move they make in order to better 'serve' them. It clashes with my need for privacy."

Lucy shrugged, "I've never done it either. Living with house elves that is. I suppose technically Sirius does have one but Kreacher was happy to stay here and work and neither of us had a problem with it so Sirius set him free," she paused in her steps for a moment, yawning.

"Tired?" Dinah asked.

"Early morning," Lucy said, "I need a bigger bed. Coffee later would be good if you don't mind."

"We can stop somewhere when we get to Diagon Alley. Chat over a cup and come up with a game plan for the day. How's that?"

"Sounds good," Lucy agreed as they exited the gates of the school. "See you at the Leaky Cauldron?"

"That sounds good," Dinah agreed, and then apparated away. In a moment she was standing on the bustling street on the wizard side of the Leaky Cauldron, the place bringing back so many pleasant memories. Of course, it was a lot warmer out today. She smiled when she saw Lucy apparate in next to her; "Ready?"

"Yes. There's an empty table over there," she said, pointing to a corner near the stairs. "Why don't you go grab the table and I'll go order the drinks. You want coffee too or something else?"

"Coffee's fine, thanks. Lots of cream and sugar." Dinah wandered over to the table Lucy had indicated, not too far away from where she had sat with Severus at Christmas. She had just seated herself when she heard a gasp, and looked up to see the waitress that had waited on her and Severus on that day, hurrying past with a tray of food for some of the diners.

"You're her! The one from the newspapers!" Apparently the diners could wait long enough for her to make this announcement.

"Um... yes," Dinah agreed, fidgeting with her napkin, and then realizing with some unease that there were others in the restaurant staring at her. Maybe this had been a little early to go back out into wizarding society. It hadn't been this bad when she had gone pensieve-returning with Severus, but maybe it was his intimidating presence that had made it so. Still, she wasn't afraid of this sort of thing anymore, so she could surely deal with it.

"You were here with Professor Snape at Christmas! I thought about that when I was reading the newspapers about you. I'm glad the press never came here asking about you... I don't think I would have known what to say."

"Oh... well, there isn't really much to be said," Dinah gave an awkward reply; "All of the information is out now."

"Shouldn't you be teaching? Did they let you keep your job?" This woman was a lot more talkative when Severus wasn't around to scare her away.

"I still have my job, thank you," she responded stiffly; "Professor Ketteridge and I have cancelled our classes for the day because we need to run some important errands, that's all," she nodded towards where Lucy was conversing with the bartender.

"Oh," the waitress flushed; "I'm sorry. I should get this food to the people who ordered it. Wow, I can't believe you're here again..." she trailed off, wandering with the food to the table of interest.

Dinah sighed and leaned back in her chair, waiting for Lucy. This whole thing was just odd. "You know," she said to Lucy when her friend arrived back with the drinks, "Something has just occurred to me. People know me from the newspapers. If I buy a wedding dress and wedding lingerie here in Diagon Alley people are going to find out about the wedding."

"Oh," Lucy said, frowning, "Well, I can buy the lingerie. That's no problem. I've been in there plenty of times before and they get enough mail orders from me…Maybe a face recognition charm? Severus mentioned he used one when he went there…"

She sighed; "I guess I'll have to. But the wedding dress will be more difficult... I have a feeling if the press even got an idea about the wedding they'd try to invade it, you know?"

"Mmmhmm," Lucy said, sipping her coffee with an indulgent expression. "You definitely don't want the press to get wind of it for sure. I could try them on for you but that's not the same really. We could just say we're there for me and have you try some on for fun…but that doesn't help with the buying either…I suppose I could buy the dress too..."

"All of that seems like too much effort," Dinah frowned, wrapping her hands around her cup and feeling the warmth before she brought it to her lips. After taking a drink she sighed; "Buying a wedding dress using a facial recognition charm won't be any fun. I did bring some Muggle money, so we could try some of those stores, but I wanted to look here first. I guess we can start by looking and then see what happens. At the very least, I can remove the facial recognition charm in the dressing room."

Lucy sighed; "If we'd had the time and foresight we could have polyjuiced you into someone…though that wouldn't really help either. I'm sorry. This is turning out to be more complicated than I envisioned when I made the offer."

She shook head, "It's not your fault. Let's just take it one step at a time," they finished their coffee in thoughtful silence, but try as Dinah might she couldn't come up with any kind of better solution than what they'd already discussed. Hopefully something would come to her when she needed it to.

Placing her empty cup in front of her, she let her eyes wander around the room, trying to think about more positive things; "Is this your first time here since they redecorated? Probably not..."

"Sort of," Lucy said. "We were here once, towards the end of the remodel. Sirius came here some, while I was occupied with Teddy and the rest of my crazy family," she said, smiling affectionately. "When I was at the bar Tom asked if I was 'the girl that Black fellow was mooning over' during the winter."

Dinah chuckled; "That's cute. It's nice to know how much our men think of us sometimes, isn't it? Last time I was here was at Christmas with Severus. First time I saw him after our time at Grimmauld Place. You remember how our relationship started to blossom right around then? Well, when I met him here he greeted me with more affection than he'd ever shown," she smiled, remembering the gentle way in which his lips had kissed her hair while they'd embraced; "And then during our lunch he flat out told me that he had wanted to see me. At the time it was so shocking I lost the ability to speak for a few moments."

"Aww," Lucy cooed. "It's funny to think…I was so messed up back then and he still wanted me. I've never thought, never even considered that he was with me because he felt sorry for me or anything. He just…wanted me."

"Aww," Dinah returned Lucy's sentiment; "And of course he wanted you – see, you weren't so messed up that you didn't believe it! You knew. It's nice, that trust, isn't it? That sense of being wanted. Even when Severus told me he'd never be able to love me he said... he needed me. That was enough for me to commit to stay by his side no matter what happened. Though I think I sensed even then that someday it would work out for us. Can you believe it's only been a year? And we're both on stable ground again."

Lucy smiled and shook her head, "No, I really can't. Though I think I'll reserve judgment on the stable ground issue. I thought we were on stable ground last year and look how that turned out. Anyway," she said, pushing her mug away from her, "you ready to venture forth?"

"Sure," Dinah agreed, standing. She didn't say any more on the stable ground issue, but wondered if perhaps Lucy had some sense that things were still going to be difficult for her and Sirius. Dinah hoped not, for their sakes. She wasn't really worried about herself. She felt the stability of hers and Severus's relationship. It was like an innate thing; she just knew that things were good now. It was a very liberating feeling.

As soon as they headed back out into Diagon Alley Lucy began chatting away. "I paid up at the bar so there's no need to worry about that. Oh! A flower shop. We should stop there later. I need ideas. There's also a bakery down the way a bit if you want to change your mind about me making the cake. I should probably make an appointment for me and Sirius to drop in…"

Dinah had to laugh. Laughing also helped her to ignore the stares she was getting from various folks on the street. "A flower shop sounds good. I need a bouquet, after we get the other pieces of course so we know it matches. And I still want _you _to make my cake. Although I did entertain the possibility of stealing the Malfoy's house elf for a brief moment."

Lucy shook her head and clucked her tongue, "Hermione wouldn't stand for that. Oh," she said, staring at the display in Flourish and Blotts' window as they passed, "looks like that new book's finally out. It's part of a series I've been reading, maybe…no. We're here for underwear guaranteed to drive our boys wild, not books."

Dinah feigned an exasperated sigh, smiling to show her friend that she was teasing and wagging a scolding finger at her; "Maybe at the end of the day, _if _we have time."

Lucy rolled her eyes and giggled, "Yes, Mum. Ah, here we are," she said, stopping at a door and holding it open.

Dinah stepped in to a room filled with wedding dresses, feeling both excited and a little overwhelmed. She was certain, at least, that her eyes were as wide as saucers as she took it all in. It was like a sea of white and silver and the dresses blinked and glittered and waved with the various magic spells bewitching them to look enticing. And she was most certainly enticed.

Dinah vaguely noticed a clerk running up to them. "Hello, can I help…you?" the clerk trailed off and then gasped; "You! You're that woman in the paper! The one who can talk to snakes."

Dinah's stupor was broken and she felt her cheeks flare up, realizing that she had completely forgotten about the facial recognition charm during all of hers and Lucy's chatting on the way here; "I, um... no, well... yes, but..."

"You're going to marry Professor Snape!" the woman looked positively thrilled.

"No!" Dinah felt her face turn redder, shaking her head vigorously as Lucy worried her bottom lip while watching the exchange; "I mean, Professor Ketteridge, my friend here, she's getting married, not me."

The woman chuckled and shook her head; "I don't think so. You were positively glowing as you looked at our dresses. No, I think you are the one who is getting married. But don't worry, I won't tell anybody if you don't want me to."

Dinah blinked. She wasn't sure if she could believe that, although it sounded promising.

"No, really I am getting married. See?" Lucy jumped in, in a much-appreciated attempt to save the day, and flashed her ring at the lady, "To Sirius Black."

The short, slightly plump woman's face took on its own pink tinge, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to imply you weren't also getting married, but I've worked here awhile now and it's impossible not to recognize the look on Professor Samson's face."

"Please don't tell..." Dinah murmured, her fingers twiddling in a surprising regression back towards her teenage self; "If the press were to get a hold of this information... our quiet wedding..."

"Oh, please don't worry," she insisted; "I am most definitely not here to ruin people's weddings. If it is a quiet wedding you want then a quiet wedding you shall have. Please don't hesitate to look around at the dresses. Both of you, of course," she added as a quick afterthought, nodding to Lucy. "And if you need anything at all I'm happy to help. My name is Irene if you have any questions."

"Well," Lucy said with a grin, "I guess that takes care of that. Where would you like to start? I was thinking something with some sort of strap…"

"That sounds fine to me. You can lead the way. I don't really know _what _I'm thinking yet. There's just too much here," she smiled out at the selection before her, and finally managed a relieved sigh; "That's the nice thing about wizard shops. There's usually only one shopkeeper and they are always so... personable." This was going to be so much easier than she had thought. There had been nothing to worry about after all.

"I suppose," Lucy smiled; "but I don't really have much to compare them to." She led them over to the racks. Dinah began perusing them, feeling even _more _overwhelmed by the sheer number and variety available. They were all beautiful, most of them lacy or sparkly, many of them bewitched in some way but some not. How could she choose? There was no way she would be able to try them all on in a million years!

"Oh, look at this," Lucy breathed, pulling out a lovely dress with cap sleeves and decorated with soft chiffon; "What do you think? Should I try it on? Do you want to try it on?"

Dinah smiled and fingered the dress. At least Lucy was more excited than overwhelmed. Well, that probably had something to do with the fact that she wasn't getting married on Thursday. "It's lovely. You should try it on first, since you found it. What do you think about the ones with silver and gold accents? I'm feeling partial to all white myself but the accents are so... sparkly they become tempting." She laughed; "I think I'm really starting to have a thing for sparkly."

Lucy considered the dress Dinah placed a random finger on, "It's gorgeous. You should try it on. It'll go great with your skin tone, I think. Sparkle's good. Some can go overboard," she said, pointing to a nearby ensemble that looked more like a dance costume than a wedding dress, it was covered in so many sparkling embellishments, "but yours looks nice."

"It's not mine yet," Dinah smiled, taking a closer look at the dress. The silver sparkles were strategically placed, forming a sort of loose V-shape on the upper bodice, and occasional sparkles graced the layered skirt. "But it is beautiful. Okay, let's try these on, if you want. We have to start somewhere after all."

"Yes, we do," Lucy lifted the dress off the rail with a delicate hand, and Dinah followed suit, joining her friend over by the dressing rooms and the large mirrors outside of them for better viewing. Lucy hovered near the entrance to one of the rooms; "Meet you back out here in two minutes?"

"Approximately," she smiled and darted into a second room, placing the dress on a hook and considering her reflection in the mirror. It was a good thing she felt pretty today. Well, maybe she really _was _glowing, she thought with a flush, removing her robes and slipping on the dress.

She frowned. Well, it was beautiful on the hanger, but it hung all funny on her. And the V-shape made her look like a flag or something. Okay, maybe she was being picky but it _was_ her wedding dress she was shopping for here. And this one just wasn't right. She hurried to take it off and walked out of the dressing room in her normal robes.

When Lucy walked out of her room in a full wedding dress and said; "Oh. You're not wearing it," Dinah felt a little guilty for changing without showing her friend.

But she just didn't want to show anybody that. She wanted to show it when it was 'right'. Okay, maybe child Dinah _was _trying to come back today, for some inexplicable reason. She sighed and offered her friend a guilty look, gesturing to the dress in her arms; "It hangs funny." Okay, that definitely sounded whiney. She cleared her throat and shrugged.

Lucy just giggled, seeming to understand, which was nice. "That's fine. This one's still nice I think but it's apparently see-through," she gestured to where the bright blue color of her knickers could be clearly seen halfway along her body length. "It's just…not right. I wanted a white white dress but looking at it now…I don't know, it washes me out or something. Maybe an ivory or off-white would be better."

"Oooh, that would be pretty with your red hair," Dinah agreed; "I actually think the dress is lovely, except of course for that whole see-through issue. Maybe we'll have better luck on the next round."

But she did not have better luck on the next round. In fact, she seemed to try on dress after dress after dress and none of them pleased her. She began to feel even more childish the way she visibly pouted in front of the mirror every time she put on a new dress, and immediately threw them off of herself. She was starting to think Lucy might die of shock if she actually walked out of the dressing room while wearing a dress. Dinah was starting to think she herself would die of shock, too.

But the store was huge and there were still many more choices.

Dinah had just taken off another dress and finished readjusting her normal robes when Lucy's voice spoke to her from outside the dressing room; "Dinah? Irene's going to help us find some dresses."

She sighed, feeling a little bit of relief. Maybe this would help. "Okay, that sounds good," she walked out of the dressing room to meet her friend and the clerk, carrying the latest 'negative' draped over her arm.

"Well," Irene started, "I usually ask when and where you're planning on having the wedding. That can help with choosing a style. Is there anything in particular you don't want?"

"We don't have specific date set," Lucy answered, "but we're leaning towards winter. I thought I wanted a dress with straps but every one I've tried on hasn't looked right one me. Let's worry about Dinah first though."

"So," Irene said, turning to Dinah, "was there anything particular about this dress you didn't like?"

"Oh, I don't know," Dinah sighed and shook her head; "It just isn't 'right'. I want something that's 'right'. I'm marrying Severus. I want it to fit him, us to fit together, to 'match' somehow. Maybe I should look at more simple styles," she finally concluded, thoughtfully; "It was sort of what my initial idea was but once I got in here and saw all of these fancy ones I got caught up in the moment I guess."

Irene smiled, "That can sometimes happen yes. Let's see," she murmured, leading them over to another section of the store, "Were you thinking strapless, sleeves, long, short, lace, no lace…?"

"Um," Dinah was starting to feel overwhelmed again; "I don't know. Maybe sleeves. The strapless ones have all felt like they were hanging wrong... We're going to be outdoors for the wedding..."

"Hmmm, well okay," Irene marched over to a spot near a corner and grabbed three dresses, shoving them into Dinah's arms; "Here, try these. Now you," she said, sizing up Lucy and going back to the rack, again pulling three dresses, "you should try these. An off-white or ivory would look best on you and I think you might like some of these lace dresses. You've got a bit more variety since you're not sure when or where you're having the wedding. Now go try them on and we'll go from there."

Lucy hurried back to her dressing room and Dinah followed her friend at a slower pace, looking at the dresses that had been handed to her. She smiled. They were all three white, non-sparkly, and more conservative than the ones she had been looking at before, and she was starting to feel better about how they might look. Irene did seem to know what she was talking about. Dinah looked around this area near the corner as she walked, wondering why she hadn't floated her way over here before. It was the distraction of the sparklyness of course. Granted, now that she thought about it maybe a sparkly dress would clash too much with her sparkly ring. Maybe she should only make the accessories sparkly and not the dress. That was a good fashion move, right?

Dinah stopped.

Her eyes had landed on a rather innocuous-looking dress on a rack very close to the corner itself. It was of a similar style to the ones she was holding with one very major difference, which she found herself gravitating towards.

She vaguely registered Irene's curious look as the clerk followed along next to her, but she was mostly focused on the dress. She finally reached it and stretched her hand out, fingering one by one the row of pearly-white buttons that decorated the front.

Buttons.

Severus had buttons. She had even made him promise to get dress robes for the wedding that had buttons down the front just like his frock coat, she liked the buttons so much.

"Do you like that one?" Irene was asking her; "It's lovely. The color and cut would look nice on you, I think. The half-sleeves also come with matching wrist-length gloves."

Dinah nodded, unable to take her hands off of the little buttons. They were perfect. She had to try this one on – add it to her pile.

The friendly shopkeeper chuckled; "I have a feeling you've fallen in love. Here," she grabbed the dress and added it to the pile, seeming to realize that Dinah wasn't going to stop fingering the buttons long enough to do it herself.

"Thank you," she murmured, still staring at the dress as she carried it back into the dressing room. She hung the four on the hangers, debated trying one of the other ones on first, but then decided she just couldn't wait to try on the buttons one. She removed it from the hanger and used her wand to undo the buttons before stepping into the dress and waving her wand again as the smooth pearly objects, one by one, refastened themselves all the way up her dress, stopping at the top where the angled, collared v-neck reached up to wrap around just at her shoulders.

And, looking in the mirror, Dinah finally felt for the first time on this trip that she was wearing a wedding dress.

She couldn't stop smiling as she reached down and fingered the silky material of the skirt, feeling like a dreamy young girl again as she twirled around and swished the skirt around in front of the mirror. She was really getting married! It was all _real _now. Because of this dress.

She reached up and fingered the smooth buttons again, staring at her reflection in the mirror, feeling beautiful and excited and... just amazed at the whole thing. She could see what it would look like, standing next to Severus in this dress. Imagined him standing with her in the mirror, next to and a little behind her, his arms wrapping around her waist and his head pressed against hers as she leaned into him, both of them matching, both of them happy.

The image was so beautiful it brought tears to her eyes.

Her dreamy reverie was interrupted by Lucy's call of; "Ready?"

Dinah took a deep breath and nodded even though Lucy couldn't hear her nod, wiping at her eyes and taking one more look in the mirror, smiling at her reflection before responding; "Okay." She turned and pushed the dressing room door open again, walking around to stand near the large mirrors and meet her friend.

Lucy stepped out of the room wearing a beautiful, long-sleeved, cream-colored dress overlaid in lace with a high fur collar. It looked beautiful on her, but Lucy was staring as if transfixed and it took Dinah a moment to realize that her friend was looking at her own dress.

"Oh, Dinah," Lucy breathed, "I think you should get that one. Don't even bother with the others."

Dinah felt herself flushing and nodded, smiling shyly as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and took a look in the full length mirrors next to her, struck again by how perfect this dress was and wondering what Severus would think when he saw it; "Yeah, that's sort of what I was thinking."


	166. Shopping

A/N: So, there is a chapter of the "The Serpents' Kiss – Bonus", and a pretty major one, if you like that sort of M-rated thing XD, associated with this one. If you want, please go and check that one out when you're done with this one.

* * *

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SIX

Shopping

* * *

"You both look very beautiful," Irene assured them. "Your fiancés will have a hard time waiting until you get back to your rooms before taking those off you."

Dinah flushed; the idea sounded very attractive. Though with the buttons perhaps finally Severus would get a taste of his own medicine. She grinned a little at the thought. Unless he used magic, but that would be cheating. After all, she never used magic to undo _his _buttons.

Lucy looked just as flushed, but then she turned a considering gaze back to her dress; "I don't know," she said, fingering the collar. Dinah recalled that her friend was not a fan of turtlenecks.

"Hold on," Irene said, and Dinah watched as she darted over to a display area and grabbed a veil. She came back and ordered Lucy to squat down before fastening the veil into her bright red hair, arranging it so that it fell over her shoulders to frame her face.

"Oh," Lucy said, staring at herself in the mirror.

Irene glanced over at Dinah in the reflection of the mirror, "Adding the veil usually does it."

Dinah nodded; "Lucy, you look beautiful. It's very wintry, I think. That's what you wanted, right?" she smiled.

"Yes," Lucy whispered, still staring at her reflection, "Exactly what I wanted. I don't even care about the collar. The only thing is," she said, turning an almost pleading look back on Dinah and Irene as tears filled her eyes, "I can't do this without Aunt Molly. I don't think she'd be upset, but I want her here…and Mum," she turned back to her reflection and wiped her eyes.

"Lucy," Dinah murmured, putting her hands on her friend's shoulders, "It's okay. Nobody's forcing you to buy anything right now." She smiled at their reflections to try and cheer her friend up; "You just came to look with me, right? And you got to look. Next step is to come back here with your Aunt and look again. And I'm sure your Mum is still with you somehow." She remembered the spirits of Tommy and Bella she had seen and spoken to and was just sure of it.

Lucy smiled, looking like she felt at least a _little _better, "Right. She will be. I, thankfully, take after Mum in looks and not my father."

Dinah laughed; "Well, I've never seen your father so I don't know how to judge that one. I'm guessing he's not a redhead, though."

Lucy joined in the laughter, shaking her head, "No, he's not. Would you believe me if I told you he actually has dark hair? Everyone was convinced my hair was going to turn darker when I was young. It didn't. It just got…redder."

"I believe you," Dinah grinned. "And the red suits you, so I guess you were just lucky." She turned her grin to Irene; "Any veils for me or is Lucy the only person who gets to try one?"

"Oh, we've got some for you too. Your friend just looked like she needed some convincing, while you were already in love with yours."

"It's true..." Dinah smiled, turning to her reflection and fingering the buttons again as Irene took off for the veil displays once more.

"I'll be right back. I should get out of this…" Lucy said, taking a moment to join Dinah in staring at her reflection in the mirror before darting back into the dressing room.

In a moment Irene returned with three different styles of veil; "Here are a couple of choices. One with a veil in front, one just in the back, and one with a few more ruffles. Any of them could be fastened with flowers or a tiara if you so choose."

More choices. Dinah wasn't sure if she was going to be able to handle it. But now that she had the dress, maybe seeing what went well with it would be easier. She thanked Irene and let the woman place the first veil on her head, the one with a piece in front. It was kind of pretty, but with the wedding being as short and simple as it was she didn't think there was any need for the whole lifting-the-veil away-from-her-face thing. She politely shook her head and tried the next one.

"Oh, I like it," she cooed, fingering the filmy material. "I don't know that any more ruffles would look that good, really. Maybe the flowers or tiara for embellishment and that's it."

"Sounds fine to me," Irene whisked away the other two. "I'm afraid we have fewer of those accessories here, but the jewelry store and the flower shop would be good places to start," she walked back up and stood behind Dinah just as Lucy came out of the dressing room in her normal robes; "Well, what do you think?"

Dinah smiled at her reflection. With a few more accessories the ensemble would be perfect; "I think this is what I want. What do you think, Lucy?"

"I think," Lucy said, adjusting her ponytail, "that Severus is going to be dumbstruck."

The thought was a very good one, and Dinah saw her smile widen in her reflection. "Well, I guess I should pay for these then. Though I hate to take them off..."

Lucy grinned, "I can imagine, but just think now we get to go try on some fancy knickers. At the very least I have an orange pair that needs replacing. Oh, and maybe I can get your opinion on a couple things. I keep staring at them in the catalogs and I'm just not sure…"

Dinah nodded and reluctantly headed back into the dressing room to change out of the wedding gown, reminding herself that she would be wearing it again in front of Severus very soon. She exited in her normal robes carrying the gown and veil and a very happy Irene led her back to the main counter so that she could make her purchase.

"Here you are," the smiling woman used her wand to wrap up the dress and veil and hand them across to Dinah after she'd paid. "Congratulations. I don't know Professor Snape but from hearsay but it strikes me that he needs a good woman in his life. I hope you two are very happy."

"Oh, I'm sure they will be," Lucy winked as Dinah flushed and nodded. They both thanked Irene once more and left the store before Lucy pointed to the wrapped items and asked; "You want me to take those? Hide them in my rooms?"

Dinah smiled; "Sure. I doubt Severus would just unwrap them without my consent but better safe than sorry, right?" she placed the package into Lucy's arms.

Lucy giggled, "Yeah, but then I'm used to dealing with Sirius. He's like a big kid sometimes. Of course he claims that of the two of us I'm the more likely to peek." Without warning Lucy gasped and halted in the middle of the street and Dinah literally had to skid to a stop to keep from running into her friend; "A hen party! Are you having one? Do you _want _one? Maybe your Muggle friend is planning one. Rosa, right?"

She found herself flushing again and laughed; "Really, and here I keep thinking I've thought of all the necessary details but I keep being proven wrong. That sounds fun, but I didn't talk about it with my family or with Rosa or anyone... though Aunt Mildred is probably already complaining about the apparent lack of one. Maybe getting married this fast was a bit much, even if it _is _going to be a small wedding. Oh!" she gasped herself as something new occurred to her; "We have to make sure I have something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue! And I think I'm supposed to put a penny in my left shoe or something, I can't remember..." she wracked her brain to try and recall the details.

"Well, I'm sure we can work something out. You and I could get together Wednesday night, Rosa too if you wanted. As for the other thing, we've already got your something new. Blue could be whatever we buy in the next store…a garter perhaps. I'm sure you could borrow something of mine and I'm not really sure what a penny is…"

"Okay," Dinah nodded; "That sounds reasonable, I think. My plan was for the whole group to drive up to a little spot nearby Hogwarts on Thursday morning and Severus and I were going to walk over there and lead them to Hogwarts. My parents are bringing my Aunt, Uncle, and cousin with them and they are a ... handful. But maybe I could invite Rosa up the night before. But there's still Luke to consider. Maybe just you and I on Wednesday night. I shouldn't try to make this more complicated. It _is _supposed to be a very simple wedding."

"All right. I'll just have to kick the boy out for the night. I'll make up for it later though," she said, blushing. Dinah just smiled. She was used to Lucy by now.

"Let's go into the flower shop first!" Dinah snagged Lucy's arm when they passed by it; "Severus needs one for his dress robes whether he likes it or not and I need a bouquet and potentially flowers for the veil. Flowers or a tiara. What do you think would look better?"

Lucy tilted her head, considering Dinah, "Well, flowers might look nice. I have my mother's tiara so…I suppose we should see what they have and go from there."

She nodded and started for the store before stopping, reminding herself what she had to do, and casting a facial recognition charm on herself. She turned to Lucy; "How's that?"

Lucy stared at her for a moment and Dinah thought that she had probably done it right; "Not bad," her friend finally said; "I don't think I'd recognize you if I passed you on the street."

"Good! Now let's go!" she marched into the flower shop to be greeted by a waft of many different scents. "I think some kind of white flowers would be good."

Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep breath; "It smells heavenly in here. White flowers would be nice. I think I want some white and some soft colors mixed in." She turned a playful smile on Dinah, "What do you think about me having Dogwood and Foxglove in my bouquet? It's an idea I've been bouncing around."

"Oh, that is so cute!" Dinah clapped her hands together at the idea, reminded of her cute dog and fox friends and glad that at least in her adult form she didn't squeal quite so much; "And dogwood flowers are beautiful... oh, but um... can't foxglove kill you?" she frowned, remembering the toxicity of the pink, bell-blossomed plant.

Lucy frowned, "Yeah, I forgot…shoot. Well, I suppose I've still got time to figure something out…"

"There might be a magic spell or something to fix it. I don't know much about the properties of poisonous plants but I'm _sure _Severus does. I can ask him for advice for you. The idea is just much too cute to give up without a fight," she smiled.

"Would you? That'd be so great!" Lucy enthused, "He'll take it better coming from you too. Not that I think he hates me," she hastened to add, and Dinah flushed a little as she remembered how much she had worried about that shortly after their return to adult form, "I think I'm just a little much for him to take at times."

"Well, I won't argue with you there," Dinah offered her friend a crooked smile, although she realized she must look so funny to Lucy – her features unrecognizable and seemingly different although they had not changed. It just depended upon perspective, which was why these sorts of spells were so interesting. She turned and wandered along the displays of flowers, occasionally leaning in to sniff and see if she liked the scent.

In a moment she came across the perfect section; "Look, they already have an area set aside with sample wedding bouquets. Oh, look at this one! White ranunculus and grape hyacinths. It makes it just a little bit blue," she fingered the delicate flowers; "I like it."

"It's so pretty! And it can be your something blue, though I still think you should get a garter," Lucy said.

"I'll get one, though I don't think we'll go through the whole thing after the ceremony. It will be more for... Severus's enjoyment," she flushed at the thought of her future husband's warm hands crawling up her leg, in their bedroom in one of those lovely inns in the Cotswolds, after the wedding, the night to themselves...

Lucy giggled, "I know what that face means," she said, and then gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh no, he's rubbing off on me."

"Who?" Dinah blinked, confused.

"Sirius," Lucy mumbled through her hands, "He's always saying things like that. I know what flannel pajamas mean. I know what turtlenecks mean and the like."

Dinah laughed; "They do rub off on us. I've been told by various people that my scowls and raised eyebrows are starting to match Severus's. Slughorn actually jumped ahead of both Severus and I and guessed that we'd be getting married before we decided on it – although we both sort of had it in the backs of our minds as a distant 'someday'. For as distracted as Slughorn is he can be quite intuitive from time to time."

Lucy nodded, slowly lowering her hands, "He can be. Actually, he's been telling me some rather interesting stories about the Black family, Regulus in particular. Sirius won't talk about him. Won't talk about any of them really, with the exception of Tonks and her mother. Incidentally the Malfoys will be the only members of the family not invited to the wedding. I don't know how I feel about that. I mean I've never met them and I'm guessing they've no desire to meet me or see Sirius but still…they are family."

"Mm," Dinah nodded; "I asked Severus if he wanted to invite them to ours but he gave a very firm and definite 'no'. Though I think they're shaping up to be 'family friends' of ours, slowly."

"That's nice. Perhaps at some point in the distant future we can make a go of bridging the gap with them. Though I doubt we'd ever be friends really," she gestured to a cheerful-looking saleswoman; "Perhaps you should ask her for help."

"Oh, yes, and I think I know what I want too. You see," she pointed to show Lucy, "If I take this bouquet I noted and trim the outside with these Queen Anne's lace that adds some greenery – green for Slytherin with the yellow in the center of the ranunculus for Hufflepuff! And I can trim the veil in ranunculus and Queen Anne's lace, and Severus can have a similar thing on his dress robes, and I can put lace around the bouquet and tie the stems with a blue ribbon!" she took a few breaths, finally having gotten all of her ideas out.

"You're decisive all of a sudden," Lucy teased, "In the last store you couldn't have made a decision to save your life. It sounds perfect though," she said, being serious again, "It's exactly what you should have."

Dinah giggled; "I know, I don't know what's with me today. Maybe it's that now that I have the dress the rest comes easily. Okay, I'll go tell that woman what I want." And it _was _easy. She was unrecognized and the woman was friendly and absolutely _loved _her bouquet idea, putting it together right there and also making the flower for Severus – her mysterious 'fiancé' – and providing her with a few loose flowers of all the types for her to figure out how to fit it into her veil at a later time – and she could use magic for that.

Finally, with more than half of her bridal ensemble in tow, she and Lucy entered the lingerie store to look for the parts to go underneath.

Lucy headed straight to the section containing replicas of the ruined orange knickers she had been so concerned about as of late. It seemed Sirius was often too impatient to pull her undergarments off and instead preferred to hex them into oblivion. "Wonderful! They still stock these. I should probably get a couple pair."

"Perhaps," Dinah chuckled and let her eyes rove over the store's stock, wandering over to the bridal section and examining all number of lovely negligees and underclothing which she might be able to put underneath her wedding gown. The sparkles she had been so turned off by in the dress shop now seemed more attractive. Of course, she still didn't need to go overboard, and that was why her gaze ultimately shifted to a lovely white number trimmed with a little bit of shimmering silver. Well, actually it was four pieces – knickers and a bra with a see-through babydoll negligee to go over it and – what would certainly please Lucy – a garter.

"Find anything?" Lucy asked, coming over.

"This," Dinah indicated it with a finger.

"Nice! And it comes with a garter. Want to try it on? Or well parts of it anyway. I was going to try on some of these," she said, pointing to the giant pile she had managed to accumulate while they had been perusing separate sections, "and see what you think, if that's okay?"

"Sure," Dinah agreed, grabbing the ensemble and following Lucy over to the dressing rooms. When she finally had most of it on – minus the knickers because they wouldn't look right over her current pair anyway – she felt her face flushing again. Of course, she'd worn fancy lingerie before – Severus's lovely birthday present coming to mind – but this was _bridal _lingerie. "How are things going over there, Lucy?" she asked her friend.

"Good," Lucy called back. "I'm ready if you are."

"Coming," Dinah was glad they were the only two people in the fitting rooms as she stepped out to show her friend the negligee-bra-garter combination, carrying the knickers in her left hand. Luckily her own knickers were also white so they at least matched. Lucy came out wearing a deep red, lace bra with gold accents. Like Dinah, she carried the knickers separately. "I love the color," Dinah complimented. "It's a very pretty set."

Lucy grinned, "Thanks. They have green and silver ones too. Along with blue and bronze and yellow and black. I think once Severus gets you out of that dress he's going to destroy those pretty things you're wearing. What do we think of these?" she asked, holding up the knickers to reveal that they were more like a bunch of ropes tied together than anything else. "I don't think they're going to last long but they're just so…naughty."

"Well, Sirius will certainly think so," Dinah winked; "I suggest you cast a charm on them beforehand preventing their destruction. Mess with him a little," she teased.

She laughed, "Good idea. I like the rope details." She turned back to consider again what Dinah was wearing, "The silver is strategically placed so you're still covered and yet…you're not."

Dinah grinned; "It works well that way, I think. You know, maybe I'll go and grab the green and silver of that set," she pointed to Lucy's choices; "I think Severus would enjoy me in Slytherin garb."

"Exactly why I've got it in the red and gold. They do have other styles of knickers. I just…no. I'm going to keep my mouth shut and not over-share this time," Lucy blushed.

Dinah had no idea what her friend was talking about, which was just fine to her because if Lucy was actually refraining from sharing the details they probably were not details she needed – or wanted – to know. "Fine with me," she raised an eyebrow; "Let's go make our purchases, if you're done."

"Sure. Just let me go change back and we can be on our way and give me one of your sets. I promised to buy you some for your birthday."

"Okay," Dinah smiled; "Thanks. After this I'd like to get some lunch and then maybe go to a jewelry store and a shoe store. Then I think that'll take care of most of it. Unless something else comes to mind that I'm forgetting. Since I seem to be doing that a lot lately," she blushed.

Lucy laughed, "I'm sure I'll be doing the same thing when it's my turn. I already have my shoes though, a gorgeous blue pair. They'll be my something blue." She took the green and silver Slytherin set Dinah grabbed and headed off to pay at a sales girl in the distance. She seemed so intent on going far away that Dinah had a feeling something secretive was up so she let Lucy do her thing and made her purchases much closer.

Lucy met her at the entrance to the store carrying two boxes and handing one of them to Dinah; "And there goes this week's pay. It's going to be _so_ worth it though."

"Oh yes, very much worth it," Dinah smiled knowingly as she ran her fingers along the top of the box. "Shoe store now?"

"Yes!" Lucy enthused, "I'll have to restrain myself from buying anything, but that's okay. Sirius has told me to go ahead and use his vault before but I don't feel right about doing that yet. Besides this way I'm sure not to go overboard."

Dinah nodded; "I'm going overboard, but it's my wedding. I'm allowed," she grinned.

"Of course you are," Lucy affirmed, following Dinah to the next store on their list.

* * *

Upon returning from their trip a little before dinner Dinah dropped her packages off in her new dungeon home before grabbing the bouquet and flower for Severus and magically shrinking them and hiding it in her robes. Then she made her way towards his classroom to catch the tail end of his class.

He was taking points from Gryffindor as usual when she arrived but when he caught sight of her standing in the doorway he offered her a very slight smile. Soon, he dismissed the class with a particularly brutal assignment for Wednesday and Dinah was accosted by a wave of students rushing past, some looking at her with curiosity and some apparently seeking some kind of pity or help, but she couldn't do anything about the assignment – it wasn't her business to interfere in her future husband's teaching _too _much. She could still rag on him about it though.

"Really, Sev, is a twenty-five inch essay on such an obscure topic _really _necessary for completion in two days?" she murmured, coming forward to kiss him in greeting.

He responded easily, his arms wrapping around her waist. When they broke it he offered her a smirk; "I think it's necessary. They will probably get off easy over the next couple of weeks while I enjoy our wedded bliss, and therefore I must torture them now."

She smiled; "I guess. Just don't try and get it back to them right away."

"Oh no, I think they'll be waiting a week or two before it's graded. That will only torture them more, which is always pleasant."

Dinah sighed; "You're such a sadistic teacher. But maybe over the next two weeks of our 'wedded bliss' you will start giving Gryffindor points again."

"If I give them even one point you must promise to withhold favors until I take the points away again," he growled. "I need to condition myself to associate our wedded bliss with taking points _away_, not giving them as I did before."

She laughed; "Well, with my fetish I think you're already getting conditioned in that direction, love."

"_Yes_, your... curious 'fetish'," he murmured, smirking some more at the thought which was incredibly sexy. "Did you enjoy your shopping trip?"

"So much," she flushed as she thought back on it, and now that the room was empty of students allowed herself to whisk out the bouquet and charm it back to normal size; "What do you think? Most of the rest of the stuff I gave to Lucy to hold until the wedding but I wanted to show you the bouquet now. It's pretty, isn't it?"

"Yes," he murmured, his lips and nose lightly nuzzling her hair; "It suits you. Shall we take dinner at home?"

"I think so," she smiled and whisked out the single ranunculus stuck in the middle of a subtly green-and-white Queen Anne's lace blossom and experimentally held it up against his outer robes while he grumbled; "It's tradition for the man to wear a single flower at his wedding. Don't complain. Though I think it'll look better on the dress robes than on these batty things," she teased.

"Perhaps. It is simply a frock coat with lapels as you requested, but the material is formal – and sort of 'shiny'," he frowned; "They were all shiny."

"Shiny is nice. I'm sure you'll look perfect," she smiled when he flushed a little; "Now, let's go get some food, I'm starving! Then I'll show you a couple of the other pieces that I bought!"

* * *

"Mm, love banoffee pie," Dinah smiled as she finished her dessert and stood from the table, passing Severus who was already sitting on the green couch reading the _Evening Prophet_ and wandering over to the few boxes she had brought home with her.

"I should hope so. You had three pieces, my little snidget," he teased, making fun of her metabolism again.

"You'd better be glad I'm like a golden snidget or I'd be ridiculously fat," she laughed, selecting the box that had her shoes in it and carrying to over to the couch, plopping down next to him and setting the package on the coffee table.

"This is pleasant," he lowered the newspaper.

"You don't even know what's in the box yet."

"I didn't mean that," he smirked, folding the paper and setting it aside; "I was referring to the fact that there were no articles mentioning you in this edition of the _Prophet _whatsoever."

"Oh," she smiled, resting a hand on his knee; "That _is _nice. Here," she removed her hand and instead reached over to lift the lid off the shoe container; "these are the shoes I bought."

"I see."

"Wait till you see them on," she selected one pearly-white slipper and lifted her right foot onto the couch, starting to put on the shoe until a thought occurred to her and she shot her fiancé a grin, hiking her brown robes up and all the way off of her right leg, causing him to snap to full attention, his eyes wandering from the shoe up her leg and then back again, but always returning to her leg.

She finished slipping the shoe on and fastened the two criss-crossing straps across the top of her foot, sliding her hands up her leg to rest on the back of her thigh and support her leg when she was finished; "What do you think?"

"Mmm," he agreed, sliding his own hands along the back of her calf and placing a kiss on her knee as his warm, slightly-calloused but soft hands wandered up and down the white skin of her calf, finally settling on the shoe and carefully removing it from her foot; "Very nice."

"Mm," she murmured right back, feeling a flush rise in her cheeks as a light laugh escaped her lips; "I feel a little like Cinderella. Though I guess the prince put the shoe _on_, didn't take it off."

"What are you speaking of?" he muttered, sliding his hands back up her calf and kissing along her shin.

"Oh, uh..." she lost her voice for a little in the sensuousness of it all, but finally found it again; "just a princess from a Muggle fairy tale."

"I see," he murmured; "Well, I assure you, you are much more beautiful than any princess. You're more like a goddess or an angel, though even those terms do not do you proper justice."

"Ah, Severus," her face was fully on fire now and her heart fluttered in her chest as she slid her fingers into his hair as his hands wandered now along her thigh; "Though you were raised in the Muggle world, weren't you? You should know about Cinderella."

He snorted; "My father was the Muggle and I hardly think he ever found the time to sit down and read me fairy stories. But yes, I am vaguely familiar with the tale."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she murmured. "I'm horribly insensitive."

"Hush," he ordered, his kisses reaching her knee again.

"Okay," she arched her back and let herself enjoy the moment until another thought occurred to her. "You know, you kind of _are _a prince though," she smiled; "You're my half-blood prince."

He chuckled, his lips curving into a smile against her leg; "I admit I do enjoy it when you call me that. As I enjoy it when you call me Sev. But..." his voice lowered into a growling purr, "I think right now I would prefer you to use my full name."

"Severus," she whispered.

"Yes," he murmured, continuing to kiss along her thigh; "Like that."

* * *

Some very satisfying minutes later, Dinah rested against Severus on the couch, her arms wrapped around his shoulders and her fingers stroking along the side of his neck. "By this same time on Thursday we'll be married."

"Oh, Merlin, Dinah," his eyes reflected pleasure and – oddly – awe; "Really?"

She laughed; "Yes, _really_. You're the one who asked _me_, remember?" His lips quirked into a pleased little smile at her words. She smiled and placed her hands on his chest with the intent of lifting herself off of him; "We should probably go to bed."

"No," his arms tightened around her waist, pulling her back to him. "Just... stay here like this. I don't want to let you go even for a moment."

Dinah sighed and smiled, closing her eyes and continuing to stroke his neck as they lay there in ecstasy. And then Severus growled; "Dinah..."

"Yes?" she opened her eyes and lifted her head, wondering what had him scowling like this.

He nodded his head out at the room; "Your _animals _are in here and saw everything."

Dinah bit her lip and tried, but she was unable to prevent herself from bursting into giggles. "Oh, Sev," she murmured into his shoulder; "You are so cute."

"I am not cute!" was his indignant response.

"Rosa thinks so," she lifted her head and regarded his annoyed face; "You know, Godric _is _in the bedroom. It was just Helga and Salazar who 'watched' and as long as we keep their cages in here and adore our green couch so much..."

"One of these days that cat is going to see us too."

"Probably. You have to get used to it, darling. We will of course avoid it as much as possible, but it's going to happen eventually now that we're living together. Simple fact. You like facts."

"Only the pleasant ones. I am not so devoted as Professor Binns."

"Not so boring, either," she kissed him; "You'll get used to it. I promise."

"Well... all right..." he sighed, pulling her back to him and, to his credit, seemingly able to relax again. Dinah sighed and smiled, cuddling back up to him and just thinking for what felt like hours about how happy, comfortable, and content she was. How nice and warm it was to just lie against him and feel their matching heartbeats.

In a moment Severus spoke again, leaning over to murmur in her ear; "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course," she replied, opening her eyes to look at him again.

He tilted his head slightly to meet her eyes, so that now he was murmuring against her cheek instead of her ear, his hands moving up to stroke her hair; "First you have to promise not to call me a psycho obsessed stalker," he teased.

She laughed; "Oh, I don't know about that."

"You have to promise or I won't tell you," he smiled, leaning away from her so they could fully see each other's faces.

"Okay, I promise," she conceded.

"All right," he agreed, reaching down to take her hand with the engagement ring on it into his, turning it so that they could both see the ring as his fingers stroked hers; "From the moment I decided that I loved you I dreamt of calling you my wife. Every time Lucy mentioned her wedding or you talked about her ring, all I could think about was that _someday _you were going to be Dinah Snape."

"Oh, Severus," she blushed, hardly able to believe he was telling her this right now. And yet, now that she thought back on it she did realize that every time she had talked about weddings with Lucy he had regarded her with a sort of interested expression. Now it all made sense.

"The idea was so pleasing to me. I had never imagined that I could have that kind of normal life but it sounded so perfect with you by my side. Yes, I might have envisioned that kind of future with Lily from time to time but it wasn't the same. Besides, with you I was fairly certain you were going to say yes."

"Of course I'd say yes."

"So if you don't think I'm _obsessed _with you..." he began, teasingly.

She laughed, entwining her fingers in his; "That's not obsession, darling. That's love."

"Mm," his lips nuzzled her ear, "Perhaps not an obsessive sort of love?"

"_No_, it's not. When was the last time you followed me around like a lost puppy or stared at me all day?" at his chuckle she laughed along with him and nodded; "See? You don't do that with me."

"Thankfully. I prefer not to be compared with a puppy if at all possible," he admitted.

"I know," she grinned; "Severus, you... you love very strongly, I've noticed that about you."

He frowned; "What do you mean by that?"

"Well," she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and rested her arm on his shoulder to try and explain this to him; "Just that. You put all of your soul into your love for me, and I adore it. It's not pushy or obsessive, it's just your real feelings. You hide most of your emotions behind your mask of snarky stoicism, even sometimes towards me."

"Yes, but you _like _that," he murmured, his tongue tracing along the edge of her ear; "Don't you, love?"

She flushed, trying to stave off getting aroused again for the time being; "Yes. Very much so." She laughed, nuzzling his forehead; "You're pretty casual with most of your relationships even when you care about people. For instance, the love you feel for the headmaster or for Draco Malfoy," at his annoyed look she smiled; "Yes, Severus, I know you love Draco. Actually, most of the Slytherin students. Without your protection and support all those years they would have lost a lot through Tommy's old self."

"I did my job," he grunted.

"You did it well," she smiled; "But you see, this is just exactly what I'm talking about. And yet, for some reason, when you love a woman you don't hide as much – you put everything into your affection for me."

He nodded, reluctantly; "I suppose part of it might be because I don't want to be like _him_. He never gave my mother the love she deserved and I want to guarantee that I don't have those same traits..."

"You don't," she assured him softly, pressing a kiss to his cheek and letting her hand wander down to rest on his chest; "You are _nothing _like that man."

"Only because I make every effort not to be."

"Sev," she murmured, and his lips twitched into a smile at the nickname; "I hate that man and what he did to you, but... I _do _love exactly one half of him." He turned a curious look to her and she smiled; "The half that became you."

He chuckled, a bit of a blush on his face; "Even though that half of me encompasses all of my most annoying traits?"

"Well, you know how I feel about your annoying traits," she teased. "It's the same as how you feel about_ my_ annoying traits, such as my affection towards the Muggle world. We love to hate them."

"It's true," he admitted, smiling.

"Severus, speaking of which," she frowned as something occurred to her that she – yet again – should have thought of before; "Do you have legal status in the Muggle world? I only ask because I'd like to be able to legally change my name to Snape and marry you on that side, too. I can't believe I didn't think of that already."

Severus regarded her with a frown of his own as he considered her question; "No, I don't. Once I went to Hogwarts I cut all the ties that I could. But I do have a Muggle birth certificate. It should be buried somewhere in Spinner's End. Perhaps we can locate it and use it to get that legal status."

"Mm, I'm sure we could use that. If you were okay with it, that is."

"My Dinah," he murmured, placing a kiss on her lips; "Of course I wish to marry you on both sides. You live in that world and I will consequently do so as well – at least partially. We _have _to be legally married on that side. Maybe the weekend after our honeymoon or shortly after school gets out we can go to Spinner's End. We have to go through my things there anyway."

"I would like that," she sighed, content, and rested her head on his shoulder again, letting her hand wander back up to his neck; "You know, for this being a small simple wedding I keep coming up with new things I have to consider. I most definitely do _not _envy those who try to plan bigger weddings."

"Like your friend."

"_Our _friend," she corrected, making him blush; "But yes, like Lucy. Well, I'll try to help out where I can. Oh!" she groaned and buried her face in his neck; "The camera."

"Hmm?" he asked, his warm fingers wandering up and down her spine.

"I was going to ask Lucy or Sirius to try and take wizard photos, remember?"

"And you have not asked them yet."

"Nooo," she moaned; "What if neither one of them has a camera?"

"Dinah," he tilted her chin so that she could meet his eyes; "It is only Monday. There is still time. You are hereby forbidden from any further panicking until Wednesday morning."

"Oh, I'm forbidden, am I?" she smirked.

"Hmm, yes," he nodded; "Forbidden. Or else I shall withhold my own favors from you."

"Probably won't be able to," she sing-songed, cuddling up against him again; "Once I show you the other things I got at that store. Lucy's birthday present, you know."

"I had nearly forgotten about that," he admitted, tightening his grip on her and closing his eyes; "I look forward to the reveal."

"Mm," she agreed, closing her own eyes and feeling the exhaustion from their earlier adventures finally catch up to her, thinking she might fall asleep right there on the couch; "Love you."

"Love you, too."

* * *

A/N: Again, there is a LOT more to what happened in this chapter, so head on over to the bonus story :D


	167. Nightmare

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SEVEN

Nightmare

* * *

Dinah didn't know what to expect as she knocked on the door of Lucy's rooms Wednesday night for her hen party. Or as much as one could call it that, with only two people involved.

Lucy opened the door and poked her head through the opening cautiously, her face lighting up when she registered Dinah's presence; "Dinah! Happy last day as a single woman. Come on in," she said, pulling the door open wide and stepping back.

Dinah smiled at the words as she entered. In her opinion, she had had _way _too many days as a 'single woman'; "You were expecting somebody else?"

She laughed, "Not really. I did get a rather whiney letter from Sirius when I told him what was going on but I didn't honestly think he'd show up. Okay maybe a part of me did, but only a little part." Lucy walked over to the couch, nearby which were a number of things including delicious-looking snacks, some random romance novels – obvious from the oversexed images on the fronts – and a wrapped gift which Lucy grabbed. "I'm afraid I've never been to a hen party so I didn't really know what to do. I've got snacks; I pulled out some of my romance novels and I've got some exploding snaps if you want to play that. I'm up for whatever you want really. Oh, and here!" she held out the gift.

"Thanks," Dinah smiled and took it. "You didn't have to get me anything."

Lucy shrugged, her expression slightly shy, "It's nothing really. Open it!" she encouraged, a childlike excitement lighting up her face and Dinah was again struck at how much younger her friend was than her.

"Okay," she looked back down at the gift and carefully unwrapped it – the wrap was so meticulous it seemed like Lucy spent hours getting it perfect – though she probably used magic, Dinah realized as an afterthought once she got it open. Carefully nestled in tissue paper was a pair of bright green knickers, probably from the lingerie store on Monday when she had gone off to buy things separately. They were rather simple in design, but the bright color was cute; "Wow, they're cute. A little brighter green for Mr. Slytherin to enjoy?" she grinned.

Giggling, Lucy nodded, "Yeah, one of many things he can enjoy about those. I hope he likes kiwi."

"Kiwi?" Dinah questioned, blinking, and then it hit her; "They're edible!"

"Of course! The store keeps them behind the counter. That's why I had to go so far away when we checked out. Papaya's a particular favorite of mine. Kiwi's nice too though and I thought Severus would appreciate the green."

"I'm sure..." she smiled and regarded the knickers in front of her, leaning over to give them a slight sniff; "Ooh, that is a pretty strong kiwi scent," she flushed, remembering Monday evening's adventure and a few previous ones, but none had yet involved flavored clothing.

Lucy grinned, waving a wand and summoning over her three other, different-colored pairs of the same style of knickers; "Some of them can have a strong smell. These don't smell as much. Two apple and a papaya. They have all sorts of flavors though. Grape's been nixed. It smells and tastes really sweet," it was Lucy's turn to blush.

Dinah giggled; "Would I sound horrible if I said all these fruity smells were making me hungry? I notice you have snacks."

Lucy shook her head, "No, not horrible just normal. You're welcome to whatever you want. Go through the cupboards if you feel the need. Just stay out of the cool box unless you want to ruin the surprise of your cake."

"Oh, it's finished?" Dinah flushed with pleasure as she grabbed a handful of mixed nuts; "I can't wait to see it. I let you go totally from scratch as to the design and such. It's so exciting. Oh, and thank you _so _much for agreeing to take pictures for me on such short notice!" she thanked her friend for the umpteenth time as she noticed the camera sitting on the kitchen counter. She was lucky her friend owned one.

"You're welcome! Drinks!" Lucy suddenly shouted, "I forgot about drinks, though we probably don't want to drink ourselves into oblivion anyway. We can go out if you want but I figured a low-key evening was probably more what you'd want…" she glanced over at her pile of books and winced. Dinah followed her gaze and landed on a book where the front picture was moving and the man with much too many muscles was tossing aside a ripped shirt that had belonged to the now-topless woman he was ravaging.

Dinah chuckled and lifted it up, finding the images more amusing than anything; "I must confess I don't usually read straight-up romance novels. I was unaware that the wizard ones did things like this. No wonder Severus was so traumatized that day in the library."

"Yeah. That was…amusing. These are the more graphic ones though. Most of them aren't so…obvious. Probably in case any kids wander into that section. So," Lucy said awkwardly, drumming her fingers on her thigh, "have you ever been to one of these before? Is there something we should be doing?"

Dinah smiled, settling into a chair with another handful of peanuts; "I've been to plenty, most recently my best friend Rosa's last year. As old as I am, most of my Muggle friends have already gotten married."

"Oh, so now we're going to make cracks about your age?" Lucy teased, "Usually I'm the one being teased. Tonks didn't have one of these when she got married. With the threat of You—Voldemort hanging about and the anti-werewolf legislation at the time…it just wouldn't have been a good idea."

"Mm, I understand. Nice for saying the name, by the way," Dinah commended her friend; "Granted, I prefer to call him Tommy now."

Lucy nodded, "That makes sense. It's hard to reconcile the boy with the man though." She grabbed an apple off the table and took a few bites before asking, "Are you nervous? I think I'd be nervous. I…feel like I come off as more self-confident than I am. I'm getting better about that. Twenty-two year old Lucy was pretty cocky at times," she giggled a little before continuing her babbling, "Sometime you should ask Severus about the time in March, I think it was, that he came to Grimmauld Place late at night and discovered it wasn't just snogging Sirius was doing with me. We laughed because there wasn't really anything else to do. We were lucky he didn't wake the whole house yelling at us like that."

Dinah laughed; "I'll make a note to bring that up one of these days. I _am _a_ little_ nervous," she admitted; "Not about Severus, more about... is everything going to turn out the way it's supposed to and stuff. It's supposed to be such a small, simple wedding, but I'm still all worried about details. And it shouldn't really even be about the wedding so much as the marriage, but it's like... am I forgetting something, what if I trip and fall into the cake, what if my aunt does something... what if she goes overboard," Dinah nibbled nervously on a cauldron cake, her worries about that particular part getting stronger as the wedding approached.

"Well, if you fall into the cake I can fix that easily with a bit of magic. Aunt Mildred right? The one who steals? We'll just keep a close eye on her," Lucy offered, trying to calm her friend's nerves.

Dinah just giggled; "She doesn't steal. And yes, any extra eyes on her will help. Just a warning I might shove her on you and Sirius from time to time if she gets overbearing. She'll probably talk your ears off because you're engaged to be married."

"But I like my ears," Lucy said, feigning horror at the thought and clutching at the sides of her head.

Dinah burst out laughing. Yes, her friend was helping her to feel a little more relaxed now, and this was starting to feel a little like hen party indeed. "Oh, you know what I mean! About the drinks... maybe we could order some wine or something up from the kitchens. This _is _Hogwarts you know."

Joining in the laughter, Lucy nodded, "Right. Well, before I order something up why don't I go put these away and change into some pajamas?" she held up her edible knickers from earlier.

"Okay. Me too?" she asked. They had decided to treat this as a sleepover-ish hen party thing, and Dinah had brought her fuzzy purple Muggle pajamas along.

"Sure," Lucy said, looking pleased. "Or do you want to try your dress on first; make sure everything's all right? Oh! We can order up the wine and figure out what to do with your hair!"

"Fun! I had some ideas but it'll be good to see what you think of them." They proceeded to go about that and Dinah found that both she and Lucy were very pleased with the hairstyle she had chosen.

"So," Lucy said, after the wine had been ordered and they were both in their nightclothes sipping it, "what would you like to do now? This is my first hen party and you've been to many so I'll bow to your expertise."

"Ohh, I don't know," Dinah chirped, swirling the goblet of red liquid and considering the question. The fun wedding dress try-on and the wine were helping her to feel a little more loosened up. She grinned; "Generally at these things you act like giggly girls and talk about all your old flames and other men that you find attractive. Probably to distract you from the fact that you aren't having sex with your fiancé that night, really," she chuckled at the realization. Or at least that's how it felt to her right now, with a glass of wine in her.

Lucy snorted, "I can imagine. Well, I think you mentioned one serious boyfriend, Dylan. Tell me about him. Did you think he was…handsome?" her eyes glinted mischievously.

Dinah giggled, sipping some more wine; "Oh, he was most definitely handsome, although terribly generic I think now. So kind of average. How about Gawain and Nick? They looked pretty generic to me when I saw them. Though I guess Gawain has a rather illustrious job."

Lucy smirked and closed her eyes for a moment, "Nick hasn't aged well. He was actually quite good-looking back in the day. I was never…this seems so horrible to say, but I was never physically attracted to Gawain. I mean I don't think he's ugly, but he never managed to…hit the right spots so to speak. It was more his…air of authority I guess and we spent a lot of time together, had a number of things in common…I can't explain it really, maybe it was just the older man thing," she sighed, "I do like an older man."

"Oh, I've noticed," Dinah grinned, teasing her friend a little and making her blush. She giggled as a sudden thought came to her; "Okay, you know what? And this is probably going to horrify you knowing how you feel about the family, but... well, and of course I prefer Severus but when we went to visit the Malfoys I totally noticed Lucius is a pretty handsome man. I don't know, I guess I suddenly have a thing for elegant former Death Eaters with long hair. Which is odd when you consider that Dylan was _nothing _like that," she laughed.

"I will shock you completely by saying I've seen pictures of Lucius and, his personality aside, I too think he's handsome. Though it's more of a pretty-boy type of handsome I think. What I don't understand is why everyone thinks Gilderoy Lockhart is so attractive. I mean…" she paused, "Never mind."

"Oh no, I _totally _agree with you there!" Dinah waved her friend off to put her at ease; "Even before Severus told me all about him I'd read things here and there – he seemed like such a show-off. I mean, I wouldn't say he was ugly but when somebody has an attitude like that they definitely come off as unattractive in my opinion."

"Exactly," Lucy agreed, "Do you think it's wrong I find Remus attractive? I mean I love him as a friend and have no desire to…well, you know, but still. He's my oldest friend's husband."

"No harm in looking," Dinah grinned, and Lucy looked a little less worried; "I could totally look at Lucius. Granted, I do agree that he seems to overdo the pretty-boy thing a bit. Guess it has something to do with being brought-up rich. Oh!" she slammed her hands onto the coffee table; "You know what? I have the _best_ gossip! I don't know why I didn't get a chance to tell you this before!"

"What?" Lucy demanded, sitting up from where she had been reclining on the sofa and looking excited to hear the news.

"You know Astoria Greengrass, our little Draco Malfoy stalker?"

"Oh, yes. I've got an essay from her to grade. I'm sure she's used literary theory to compare our current novel to Draco somehow."

"Oh, but get this!" Dinah found that she couldn't stop grinning when she thought back on what she'd seen at the Malfoys' last weekend; "She was _there_." When Lucy's eyes widened but her friend did not speak, Dinah continued; "Yes, she was at the Malfoys'. It seems she's managed to hook him all on her own and now they help her sneak over there most weekends to spend time with Draco. She was there the whole time!"

"No!" Lucy gasped, "I suppose that's what I get for being gone on weekends myself. Don't know what the students are up to when I'm not around."

Dinah grinned; "Yeah, but there's no point in trying to punish her for it. Might as well just let the Malfoys do their thing and not try to piss them off in any way, you know? Besides, she seems to be really good for Draco and for the whole family. They seem to enjoy her company and she gives Draco some much-needed normalcy. They're actually very cute together."

"A bit like you and Severus I imagine," Lucy yawned, her grip on her wine-glass appearing to weaken.

"Aww," Dinah felt her face grow warm and glanced shyly at her wine goblet, thinking back on her childhood time with Severus and how Draco and Astoria had reminded her of it, and just how happy she was when together with her soon-to-be husband; "Thanks, Lucy. You really think we're cute? You mean as kids?"

"As both kids and adults really. I find most couples who actually love each other are cute. I find Aunt Molly and Uncle Arthur just adorable."

She smiled; "I agree. You and Sirius are adorable too. Well, except for those 'just come in' moments," she laughed.

Lucy blushed, "Thanks. I find those moments quite enjoyable as long as we don't have an audience that is."

"I'm sure it's good that you have those moments, don't get me wrong," Dinah finished off her wine; "I just don't need to see them. For instance, if I had told you to 'just come in' Monday night..." she trailed off, blushing as she placed her empty goblet firmly on the coffee table; "Well, I think that's enough wine for me. Two is usually my limit anyway."

Lucy giggled, "I think the not wanting to see thing goes both ways." She stood to carry the snacks and dishes to the dining table, "I'm on my third glass myself, but if I have one more I will pass out on you. I can promise you that…by pass out I just mean sleep, not that I'm going to lose consciousness because of my drunken stupor."

"No, I think I get it. Still," Dinah yawned, standing and helping carry some stuff; "I think sleep is good. I have to get up fairly early. Meeting Severus for breakfast and then we have to go hike out to meet my family off in the middle of nowhere..."

"Mmmm," Lucy nodded. "Do you need any pillows or blankets before I crawl into bed?"

"Lots of both! I need to cuddle something," Dinah admitted, looking forward to a cozy sleep, though with Severus would be better. But it was probably good to at least skip the night before their wedding night, make it a _little _special... she chuckled at the thought.

Lucy laughed, "All right, I'll be right back." She darted into her room and returned with a pile of pillows and blankets. "I hope you appreciate this," she teased, "I'm letting you use my Snuffles blanket." She held out the blanket Sirius had given her at Christmas at Grimmauld Place with Snuffles, Dora and Lucy's fox on it.

"Aw, thanks," Dinah smiled and hugged the blanket; "It's soft. And thanks for this party. It was very nice and very fun."

"You're welcome. Now get some sleep. You can't be all sleepy in your pictures tomorrow," Lucy ordered, heading into her room and leaving the door open a crack.

Dinah smiled and piled blankets and pillows on the couch, making a sort of cloud or cocoon which she inserted herself inside, grasping a pillow and wrapping the Snuffles blanket around her shoulders, falling asleep thinking of weddings.

* * *

_Aunt Mildred was circling Severus like a wolf with her prey. Actually, she was starting to turn _into_ a wolf – no, wait it was Lucy's friend Remus the werewolf, not Aunt Mildred! And Sirius was standing there egging Remus on and telling him to attack the Malfoys who had somehow ended up there even though they weren't supposed to be there... and Lucy was staring at Remus... just sort of_ staring_..._

_The wolf took off after Lucius who was wearing a pink frilly dress, and Sirius and Lucy followed after him, freeing Severus who instead was accosted by Rosa calling him cute and trying to feed him spaghetti-flavored Aero Mint which was _Dinah's_ job ... well, not the spaghetti part but how could her friend be so presumptuous?_

_Dinah had to stop this madness! She hurried towards Severus but was intercepted by a gigantic wedding cake which she summarily ran into, collapsing to the floor in a cocoon of cake that looked like it had spattergroit while the dog and fox forms of Lucy and Sirius climbed all over her and started lapping up the cake. Meanwhile, Aunt Mildred was telling her parents that Severus would need to be given tips for their wedding night while Cousin Larry snapped pictures of the mayhem._

_Then Luke and Uncle Winston came over and told Dinah that the wizard who was supposed to perform the ceremony was _missing,_ and Rosa was force-feeding Severus spaghetti and Dinah was stuck under this cake and bunch of animals which Dora the cat was now mysteriously a part of and ––_

CRASH!

She jolted awake in an instant, the cocoon of cake – no, blankets – falling from around her shoulders as she was greeted by the animals of concern – the dog and fox at least – chasing each other around Lucy's rooms. She tried to forget the horrible dream and focus on the cute animals but her heart was beating too fast for that. Besides, the cute animals were the ones who had caused half the mayhem in her dream.

It seemed the crash had resulted from the many dishes which had now fallen from the table, some broken on the floor. In a moment the two animals calmed down as Lucy paused and Snuffles stepped on her tail, leaning over to nuzzle her.

As Dinah watched, she finally started to relax a little and see them as cute again, but then started to feel self-conscious as apparently Sirius was here; "Good morning. Um... should I leave?"

Lucy giggled, as the pair of them transformed back, Sirius kneeling over her and her lying on her back in the middle of the room. "No, you're fine," Lucy assured.

"Sorry to wake you," Sirius apologized, shooting Dinah a grin, "I just love chasing her."

Lucy giggled some more, "I'll never understand why."

"Because I love catching you more," he admitted, kissing her forehead.

Dinah smiled. They really _were _cute.

She wanted her man.

Her man that she was supposed to be marrying today if only... "Oh, Lucy, I had the most horrible dream!" she moaned, clutching her head in her hands; "Everything was going wrong! I don't even know where to start, just... _everything_! I fell in the cake and you two were trying to eat it along with Dora, and Remus and the Malfoys were there – why were they there? Why was Lucius wearing a pink frilly dress? You don't think he's going to actually show up in one do you?"

Sirius laughed, shifting to a sitting position and pulling Lucy into his lap. "I would _love_ for Lucius Malfoy to show up wearing a frilly pink dress! That would make my day, but I highly doubt he'd wear pink at all, regardless if it was frilly or a dress."

"Everything's going to be fine Dinah," Lucy tried to reassure her, but her mind was just stuck on that awful dream. "Cakes I can fix and Dora isn't leaving these rooms. Remus I'm sure is at home with his pregnant wife where he belongs. Though I will admit we will try to eat your cake later."

"But even if you fix the cake it won't change the fact that I fell in it!" Dinah moaned; "Larry was taking pictures!"

"Um, well," Lucy was giving her a look like she thought she was mental, and Dinah started to feel embarrassed. But these were legitimate worries! "We can confiscate the film and destroy it," her friend offered.

"But everybody still saw it. They won't forget," she whimpered and wrapped a blanket around herself, burying her face in a pillow. That just couldn't happen today. It _couldn't_!

Through the muffling of the blankets and pillows, she could hear Sirius say; "We can _Obliviate_ them?"

"That's bad," was all she could respond with, remembering her history of _Obliviation_ and how the newspapers had attacked her for it.

"Well, Dinah," Lucy ventured, and Dinah felt her friend tapping her on the head, "I highly doubt you're going to trip and fall into the cake," Lucy assured her in a calm voice; "For one thing it's sitting in the cool box and not anywhere near the ceremony spot and for another you've been walking for many years now without much disaster I'd think. I'm sure you're quite good at it by now."

Dinah sighed. She had to calm down. It was just a dream, right? Just a stupid, horrible, ridiculous, awful, terrifying... "I want Severus," she mumbled into the pillow.

"I can go get him if you want," Lucy offered, "but I highly doubt he's going to be happy to see me this early in the morning. He can be quite the crabby-pants in the morning if I recall."

Dinah finally felt a smile form. She thought his crabby-pants-ness was adorable. Sighing again, she lifted her head just a little and turned to glance at Lucy's grinning face; "It was just a dream, right?"

Lucy giggled, "Yes, and I think we can all agree it's a good thing you didn't get scared out of your wits and jump into my bed. It's hardly big enough for two, let alone three."

She had to laugh, recalling the night that Lucy had done a similar thing, when she and Severus were still children; "Yes, and I can't change into an animal either." Sighing once more, she sat up; "Guess I should get dressed. Oh, and I'm hungry. Have you summoned breakfast yet? Sorry, that was a little demanding."

"That's okay," Lucy glanced at the broken dishes that littered the dining room floor; "Um, no, no breakfast yet. We should probably clean up our mess first. Why don't you go get dressed and we'll take care of this. Hopefully by the time you're done breakfast will be here."


	168. Flying

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTY-EIGHT

Flying

* * *

Dinah nodded, extracting herself the rest of the way from her cocoon and heading into Lucy's bedroom where her bag was. She had picked a simple, light and springy black dress to wear before she got all dressed up and to go meet her family. She slipped it on over her head, adjusted it, and pulled one side of her hair half-back in a silver barrette before putting on some simple makeup and her snake necklace from Christmas. Staring at her reflection, she was glad she at least felt pretty today. As long as she didn't run into any cakes, she'd be okay.

She took a deep breath and walked out to meet Lucy and Sirius who were settled down at a clean table to a breakfast of eggs, ham, corn muffins with jam, and fresh fruit. It looked delicious.

"You look nice," Lucy complimented.

"Thanks," Dinah flushed and sat at the table, draping her hair over her shoulder and running her hands through it as she stared at the food, suddenly filled with butterflies – but good ones; "I'm really getting married today?" It was half a statement and half a question. It seemed too strange and wonderful to be true.

"Yes," Lucy teased, "but then you knew that was going to happen when you agreed to this, right? Then again maybe you planned on being engaged forever like me."

"Hey, we could have been married that weekend," Sirius protested, "You're the one that wanted to set a date."

Dinah smiled, spooning some fruit onto her plate and forking a strawberry before popping it into her mouth; "It's kind of funny, that Severus and I will be married before you two. Not that it's bad or anything. You both have a much bigger wedding to plan, and no I didn't really want a long engagement. My advice, though, is to start planning now. See how much I'm panicking over just a small one?"

Lucy grabbed some melon and eggs for herself before responding, "Well, I think our shopping trip went a long way to starting the planning. We do have a guest list and the invitations are mostly done up. Oh, have you asked Severus about the flowers yet? I'm sure you've had other things on your mind, I just wondered."

"Mm," Dinah shook her head, now munching on her jam-slathered muffin; "But I'll ask him right away when I get back to the dungeons." She felt a lopsided grin form; "Guess I have to show him our gift, too."

"Oh, definitely," Lucy agreed, nodding.

"What gift?" Sirius asked.

"Just never you mind," Lucy grinned at her fiancé, "You're probably better off not knowing about it anyway."

Dinah hurried to finish her meal, the butterflies in her stomach fluttering faster and slower, up and down like a Muggle roller-coaster... or perhaps Severus would prefer a broom-riding metaphor. When she finished she wiped her mouth on her napkin and stood; "Thanks, but I'd better get going. If you want to meet Rosa and my family I think I'll get them here by about eleven. The ceremony starts right after lunch as you know."

"You're welcome," Lucy started to stand up from the tables but was snagged back down by Sirius who began planting her face all over with kisses.

"You're not going far, thief," he snarled.

Dinah wondered what he meant by thief, but she was too anxious to go back to the one who would snarl at and kiss only her. Hen parties were nice and all, but she was ready to return to the man she was going to spend her life with and get that life started. "See you both later," she gave a wave and flicked her wand to cause her bags to follow her, heading for the door.

The closer she got to the dungeons the more her pace quickened, and then she arrived. "Severus!" The man in question was already sitting on the couch skimming the _Daily Prophet_. How he could go about his business so calmly she had no idea.

To his credit, he stood up immediately upon hearing her voice, stepping forward to meet her as she threw her arms around him. The words he murmured in her ear did not match his calm exterior; "Dinah. I hope you enjoyed your hen party because I do not intend to spend another night without you for at least a year."

"Sev," she murmured, pressing herself against him, reveling in the feeling of his arms wrapped tightly around her waist; "Can you believe we're here now? Finally like this after everything we've gone through?"

"Mm," he agreed, the silkiness of his hair brushing her cheek as he continued to whisper in her ear; "I'm sorry. For everything we had to go through."

"I'm sorry, too," she admitted, tears suddenly stinging her eyes as she pulled away to look at him, remembering all of their struggles.

The solemnity of his expression gave way to a slight, hopeful smile as his hand stroked her cheek; "But that's over with."

"It is," she leaned forward to kiss him, reveling this time in the softness of his lips, the brief caress of their tongues against each other before they drew away. "Well," she wiped at her eyes a little and smiled; "I guess we should get ready. Oh! Look at this," she whisked out the box from Lucy and opened the lid to show him, grinning and finding that she felt a lot better now that she was with him again; "Lucy bought us a pair of edible knickers."

Severus raised an eyebrow at the bright green 'clothing' item before him; "I see. Well, that's not entirely surprising," he took the box from her and lifted it a little, leaning over to meet it halfway and give it a light sniff with his long nose. He frowned in consideration and then his tongue slipped out to briefly taste it. He lifted his gaze to her; "Apple?"

Squirming a little, Dinah shook her head and corrected him; "_Kiwi_."

"Ah," he gave her a smirking smile; "Well, I'm sorry. We do not all have as refined taste buds as yours."

She chuckled; "Apparently not."

"Well, perhaps they shall taste better when they go to their proper use. Soon," he gave her a teasing smirk and placed the lid back on the box, handing it to her again; "Meantime, we should probably start this ridiculous hike to greet your family members."

"Yes..." she chewed on her lip.

"Something wrong with that?"

"Not really. I just had a horrible dream last night. Everything was going wrong. I fell in the cake."

"You _fell _in the cake," he repeated.

"Yes, and the Malfoys were there."

"That's not going to happen."

"They were there in the dream. And Lucius was wearing a frilly pink dress."

"I... see..." he was giving her a look that suggested he thought she was mental. Well, she found she was starting to get used to those looks today; "I am afraid I'll never understand the dreams you have. Though I suppose I should be glad that _I _wasn't the one wearing the dress."

Dinah giggled, not sure what had made him say that but finding the very idea and image hilarious; "Why would _you _be the one wearing the dress?"  
He winced; "Oh, I probably shouldn't have brought that up."

"Oh, now you've really got my interest," she raised both eyebrows, silently urging him to go on. This sounded intriguing.

Severus groaned; "If you must know, ask Neville Longbottom. Or Remus Lupin. It was his infernal idea."

"What was? I'm not going to stop bugging you until you tell me, so you might as well out with it."

Her fiancé sighed, rubbing his forehead; "Fine. He was teaching the third year students how to use the _Riddikulus_ charm on boggarts and apparently I was Longbottom's."

"His boggart? Oh, honestly, Severus, why must you terrify that poor boy so much?" If Severus really _was _Neville Longbottom's boggart it meant that he was the most frightening thing in the world to the boy. Though why she couldn't imagine, even if he _was _strict in class.

"I have every right to terrify Longbottom as much as I wish," Severus scowled; "Especially as it seems the only thing he could think of to make me humorous was to imagine me in his grandmother's dress, hat, and stole. Infernal students were laughing about it for months..." he growled at the thought.

Dinah, on the other hand, couldn't help but laugh; "I'm sorry!" she choked out when he shot her a death glare. "I'm laughing _with _you, not at you. You know that," she kissed his cheek; "Besides, I'm sure you look very pretty in a dress."

"Shall I kill you before or after the wedding?"

"Oh after, please, I'd like to be able to eat Lucy's cake first."

"All you _ever_ think about is food," he hissed into her ear, wrapping an arm around her waist with a tight grip; "Shall we go?" he murmured in her ear, his tongue tracing the edge and his voice low and sensuous, accentuating every word.

"What are you trying to do?"

"I confess I don't know. You look quite beautiful today."

"No time..." she was afraid her voice came out in a bit of a whimper as she shifted around.

"All right. Fine," he let go of her waist and took her hand instead, leading her out of their dungeon home. As they walked through the halls hand-in-hand the students eyed them in passing, probably staring because Dinah was wearing a Muggle dress and because they had cancelled their classes today but were still out and about. She found she felt a great sense of satisfaction that they had _no idea _what was going on today.

"What are you smiling about?" Severus demanded after sneering at a bunch of second years and sending them scrambling away.

"We have a secret," she squeezed his hand as they made it onto the grounds and he managed a slight smile even around the students; "By the way, Lucy wants to put dogwood and foxglove in her wedding bouquet."

"That seems unwise," Severus raised an eyebrow; "I was unaware that your friend enjoyed risking her life just to be witty."

"That's why we were hoping you might know of a way to detoxify the plant; you know, through all of your potions expertise," she smiled as they made it to the Hogwarts gates and stepped outside.

He sighed; "Yes, ruin a perfectly good poison ingredient for a wedding bouquet."

"I hardly think detoxifying one plant is going to harm the poison industry, love," she teased; "I take it there is a way then?"

"Perhaps. We'll discuss it later. Now we have to find our illustrious wedding guests," he looked out at the country road that stretched through the green grass and full-leafed trees surrounding Hogwarts. Dinah thought it was a perfectly beautiful day for their wedding. The air was clean and the wind was just enough so that the grass and trees rippled and shook with each gust, but it was not strong enough to mess up her hair or anything. But Severus was frowning; "Flying would have been faster."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't even think to bring brooms," she apologized.

"_Where _are we supposed to meet them again?"

"Oh, well I figured out where the nearest Muggle road was. Here, I'll show you," she withdrew the paper she had stuffed in her dress pocket from her bag this morning, and which she had printed off yesterday evening before going to Lucy's; "I printed this map online. See?" she pointed, "I marked where Hogwarts is supposed to be and-"

"On pasty-white Muggle paper," Severus snatched it and crumpled it up, stuffing it in his robe pocket; "We do not need this."

"Hey! We _do _need that, it's my only map!" she protested, reaching for his pocket.

He moved his hands to shove hers away, and then very suddenly and unexpectedly grasped her around the waist, pulling her to him so tightly she could not escape and then they were flying straight upwards, off the ground and into the air.

"Severus!" she shrieked, her heart leaping into her chest and her arms frantically grasping him around the neck as they soared above the trees and stopped, staring down at the world from a vantage point high enough to see the terrain for miles around; "What are you doing? Are you mad? The ground! So far!" she was starting to feel a little light-headed.

"I won't let you fall."

"I know. I mean, I trust you, it's just... so _high_. Everything," she gulped, staring down at the tiny trees; "so small."

"You _have _ridden a _broom _before, have you not?"

"Yes, but – my feet ,just dangling like this," her eyes drifted where her feet floated next to Severus's over the distant ground, and suddenly worried that her shoes might fall off or something. "With a broom there's some sort of support... sorry, I know it's unreasonable, but..." her feet scrambled to find footholds on top of his and she tightened her grip around his neck."

"Dinah, if you strangle me I can no longer guarantee your safety."

"Umm, I'm sorry," she murmured, loosening her grip just long enough to shift to his shoulders, her hands clutching at his outer robes; "Why are we doing this again?"

"From here we can watch for infernal Muggle vehicles without the use of a map."

"All this effort just to avoid my 'pasty-white Muggle paper'," she mumbled, gulping again and trying to relax as she looked around at the roads that stretched for miles, but did not see anything. The wind rustled in the trees and the longer she stood up here with him the more relaxed she began to feel. The world was at their feet. Yes, she had ridden a broom before but somehow up here flying with Severus just made everything more amazing; "It's really beautiful up here," she commented.

"Mm," he agreed.

"Can we see... Hogwarts?" she started to turn her head, but the movement made her feel unstable again and she gasped, squeezing her eyes shut and clutching Severus for dear life, making sure she stayed around his shoulders and not his neck this time, though.

"We can turn, you know," he said, tilting his head so he could murmur into her hair, his arms still firmly locked in place around her waist and keeping her from falling; "You have only to ask."

She opened her eyes as she felt them turning around, and then gasped when she saw what lie before her. They were flying just outside the gates, and the hills and valleys and rocks and roads of the green, green grounds surrounded the towering castle with turrets rising up in a thousand places, the ancient architecture breathtaking and sparkling in the sunlight. The lake glittered before them and the Quidditch pitch, undecorated, soared over a clearing far away. She could see most of the Forbidden Forest and all the way to Hogsmeade and beyond. "Oh, Severus!" she breathed; "You should do this more often!"

"Perhaps," he chuckled; "I enjoy it more with you here."

She sighed, content, but then frowned with concern as they spun back around to face the roads again; "Aren't I getting heavy by now?"

"A bit," he admitted, and she realized he was lucky she was not the type of girl who expected him to lie about such a question, because otherwise he would be in way over his head; "But I am extending the flight magic to you, so that helps."

His words sparked a question inside of her, and the prospect was thrilling but almost unbelievable; "Severus?"

"Yes?"

"Can you... teach me?" she whispered.

Her fiancé regarded her with pleasant interest and he nodded; "Yes, I believe that given time and quite a bit of practice you could learn. You are a talented witch."

She smiled and nestled her head into his shoulder, watching the roads for her parents' and Rosa and Luke's vehicles, imagining the distant day where she and Severus could fly, broomless, across the skies together, her by her own power.

"I see nothing yet," Severus said after awhile; "You are certain you gave them proper directions?"

"They'll show up soon. Besides, I just love this so much, flying with you. I could stay up here forever."

"Really?" he teased, squeezing her waist; "Without food?"

"We can levitate fruits from the trees," she laughed. "Severus you are _so _amazing. I can't believe you can do this."

He smirked; "Well, its seems that after all these years my old wish has finally come true." At her questioning look he continued; "There is a woman who admires me for my strong magical ability and powers."

She smiled; "I guess it has come true then, because I do. You know," her eyes widened as it occurred to her; "now that the headmaster, Grindelwald, and Tommy have passed on you are probably the singularly most powerful wizard on the planet."

"I wouldn't go that far."

"I would," she whispered, kissing his cheek.

Severus blinked, his eyes landing on her and reflecting that youthful awe she had seen so often when he was a child; "This is... real?" he murmured in question.

Dinah felt her own gaze soften, nodding; "It's real." His lips landed on hers and she let her arms shift to more easily lean into the kiss, trusting with all her heart that he wouldn't let her fall. This was more magical than anything she'd yet experienced in the wizarding world... this kissing in the sky. It was ridiculously romantic. She was starting to think maybe they should get married up here.

Dinah noticed a flash of blue somewhere below them and Severus broke the kiss to turn and look; "Ah, an infernal Muggle vehicle," he stated.

"Oh," she turned, nodding; "That's Rosa and Luke. Just them I think. Which is good because if Aunt Mildred saw us flying we'd never hear the end of it. But Rosa and Luke should enjoy it. Go land over there," she pointed to where they stopped, the dead end road she had located on her map.

"Yes, dear," Severus rolled his eyes and Dinah flushed with pleasure at his first-time use of a sarcastic term of endearment. They were going to have so much fun being married, she was sure. Although she still trusted him, her hands decided they wanted to cling to his robes again when they started moving, floating forward and downward towards the blue car.

The bugged-out eyes of Rosa and Luke were especially satisfying to Dinah as they landed in front of her two friends who had been wandering around the dead-end road and staring at a printed map until they spotted them.

"Dinah!" Rosa shrieked; "You can fly!"

"No, but Severus can," Dinah admitted, blushing and extracting herself from her soon-to-be-husband's arms when they landed comfortably on the soft ground; "Well, I can fly with a broom but not on my own like that."

"Still, you can-" Rosa stopped talking rather abruptly when her eyes landed on Severus, and it seemed that her eyes were physically capable of bugging out even more, which Dinah would not have believed if she wasn't staring at it. Severus, for his part, was glaring at the car in a way in which he hadn't glared at any Muggle objects in quite some time, Dinah was sure. She had no idea why. It did, however, serve to put him near his most intimidating. "S-Severus?"

"Yes. Hello again," Severus muttered, finally turning to regard Dinah's two friends. Even Luke looked a little uneasy.

"Uh, h- hell- hello, I ... I think. My, you are certainly," Rosa's wide eyes stared up at him; "Um, changed..."

"Indeed?" he raised an eyebrow and Dinah could swear her friend backed up about a foot. Well, at least Dinah's dreams were seeming more distant. She couldn't imagine this terrified Rosa force-feeding Severus spaghetti-flavored chocolate. She kind of hoped she'd be able to call him cute again eventually, though.

"Well, yes, or I mean no offense of course," she murmured, nodding, still staring.

"Rosa, stop," Luke walked up, offering his hand to Severus; "You _have _changed but I'm sure you're still the same... well, congratulations."

"Thank you," Severus shook Luke's offered hand briefly.

"Oh, I'm sorry that's so rude!" Rosa flushed, lifting a trembling hand towards Severus, lowering it about halfway as he watched with interest, and then raising it again.

"I'm not going to curse you, you know," he rolled his eyes as he grasped her hand.

"Ah, well, no you never cursed at us before," Rosa agreed sheepishly, and then flushed again and dropped her hand, stepping back once more as Severus offered her an annoyed look.

"Not cursing _at _you," Dinah explained when it seemed he wasn't going to. "He meant actual curses. You know, magic spells?"

"Oh, yes, I suppose you can do that too," Rosa agreed, looking a little nervous at the thought.

"He said he's_ not _going to, Rosa," Dinah assured her friend, laughing.

"Right," she turned to Dinah, looking like she was at least trying to relax now; "So your parents left a little after us, but they should be here soon. You know your Aunt... had to get one more thing at the last minute. I'd swear you'd think she was staying the night the sheer amount of stuff she put in her bag."

Dinah sighed, nodding; "I know."

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Luke asked.

"Yes," Rosa agreed; "The map we printed says there's nothing here." Severus snorted at that and she flinched a little, moving to Dinah's other side, almost hiding.

"You know you might want to cool it with the whole scary act," Dinah raised her own eyebrow at her fiancé.

"Hmph," he muttered, but nodded; "I'm sorry. But _that_," he gestured with unhidden malice at the car, which had been parked in Rosa and Luke's garage the two times they had visited, making this his first time seeing it; "resembles the flying vehicle in question from Potter's second year."

"Oh, I see," she chuckled, and then smiled when she saw another, white car climbing up the nearby hill.

Her chuckle turned quickly to apprehension though when before the car had even come to a full stop a back door flew open and a grey-haired individual in a blue dress burst out of it like an explosion, flying towards them with a shriek of "DINAH!"

Dinah's brain had literally no processing time. She was flung backwards with her Aunt's enthusiasm, left wondering how she had managed not to tumble to the ground with the force of the hug; "Aunt Mildred," was all she could manage.

"They wouldn't let me see or call you! Do you have any _idea _how long I've waited to personally congratulate you on your wedding? You're getting married! Finally! It's a miracle!" Aunt Mildred finally released her as she spoke, her face flushed with pleasure and blissfully unaware of the fact that her words might be interpreted by some as sort of insulting. Dinah was used to her aunt, though, so she let it slide. She managed a brief wave at her parents, uncle, and cousin who were climbing out of the car shooting her apologetic looks.

"And _this_," Aunt Mildred's gaze shifted and Dinah's mind _really _started panicking. "Well!" was the first word that came out of her aunt's mouth as she looked Severus up and down, finally resting on his completely unreadable gaze; "This _must _be, mustn't it?"

"Aunt Mildred, this is Severus. Severus, Aunt Mildred," Dinah murmured the introduction.

Severus, amiable enough for him, opened his mouth to say something but was cut off.

"My, my, my," to Dinah's chagrin, Aunt Mildred began circling Severus like in the dream, looking him up and down and nodding to herself; "Well, well. Well, well, well, well, well, well, well. He is quite striking, isn't he?" Dinah was starting to think that everybody called him that, though she supposed he _was _striking.

"Ma'am," Severus managed a grunt of introduction, eyeing her suspiciously as she continued to circle him, starting to look uncomfortable.

"Hmm, yes," Aunt Mildred nodded; "Just as you said. Tall, dark, and handsome, but in an _unconventional _sort of way. Yes, yes."

"Dinah..." Severus's patience was clearly wearing thin as he turned to her, silently demanding she put a stop to this.

Dinah just offered him a sheepish grin and shrug. He was going to have to learn eventually what little control she had over her aunt, and now was as good a time as any. Probably the best time, if he was able to get the worst of it over with now. Besides, at least Aunt Mildred wasn't turning into a werewolf... yet.

"Oh yes, he'll do," Aunt Mildred continued her circling, tilting her head every which way to get a good look at Severus, sizing him up like a piece of meat; "He'll do indeed," she patted his arm; "Seems strong enough. Very tall. Quite capable, quite capable!"

"Dinah..." Severus snarled, his look now smoldering with fury as he turned to her, teeth gritted, and though he did not say it she could hear his thoughts as clearly as if he was projecting Legilimency into her. They were saying 'She's _touching_ me!'

But Dinah's fear was all gone and instead she couldn't help bursting into giggles, covering her mouth to muffle them until she was strong enough to mouth an 'I'm sorry' to Severus. This was just too funny, and at least he _finally _understood why he needed to be nervous around her aunt.

"Oh, my we do look grouchy, don't we?" Aunt Mildred clucked, stopping in front of Severus and regarding his face. A face which now held such a snarl that Rosa was hiding on Dinah's other side again and even her parents looked a bit nervous. Aunt Mildred, however, was one-hundred percent immune, and that seemed to infuriate Severus even more. And then her aunt did the unthinkable. She reached up to pat his cheek; "Buck up! It's your wedding day! Look more cheerful!"

Dinah bit her lip to keep from bursting into laughter as the color drained from Severus's face. She could swear his eyes flashed red as his hands curled into fists at his sides, while Aunt Mildred continued to simply smile at him.

And then the old woman's long-suffering brother came to the rescue, grasping Aunt Mildred's arm and whisking her away; "Now, Mildred, that's enough," he handed her off to Uncle Winston.

"Thank you," Severus managed, looking at Dinah's father as though he was the angel of mercy.

"It's the least I could do," Ed smiled slightly, extending his hand to Severus; "Try growing up with her."

"I can't imagine," Severus admitted, shaking Dinah's father's hand and then his eyes widened in surprise when he was hugged by him and Dahlia hurried over to do the same. They were both brief and casual about it, though, and Severus had been hugged by Dinah's mother before, so he managed to endure.

"Congratulations," Dahlia smiled; "Oh, you must meet Winston and Larry." She pulled Dinah's uncle and cousin over for introductions, and Severus handled those ones very well, too.

"Shall we go?" Dinah asked, sliding her arm into Severus's after she had hugged her mother, father, uncle, and cousin hello.

"Oh, my, you two are so adorable together!" Aunt Mildred rushed forward and Dinah had to wince as Severus dug his fingers into her arm, taking three huge steps back before Aunt Mildred bowled them both over with a hug.

"Dinah!" he snarled, begging her for mercy yet again.

This time she was in the position to do something, though, and she carefully pried her aunt off of them; "Aunt Mildred. Would you like to lead the way to Hogwarts? It is just up this path a bit and I know how you have just _always _wanted to see the place."

Puffing with pleasure, Aunt Mildred nodded; "I would just _love_ to, dear. But whatever shall we do with our cars?"

Dinah flicked her wand and cast a light concealment charm on the vehicles, making them disappear.

"Oh, my goodness, I always forget you can do those things!" her aunt clapped her hands together. "Well, then we're off!" she took off marching up the path.

"Your aunt," was all Severus snarled at Dinah as they followed the determined woman's lead.

She bit her lip to keep from giggling again and nodded; "I told you that you had to endure it to believe it."

"If she had seen us flying-!" he left the sentence hanging, his face a mask of horror such that not even his old master might have elicited.

"Yes, yes, you finally grasp the gravity of the situation."

"And you had nearly forgotten to warn me," he growled at her; "Had Rosa not shown up first..."

"I would have remembered as soon as I saw my parents' vehicle, believe me, and they couldn't see us from that distance. Relax," she stroked his arm; "the worst is over, I'm sure of it. Or at least..." she frowned; "I hope."

He sighed, grumbling a bit as they continued to follow Aunt Mildred along with the rest of the group.


	169. Bonded

A/N: Well, this is a very long chapter XD

* * *

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTY-NINE

Bonded

* * *

"Oh, now I'm afraid I've gone and gotten us lost!" Aunt Mildred bemoaned, stopping at the Hogwarts gates and pointing to nothing in particular; "The sign here says 'Danger. Do not enter. Unsafe.' Those old ruins up ahead look terribly unstable."

Dinah chuckled as Severus rolled his eyes and muttered something about Muggles. She ignored him, instead taking her aunt's arm and guiding the old woman through the gates, gesturing for the rest of her family and her two friends to follow.

She and Severus were surrounded by a chorus of gasps, and Dinah was pleased to see more bugged-out eyes as their little wedding group took in the sight of Hogwarts Castle and the grounds before them. Never in her life had she dreamt that she could someday show her family and her best friends this beautiful place, but thanks to Minerva's generosity here they were, the concealment charm lifted from the castle just for this one day and this one select group of people. She felt a strong sense of pleasure and satisfaction.

"Now, we can't be seen by the students, so from this point forward I'm going to cast another concealment charm around our group and Severus will cast some other protective enchantments. Please be patient," she grinned as no one spoke, just kept staring; "Well, I don't think that will be a problem." They went about casting the charms.

"Dinah, it's beautiful," Dahlia managed to speak first when they were nearly done setting up protection; "This is the place where you went to school? Where you grew up? Where you've been teaching? Where you and Severus met?"

"Yes to all of it, Mum," Dinah smiled, tucking her wand away; "I told you it was the most beautiful place in the world."

"I can't believe it," Rosa murmured; "Oh, Dinah, working here must be a dream! It's like something out of a fairy tale!"

"I know," she smiled, taking Severus's arm again as he came back over to them, finished with his own spell-casting; "It was so much to take in as a sixteen-year-old; it must be even more so for eleven-year-old Muggle-borns. There are so many things I could show you, but we should go to the spot where the ceremony will be held. We have to get things set up. The wizard we hired to perform the ceremony should arrive around twelve-thirty so we've still got about forty-five minutes." She turned, walking with Severus and leading their group to the spot they had chosen, a grassy area surrounded by trees about halfway between the school and the lake, on a gently sloping hill.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Aunt Mildred gushed; "Is there a significance to this spot?"

Dinah blushed, meeting Severus's slight smile as she thought about everything that had happened to them. "Well... we used to walk around here a lot during the youthening. Over there by the castle wall we sat down and talked many times. Severus found out I was a parselmouth and accepted me for it over there," she continued pointing in a circle around them; "We used to talk by the lake quite often over there. We fought off some dementors over there," she blushed and let her finger slide silently past the second spot near the lake where they had been intimate for the first time; "I fulfilled my prophecy over there, we were returned to our adult forms over there..." she stopped and spread her arms wide; "And in this general area Severus first told me that he loved me."

Her blushed deepened as her spread arms were suddenly pinned back to her sides and Severus wrapped his own arms around her waist from behind, pressing his lips into her hair; "I love you."

"Oh, Severus," she felt her heart catch in her throat as she closed her eyes and leaned into him. She could already tell this wedding was going to be perfect. Her awful dream this morning was growing more and more distant. She opened her eyes and flushed out at her smiling guests; "Well, actually he told me a little more over there," she pointed, "but it's close."

She felt Severus inhale sharply and pull them back before she realized Aunt Mildred was launching herself towards them again. But luckily her aunt stopped before she made it and pointed instead at something behind them; "Oh my, how sweet. Who are those lovebirds?"

Severus's arms gently released her and they both turned. Dinah was about to tell her aunt not to acknowledge the students' presence too much when she realized it was not students but rather Lucy and Sirius, the latter carrying the former in his arms as they approached. She smiled and waved.

Lucy waved back, and when they finally made it over Sirius placed her down on the ground where her high heels sunk a little into the soft earth. Dinah chuckled and pointed; "I didn't think about that."

Severus flicked his wand and the ground hardened, pushing Lucy up a little bit; "Think about using magic first," he muttered, tucking his wand away again.

Dinah stomped a little on the ground under her own feet, which was also a bit firmer, and locked her arms around Severus's waist; "That's what we have you for, my darling." That managed to bring a slight smile to his face.

Lucy smiled, "I could have done that myself, you know? You didn't give me a chance."

"Yes, well," Severus smirked; "I assumed you had not thought about it given your choice on method by which to come down here."

"Yes, well," Lucy blushed.

And you'd give your girl a chance to think that up when you could hold her close to you instead?" Sirius retorted.

Severus flushed in annoyance and glared at his former nemesis, an unnerving flashback to the days when the two hated each other. Nervously, Dinah stepped in-between them; "Now, now. Severus holds me close to him plenty, don't you, love?" she tilted her head towards Severus with a warning look; "We just don't all come up with the same ideas off the top of our heads all the time."

Her fiancé sighed, his face relaxing; "I'm sorry. Perhaps this wedding is starting to unnerve me as well, though I did not dream of Lucius Malfoy in a frilly dress." He regarded Sirius; "You can carry her here as much as you want. I was simply trying to help. After all, Dinah's shoes are also... of that sort," he flushed a little and Dinah wondered if he was thinking about Monday at all, and what said shoes had started up between them.

Lucy grinned and leaned over towards Dinah, "Seriously, what is it with guys and shoes? Feet are not sexy."

Dinah had to laugh, shaking her head; "I don't know. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's mystified about that. Oh! I'm sorry, I need to introduce you to my family and friends," she turned back to the rest of the group, half of which were still staring around at the scenery, but Aunt Mildred was looking quite impatient for an introduction. "Everyone, this is Lucy Ketteridge and Sirius Black. Lucy's our colleague. She teaches the literature class here at Hogwarts. She and Sirius are engaged to be married," her gaze landed knowingly on Aunt Mildred.

"Oh, my goodness, really?" her aunt gushed, rushing forward to accost the pair; "How perfectly lovely! Do tell me all about it! When is the wedding? Where are you holding it? Do you have a dress yet? Oh you really must share _all _the details with me; my own family never tells me anything!"

"Uh, Lucy, Sirius, this is my Aunt Mildred," Dinah threw in the introduction a little late while Severus scowled at his newest nemesis.

"Um," Lucy giggled a little nervously, "hi. There's really not much to tell. We've only just—"

"Only just gotten engaged! How wonderful! You must tell me all about it. How did he do it? Where did he do it?"

Lucy blushed and Dinah was fairly certain the how and where were related to a 'just come in' moment or 'clothes organization' depending upon which of their favorite metaphors she wanted to use.

"Only just started planning," Sirius gruffly finished the sentence Lucy had begun before Aunt Mildred interrupted her.

But Dinah's aunt ignored Sirius and instead grabbed Lucy's hand to inspect her ring; "Oh, my. It's lovely but so very untraditional. I'd much prefer diamonds – ack!" she turned her appalled gaze to Dinah and dove at her, grabbing her hand to inspect her ring; "I forgot to look at my niece's! Oh, much more traditional. Just lovely. Severus, you make wonderful choices."

Severus just glared and barely nodded, apparently not ready to speak to Aunt Mildred just yet, when Uncle Winston took charge and grasped his wife's arm. "Now, now, dear, I'm sure Dinah would like to introduce her friends to the rest of us before the wedding begins."

"Ah, I suppose so," she let her hand fall from Dinah's.

Dinah sighed, mouthing a 'sorry' at Lucy and Sirius as Uncle Winston pulled Aunt Mildred away, allowing them all some breathing space.

Lucy smiled and Dinah was glad she was taking it so well and seemed to understand at least a little bit Aunt Mildred's eccentricities.

Sirius, on the other hand, looked uncertain and whispered; "You can have diamonds if you want," in Lucy's ear.

Her friend leaned into her fiancé and patted his arm to reassure him, "I got what I want."

Dinah smiled. They were cute and it was nice to know Sirius wasn't as perfectly confident about everything as he seemed on the outside. She hid a chuckle when she noticed that Severus seemed particularly pleased about that, too. To his credit, though, the expression quickly left his face as Dinah turned and gestured for her parents to come forward; "These are my Mum and Dad, Dahlia and Edward Samson. Mum, Dad, Lucy and Sirius."

"Very pleased to meet you and congratulations on your upcoming wedding," Dinah's mother offered Lucy her hand and a warm smile.

"Yes, it is good to meet some of Dinah's friends and colleagues from the other world," her father offered, smiling at Lucy and extending his hand towards Sirius; "Oh, and please forgive my sister," he cocked his head toward Aunt Mildred who had now accosted Rosa and Luke and was demanding how life as newlyweds had been going for them; "She can be... a handful."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Samson, Mrs. Samson," Lucy said very politely; "Don't worry about your sister. I'm used to dealing with my aunt. She's not quite so…" she seemed to hesitate before commenting and Dinah joined in her parents' knowing smiles as her mother and father exchanged quick glances; "that," Lucy finally settled on, "but she does love to fuss over people and it can get a bit overwhelming."

"You should be proud of your daughter, Mr. Samson," Sirius said, shaking Ed's offered hand, "She takes care of my Lucy when I can't." He pecked Lucy on the cheek, causing her to blush as they switched and shook hands with the other parent.

Dinah was sure she looked shocked. Yes, she knew that they got along much better now but she had not expected Sirius to compliment her like that. The look on Severus's face next to her showed that he felt the same. If she didn't know any better, her fiancé actually shot Sirius a very brief, _guilty _look, as though he was sorry for almost growling at him earlier, and she had to smile.

Her parents were also smiling; "We are very proud of her," Ed agreed as Dahlia nodded; "Dinah has always had such a commitment to helping others, especially those people she considers close friends." As Dinah smiled shyly at the group and grasped Severus's arm, Ed waved Uncle Winston and Larry over. "This is my brother-in-law, Dinah's Uncle Winston, who has taken on a sacrifice worthy of infinite praise in marrying Mildred."

Uncle Winston, always calm and ever the opposite of his overbearing wife, just shot his brother-in-law his normal amused smile and extended his hand first to Lucy since she was closest; "Pleased to meet you."

Lucy shook his hand, "You as well. I'm sure Dinah's only my friend because I've forced myself on her. This is my first year teaching too," she teased.

"That's ridiculous," Dinah insisted, knowing that Lucy was at least half-joking but wanting to make sure she thoroughly denied the inane notion nonetheless.

"Oh, I know," Lucy grinned, "Besides if that were the case I think Severus would have been able to successfully kick me out of his rooms a long time ago."

Dinah just chuckled, glad Aunt Mildred had not been listening, and gestured to Larry; "My cousin, Larry."

Sirius nodded, and made to shake another hand, "Larry."

Dinah was shocked when Lucy broke out of her nervous politeness to hug her cousin, a broad grin on her face; "It's nice to meet Dinah's family. She tells me she beats you on that Nine Ten Do thing of hers all the time."

Severus growled a little at the mention but Larry grinned at Lucy; "Yes, _always_. But," he turned to Dinah; "I've been practicing. Just got that new racing game and I'm pretty sure I can beat you on it, especially since you _must _be out of practice by now."

"Oh, really?" Dinah challenged, raising an eyebrow at her long-time rival, practically a brother to her. It struck her how like a couple of kids they could be with video games.

"You'd better be out of practice. Did you bring your stuff with you here? I think you did. If you weren't getting married and rushing off to a little love nest tonight I'd challenge you right here and now."

Severus's growl got louder and Dinah laughed; "We'll have to take a rain check on that. And by the way, Severus hates hates hates _HATES _anything Muggle," she added when Larry was eyeing her fiancé nervously; "So we'll just have to be a little more cautious and discreet from now on."

"Oh! Maybe I could join you two sometime," Lucy said, also a victim of childlike excitement; "I'm really not very good though."

"Well, then that's somebody for me to beat," Larry joked; "Oh, and Dinah says you two are taking wizard photos? I would _love _to see a wizard camera. I dabble in photography from time to time myself and I'm taking the Muggle photos today."

"Of course!" Lucy beamed, turning to dig into Sirius's robes and pulling out a camera, blushing as Sirius chastised her for where she had been grabbing at. Blushing, Lucy giggled and handed the camera to Larry.

"Oh, I see... wow, quite old-fashioned. But it looks fairly normal from the outside..." Larry turned the camera over in his hands.

"Be careful with it," Severus growled out the order, causing Larry to shrink back a little and nod.

Dinah sighed and rolled her eyes. It seemed her fiancé just didn't trust any Muggle to touch wizard things without causing them some kind of harm. She took his arm; "Come on, Sev, we'll let Larry be for now – I promise he won't hurt anything – and we can go and introduce Lucy and Sirius to Rosa and Luke next," she pulled him along with her and gestured for their two friends to follow.

"Dinah?" Lucy hurried forward to whisper in Dinah's ear, "Did you just say what I think you said?"

Dinah flushed, "I call him Sev on occasion, yes. He doesn't mind. It's just quick and casual sometimes."

"Yes, and I do not find it disagreeable in any way," Severus admitted, wrapping his arms around her neck from behind. "Besides," he whispered in her ear, "I think it's good that we made all that clear before getting married. I wouldn't want you thinking I had issue with it when I quite obviously don't."

"Mm," she agreed, leaning into him; "Though I'm sure I would've assumed it was fine. My Sev," she smiled.

"Only your Sev," he admitted softly, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

Sirius made some childish gagging sounds, and Severus shot him an annoyed but decidedly less hostile look from the one he had given earlier as he loosened his grip on Dinah by a few margins.

"Oh, stop," Lucy swatted at her fiancé, "It's sweet."

"It's... cute!" Rosa exclaimed from where she now stood nearby, staring at Severus with widened eyes, as though she had just seen the truth and realized that Severus was the same one from before. It was always interesting when people made that realization, Dinah was finding.

Severus gave a little groan and Dinah giggled, but the groan seemed to make Rosa nervous again as she took a step closer to Dinah.

"Ah, Rosa, Luke, Lucy, Sirius," Dinah made hasty work of the introductions. "Rosa helped us find out about Raymond Scrump and Jonathan Yates, if you recall," Dinah said to Lucy. "Rosa, Lucy is the literature professor here that helped me interpret some of the tales further."

"Oh, I've wanted to meet you," Rosa admitted, shaking Lucy's hand vigorously; "Some of those old wizard books are amazing. So much history involved. I'd love to talk to you more about that sort of thing sometime."

"Of course. I'm mostly self-taught as far as literature themes and such go, but we'll have to talk sometime. I'm fascinated by Muggle literature. All the things they talk about and describe…"

"Well, I'm sure we'll get a lot of opportunities to talk as long as we're all friends with Dinah, even if we _do _live in different worlds," Rosa smiled and was about to speak further when they were interrupted by a shriek from Aunt Mildred.

"Dinah, do you realize what time it is?"

"Um," Dinah flushed and shook her head, realizing that she forgot to bring a watch or her phone or anything of that sort with her.

"If your ceremony-performing wizard is supposed to arrive at 12:30 we only have fifteen minutes left! Must I think of everything?" the old woman rushed forward and looked them up and down again, then leaned over and whispered to Dinah; "Your fiancé should really learn to stop scowling all the time, dear."

Lucy laughed, "I wouldn't worry about it too much. I've known him since I was eleven and his face pretty much looks like that most of the time."

"You have?" Aunt Mildred seemed to forget all about the time and fixed Lucy with a curious eye; "Am I to assume this implies you were taught by him? Just how old are you, dear?"

"Um, twenty-six," Lucy admitted, her expression guilty and Dinah couldn't help but feel bad for her. "Severus was my Potions professor…but I don't imagine he could have been teaching very long…He would have only been about twenty-four or so if I'm figuring right…"

Severus grunted agreement and Aunt Mildred turned to Sirius; "And you are?"

"Thirty-nine," he told her, looking like he was feeling a little intimidated too, "Severus and I were at school together…Dinah too, I suppose, though I don't recall knowing her then. A little odd considering we were in the same house but there it is."

Dinah flushed. She had hidden herself well. Too well, in fact. But the past was the past.

Aunt Mildred smiled; "Classic May-December romance, I see," Dinah stifled a laugh at the look on Sirius's face at being referred to as a 'December'. "That's all well and good I suppose, but just be careful," she wagged a finger at Lucy, apparently choosing not to elaborate on her cryptic statement.

Lucy smiled and pulled Sirius's arms around her waist, "I think we'll be fine. Not even death can keep us apart apparently."

"Never," Sirius assured her, dipping her backwards as though they were dancing and kissing her lips.

Lucy didn't let the kiss last long though, before pulling back, "I should go help Dinah get changed."

"Ah, right," Dinah nodded. "I guess we should get started then. Lucy, can you get the cake out here? I'll put my ensemble on slowly, from the ground up. I have to get the most important things taken care of first," she removed her wand and flicked it, the pearl earrings and necklace she had decided to wear with the dress appearing in her hands. She put the earrings on one by one and then held the pearl necklace out to Severus at the same time as she lifted the hair from the back of her neck; "Put it on me?"

"Mm," he agreed simply, coming around behind her and slipping on the necklace, his lips in her hair and his warm hands wandering down to caress her collarbone once he had it on. Dinah had to clear her throat and force herself to try to ignore things that she should save for later tonight.

"Oh, so untraditional," Aunt Mildred clicked her tongue, watching their intimacy with a disapproving eye.

"This is a small wedding, Aunt Mildred," Dinah explained, lowering her hair when Severus was finished; "Once we're ready we're just going to go with it."

"Well," Lucy said, pulling out of Sirius's embrace, "You're not changing right here and he's certainly not seeing you just yet. Come on," she said, tugging on Dinah's arm and casting a look towards Rosa requesting help.

"But, but, wait! I don't have all the pieces yet!" Dinah protested, trying to tug her arm back to herself and wishing she had explained this more clearly to Lucy. "I just want to get on all the accessories, that's all. Mum!" she gestured for her mother to come over.

"Yes, yes, coming," Dahlia hurried over, reaching into her purse and pulling out an item of utmost importance.

Lucy watched curiously, but relaxed her grip on Dinah's arm, allowing Dinah to extend her wrist out and let her mother slip the pearl bracelet on; "Grandmum's bracelet. My something old. Thanks for bringing it," she smiled down at the item, turning her wrist around a few times to catch the light.

"Of course," Dahlia smiled, and then looked at Rosa; "Next?"

"Coming!" Rosa plucked an item from her own bag, holding it out to Dinah. "I see it already matches the one you're wearing."

"Gee, I wonder why," Dinah chuckled, taking the silver barrette and clipping it into the other side of her hair for now. Once she had it done up they would move and be joined with the flowers. She turned to Lucy's questioning gaze; "When Rosa got married to Luke we found these platinum barrettes and got one each. She borrowed mine for the wedding, though it wasn't her something borrowed because I wasn't married yet. And we decided I would borrow hers when I got married. Kind of silly, I know."

Lucy shook her head, "No, it's nice. Tonks and I had talked about doing something similar back in school, but well…you can probably guess how that went."

"Sorry it never went through. Okay," she smiled and turned back to her fiancé; "Dress robes time?"

"Yes!" Lucy said a touch too loud. "Did you have a spot to change in mind or do I have to drag you into the Forbidden Forest?"

Severus grimaced at their overly-enthusiastic friend. "I have simply to flick my wand and I will be wearing them. Do not make this more complicated than it needs to be."

Lucy grinned, "Well, I meant Dinah more so than you but going someplace to change is not that complicated and I think Dinah mentioned needing to put something in her shoe when we went shopping…"

"Yes!" Dinah reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a single Knut; "There!"

"What?" Severus raised an eyebrow at it.

Dinah smiled, sidling up to him; "Well, tradition states that the bride should put a penny in her left shoe for good luck or... something. Actually, it's a sixpence but they don't make those anymore. But I made it a Knut just for you!" she kissed his cheek.

He smiled, his arm snaking around her waist to pull her briefly against him; "Little things like that are much appreciated."

Dinah smiled, reaching down and removing her black flats before handing them to Severus; "Shall I put on the white shoes?"

"Er," he flushed, staring down at her bare feet.

"I'll take that as a yes," she flicked her wand and they appeared on her feet, not sinking into the hardened ground Severus had so generously provided for them. She knelt and removed the left one, placing the Knut in it before replacing it and standing back up, shifting around a little; "Well, that feels a little funny but it'll do. So now that I'm wearing a black dress but white everything else..." she laughed.

"Come on," Lucy insisted, "You can't put on what goes _under_ your dress out here. Oh," she said, watching Severus stare at Dinah's feet, "Don't tell me your shoes got the same reaction mine did. If Sirius would have gotten his way we would have been late getting down here."

"Probably," Dinah flushed; "Well, maybe not _exactly_," she recalled what the shoe incident had specifically led to and her flush deepened. "Ah, well, then," she cleared her throat and shook her head, smiling at the other woman; "Lucy, I've decided that right before the ceremony starts I will put the dress on. I just have to wave my wand and everything is going to come together – the dress, the hair, and yes everything underneath it as well. It's all arranged, so don't worry about it. But thanks for your enthusiasm," she gave her friend an impromptu hug.

"Oh," Lucy returned the hug, disappointment crossing her face, "well, you're welcome. I can bring the cake down whenever you want…pictures! Are we doing pictures before or just during and after? Oh, Merlin I'm going to be a basket case by the time my wedding comes around."

"I told you so," Dinah grinned, flicking her wand so a small table appeared; "Put the cake there. And pictures afterwards. Severus Snape, you are still not wearing your dress robes!"

Severus sighed, removing his wand with an annoyed expression; "Fine." He flicked it once and in an instant his bat-like costume transformed, the outer robes disappeared, the frock coat replaced with a new, shining black one complete with lapels, the clothing underneath still high-collared, a bit of white peeking out from the top, but they were also shiny and of more expensive materials. It essentially matched his regular outfit minus the outer robes, with the addition of the lapels and the shininess. His hair was unchanged, but she didn't want the fluffy Severus for this, much as she loved him both ways. She wanted it as it usually was... the way she had accepted him from the beginning.

"Oh, _Severus_..." she murmured, walking up to him an fingering the shiny buttons; "You're beautiful."

"Yes, well," he cleared his throat; "I told you they were shiny."

"Mm," she felt a little lump rising in her throat as she reached up and lightly traced his cheek, sliding a strand of his hair through her fingers. Dinah vaguely heard Sirius asking Lucy if she was going to tell him how pretty he was and her making a snide reply and him saying something about not putting out tonight, but she was more focused on Severus. Her fiancé flushed and closed his eyes, leaning forward to meet her kiss, his fingers sprawling into her hair and pulling her head closer. Well, it seemed like wedding days completely destroyed his normal public displays of affection phobia. She smiled when they broke it; "Well... that's everything but my dress and-"

"There," Severus said, placing a hand on her shoulder and nodding off into the distance. She followed his gaze to see that the wizard they had hired to perform the ceremony had arrived.

"Oh, good," she smiled, turning to Lucy who was cuddled up with Sirius; "Lucy. Cake!" she teased her friend.

"Oh!" Lucy exclaimed, flicking her wand so that a beautiful tiered white cake appeared on the small table Dinah had conjured into the clearing ages ago. "Sorry. I got distracted."

"It's okay, I know how it goes," Dinah smiled; "It looks beautiful but I'll look more closely later. I have to go greet this man. Minerva was so wonderful. She found someone through the ministry for us who respected her wishes as Hogwarts headmistress and promised not to tell anyone about the wedding."

"That's wonderful," Lucy turned to Rosa and Luke, "Minerva's wonderful. She's been so strong these last couple weeks, the right person to take Dumbledore's spot."

Dinah smiled and let her friends talk to each other a little bit while the rest of the group started to cluster together around the little area where the wedding would be held. Dinah took Severus's hand and headed over to greet the unassuming man as he approached.

"Professor Samson? Professor Snape?" he asked, although Dinah was fairly certain he knew exactly who they were; "Zoticus Bole from the Ministry. I understand you two wish to be married today."

"Yes," Dinah agreed happily, wrapping her arms about Severus's waist as he gently guided her head to rest on his shoulder, stroking her hair; "Thank you for agreeing to do this quietly."

"Oh absolutely. We are not in the business of ruining weddings." That was similar to what Irene at the dress shop had said. He regarded them; "But I was quite surprised at the request. You are both quite famous – somewhat infamous, you know. Yet, I'm sure you both deserve to start a peaceful, happy life together."

"That is what we both wish for, more than anything," Severus admitted, his tone casual but his feelings sincere.

"I see..." the man smiled, regarding Severus, and shook both their hands; "Shall we get started? It is nearly one."

"Oh," Dinah felt the butterflies return, but it was a pleasant feeling as she nodded, giving the grounds a once-over; "There aren't any students around, really. Might as well start," she turned and headed back towards the little spot, her pace quickening as she advanced. She stopped in the middle, Severus about five steps behind her as he tried to keep up and Bole even further back; "We're going to begin," she announced.

Everyone gathered around, waiting for instruction, Luke and Sirius wrapping their arms around Rosa and Lucy, respectively, but Dinah suddenly had no idea what she should be doing.

"Dress," Severus nudged her.

"Oh! Yes!" She took a few steps back and then turned to Lucy; "Do I have your permission to change now?"

Lucy giggled and nodded, "Yes, of course."

She flashed her friend a smile and then took a deep breath, withdrawing her wand from her dress, meeting Severus's gaze briefly, and then closing her eyes and flicking it. She opened her eyes as the whole group watched the transformation. Her simple black dress transformed in an instant to the white dress with the buttons down the dress – her perfect wedding dress, complementing the pearl jewelry and platinum barrettes, her hair swirling up into the style she had decided on. Pulled halfway back on each side with the barrettes, clipping back the veil with flowers swirling around them and a small bun at the back of her head completing the ensemble, her hair half down and half up, her favorite little single strands in the front on each side where they usually were.

There was some general 'oohing' in the background from her guests, but Dinah could only look at Severus; "Well?" she smiled.

She couldn't read his face at first, just silence and awe. And then the look in his eyes became clear. It was a combination of many looks. The look he had given her on Christmas when they'd kissed outside in the snow. The look he had given her when they were children and she had slapped Sirius for him, told him she loved him, told him he wasn't alone. The look he had given her when she did things like vow to save Tommy and fulfill her prophecy. The look he gave her when they were alone and all his walls were completely gone. The look he always had when he was overwhelmed with love for her.

And she vaguely remembered the days when she didn't think he would ever stare at her the way he was staring at her right now. But those days were so distant. Now his eyes were soft and shocked and in love and everything-in-between as he took a few hesitant steps forward, reaching out as if to touch but stopping as his hands hovered in front of her; "Oh Merlin Dinah, I don't... I can't even..." he stared down into her eyes, "You are... really mine?" he finally whispered.

"Severus," she leaned forward, placing her hands on his shoulders and moving to murmur into his ear; "You know I'm yours."

"Mm," was his soft response as his hands finally moved, resting lightly around her shoulders as his head leaned into her hair, brushing lightly against her but not pressing too close. She had the sense that he was in some kind of shock.

Time seemed to stop for a moment but then Dinah sensed someone tromping across the ground and a figure hovering in her peripheral vision, and then her aunt's voice came through; "All right, I've held my tongue long enough. This is _so _not traditional," a tug on Dinah's arm and Aunt Mildred was pulling her away from Severus as he growled his protest.

Lucy laughed, "Oh, I don't know. I think the idea is usually to dress so the groom is so overcome that he loses his mind and must take the bride into his arms then and there."

"Yes, that should be his desire but not his action," Aunt Mildred insisted, but smiled at Dinah and she just _knew _that her aunt really did mean well; "I know you love him dear," she said, "but you really don't need to be all over each other until you're actually married. Now, let's just go over here and-"

"Wait, Sev, your flower!" Dinah ignored her aunt as she remembered something and then ran back to her fiancé, magically summoning the single flower she had had made for him into her hand and holding up to the lapel of his formal frock coat.

His hand grasped her wrist and held her there before she could attach the pin; running his fingers across the back of her hand he said with a brief glare in Aunt Mildred's direction; "She is trying to take you away from me."

"It's okay Severus," Sirius called, "I think she intends to give her back. I understand it's traditional for the bride to walk down the aisle to her intended."

Lucy murmured something under her breath and looked a little worried, while Severus simply grumbled; "There is no 'aisle'."

"We can make one, dear," Aunt Mildred told him, and his expression showed that he did not enjoy being called that by her, but he didn't say anything as she turned to Dinah; "Now, put on his boutonnière and let's get this taken care of."

"Mm, okay," Dinah turned back to fasten the pin as Severus released her wrist and allowed her hand to move again.

He sighed; "Must I really wear a flower?"

She smiled, fastening it on and releasing it; "It looks fine. And nobody is going to take me away from you either. See?" she let her bouquet bloom in her hands; "We match. And I got buttons, too. They match yours," she grasped his hand and guided it to the front of her dress, pressing his fingers to her buttons.

"We match," he murmured, fingering one of them, smiling at her, his smile the same whether child or adult

"Yes, yes, lovely, now come on Dinah we must make an aisle!" Aunt Mildred grabbed Dinah and dragged her off again, and Severus managed not to growl this time as Aunt Mildred pulled Dinah over to stand in the middle of the clearing; "You! Ceremony-performing wizard, stand there," she pointed at Bole and then at a spot on the grass.

"Yes, Ma'am," Bole smiled, looking like he realized who was in charge here, and went to stand where she asked.

"Severus, next to and in front of him on the right. My right, not yours." Severus grumbled, but obeyed.

"Now," Aunt Mildred grabbed Lucy, Sirius, Rosa, and Luke, and positioned them on Severus's side, one couple in front of the other, then placed Dinah's parents on what would be her side with Uncle Winston and Larry behind them, before surveying her handiwork. "Very good. A small aisle. Now," she yanked her brother's arm and pulled Ed into the makeshift 'aisle', inserting his arm in Dinah's; "There! Just perfect! Now, begin!" she made a gesture with flair and then plopped herself next to Uncle Winston to take his arm and watch the ceremony.

Dinah's father frowned at his sister and then turned to smile at her; "Is this set-up all right? The way you wanted it?"

She smiled; "It's fine. I hadn't really thought about any of these details, really. And Aunt Mildred is happy."

"That she is. Shall we go then?"

"Mm," she nodded, and walked down the aisle with her father, stopping in only a second or two due to the short length of her aunt's masterpiece creation.

"He is a good man," Ed said.

"Yes," Dinah agreed, clutching her bouquet as she stared at Severus; "He is the greatest man alive."

Her father chuckled, kissing her cheek; "I love you. Congratulations."

"Thanks, Dad," she smiled, and nodded at her mother as well as Dahlia went over to grasp her husband's arm, clutching a _mostly_-unused hanky and offering her a smile and a wave; "Mum," Dinah smiled, looking out over her guests for a brief moment. Sirius and Larry were already snapping pictures, Lucy was sniffling a little, and Aunt Mildred was making a show of bawling into her hanky. Dinah had a feeling she was doing it more because she thought it was what she was supposed to do than anything else, but her aunt was a character not to be messed with. She turned back around, and then there was only Severus.

He smiled one of those light smiles that promised so much more and extended his hand for her. Blushing, hardly believing this was real, she reached forward and took it, letting him half-pull her to stand across from him in front of Bole. Staring at the man who was so close to being her husband, she had flashbacks to everything they experienced over the past year. Had it really been only a year? The joys and the sorrows. The laughter and tears. The fights and the struggles. The things they'd had to endure. The love that had bloomed between them and led them right here, where they would be bonded for life. Together forever.

"Neither of us is alone anymore," she whispered, her throat tightening.

He nodded, but didn't say a word. She had a feeling he couldn't. But the tears she saw in his eyes, mirroring the ones in her own, said enough.

"Shall we begin then?" Bole asked, and then ran through the ceremony. Short and simple, he addressed Severus first, asking him if he would take her to be his wife, love her, stay beside her, and cherish her as long as he lived..

"I do," Severus's response held no hesitation as he smiled at her.

"Do you, Dinah Samson, take Severus Snape..." Bole began, asking her the same things. Did she promise to love him, stay beside him, and cherish him as long as she lived? She had already made those promises to him a million times over, and she would continue to do so for all of eternity.

"I do," she whispered, her vision blurring a little.

Bole instructed them to exchange rings. Dinah, having planned for this, magically conjured Severus's up, apparently from the folds of her dress, and took it into her left hand, wondering if she would be able to do this without dropping it, her hand was trembling so much. Severus had done this already with the engagement ring, and took her wedding ring out of his coat pocket, reaching across and taking her left hand again in his, bringing the ring forward to slip on her finger.

"Severus," she managed to murmur, looking up at him. He leaned forward a little, and she wanted so much to meet and kiss him, but she had to wait. He seemed to understand too and stopped leaning, instead extending his hand towards her, waiting for her to place the ring.

She reached forward and took his hand as she had so many times before, marveling at the warmth of his pale fingers, recalling suddenly the first time their hands had touched, on the Hogwarts steps in the rain, him having offered her his umbrella, not knowing why she was in despair but wanting to help, even though at the time he could barely express such intentions. She met his dark eyes and he nodded, seeming to understand exactly where her thoughts were; "Don't do that again... Dinah," he said softly, repeating his words from that night, but this time with a light smile on his lips, his gaze intense.

"Severus," she said his name again, like the first time, and slipped the ring they had chosen onto the ring finger of his left hand. His lips twitched again into a smile and he clasped her hands in his, waiting.

And then the words were spoken as Bole lifted his wand into the air and flicked it once, sending a tiny shimmer of silver and yellow stars cascading over their clasped hands; "Then I declare you bonded for life."

Dinah felt her breath catch in her throat as she stared at Severus. It was real. They were married. He was now ... her husband. His eyes reflected the awe she felt as he smiled at her. She smiled back.

"Oh, and you may kiss the bride," Bole added, tilting his head towards Severus.

Dinah held back a wave of joyful tears that threatened to burst forth as Severus reached across, those warm fingers again touching her, briefly stroking her cheek before he decidedly took her face into his hands and kissed her, long and deep, his lips sure as they moved against hers. She responded, her own fingers reaching up to his face, to slide into his soft hair where he loved them to be, and he held her tighter, intensifying the kiss. Finally, their lips parted and he, still smiling that special, pure smile that was only for her, pulled her to him in a tight hug, nearly lifting her from the ground in his enthusiasm as she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him back.

She couldn't stop smiling, both during the hug and when he finally broke it to gaze into her eyes once more. She was now his forever. And he was hers. And they were...

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Severus Snape," Bole announced.

Dinah couldn't suppress her joyful squeal at the words, though she thought that it was – hopefully – drowned out by their clapping guests to the point where only Severus could hear her, and he responded by pulling her against him again, smiling into her ear and whispering that he loved her.

She managed to whisper back the same before they were attacked.


	170. Joined

A/N: Aaaaaaaaaand this is also a long chapter. Lol.

* * *

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY

Joined

* * *

"Aunt Mildred, I think you're supposed to wait until we walk back down the _aisle _before you congratulate us," Dinah tried, struggling to escape her aunt's death grip.

"Oh, there is no aisle, silly!" her aunt said, predictably forgetting all about her construction the moment that it was convenient for her to do so.

"Yes, well," Dinah gasped her relief when her aunt finally let her go and then winced when she instead threw her arms around Severus, hugging him as tightly as she'd hugged Dinah.

And her smiling groom was returned to his original scowling form again.

"Congratulations, Severus, you are just perfect for Dinah," Aunt Mildred beamed at him, planting a kiss on his cheek and causing his eyes to nearly flash red again, or at least they did in Dinah's imagination. But he actually managed a muttered; "Thank you, Ma'am," since her words _had _been friendly and sincere.

And then Dinah's parents were hugging them, Severus responding much better to that, and then Uncle Winston and Larry with his expensive Muggle camera, and then Rosa nearly knocked Dinah over with a hug before turning to Severus and whispering; "By the way, you were very cute hugging her after the kiss like that."

Severus flushed and grumbled incoherently in response, turning instead to where Sirius and Lucy were approaching them, Sirius asking the group; "Hey, the candid pictures are nice, but do we think it'd be possible to get some of everyone lined up all nice and calm?"

"We do not need to make this more complicated-" Severus began, annoyed.

"Oh, just a few?" Dinah interrupted, nudging him.

He stared at her and then sighed; "Fine. Then what are we supposed to do?"

"How about we do the girls? Dinah, Rosa…Lucy," he said, pushing the latter forward gently.

"Oh, no, that's…" Lucy protested shyly.

"Come on, this will be fun," Dinah encouraged, gesturing for Lucy to come forward. Severus, looking relieved that he wasn't required to be in these pictures, walked over to stand by Sirius of all people, though granted Larry was over there too and he probably preferred to be behind rather than in front of the cameras.

"You can't hide. I can still take your picture too," Sirius said, turning and snapping a very close-up shot of Severus's face, while Rosa grabbed the still-hesitant Lucy and pulled her over.

"Infernal dog!" Severus fumed, snatching the camera from Sirius and searching for the mechanism to erase the picture just taken; "You will remove that image this instant!"

Sirius laughed, "Hey, now I can't remove it if you've got the camera." Severus gave Sirius a look that said the didn't trust him very much, but he loosened his grip on the camera enough for Sirius to take it out of his hands and push a few buttons; "There. It's gone. Happy? That could have been Dinah's favorite picture."

Dinah bit her lip to stifle a giggle and nodded. It just might have been her favorite picture, but she wasn't going to torture her... husband... too much; "Oh, Merlin..." she murmured as the word truly hit her for the first time, covering her mouth as she stared at Severus, who had now turned to Larry and was ordering him not to do such a thing even if his life depended on it.

"Everything okay?" Lucy asked.

"He's my husband," Dinah whispered, pointing at Severus who was now nodding, satisfied, as Larry insisted he would never even think of doing such a thing.

Lucy giggled, sliding a glance at Rosa, "Yes. I thought that was the point of this whole get-together."

"Mm," Dinah made a tiny noise of acknowledgement, knowing she probably had a rather silly smile on her lips right now.

It was Rosa's turn to giggle; "Come on, let's do this picture. Where do you want us to stand?" she asked Sirius.

"I didn't have anything specific in mind so whatever you want is fine with me," he told them, lifting the camera again and taking a picture of Lucy when she wasn't prepared. "That one was for me," he admitted to Dinah, "I hope you don't mind."

Dinah gave him a sideways, teasing grin; "No, of course not. You're the one with the camera and I can see you have a one-track mind," she turned to Lucy and suddenly noticed what she was wearing. It was weird. She had apparently been so distracted before now that she hadn't even given her guests' attire a second thought. Now she noticed that Lucy was wearing a lovely bright green dress with an accompanying silver shawl; "I like your dress, Lucy. It's kind of... Slytheriny, actually!"

"Thanks," Lucy grinned and blushed, "It's the same one I wore to Slughorn's reunion party. The one I was wearing the first time we…" she clamped her mouth shut, her blush intensifying.

"Ah, yes, I remember," Dinah chuckled.

"Ohh, I see," Rosa teased. Dinah hoped Lucy hadn't meant to be discreet, because her words and reaction made it fairly obvious what she was talking about.

"Sorry," Lucy apologized to Rosa, "I have a tendency to not keep my mouth shut when I should."

"Girls, girls," Sirius cut in; "If we want these pictures we have to pose."

"I like your dress, too!" Dinah hurriedly complimented Rosa's deep purple number, flushing; "I forgot to notice anybody's clothing until just now."

Rosa laughed; "It's okay, I get it," she nodded in Severus's direction and Dinah turned to see that he had heard and was smirk-smiling at her.

Dinah flushed and nodded, and then looked at Sirius; "Okay, how do you want us to pose? If you just leave it to me we're only going to keep standing here... I've already made it abundantly clear today that I don't know what I'm doing."

"How about one lady on either side of you?" Sirius suggested.

Dinah nodded and Lucy moved to her left and Rosa to her right; "If I understand it right, it works best when you stand still for Muggle photos?" Lucy asked Rosa, "Luckily for these kind we don't have to worry about that."

"Oh, I see. I recall that they move. That's interesting," Rosa agreed, but seemed to be having a hard time not standing still as Sirius snapped pictures. But then Larry came through and made them stand still and it switched, Lucy fidgeting around and having a hard time _standing _still.

When they were finished Dinah smiled and regarded the two women that amounted to her closest friends; "You know, I didn't have a bridal party or anything that fancy but I think you two are essentially my bridesmaids."

"Well, obviously!" Rosa quipped, and Dinah had to laugh.

"Oh, Dinah," Lucy murmured emotionally, "that means a lot."

"No, it means a lot that you came and helped out so much," Dinah smiled at her red-haired friend; "Oh, and that you consented to feed me cake. I'm starting to get hungry, you know. We've essentially skipped lunch."

Lucy nodded, placing a hand on her growling stomach; "We can do the cake whenever you want…but do you think we could get someone to take a picture of the four of us? Or the six of us?" she added, looking over at Rosa.

"Let's do it all!" Dinah agreed, enthusiastic; "I bet Larry would _love _to try out the wizard camera. Since he doesn't have to perform magic on his own – the camera does it all - he should be able to work it, I think. Severus!"

"Must I?"

"Yes, you must. Now get over here. Luke, you and Rosa and me and Severus first. That way Sirius can show Larry how to work the camera."

Lucy headed over to join Sirius, passing Severus on the way. Dinah's new husband wrapped his arms around her waist from behind when he made it there, leaning over to murmur into her ear; "How many of these pictures are we going to have to endure?"

She smiled, placing her hands over his across her stomach; "Just so we have all possible combinations of guests. Then I think we'll do the cake first and have a few taken of just us, if you don't mind."

"If I must," he sighed, his breath cool against her ear, a pleasant contrast with the warmth of the rest of his body. Next to them, Luke wrapped his arms around Rosa and the two smiled for the camera. Dinah also smiled, but Severus just glared.

She let him do that for the first picture before tilting her head a bit to address him; "Couldn't you smile just a little bit?"

He sighed.

Dinah laughed; "A little. For me."

"Fine. Just a little," his lips twitched into a mild smile as he regarded her, and when she leaned into him it widened by another fraction as Sirius continued to snap pictures.

"Ah, now Larry is taking some Muggle ones," she noted. "You'll have to smile a little more in that case, and hold still too." At his scowl she chuckled; "Remember our pictures from Easter?" She got another smile and Larry snapped his picture.

Sirius finally handed the wizard camera to Dinah's cousin and then made an effort to pull Lucy over to them, practically dragging her as she hung back.

"Not a fan of pictures?" Dinah asked her friend when Sirius had managed to get her over there.

"Not a huge one. I feel weird having my picture taken. I won't run away though," she smiled, assuring her friend.

"Are you not the one who _suggested_ being in these infernal pictures?" Severus demanded, arching an eyebrow at Lucy.

"Yes," Lucy said, sticking her nose in the air, "but that was when I was already _in _the picture. Then Dinah kicked me out and I got cold feet."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Dinah laughed; "Now smile. Larry," she called to her cousin as Aunt Mildred started hovering around behind him, looking about ready to burst but holding her excitement in for the time being; "you're going to have to take advantage of all the brief interludes when Severus manages to smile. They won't last long." She flushed as Severus teasingly hissed in her ear, and then shifted around a little to disperse the feelings it aroused in her.

"Noted," Larry smirked, snapping pictures of the six of them with both the wizard and Muggle cameras.

Soon Dinah shooed Rosa and Luke away and prepared for some pictures of their wizarding-world foursome.

"I cannot believe we are actually doing this," Severus grumbled, eyeing Sirius.

She laughed; "I don't think any of us can believe it. But just go with it." Soon the pictures were snapped and Aunt Mildred exploded, rushing up and ushering Lucy and Sirius out of the way before demanding a picture of just herself with the 'happy couple'.

Severus did not look like a happy anything when Dinah's aunt stood in-between them with her arms around both their shoulders and then next demanded single pictures with both the bride _and _the groom.

"Ma'am, I really do not think this is necess-" he began when she shooed Dinah out of the way for her picture alone with him, but was predictably cut off.

"Oh, call me Aunt Mildred, silly! And smile every once in awhile! You're a handsome boy when you smile! Though unconventionally, of course."

"Exactly what does 'unconventionally' even mean?" Severus shouted at no one in particular while Larry quickly snapped his mother's picture and then saved the day by handing his camera to Rosa and forcing Aunt Mildred to allow her husband, himself, and Dinah to re-join the group.

"It just means that you are different from everybody else," Dinah murmured into his ear as they took more normal pictures. "In a very good way, of course."

Severus sighed, but smiled a bit, and then they were _finally _able to snap pictures with Dinah's parents, who she decided were so patient it was almost saint-like.

"We should hurry up," Lucy said after the photos were finished, motioning to Severus, "Dinah missed lunch and you know how she likes to eat."

Dinah wasn't sure she'd ever seen such immense relief on her new husband's face when Severus walked up to join Lucy, eyeing the cluster of people behind him with disdain and adjusting and brushing off his dress robes; "Finally. I thought this wedding was supposed to be simple."

Lucy giggled, "I think this is simple. Or as simple as it could be at any rate."

"Well!" Dinah laughed as she came over to join them; "At least Aunt Mildred has been behaving better than expected, anyway."

"_THAT _is better than expected?" Severus nearly shouted again, but flushed when Dinah covered his mouth.

"Believe it or not, yes it is. Now let's take a look at Lucy's cake," she uncovered his mouth and turned to follow her friend over to the little table that held the cake she had meticulously constructed with magic.

"People might even eat it," Lucy finished explaining the cake with a laugh.

"Apparently I have to eat it no matter what it looks like," Sirius teased, steadying Lucy as she wobbled a bit on her high heels.

Dinah just stared at the cake. It was five-tiered and all white with flowers – ranunculus to match her bouquet – blooming all over it, especially around the tiny little bride and groom at the top that resembled her and Severus; "It's beautiful, Lucy. Thank you so much. You made the cake part from scratch though, just like before, right?"

"Just like before," Lucy assured her, beaming, "except for the decorating of course."

Her stomach rumbling again, Dinah couldn't resist licking her lips as she turned to the cake, anticipating its gooey moistness. She flicked her wand and the group gathered as she handed out the plates and forks she had conjured along with a large knife. She let it hover over the cake, looking at Severus until he realized what he was supposed to do and put his hand over hers and they cut two pieces out of it. When she held a forkful up to his mouth he watched it suspiciously. She laughed; "It tasted fine when it looked bad, _surely _it must taste fine when it looks good."

"I'm positive it does," Lucy said, nodding.

"Even if it doesn't we're required to eat it, or so I'm told. My fiancé made it and your wife is expecting you to eat it. I think we'd better just eat it and shut our mouths before we get in trouble," Sirius told Severus.

"Mm," Severus grumbled, but his lips twitched when Sirius called her his wife. Dinah smiled as he opened his mouth and consented to receive the cake, nodding after a moment; "It will do."

"Good, now it's my turn unless you want me to pass out from starvation," Dinah teased, opening her mouth.

"Yes, yes, I suppose we should try to prevent that at all costs, though I_ had_ decided to kill you after the ceremony if you recall," he held the fork up to her lips.

"Oh, right, because of the whole 'Neville's grandmother's dress' thing," Dinah smiled, flushing and receiving the cake. It was just as good as she had expected it to be.

"But I thought you looked lovely in it. I especially liked the hat," Sirius teased, batting his eyelashes at Severus, and Dinah felt her face go red. She hadn't even guessed that Sirius knew about it, otherwise she certainly wouldn't have said anything, though Severus _was _the one who brought it up...

"How did you-?" Severus demanded, flushing with indignance. Apparently he hadn't known this either.

"Remus told me. I've seen Augusta before so I can well imagine. He said the color really brought out your eyes," Sirius grinned.

"Werewolf!" Severus growled; "And here I thought he was supposed to be the decent one of your group..."

"Oh, I'm sure Sirius demanded to know all the details," Dinah chuckled a little before shooting her groom a guilty look; "Sorry, Severus, if I had known he knew about it I wouldn't have said anything."

"Yes, well, technically I _was _the one who brought it up," her husband admitted with a sigh, mirroring her thoughts from earlier. Dinah smiled, and he smiled back briefly before eyeing her cake; "Starving, remember?"

"Oh! Yes, of course!" she dug her fork in, leaning against Severus and grinning at her friend; "Tastes just as good as before, Lucy. I knew I made the right choice in hiring you."

"Wait until you get the bill," Lucy teased. She took a forkful of her cake and held it up to Sirius.

"Oh, I don't think so," he grinned, scooping up the cake with his fingers before smushing it on Lucy's nose and upper lip.

"Now I'm sticky," Lucy whined, before Sirius leaned down and licked the tip of her nose, continuing on to kiss the cake off her lips.

"Yes, well now we know who's in their own little world," Dinah chuckled as Severus rolled his eyes at the pair, and they turned to let Lucy and Sirius mess around with their cake and instead address some of their other guests.

"This is delicious," Rosa complimented; "Why was she worried nobody would eat it?"

"Well, without using magic to decorate it would have ended up looking diseased," Dinah laughed, licking a bit of frosting off her finger as Bole found his way over to them.

"If you do not need me for anything else, I'll be on my way and let you finish with your reception."

"Oh, of course," Dinah shoved her fork and plate into her left hand and extended her right to shake Bole's hand once more; "Again, thank you _so _much."

"Of course. Congratulations," he smiled; "By the way, your records at the Ministry should have already been magically changed. But don't worry, nobody will find them and inform the press. You can tell the world when you're ready."

"I think next school year the press will have backed off enough," Severus admitted, before thanking the man as well and sending him off on his way.

"Now!" Aunt Mildred came back to assault them; "About the dinner, dancing, glass-clinking-"

"Oh, there won't be any of that," Dinah insisted as Severus frowned at the suggestions; "Just photos and then we're off. It's supposed to be _simple_, remember?" she raised an eyebrow at her aunt.

The older woman heaved a dramatic sigh; "Well, if you _must_. I'm sure this lovely engaged pair has more traditional ideas!" she burst her way in-between Lucy and Sirius who were... well, Dinah didn't even really know _what _they were doing, but thankfully whatever it was it was public-appropriate, if just barely. "Now!" Aunt Mildred said again, this time addressing the other two flushed individuals wiping cake off of themselves; "Do tell me all about your wedding plans! I simply _must _know the details; I adore weddings!"

"Well…um, it's sort of going to have to depend on the school schedule. We're thinking a winter wedding," Lucy turned a frown to Sirius, "I wonder if we'll have to worry about the press showing up. I mean a lot of people still believe you murdered all those people…"

"'Murdered'?" Aunt Mildred didn't miss a beat as she stared at Sirius; "Mr. Black was accused of murdering people?" She looked at Lucy as though she was about to start warning her again to 'be careful' as she had before.

"Oh, Aunt Mildred," Dinah let out an exasperated sigh. Lucy should have known to not say such things around her aunt.

"Accused only, Aunt Mildred," Severus clarified before Sirius could put his foot in his mouth in any way, as his expression as he opened his mouth indicated he might be about to do. Severus's words seemed to distract Aunt Mildred enough, though. She looked so pleased to have her new 'nephew-in-law' address her as such. Dinah kind of enjoyed hearing him do it, too.

"The wizarding world thought he was responsible for the deaths of many people and the betrayal of a very famous wizarding family that included one of our childhood friends," Severus continued. "He has been cleared of all charges leading to the family's murder, however. Well, the child survived. I am sure you've heard of Harry Potter," he raised an eyebrow, and Dinah had to give him credit. He seemed to know exactly how to distract her aunt. That was her intuitive, intelligent Severus, for sure!

"Oh, Harry Potter! The famous Harry Potter! Of _course _we have heard of him! Oh, Ed, Dahlia, do you remember that article Dinah showed us last year about the things that boy did...?" she trailed off, digging into a second piece of cake and dragging Dinah's parents into her gossip.

Dinah smiled, closing her eyes as she leaned into her husband; "See? She's not so bad when you know how to handle her."

"I am still reserving judgment," he admitted, but smiled slightly; "Imagine if she sees one of the papers that describes the things _I _supposedly did. Do you think she might finally be properly afraid of me?"

She laughed, patting his hand; "I doubt it, dear. Sorry."

"Well, it was a pleasant enough thought," he grumbled, turning them back to Lucy and Sirius.

"Sorry," Lucy apologized, "I think I nearly got lectured…"

"It's okay," Dinah assured her; "And yes, you just narrowly escaped. You should thank Severus. If he hadn't distracted her..."

Lucy put both hands over her heart and said dramatically, "I am eternally grateful." Dinah giggled at her friend's exaggeration.

"Yes, thank you," Sirius added, "It took me long enough to talk her into marrying me. I don't need anyone talking her out of it."

"Clearly I played hard to get," Lucy said, rolling her eyes.

"It's good to know one of my most stalwart opponents no longer believes I would murder my best friends," Sirius said, looking at Severus with an expression of relief. He seemed genuinely glad Dinah's husband no longer thought that of him.

Severus sighed and nodded, wrapping his arms around Dinah from behind; "I had a one-track mind back then and I'm sorry for my erroneous assumptions. I think I see things much more clearly now," he pressed his lips to her hair and she ran her fingers across the back of his hand, assuring him that everything was fine as he held her more tightly against him.

Sirius shrugged, moving to mimic Severus and wrap his arms around Lucy; "You're not the only one that thought that."

"That's something…no," Lucy shook her head, "We'll save that discussion for another day I think."

Dinah wasn't sure what Lucy meant but she felt a little guilty; "I'm afraid I made a similar comment at the beginning of the year as well. I guess we all know how easily the wrong opinions about people float around in the wizarding world. Yet, someone did betray them. Peter Pettigrew was supposed to be your friend, too."

"For what it's worth I made sure he was completely tortured and miserable while he was forced to work with me," Severus told Sirius; "If that helps." Dinah thought it was sweet how nice Severus was being to his old rival.

Sirius smirked a little, "Yes, it does. I suppose it's a good thing Harry stopped us from murdering the rat. If he hadn't I probably_ would_ have been in Azkaban."

Lucy leaned back and grinned, "And then you wouldn't have such a wonderful woman in your life."

"Who is this Harry Potter?" a new voice demanded as a hand poked at Dinah's shoulder. Dinah turned to see Rosa looking dreadfully confused; "Your aunt keeps babbling on about him to your parents and I heard you mention Harry..." she looked at Sirius.

"Oh," Dinah grinned as Severus grumbled something about 'too many famous children'; "Sirius's godson. And pretty much the savior of the entire wizarding world. Very nice boy, too. He finds mine and Severus's snogging very amusing." Severus snorted.

Lucy giggled and looked up at Sirius, "I think he just finds our snogging embarrassing."

Sirius turned her around, moving them into a couple dance steps before dipping her again. "I can't imagine why," he said, giving her lips a quick peck. It seemed he could not contain himself even though there was no designated dancing at the wedding.

Rosa laughed and then turned back to Dinah; "I see. Thanks. But here I thought _you _were supposed to be the savior of the wizarding world."

"Nope," Dinah replied, shaking her head and happily leaning her head on her husband's shoulder; "I only had to save one person."

"Or perhaps five people," Severus murmured in her ear.

"Five?" she glanced up at him.

He nodded; "Tommy, Dumbledore, Grindelwald, Bellatrix, and myself."

"Severus," she smiled and tilted her head to receive his kiss, her hand drifting to stroke the petals of the flower she had so carefully pinned on him. She laughed; "You know what? I've got all the house colors except our beloved Gryffindor. See? Yellow in the flowers, blue in the bouquet, and green in the Queen Anne's lace stems..."

"I think the gold in our rings is Gryffindor enough," he murmured, entwining his left hand in hers and bringing her fingers to his lips, his eyes shining with happiness; "After all, we do share that 'second house', do we not?"

"PERFECT!" Larry suddenly shouted.

"Perfect?" Dinah wrenched her eyes from her husband's to look at her cousin; "What is?"

"That pose! You've both finished your cake, I think it's time for bride and groom pictures. And you just gave me all sorts of inspiration."

"Oh, good," Lucy said, "did you want Sirius to take more pictures too?"

"Of course, if you don't mind. I'd love to have both types of pictures." Dinah had to laugh as Severus started growling again. "Come now, I can only assume you've decided not to kill me after all, so we might as well let my cousin take a couple of nice pictures of us," still holding his hand, she led him out into the middle of the grass where Larry beckoned.

"All right," Larry considered them; "now shall we-"

"Ah, I have the perfect pose!" Aunt Mildred exclaimed.

"Mum, NO. _I _am in charge of-"

"Mildred, why don't you just watch for now?" Uncle Winston offered; "I'm sure our son knows what he's doing."  
"Well, this is his first time doing wedding photography, though. Ah, well, perhaps Mr. Black would like some tips-" she started to head for Sirius, but Dinah's mother cut her off.

"Mildred, perhaps this nice young couple would like to come up with their own ideas as well," Dahlia offered; "After all, wizard photography is quite different from Muggle photography as I understand it. Besides, if you just watch you can indulge more in how nice Dinah and Severus look together."

"Well, there is _that_..." Aunt Mildred seemed to give up and walked over to stand by her husband.

Dahlia smiled and walked over to stand by Lucy and Sirius; "I do apologize if she keeps bothering the both of you. I'm afraid the fact that you're engaged makes you a prime target."

"That's all right," Lucy assured the older woman, "It sort of makes me a target at school too. At least with the girls…and Slughorn. Another professor," she added.

"Oh, we most definitely know of Slughorn," Dahlia smiled; "He was always good to Dinah. Although... I suppose... a bit of a character of sorts."

Dinah grinned. That was the way to describe Slughorn.

"All right, now Dinah, do you mind standing so your right shoulder meets Severus's left, just a little, and you're standing in sort of a v-shape, close to each other but only touching at the back? Ah, yes, just like that. Now put your hand on his chest and rest your head on his shoulder."

Dinah smiled and did as her cousin asked. How could she deny such requests? Severus's right arm moved to her waist but Larry protested; "Not on her waist, on her shoulder, as though you're about to pull her against you but not all the way. Then Dinah, you close your eyes. I'm going to get a close-up here. If you _must _smile make the smile very light. Severus, you do the same and close your eyes, too."

Through her closed eyes Dinah could hear Severus growl his protest, the sound amplified because her ear was in direct contact with his skin. The rumbling could either turn her on or make her sleepy depending randomly upon how she felt at the time. Right now she felt sleepy and comfortable. "No," he retorted. "That is ridiculous. I refuse to assume such an intimate position in front of the whole world for a photograph."

There he went with his whole world thing again. Dinah had to chuckle at him; "Severus..." she whispered, and then the growling stopped and his stiff hand on her shoulder relaxed, and she heard Larry snap the picture.

"Perfect! Now, both of you open your eyes."

Dinah obeyed and glanced up at the scowling Severus; "What was that all about? You couldn't maintain your anger when I said your name?" she smiled, knowing what the answer was.

"You both tricked me," he replied, dark eyes glaring.

"Aw, Sev," she planted a brief kiss on his lips and then turned to Larry as her husband's arms tightened around her; "Next?"

"Okay, smiling. Tilt your heads and look into each others' eyes. Dinah, if you just grip the front of his dress robes and Severus, you place your hands over hers. Like that. Now both of you smile."

"No," Severus retorted yet again, and Dinah bit her lip to stifle her laughter.

"Oh, come now, you have to smile for your wedding pictures! Dinah, a little help here?"

She laughed as Severus snarled at Larry, reaching up to lightly touch her husband's cheek; "Severus." Again, he turned to her and smiled and Larry took the picture.

He sighed; "This is rather infuriating."

"I think it's cute!" Rosa shouted from the sidelines and Severus groaned. Dinah, for her part, was glad that her friend seemed to have lost her irrational fear of Severus. The picture-session continued in this way for the next few minutes. Severus complaining about the ridiculousness of all the poses he was supposed to take but one word from Dinah snapping him into blissful happiness just long enough to get the pictures snapped. By the time they were done she almost thought it had become a kind of a game.

"All right, I'm fresh out of ideas," Larry finally admitted, lowering his camera.

"_Finally_," Severus snarled, releasing Dinah's arms. Then he leaned over to murmur into her ear; "We should go."

All of a sudden the rumbling sound went from sleepy and comfortable to arousing. But Dinah let the feeling linger in the distance, enjoying the tiny hint of promise for later as she nodded and turned to inform their guests that they were finished, stifling a laugh at Aunt Mildred's extreme disappointment.

She first went to hug Rosa and Luke and thank them for coming, and then wandered over to Lucy and Sirius as an idea occurred to her; "Lucy," she beckoned with her hand for her friend to stand in front of her.

"What?" Lucy asked, looking a little shy as the group of guests watched her.

"Go like this." Relegating her bouquet to be held against her side by the crook of her elbow, Dinah cupped her hands palms-up in front of her, elbows bent, to illustrate what she wanted Lucy to do.

"Okay…" Lucy giggled a little as she followed the order.

Dinah smiled and took her bouquet back into her hands. "Here," she lightly tossed it the couple of inches from her arms to Lucy's, and her friend just barely caught it, her hands in the position where she wouldn't drop it even if she didn't realize to grab it right away. "I think you're the only single girl here," Dinah explained, grinning.

Lucy laughed, finally seeming to realize what had just happened. "Just barely and only in the legal sense."

"I think that's the only requirement, silly," Dinah teased. "After all, these days that's pretty much all you get."

"True, true. I guess this means I'm the next to get married," Lucy grinned.

"Hmm, probably," Dinah brought her fingers to her chin and pretended to consider, then laughed along with Lucy; "Thanks for coming. How about we all walk to the gates together and then if you and Sirius don't mind you could lead my Muggle guests back down the path to their cars? I think my... _husband _and I," she murmured as Severus came up behind her and took her into his arms, "will probably be apparating away the instant we exit these grounds."

"My wife is correct," Severus purred, kissing her neck just briefly.

"Of course," Lucy assured them, "I'm sure we'd want to do the same thing," she said, gesturing to Sirius.

Dinah grinned and nodded and their group started heading away from the wedding site. She hung back for a moment and turned to Severus; "Hogwarts grounds?"

"What about it?" his lips twitched towards a smile.

"It just seems like everything has happened to us here. I'm so glad we were able to marry here, too," she closed her eyes and listened to the rustling wind for a moment, reveling in the feel of Severus's arms around her waist, and then opened her eyes and kissed him.

He didn't let her lips go for awhile as his fingers slid up her neck and into her hair underneath her veil. When he released her his smile was full; "Yes," was all he said, and then kissed her again.

"Oh, we should go. We can come back here any time," she laid her head on his chest for a brief moment, lifting his fingers to her lips to kiss them before stepping back; "Are you ready?"

"I think we've been ready for a very long time," he smirked and she grinned, nodding as he pulled her back to him for a few seconds, before consenting to walk just hand-in-hand down to meet their group again. When they stepped beyond the gates Aunt Mildred expressed shock once more at the fact that Hogwarts magically turned into a dangerous old ruin.

"It's to help keep Muggles from accidentally wandering in," Lucy tried to explain, "You must know about the Statute of Secrecy?"

"Oh, yes, Dinah has explained such things. So it's not _really _a ruin?"

Dinah shook her head; "That is simply what you see," she explained with a smile. "It's not what's really there."

"Well, you and your magic," her aunt smiled before hugging her; "Congratulations, dear. I know you'll both be very happy. You say you are honeymooning in the Cotswolds? That's almost within driving distance!"

"Er, yes..." Dinah flushed, "_almost_."

Aunt Mildred laughed; "Oh, I'm not going to hound you. Go and have fun." She hugged Severus again before telling him in a secretive tone; "Next time we visit you are just going to _have _to tell me all about yourself. I must know the _real _Severus Snape."

Rather than replying, Severus instead cast Dinah a sort of desperate, pleading look, which was quite unusual to see on him.

"Perhaps we'll have plenty to tell about our honeymoon and married life," Dinah rescued him, trying not to laugh at his expression of relief that mirrored the unusualness of the desperate one. He was in it for the long haul with Aunt Mildred, unfortunately.

And then all she and Severus had to do was explain that Lucy and Sirius would walk the Muggles to their cars, hug everyone good-bye one more time (Severus only hugged her parents and – to his chagrin – Aunt Mildred for what had to be the fifth time), and then they were off.

Apparating hand-in-hand to the little Muggle inn they had chosen.

"It's so quaint," Dinah murmured, tightening her grip on her husband's hand as they stared up at the small cottage; "What do you think?"

"It will do."

She chuckled; "Not your type of place? Well, I'm sorry they don't generally rent dungeons for honeymoons."

"Yes, I do believe I am aware of this," he teased, grasping her waist again and pressing his lips and his long nose into her hair; "Dinah..."

"Severus..." she swallowed back the tightness in her throat, reaching behind her to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him close to her; "Oh, Severus, it's really real."

"Yes, Dinah. No one will ever take it away," he insisted softly in her ear; "I love you and you are my wife. Always."

Dinah wasn't sure _what _the noise that came out of her mouth was. It was some combination of a sob and a squeal, and as she fought back a rush of joyful tears her lips curved into a smile. Yes, the strongest feeling was joy. "Dinah Snape..." she whispered her new name, closing her eyes and sliding her fingers into his hair, stroking the soft silkiness that was hers and hers alone.

He murmured a small noise of contentment at her touch and nodded; "Yes. Dinah Snape." They stood there for a bit longer, just holding each other, before she had to admit to herself that they should go inside; "It's a small town, but Muggles might start staring if we do this much longer," she whispered.

"I suppose," he reluctantly released her waist and lifted his head away from hers, taking her hand instead; "I also suppose I probably do not want any more people to see me in this ridiculously shiny clothing."

Dinah laughed, heading toward the door with him. The woman running the small inn gushed on in Aunt Mildred fashion about their dress and how romantic it was that they were honeymooning there, but thankfully promised them complete and total privacy after releasing them into their room.

"It's still daylight," Dinah smiled, wrapping her arms around Severus again when they were safely shut in together; "Can we still safely call this our wedding _night_?"

"I don't think we need to _call _it anything," he purred, capturing her lips in a kiss, his tongue lightly teasing her with what would surely come later. Drawing away, he fingered her veil; "It is warmer outside here than it is at Hogwarts."

"A more southerly location, dear," she murmured, teasingly batting her eyes at him; "And they say you are intelligent."

"Infernal witch," he growled, tilting her chin up towards him and kissing her again, now wrapping his arms around her when he released her as they turned to regard their reflections in the full-length mirror in front of them. Dinah smiled, once again fighting with the emotion that tightened her throat. This image of them was just the same as the one she had imagined in the wedding dress shop. It looked as perfect as she had imagined. More perfect even, and she smiled. Even more surprising, Severus was also smiling a little. "We look quite nice together, don't we?" she offered.

"Yes," he replied, surprising her yet again as he kissed her hair, keeping his eyes on their reflection.

"Yes? Just yes?" she smiled.

"Yes," he murmured again.

"I'm starting to think that's your new favorite word."

"Yes, well..." his smile grew as he rested his cheek against her temple, his hands clasping across the front of her waist, the shiny buttons on the arm of the frock coat glinting in the sunlight from the window as she rested her hands over the tops of his, feeling the warmth of his pale skin. "Everything in my life is suddenly agreeable now," he finally finished, and she saw that same youthful awe in his gaze, although more subdued than when they had been flying above the trees near Hogwarts.

"My Severus," she smiled, snuggling in closer to him as his grip around her waist tightened; "You mean to say you are pleased with your appearance today?"

"I believe that I am," he smiled.

"Oh, I love you," she breathed, staring at their beautiful reflection.

"I love you," he agreed, and then turned so that they could face each other; "You are so beautiful. And you have given me _everything_. There are no words to describe how... happy you make me," he finished in a whisper.

Feeling the tears well in her eyes, words sparked in Dinah's mind and she voiced them; "How about... we can eat Aero Mint and you can make snarky comments at me?"

"Dinah!" the young Severus's smile and enthusiasm bloomed on her husband's face and he came forward in an instant, his arms wrapping around her and his lips capturing hers with fervor. Dinah let her own young self shine through and laughed, letting her arms return his embrace, her body remembering every youthful sensation as he pinned her back on the bed, his lips perfectly matched with hers. And when he pulled away and she could see his face she knew that they were both the same. That their young selves were joined together with their older selves. That they had found each other and returned each other to the people that they truly were.

Their love was indeed a miracle of indescribable proportions.

"Shall we see then..." Severus teased, his fingers wandering down to the top button on her dress; "how these shiny buttons of yours work?"

She giggled; "I've been looking forward to giving you a taste of your own medicine, I must admit."

"Hmm," he frowned, pretending to struggle with each button very slowly; "quite difficult."

"You joke about it now, but wait until you get to the third one," she grumbled, reaching up to fumble with his own buttons.

"I remind you," he took a break from her buttons to lower his lips to her neck, "_you _were the one that insisted I get said buttons on my dress robes."

"Well, they're frustrating but sexy. I confess it's a dilemma," she murmured, closing her eyes as his lips caressed her skin, thin and soft and talented. He released her neck and instead kissed her lips, reaching to carefully remove her veil and slide his hands through her hair as he climbed on top of her. Oh yes, he was going to be _very _frustrated with her buttons soon.

"Severus," she murmured, sliding one hand through his hair as the other freed his infamous third button; "Should we use a protection spell?"

"Hm," he paused, lifting his head to watch her with consideration. A slight smile formed; "People generally don't on their wedding nights, correct?"

"Well, not traditionally," she admitted.

His smile grew; "I have considered this. Perhaps the best method is simply to let nature take its course and let what happens happen. That is, if you weren't opposed to the idea."

Dinah felt a blush rising in her cheeks and a small smile form and she shook her head; "I'm not opposed. I mean, maybe you're right and this is the best thing to do. For all we know nothing could happen for years or ever. And yet if it did, and we are both open to the idea..."

"Open. Yes. Quite open," he admitted, and she felt her blush deepen as he kissed her; "And given your concern about our ages there is, I don't think, any reason to wait. As you say, it is possible nothing could happen. Therefore, simply seeing where things take us seems the most logical choice."

Looping her arms around her husband's neck, Dinah teased; "Oh-so-logical. You know, I think your third house must be Ravenclaw."

"Likely yours as well, my love," he responded, working some more of her buttons free; "You are quite intelligent. After all, you grasped today's weather patterns much more easily than I did."

"Oh, hush!" Dinah laughed, squirming a little as he freed enough buttons to lower his lips to the bottom of her collarbone, her chosen lingerie just slightly revealed to him. "You know," she continued as his hands traveled along her waist and down to her thighs, reaching under her skirt. He would find the garter soon. "I still think it's so fascinating that we share second and third houses but our first and last are completely opposite."

"What was the popular phrase?" his eyes widened briefly when he stumbled upon the garter, and then he slowly smiled, reaching his other hand under her skirt to grasp it with both.

"Opposites, um... match?"

"Attract," he chuckled, leaning forward to kiss her lips as his fingers caressed her thigh; "But 'match' is as good as anything. Especially for us," he whispered, his lips smiling against hers as he removed the garter. He drew back long enough to inspect the object in his fingers; "Interesting. Am I to assume there is more of this under... there?"

"Yes," she murmured, "Much, much more of it."

"Not too much more, I hope," he laughed.

"Do you like the buttons?" she asked after awhile.

"I love the buttons," he admitted, his tongue tracing her ear as she massaged his hair and neck with her fingers; "As long as you remain against me like this while I undo them."

"I could be nowhere else," she admitted softly, pressing her lips into his neck; "Ever."

"I know," he murmured, his tongue taking a short break as he wrapped his arms around her; "I love you, Dinah Snape."

"I love you, too, Severus. You are my life."

"As you are mine," he drew back to kiss her, his hands drifting over the finally revealed lingerie; "Beautiful..." he murmured against her lips.

She blushed; "Severus..."

His smile was teasingly light as he rested his forehead against hers; "Shall I attempt to take it off?"

"Please," she agreed, her hands sliding across his bare chest; "You're not shiny anymore."

"I can live with that," he laughed, leaning forward so he had her pinned flat on the bed and they finished undressing each other before they completed each other, their whispered names on each other's lips as they united.

Married.

Peaceful.

Not alone anymore.

* * *

A/N: Well, I think that's still T-rated, albeit just barely :D – for more "M" stuff head on over to the bonus story for some slight expansions on this scene plus an extra special bonus-exclusive stand-alone scene! :D


	171. Homecoming

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-ONE

Homecoming

* * *

Soft, warm fingers stroking her face had Dinah opening her eyes to the bright sunlight of their room in the little inn in the Cotswolds. She smiled as she looked up into the shining, happy gaze of her husband, Severus Snape. "Good morning," he said, staring at her in that way he did from time to time, with the love that overwhelmed her.

She felt her smile widen, placing her hand over the back of his, running her fingers along the soft, pale skin, and whispered back; "Good morning."

His smile widened but he did not say anything for a long time. He seemed to be thinking about so many things, his dark eyes considering her, regarding her, that smile not leaving his face. She let him watch her. It was a comfortable feeling, and as she watched his eyes in return she searched the depths, remembering everything they'd been through together. From their initial meetings and debates, through their slow and hesitant exploration of a relationship when he was so new to things, through their struggles when how much they meant to each other finally became clear to them, through the youthening and the fighting to discover their identities both within themselves and within each other, and finally to this moment.

"Good morning," he repeated, after she had lost track of time just gazing into his beautiful eyes.

She laughed, sliding her fingers into his hair, bringing more light into his eyes. Yes, she knew he loved it when she touched his hair. "You said that already," she informed him.

Severus laughed along with her. She loved the sound of his laughter. From back when it was only brief, mild, amused laughter at her expense, to this real laughter he had begun to express more and more the longer they were together. "What day is this?" he asked.

She smiled, feeling light. It seemed he had already lost track of how long they had been married; "The third," the truth of what they now were to each other hit her again and she felt her gaze soften, "My husband."

His lips twitched up at the words and that look of contentment that she adored seeing crossed his face. She thought she could stare at him forever, especially when he was looking at her like this. "I love you," he whispered, and she believed every word.

"Severus," she said softly, and his eyes closed as he savored the fact that she was speaking his name. Merlin, she loved this man so much. And she had been the one to make Severus Snape this happy, to give him the life that he had always deserved but never had. She would never allow him to feel that sadness, loneliness, and isolation that he had felt for so many years again. She would be by his side forever, just as he had kept himself alive through that mysterious, miraculous magic, only for her. To meet her. To allow them this. And her prophecy, too, had led her to Hogwarts to find him just at the right time. Tommy, the youthening, Grindelwald and Dumbledore. All the pieces were a part of it, bringing them together. It all fit together like it was meant to be.

It _was_ meant to be.

His dark lashes fluttered open again to look at her, "Dinah," he spoke her name like a caress, the same caress that his fingers were now applying to her cheek as he leaned over to kiss her. She responded instantly and without hesitation, reveling in this miracle. This togetherness.

Severus deepened the kiss slowly, carefully, and that was just how Dinah liked it right now. It gave them time to feel each other, gave her time to experience the full sensation of the softness of his lips and his tongue which was only lightly tracing the edge of her own lips. She let herself settle comfortably into the kiss, their mouths gently exploring each other, bathed in the morning sunlight and enveloped in the joy of their love.

This was their last full day here, but they didn't have any more specific plans for what to do with that time. That was just fine, though. There was no rush, and no pressure. They had all day and they had the rest of their lives to be like this, and there was nothing that she wanted more.

Their future was positively glittering with promise.

* * *

"Rain," Dinah laughed as they emerged onto the Hogwarts grounds early Monday morning, fog still hovering over the ground underneath the overcast sky; "That figures. Granted, I do think rain can be quite beautiful, and we touched for the first time in the rain," she smiled and fingered his hand in hers.

"Yes. I enjoyed the feeling on that day. It was also not a dark storm then," Severus smiled; "Still, the grounds look quite different from Thursday."

"I guess it's a sign. Back to the grind of normal life," she grinned at him.

"My life has not been normal until now," he murmured, pressing her fingers to his lips; "I am perfectly happy to live it as such."

Dinah smiled; "I know the feeling. Even though I played at a normal life in the Muggle world there were always so many things haunting the back of my mind. Yet now..."

He chuckled; "Now you are going to make me add yet _another _awful pet to our repertoire."

"Hey, my pets are not awful!" she retorted, laughing; "Speaking of which, I _do _kind of miss them. Godric hasn't gotten to attack you in ages. I wonder how Sarepta is doing..." she let her eyes rove over the grounds. "Hopefully she found a nice mate and has made a nest somewhere. You know, I should have had her come to the wedding!"

"Do snakes even understand the concept of marriage?" Severus raised an eyebrow.

"Eh, you probably have a point," she shrugged; "Well, it was a thought. Ready to go home, then?"

"Very," he agreed, leading them towards the Hogwarts main doors, and then suddenly he sighed; "I have twenty-five inch essays to grade, as well as exams to plan."

Dinah could not stop herself from bursting into laughter; "Well, _you _were the one who assigned the twenty-five inch essays. You might need to relax your teaching style just a _little _bit from now on, darling. Only because you are going to have a lot less free time in your new, 'normal' life. Sharing life with another tends to do that, you know."

"I confess I did not think about those specific details," he sighed; "But now I have no choice but to grade them. And there are still detentions with Corner and Blekinsop..."

She sighed and nodded. Since they had moved in together he conducted said detention sessions in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"I will make it up to you," he murmured into her ear as they stopped in front of the doors; "Besides, after this year I do not believe any Hogwarts students will ever think about cheating to that degree again."

"I can only hope not," she smiled as they pushed the doors open. He didn't let go of her hand as they continued down the hallway towards the stairs leading to the dungeons, the students they passed giving them curious looks. Well, they _had _been gone for some time, and together. Still, their cover-story about dealing with the Ministry regarding the recent incidents should have held up quite well.

"Home," Dinah smiled, wrapping her arms around Severus's waist as they arrived in their dungeon living area; "Oh!" she laughed as Godric raced to them, pawing first at her legs and then dancing circles around Severus's robes.

Severus, his cheek currently resting against her hair, sighed, releasing his grip on her waist and drawing away to kneel down, waving his wand in front of Godric; "It has been awhile, Cat," he smirked when Godric lashed forward to bite him; "You have not messed with anything while I was gone, have you?"

Dinah chuckled; "I shouldn't think so, you have closed cabinets and he's not Luc – LUCY!" she shrieked, flushing as a horrifying realization hit her.

Severus blinked at her, letting Godric chew on his sleeve for the time being, but all too quickly he also realized their mistake; "You gave her the key," his dark eyes flashed.

"Yes, it seemed so innocent at the time," Dinah buried her face in her hands; "She certainly took it with a smile and a number of agreeable words. How did we not consider...? Not even _you _considered-!"

"You and this whole 'love' thing does wonders to cloud the judgment," Severus snarled; "Even _I _– the great Severus Snape – distracted by wedding plans to the point where when you said 'let's give the dungeon key to Lucy so she can take care of our pets while we're gone' I simply said... 'all right'!" the thought seemed to horrify him more than any thought had so far this year.

Dinah giggled; "All right, 'the great Severus Snape'. You're human. Deal with it." At his annoyed look she laughed again but tried to be encouraging; "Still, yes, it is a problem. I guess you'd better go and check that she didn't do anything."

"Perhaps she didn't...?" he looked like he knew the hope was futile, so she just raised an eyebrow at him. He sighed, shoving Godric off of him and standing to approach the cabinet she had previously messed with. The one behind the dining room table. After a few moments of hesitation he flung the doors open and then frowned; "It appears to be in order."

"Hmm," Dinah wandered over to one of the cabinets behind the couch that Sarepta used to enjoy resting on top of and opened it. She bit her lip and flushed a little, but almost giggled again at what she saw; "Um... Severus? I seem to have found a rainbow." Indeed, the potions had been arranged by color in the order of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, and the culprit could be none other than their troublemaking friend.

"A... _what_?" he growled, storming over to her, his face flushed and quite nearly livid. It was ridiculously attractive when he got in this mode, but Dinah tried to ignore that for the time being. When he saw what she had revealed he looked murderous; "No! Not _all of them_! Where-" he shoved a few potions aside; "Where are the white and black and brown and grey ones?"

Dinah opened the next cupboard; "I think I found them."

"INFERNAL TROUBLEMAKING... TROUBLEMAKER... FOX!" Severus sputtered, his hands clenching into half-fists like claws in front of the lined-up potions, and he was only able to grab one potion and slam it onto the top of the shelf before slamming the doors shut and shouting; "I give up! I do not have time for this now! Does she have any idea how long it will take to rectify this?"

Dinah grinned nervously, placing a hand on his arm; "I do agree that she went a little overboard this time, but I'm sure we can fix it later. I'll help."

"In between grading twenty-five inch essays and finding time to please my wife, she thinks that-"

Dinah had to laugh, cutting him off; "Oh, I think seeing you in angry-powerful Severus mode like this pleases me, darling." He grumbled, but flushed a little as she kissed his cheek; "Granted, I also don't want you to over-stress yourself. We'll fix it, okay? Hey, it might even be fun. You like organizing things."

"Admittedly," he sighed. "Though I also prefer to only have to do it once. No matter, I suppose. But this shall not happen again. Sticking charms should suffice next time."

"Good idea," she smiled, turning around and spotting something; "Oh, look, there's an envelope on the coffee table. I bet it's the wedding pictures. We have time to look at them before breakfast."

"I suppose," he _almost _smiled, following her over to the couch as they settled down into their familiar old spots.

Dinah lifted up the envelope, leaning against Severus as she pulled the pictures out. She was greeted on top by a more distant image of the last close-up Larry had taken of the two of them together, their hands raised and interlocked, their rings shining in the sunlight as they smiled into each other's eyes, her in her wedding dress and veil and he in his shining dress robes; "Oh, Severus," she murmured, taking his hand and feeling a wave of emotion wash over her; "Look at us."

"Dinah," seeing the pictures seemed to have relaxed him as he pulled her close; "Yes. They came out well," he whispered into her hair.

She laughed; "Oh, look. Because it's a wizard picture it catches the tail end of you snapping back to annoyance and relief when Larry told us we were done."

"That's what you get with wizard pictures," he chuckled his agreement; nuzzling her cheek; "I confess I am curious to see how the Muggle ones turn out."

"Aww," she flushed, turning to kiss him; "Coming from you, that means so much. I'm sure Larry did us justice. Let's look through the rest of them." It was comfortable and so nice to just sit there, leaning against Severus, their hands clasped together on his knee as their free hands flipped through the pictures, making little comments, cuddling together... and then they came to one near the end.

Severus's face filling the whole frame, first blinking in surprise and then scowling and shouting as he lurched forward, ready to grab the camera from Sirius.

"_Sirius _... _Black_ ..." Severus snarled, clenching his fist around the edge of the picture; "He said he removed it! I actually trusted him. I have _had _it with your infernal canine friends, Dinah!"

She sighed; "I should have expected this too, I guess. But really, if this is the extent of the damage he did he was really on his best behavior for us, right?"

"I do not consider comparisons. I simply look at this at face value. Oh, bad choice of words," he winced as he stared at his image; "Probably loves the fact that he could get an up-close image of my nose."

"But you have a cute nose," she kissed said nose, smiling when her husband blushed and waved her off; "And yes, I think perhaps they should learn to mess with you a little less. A bit is one thing, but it can't go on like this forever. We need to establish some boundaries."

"I wonder..." Severus snarled; "My method of choice for dealing with Eugene..."

"No!" she knew he wasn't really serious, but still; "We are not using _Sectumsempra _on Sirius Black."

"Just a small wound?"

"No."

"On his toe? It doesn't even have to be the big toe."

She had to laugh; "_No_, Severus."

"Toenail, then."

"I don't think scars stay on toenails, Severus. Even _Sectumsempra _ones."

"It is the principle of the matter."

"Really? And here I thought that with Eugene you said it was all about the scar," she grinned.

He sighed, taking the pictures and stuffing them back into the envelope; "We'll look at the rest later. It would be good to make an appearance in the Great Hall for breakfast, given our long absence. And that way we can start out transitioning back into the daily routine while we're still together."

Dinah thought that sounded like a very good idea. They cast quick concealment charms on their rings and then took off hand-in-hand again down the halls. There were still the usual stares as they walked along towards the Great Hall, but the looks they got from the staff table when they arrived at their destination were the most pointed.

"I should have expected this," Severus grumbled, his eyes scanning the table; "If they do not stop _gawking _the students' attention will be drawn."

"Probably," Dinah admitted; "Oh, there's Lu...cy," she trailed off when her Lucy's friendly wave froze in midair and her husband growled a little. Turning to her left she noticed that he was glaring daggers at their friend. She smiled; "Best be a little nice right now, love. She looks a bit stunned at the moment and you'll surely be able to chastise her thoroughly later."

He sighed; "Fine," gave Lucy a curt nod, and then pulled back his chair to sit in his seat.

Dinah took her own seat next to him and eyed the wonderful-looking breakfast of fried eggs, kippers, and toast. She took ample quantities of each, smiling at Severus's occasional amused looks, and finishing off with an apple for 'dessert' before Hagrid seemed to get up enough courage to turn and give her a hearty congratulations.

She smiled at her half-giant colleague; "Thank you."

"Ah, an' congratulations ter you too, Professor Snape," Hagrid added, cautiously.

"Mm," Severus gave him a brief nod and went back to his food.

"Yes, congratulations! I can barely believe it's true, but congratulations to both of you!" Professor Vector, spurred on by Hagrid, added.

"Thank you," Dinah smiled again and Severus grunted agreement, frowning at his plate. "Don't draw too much attention though, okay?" she asked her two colleagues; "We want to give the press the summer to cool off before anybody finds out anything _more _about us."

"Of course, of course-"

"Congratulations!" a boisterous voice cut Professor Vector off, and Severus glared up at none other than Slughorn, bursting between them from behind. "I've been thinking about you two _all weekend _. Do tell me how things are going so far? You seem quite happy."

Dinah had to laugh at that, because right now Severus looked anything _but _happy; "We are. Very happy," she said, keeping up her usual role in their relationship of tempering Severus's scowls and general grumpiness by being extra genial to the man; "But do you think you might keep your voice down a little?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, of course, yes, absolutely," he nodded; "Eugene extends his hearty congratulations as well."

"We have class," Severus suddenly snapped, slapping his napkin onto the table and standing in one swift movement; "If you'll excuse us," he nodded at Slughorn.

"Yes, yes," Slughorn smiled knowingly at Severus and leaned over and whispered to Dinah; "Eugene _does _extend his congratulations. I didn't think Severus would be happy but I still had to convey the message."

"Understood," she smiled; "Thank you. To both of you."

Severus walked with her about halfway down the halls to the point where they would have to separate to get to their individual classrooms; "I will see you at lunch," he said, briefly kissing her cheek; "Best of luck in your friendly classes."

"Best of luck in your evil ones," she teased back, hugging his waist once before smiling at him; "This is our life now?"

He smiled, taking the time to briefly nuzzle his forehead against hers; "Yes. Now go to class," he inclined his head in that direction, stepping back when some students started to stare.

She nodded and turned to head into her classroom. Back to normal life. But it held so much more than ever before. She had a home and a husband to go back to after each day, to discuss her work with, relax together, cuddle together, be intimate together, sleep together, and then eat breakfast together and start everything over again the next day. Every woman's dream, thirty-nine years waiting for it, was now hers. But it was better than that. It was Severus. It wasn't the same as everyone else's life. It was _her _life. And it was perfect.

"Good morning," she cheerfully greeted her students, taking the time to smile at Andrew and an oddly worried-looking Mae. She'd have to check and see if things were all right with her young friend later; "I trust you've all been studying hard in my absence?" She made it to the front of the class and spun around to face her students, sort of glad that Grubbly-Plank was not here because surely the woman would make some sort of comment about her 'glowing' again. She chuckled at the thought and began her class.

After she dismissed the students a timid question of; "Professor Samson?" had her looking up to see the still-concerned looking Mae Yates approaching her.

In her head, Dinah pleasantly corrected the girl's use of her maiden name to Professor Snape. Outwardly, she said; "Yes, Mae? Everything all right?"

"I think so," the girl said timidly; "I just wanted to make sure everything was all right with you and Professor Snape. The Ministry didn't do anything too mean to you or anything this weekend, did they?"

"Oh," Dinah smiled. This was just about the nicest girl on the planet, she thought. "Of course not, don't worry, Mae. Professor Snape and I had a very nice weekend." She did wish she could tell this girl about her marriage, but it was better not to risk anything especially with Mae's friend Lisette Jorkins _still _highly suspicious of her parselmouth abilities. But she would make sure that Mae and Andrew knew right away at the beginning of next school year.

"Oh, good!" True to her resilient nature, as soon as she knew everything was okay the girl perked up again, grinning up at Dinah. She really did see a lot of herself in the girl, Dinah thought. But Mae and Andrew would, hopefully, not have to wait thirty-nine years to find the happiness she and Severus had. Though it was, of course, worth the wait if the wait needed to be had.

"Thank you for asking. You'd better hurry to your next class though, shouldn't you? Exams are coming up in just a week, after all. Think you're ready for them?" she grinned.

"All of them except Professor Snape's," Mae admitted with a laugh, and Dinah laughed along with her before sending the girl on her way.

Dinah was just about to go back to the dungeons and snag her laptop to use on break when a red-headed figure burst through the door and flung herself at Dinah for a huge hug before Dinah could even register what was going on.

In a second, when her brain had finished its processing, Dinah laughed and hugged the figure; "It's nice to see you too, Lucy." _Well, we already saw your handiwork this morning_... her inner monologue spoke in warning.

Lucy grinned as she let go, "Hi. So, how was it? You've got to tell me everything, even if that does make me a little bit too much like your Aunt Mildred."

Dinah had to laugh again. Aunt Mildred did make a lasting impression; "It was... lots of fun. I made Severus go swimming on Friday. And on Saturday we made good use of your kiwi-flavored present. Figured you might like to know, only since you were the one who bought it," she winked at her friend, intending for that to be the extent of the 'too-much-information' she would offer.

"Well, at least someone got to enjoy them," she chewed on her lip a bit but did not say more. "See," she said, grinning at Dinah, "I stopped there. I _can_ learn."

"Good," Dinah chuckled; "And anyway, we all have slow times. It's a part of life. Besides, exam week is coming up and... ah, yes, Lucy, um... about what you did with the potions..."

"Oh…um…yes. In retrospect I may have gone a little overboard…" she blushed.

Dinah sighed; "Well, at least you realize it. I mean, moving three around was funny and cute, and I think Severus enjoys getting flustered like that to an _extent_, but all of them... We noticed two cabinets before breakfast, were there any more you messed with?"

"Um, just one more. It's right next to the other two."

"Three, then," Dinah frowned. "All right. No more, okay? Severus is intending to put sticking charms on his potions from now on. I noticed a lot of them don't have labels. The labels are on the shelves but not the bottles, jars, and vials themselves. Not exactly the most efficient method in my opinion, as good as Severus is with that sort of thing – but I find wizards are not always as efficient as Muggles. This school certainly isn't run as efficiently as Muggle schools are..." she sighed again; "It will probably take a very long time to fix, that's all I'm saying."

Lucy nodded, "I understand. I'd offer to help fix them but I'm assuming that wouldn't be a good idea and honestly, I assumed he'd have some sort of identification on the containers otherwise I wouldn't have done so many."

"You should have looked more carefully. Some of them have labels but not all of them. I'll tell Severus I lectured you but it still might not spare you at least a passing mention from him. Especially since the up-close picture Sirius took of him has also got him a little riled."

Lucy frowned, "I knew I should have taken that one out. I mean I don't think it's a bad picture really but I figured he'd be annoyed by it. I suppose this means I'll have to be extra nice if I want him to come to the wedding then. Especially as I don't think you'd come without him…not that I'd expect you to, mind."

"Extra nice will probably help," Dinah offered her friend a lopsided grin; "But I'm sure we'll still come to the wedding. Besides, I do think you've gotten the message."

Lucy giggled, "I suppose the impulse control goes along with my babbling issue. I swear sometimes you wouldn't believe I was a Ravenclaw. But do you still think you would come if I told you the wedding was tomorrow?" she teased.

"Hmm, I might have to drag him by the tail of his robes," Dinah laughed. "Let's just suffice it to say it's a good thing the wedding is _not _tomorrow. Besides, I think Minerva would lose her mind. She's got enough on her plate already what with the Triwizard Tournament details Dumbledore left her to finish."

Lucy laughed, shaking her head, "No, I wouldn't do that to Minerva. She'd probably kill me. It's going to be stressful enough doing it about a week before the Yule Ball…Anyway, tell me. What do you think of life as an old married woman?"

Dinah sighed, smiling; "Lucy, it's wonderful. I mean, not that much has changed but just knowing that our life is _our _life now. That I will just casually, every day, go back to my _home _with Severus. Go about the most menial, ordinary tasks, but always sharing them with another person. I know it sounds silly, but just living life in an ordinary way like that makes me so happy."

"That sounds so nice," Lucy smiled, "I want that. I guess I sort of have that but it'll be different when he's moved in here and around all the time."

"Yes. Of course, Severus and I were living together a week before the wedding and we saw each other an awful lot even before that, but it's just... different when you know you're married."

Lucy sighed, "I can't wait. Of course I just have to be contrary and prefer a winter wedding to a summer one. And try to be considerate enough to schedule it during break, too…oh, I hope that didn't sound like I thought you were inconsiderate with your wedding. I just mean there's going to be so much more going on next year with the Tournament and all."

"No, I understand," Dinah admitted, looking past Lucy towards the door. "Do you mind if I run down to the dungeons? You can join me if you like. I wanted to get my laptop and spend my breaks today working on my Muggle-born survey write-up. I'm just days away from being finished with it."

"Oh, uh," Lucy hesitated, "That's fine. You go ahead and go. I don't think I need to chance running into your husband just yet. I should probably get back to my office hours anyway."

Dinah laughed. Lucy had a habit of cancelling her office hours for random reasons quite often; "Probably. Severus is in class all morning, but you never know we might just brush past him." Lucy almost winced at the thought and Dinah smiled; "He'll get over it, as long as you've promised to stop from now on."

"Well, I'll promise to stop moving his potions though I don't know that I can promise to stop messing with him. I can temper myself from now on though."

"Mm," Dinah considered her; "Just remember, all people have boundaries and I'm allowed to mess with him much more than others are allowed to. I _am _his wife after all," she smiled to soften her words.

Lucy giggled, "Yes, you are. It might not always seem like it but I do know people have boundaries. After all, I'm not sure that Snuffles would let you rub his tummy."

Dinah followed her friend towards the exit and they split off, Dinah thinking that even _she _knew enough that her dog and fox friends were really Sirius and Lucy that she surely wouldn't desire to rub either of their tummies. Godric, on the other hand, was a full cat and greeted her desperate for affection when she made it home. She couldn't stay long though, rather took her laptop back to her classroom and continued to work on her write-up during both of her breaks. In-between, her fourth years class had plenty of questions about her laptop.

Finally it was lunchtime, and Dinah realized with pleasure that although she was thrilled to go and see Severus again she hadn't felt any sort of rush for this hour to come. They were really falling into a comfortable routine.

Her husband was just pulling his chair back to sit down for the provided beef stew when Dinah walked in, approaching her seat next to him. His gaze shifted to her and he gave a small smile, which she returned. The staff seemed to be less inclined to stare at this second meal of the day, too. Sitting down, she piled her plate high before turning to Severus; "Classes?"

"Well enough," he replied. "And yours?"

"The same. I'm afraid I've barely given any thought to my exams, but I suppose I have the rest of the week to get it all figured out. Oh," she smiled as she remembered, taking a chunk of beef onto her fork; "Mae was quite worried that we'd had a difficult weekend at the Ministry. I assured her that our weekend was a pleasant one."

Severus rolled his eyes, but his lips twitched into a near-smile; "Miss Yates and her incessant concern for others; if she wasn't so ridiculously intelligent in class I would assume she was a Hufflepuff."

"Really? Mae tells me that you criticize her answers in class."

"She's not a Slytherin."

"You," she gave his leg a light kick under the table.

"Ow," he said pointedly.

She had to laugh, and in a moment so did he, lightly. "You know, in a way I feel like we've come full circle," Dinah said. "Hogwarts is normal again, we're here in the Great Hall, things are so... casual."

"Yes, but at the beginning of the year your seat was two away from mine. We associated regularly with _Eugene_," he snarled in disgust, and then almost smiled again. How he could change moods so fast she would never know. "And if we were to cast _Revelio _on our hands we would not have found Gryffindor-and-Slytherin-colored rings."

"So true," she smiled, wishing to cast the charm right now and examine her sparkling adornments. Well, she would have to wait until evening for that. As her gaze took in the staff table, she realized that Lucy was absent from lunch and, in the one major difference from the beginning of the year, Minerva was eating at the head of the table instead of Dumbledore. She sighed; "Of course, at the beginning of the year, the headmaster was here."

"That is..." Severus sighed, turning his fork around in his hands; "Unfortunate. Yes. It would have been better that he could have had this normalcy..."

"Mm," she frowned at her plate, wishing that Dumbledore and Grindelwald had not had to die right after being reunited. That they could have had a chance to build the life together that she and Severus were able to do; "We'll have to live for them," she decided.

"Of course," he agreed. "That is exactly what we're doing and what he asked us to do. For once, I am perfectly happy to follow his orders without question."

"Yes," Dinah said, nodding. "Me too."


	172. Routine

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-TWO

Routine

* * *

Dinah's Monday afternoons were positively filled with non-stop classes, so it was such a relief to _finally _be able to come home to the dungeons for dinner. Severus was already standing near the kitchen table, his eyes lighting with pleasant recognition when he saw her at the door and his lips turning up at the corners.

"_Revelio_," Dinah said, pointing her wand at her left hand to make the rings reappear, and then walking over to wrap her arms around him. He had already taken off his bat-like outer robes and revealed his own ring; "Good day?"

"Yes, but better now," he smiled, kissing her lips. He then turned and frowned at the cabinets on the wall; "However, I think we should address this potions issue sooner rather than later."

"Oh, of course," she agreed. "I did speak to Lucy during my first break of the day and told her in no uncertain terms that she had gone too far this time. She says she won't mess with your potions again, and I do think that I believe her."

"Excellent. I appreciate that," he hugged her waist, and then waltzed over to the first cabinet, opening it and snarling a little at the rainbow he revealed; "At least half of them will need to be sniffed before we can determine for certain what they are. Some may need to be manually tested as well." He sighed; "In case of breakage, certain potions need to go next to each other because if the wrong two potions mix together disaster can result. I suppose your friend never considered that either?"

Dinah flushed, standing next to him to regard their awaiting project; "No. And neither did I. It does make perfect sense, though," she rested her arm on his shoulder; "Granted, putting labels on all of the vials may have helped."

He growled a little; "Perhaps. Yes. I won't say that wouldn't have been a better option. But the only time anyone ever invaded my personal stores before was when Barty Crouch Jr. was impersonating Mad-Eye Moody."

"And you blamed Harry Potter for it."

"Yes, well, it seemed something he might do," Severus said in a resentful purr, his eyes narrowing a little; "Granted, I was mistaken."

Dinah covered her mouth to hide her smile; "At least you admit it. And I do admit that given their history of brewing Polyjuice potion it makes sense – in a way – that it would be your first conclusion;" she smiled as his lips twitched again. He truly enjoyed having her on his side, even if it was just a little bit, when it came to some of these old mistakes of his. "Well, I suppose we should get started. Lucy said she messed with one more cabinet-" Dinah cut herself off as she opened said cabinet and was faced with a bunch of clear liquids. "All the clear potions are in here. I suppose one might consider her color-coding scheme somewhat artistic."

"If I was collecting paints then perhaps yes," he agreed in a disdainful tone. "But these are potions and color is only one minor facet of their strength and power. Now, if you would just start with the cabinet you already have open, Dinah, and first remove the potions with labels and set them – hm," he frowned, flicking his wand and summoning the dining room table over to switch places with the couch; "There. Put them on the table. We shall rearrange the furniture again when we're finished."

"Good, because I like our couch where it is," Dinah teased, and he smiled a bit as he opened the cabinet which held the white, grey, brown, and black potions. It didn't take long for them to set all the labeled potions on the table behind them. It ended up taking care of about half of the issue, which was good.

"Now, the remainder," Severus sighed, lifting a jar containing a black liquid and very cautiously sniffing it; "Doxycide. I thought as much from the look of it. Well?" he looked at her; "Aren't you going to do the same? Select something from that cabinet you're standing in front of and tell me what it smells like."

Dinah felt her eyes widen; "Are you sure? I mean, that I could be useful in that way? That I would identify the scents properly? _You're _the expert here."

He half-smiled, half-smirked; "You excelled in potions if I recall. Slughorn certainly speaks highly of you for that. You may not identify everything but I would hardly call you not useful."

She smiled, selecting a clear potion and twisting off the lid, leaning over to sniff it as carefully as Severus had done. A wave of scents invaded her nostrils and she tried as hard as she could to isolate one; "Ginger root, I think, and... armadillo bile, maybe... Wit-Sharpening potion?" she turned to ask her husband.

A slow smile spread across his face and he looked very pleased as he took the vial from her, his fingers brushing against hers in the passing; "Yes. You see? You identified it perfectly."

She laughed, blushing; "Well, maybe some of it was because of the effects of said wit-sharpening."

"I don't think so," he shook his head; "Obviously you know the basics of sniffing potions for identification. I did not even instruct you in it because I knew you understood. A brief sniff of that sort would not affect you. Only prolonged inhalation, and then only for certain potions."

"Right. Didn't think about it in so many words but I did know that," Dinah smiled and went back to the cabinet, grabbing another and briefly sniffing it; "Asphodel and wormwood?"

"Draught of living death," he nodded.

"Honestly, Severus, of all the potions _not _to label!" Dinah sighed, stoppering it again and handing it to him; "I could never make that one properly in class."

"Few can," he agreed, smiling slightly; "The book's instructions are faulty. I believe we've discussed it before."

"Mm, yes," she smiled, recalling it; "That was yours, wasn't it? You were the only student to ever make it properly."

"Until Potter got a hold of my book, that is," he snarled a little, labeling the potion before setting it onto the table. "Infernal cheat. Had Slughorn completely fooled into thinking he was some sort of potions-master-in-the-making."

"Ah, how unfortunate," she chuckled a little, shrugging; "He knows the difference now."

"Thankfully."

"I wish I could have seen the book."

"It is, as I understand it, _somewhere _in the Room of Requirement. I see no reason to go search endlessly for it, though. I have all of the key information in my head and in my notes here."

"Perhaps I will one day force you to teach me the proper way to brew certain things," she smiled.

"I think I would enjoy that," he murmured agreement; "But we should continue. You _would _like to eat sometime tonight, wouldn't you?"

"You mean we're not breaking for dinner?"

He smirked, his gaze teasing; "I think not, especially as our table is now occupied."

"Oh, you!" Dinah sighed, waiting for her stomach to start rumbling. It didn't yet but she knew it would soon.

"You promised to help me, remember? Although," he seemed to consider; "I suppose if we reach the point where you are considering drinking one of the potions I may change my mind and order something up."

"You're so generous," she rolled her eyes and went back to looking through the potions. She honestly felt a little proud that Severus considered her competent enough to handle the 'clear' cabinet. There was little in the way of color and texture to identify these potions, so she had to do almost all of it on scent alone. This one she had just picked up had color, though. Well, sort of. It had a bit of a shimmering sheen as she unscrewed the lid, leaning over and taking a brief, hesitant sniff.

"Oh," she murmured, her eyes widening as she breathed in pure ecstasy. She leaned over and inhaled again, and again, although she knew it was a bad idea.

"Dinah, what are you...?" Severus growled his protest at her actions.

She forced herself to lift her head from the glorious bottle; "It smells like... you! And... and rain, and the shampoo that we use..." her voice was a little weak, she couldn't help but think.

"Amortentia," Severus muttered, snatching it from her. He held it away from him as he lifted the lid back to it, and then paused, considering, and pulled it to his nose to give it a quick sniff. His lips parted slightly and he sighed, his eyes rolling back in his head a little as he pulled away from it; "Food... shampoo... your hair. Merlin, Dinah. Why did you have to find this one?"

She giggled, liking his reaction; "Sorry. I'm afraid it has to be labeled, though. And I'm not sure how I feel about being associated so intimately with food."

"My apologies," he hurriedly closed and labeled the vial, setting it far away from them on the table; "But I can't alter it. After all, food _is _your one other true love, isn't it?"

"Mm, yes, though you win by a margin," she grinned.

"I wasn't really worried," he came to her, pressing his lips lightly to hers. She responded with a hum of contentment as they both inhaled, taking in each other's scents that they had indulged in with the Amortentia. "But," he continued, releasing her lips after a moment; "we should really continue with our task."

She smiled and nodded. They would have the whole night to themselves for more sweet moments, and besides, organizing potions with her husband was _fun_. Learning about his system, helping him out, exchanging ideas and thoughts. It was all wonderful, romantically, socially, and intellectually. And by the time they were finished the shelves were perfect and she now knew where everything was. All his potions and ingredients and the things she might need or want to use in the future. Technically they all belonged to her now as well, he had assured her at some point during their task.

All in all, the rest of the night was perfect. It had been so enjoyable organizing the potions that she had utterly forgotten about dinner. But when finished they did eat, still talking on about potions and organization and their classes and all the parts of their new life together. They showered together afterwards, washed each other's hair with that shampoo that had been reflected in both of their Amortentia aromas, indulged in each other, and then fell asleep all cozy and comfortable in each other's arms.

* * *

"She really thought we were _avoiding _her this entire time?" Dinah repeated the incredulous idea to Severus as they walked down the halls to meet Lucy and Sirius near the main doors for the last Quidditch game of the season: Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw.

"Yes, I have told you this," Severus laughed; "I know. She is quite insecure, but she has been assured that that wasn't the case."

Dinah sighed, shaking her head. "We'll have to be more careful from now on. It's so hard to know what she's thinking when we say anything. Though I suppose it's understandable.." she sighed again, thinking about what Severus had told her yesterday. It seemed Lucy had come to his office in tears thinking that they were both _mad _at her for the potions incident to the point where they didn't want to come near her for a month. Dinah had definitely not gotten that impression when she'd talked to Lucy after class on Monday but perhaps she just wasn't that good at reading her friend's signals yet.

And it seemed, according to Severus, that most of her problems stemmed from her relationship with her estranged father. Lucy had mentioned the man before and Dinah already knew that he had mistreated her and had not wanted her and that it affected Lucy from time to time, but not that it was the ultimate source of all of her insecurities. Though, like she said, it _was _understandable...

"Yes, we should be more careful, admittedly," her husband agreed. "At the same time, I doubt she wants to be coddled... not that you're one to do such a thing, love," he pressed a kiss to her ear; "Still, preventing such situations in the future would be wise."

"Yes, of course," Dinah smiled; "Which means less scowling at her on your part, right?"  
He sighed dramatically; "I shall _attempt _it. At the same time, she should be able to become resilient to such things in the future. It's a fine line to walk."

"True." Dinah was so pleased that Severus cared so much about helping Lucy like this. Perhaps because he had suffered neglect at the hands of his own father. Still, she wondered if her husband realized what a kind person he was deep down. Not only to herself, but to others as well.

In a few moments, Lucy and Sirius arrived, Lucy waving somewhat shyly at them as they approached.

Trying her best to appear casual, Dinah waved back; "Hi. Have all your exams ready yet?"

Lucy took a deep breath and let it out. "Mostly. Essays, essays, and more essays. I suppose that's par for the course when teaching literature though. You?"

"Same here," she smiled; "Sev's decided to enhance the practical portion of his exams and back off on the essays this time, after those twenty-five inch ones he spent all week slaving over. Right?" she turned to tease her husband, who was – not unexpectedly – scowling. So much for his attempts. Granted, he was of course not scowling _at _Lucy this time.

"Yes," he admitted quietly. Vindictively. "However, the practical portion shall be difficult. Extremely difficult."

Lucy giggled, "Well, I don't imagine it could be any worse than his Potions practical. So," she said as they headed out the door, "who do you think is going to win? We've got a little friendly bet going on here."

"Ravenclaw... _must _win," Severus insisted, frowning. Dinah smiled. He had been saying that all week. Just couldn't bear a Gryffindor win, even now. Although Ravenclaw was so far ahead in the point total at this point it would be hard for Gryffindor to get the cup even if they _did _win this game.

"Well," she agreed amiably, "Ravenclaw really _has _had a good year. They're almost guaranteed the cup, but the winner of this specific game is, at this point, a toss-up."

"I don't know how you could bet against Gryffindor, Lu," Sirius said, "If I didn't know better I'd think you wanted Ginny to lose."

She rolled her eyes, knowing he was only teasing, "Well, I don't really want her to lose, I'd just rather Ravenclaw win."

"Shall we see if we can find seats with Mae and Andrew and maybe Tad and Jania again?" Dinah suggested, turning a grin to Sirius; "I recall last time you had a long conversation with the two boys about Quidditch. Two _Slytherins_, mind you."

"Merlin, you're kidding me. I must have been very ill that day," Sirius said, and Dinah suspected that he was purposefully exaggerating a bit, but his reaction _was _very amusing.

"Oh, honestly Sirius, you can't be surprised," Lucy said. "We were sitting in the Slytherin section after all. Besides those are probably two of the most un-Slytherin-like boys I know. They're very nice."

"They did know quite a bit about Quidditch…" Sirius consented.

Severus was wearing a satisfied smirk, but Dinah wished Lucy had said un-Death-Eater-like or something instead of un-Slytherin-like. After all, they _were _Slytherins and the point was to show that not all _Slytherins _were bad, and that the stereotypical 'Slytherin' was just that – a stereotype. Okay, it was a fairly accurate stereotype, but not a one-_hundred _percent accurate one. Dinah sighed. She really needed to figure this out. Her surveys had brought so many issues to light and publishing the report was one useful thing to do with her newfound knowledge, but she was just sure that there was _more _that she could do.

Lucy turned to Dinah, "We can sit wherever you want. If we can find Mae and Andrew we can sit with them."

They found Mae and Andrew in short order, sitting in one of the Ravenclaw stands. Sirius grumbled a bit about not sitting with the Gryffindors, but they managed to convince him that Severus sitting with the Gryffindors would be a crime of epic proportions and would probably distract the team too much for them to even have a chance at winning. Nobody argued with that logic.

Mae's eyes lit up when she saw them sliding into the row behind her and she tugged on Andrew's robes to get him to look. "Hi, Professor Samson! Hi, Professor Snape!"

"Hi," Dinah grinned at them.

"Miss Yates, Speasy," Severus curtly addressed them in turn and they continued down the row so that Lucy and Sirius could fit in. Unfortunately, this resulted in Severus sitting behind a student who had chosen to wear a gigantic black hat in the shape of a raven. Dinah couldn't tell who it was at first, but Severus seemed to.

"Miss Lovegood," he snarled; "Five points from Ravenclaw for obstructing the view of others."

"Oh, but I believe my hat is regulation height, Professor Snape," Luna murmured, turning her head to watch them; "But I suppose I shall lose the points either way."

"Sorry, Luna," Dinah offered the girl an apologetic smile.

She shook her head, smiling vaguely; "Oh, that's quite all right, Professor Samson. I know how things are."

"Dinah, switch seats with me," Severus muttered at her.

"No!" she retorted. "You're taller than me and I'm certain you can see fine. Slytherin's not even playing."

"I still have a greater vested interest in this game than you do, Miss 'I Don't Care Who Wins'," he retorted.

"I'm staying in my seat, Severus," she said firmly, and then leaned over and whispered in his ear; "By the way, that's _Mrs._" That got him to smile, reaching across to take her hand into his and rest it on his lap. Luna smiled at them and then turned back to the game.

Severus was stuck.

"Would you like me to sit _on_ Sirius so you can have my seat? Luna's not doing anything wrong. You'll notice no one else sat directly behind her. We were the idiots who didn't take note," Lucy offered.

"That seems rather complicated," Severus grumbled.

"Not too complicated, just slightly inappropriate," Lucy grinned. "Of course we'd be doing far less than those two over there," she pointed to a Ravenclaw couple intertwined in what looked like a rather complicated manner.

Severus glowered at them and shot out of his seat. "I shall remove points from-" he began, starting to march off, but Dinah cut him off with a grasp of his arm.

"Severus. No. You do not need to trudge through this crowd of people simply to remove points from those students. You might get stuck and never find your way back as busy as it is today. This isn't the Yule Ball, after all. Sit back down."

He growled, but obeyed; "Why must I listen to you?"

"Because what I said makes sense?"

"Hardly," he snorted, glaring off at those students.

Lucy giggled, "Here," she said, standing on her seat and shooting some gently prodding sparks at the younger couple with her wand, "Do you two mind taking a breather?" she shouted to be heard over the crowd.

"Sorry, Professor," the boy called, blushing.

"Yeah, sorry," the girl added.

Lucy thanked the students with a cordial smile and sat back down. "Is that better?" she asked Severus.

"Point removal would be preferable, but I suppose so," he muttered reply.

"Hush you two. They're releasing the Quaffle," Sirius said, staring intently at the pitch.

Dinah turned and watched, making sure she snagged Severus's hand again now that he was resigned to sitting in his current seat. It didn't take long for Gryffindor to score a goal, and Dinah's fingers to receive a constricting shock as Severus snarled out at the pitch, a sharp contrast to Sirius who had nearly leapt from his seat with joy.

"Infernal Ravenclaw Keeper!" Severus growled at the pitch; "That could have been saved easily."

"Oh," Luna said, airily, "I think he did an excellent job of staying on his broom. Why with all the wrackspurts around his head…"

Severus's eye roll was so dramatic and exaggerated that Dinah had to laugh. Yes, Luna was… unique. Her husband most definitely had a low tolerance for such things.

Lucy giggled too. "Gryffindor has good Chasers," she said, which did little to pacify Severus. Though he admittedly relaxed his grip so Dinah's fingers could breathe again. Holding her husband's hand during Quidditch games was _almost _more trouble than it was worth.

On the positive side, Ravenclaw quickly scored as well, which made Severus and Lucy happy but understandably disappointed Sirius, while Dinah, true to her nature, just watched and couldn't help but hope the kids were at least having fun. Okay, maybe she _was _an over-the-top idealist. Well, no matter!

The game went back and forth; Gryffindor edging out Ravenclaw only to have Ravenclaw come right back, and then Dinah's fingers were attacked again when the two Seekers flew by, neck and neck, to attempt to capture the snitch. In a finale worthy of the Quidditch Final, the Ravenclaw Seeker beat out Ginny Weasley by the barest margin to capture the little golden prize.

"It's about bloody time!" Severus growled at the Seeker, standing and clapping vigorously for Ravenclaw while Dinah shook her hand out.

"Well, at least it was an exciting game," Dinah offered, turning to grin at the beaming Lucy and scowling Sirius.

"Yes, it was," Lucy breathed, before turning and triumphantly announcing to Sirius that she'd won the bet and consequently got a weekend with her Weasley family. Dinah was glad she seemed cheerful again.

"We won, Professor Samson!" Mae Yates spun around to face her professors excitedly; "Ravenclaw won the Quidditch Cup my first year here!"

"I know! Congratulations!" Dinah smiled; "It must be the best thing to get that in your first year. I suppose it's even better if you win that _and _the house cup, though it probably doesn't happen often."

"If anyone can do it, it's Gryffindor when in the presence of the famous Harry Potter," Severus muttered. "I seem to recall that happening in his third year."

"Yes, well," Dinah shrugged. "I think the only reason that Gryffindor and Slytherin are always the ones winning these things is because it _matters _to them so much more than the other houses. They make such a deal of it."

"And you suggest we not do that," he raised an eyebrow.

She shrugged again, grinning; "I offer no answers. Only questions and ideas."

"Typical," he snorted, but offered her a slight smile.

"They win because they spend more time _practicing_," Sirius said, joining the conversation. "The other two Houses don't spend as much time on the pitch. At least that was my experience while here. James was down here practicing as much as he could."

"Endlessly," Severus agreed, rolling his eyes; "This year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw did practice more than usual, though. I'll give them that."

"And it paid off," Lucy said, still grinning like an idiot.

"That it did," Dinah agreed; "The students all seem to be happy about it, too," she chuckled at Luna's raven-shaped hat which was now cawing as though it were alive while the girl clapped demurely along with her fellow students.

Mae giggled; "Professor Samson, I've been studying really hard for your exam but I had a couple of really important questions I needed to ask you! Will you have normal office hours next week?"

"Yes," Dinah smiled, glad Mae was so dedicated to her class. She hadn't really planned a particularly evil exam and was sure the girl would do fine, but it was nice that she wanted advice; "Your exam is Wednesday, right? You can come to my office during my normal office hours any time before that."

"Great! Thank you!" Mae and Andrew shuffled out along with Luna who was chatting amiably with them as Mae complimented her bizarre hat.

Dinah laughed; "It's nice to see Luna with the first years."

"If she convinces Mae and Andrew that there are such things as wrackspurts and crumple-horned snorkacks I'm afraid I'll have to take away more points," Severus grumbled, but nodded.

Lucy giggled, "Well, I hate to just take off on you guys but I promised Aunt Molly we'd be over after the match."

"You told her we were coming before you won the bet?" Sirius demanded. Dinah hid a laugh. It was fairly humorous that Lucy would do such a thing.

"Of course. I was very confident," Lucy turned to look back at the other couple for a moment, "Before I forget, do you think I might come over one evening? I've got some things I wanted to ask Severus. I started to last Thursday but that wasn't the right time and we've all be busy since then…Nothing life or death, I promise."

Last Thursday? That was the wedding. Dinah exchanged a glance with Severus, but she could not think of what Lucy might be referring to. "You're welcome to come, certainly. Just let us know when," Dinah said, after Severus nodded to her silent question, indicating that he was fine with it as well.

"All right. Thanks! We'll see you later then," she said, pulling Sirius out of his seat, "Have a nice weekend," she waved as they went their separate ways.

"I wonder what that was about," Dinah said as she and Severus made their way back across the sunny grounds towards Hogwarts.

"I wouldn't know. I suppose we shall find out next week."

She nodded, and then smiled to herself; "You know what?"

"Yes?" he asked with a slight smile back at her.

"Mae is kind of… oh, I don't know, I'm just really glad she wants my advice and has stood by us throughout everything that's happened this year. Andrew, too. She sort of reminds me of Abigail Burns, the first year I tutored when I was also a … first year…" she frowned, recalling; "It was nice at the time, having a younger student who looked up to me and wanted my help with things, but she was so quick to run away when she found out I was a parselmouth. Mae never did that. It really makes me happy that I can have that kind of relationship again."

"I see. That makes sense. I'm glad for you," he smiled more easily, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Mm," she smiled back; "I mean, it doesn't exactly erase everything that happened back then, especially since according to Rita Skeeter Abigail still dislikes me and thinks I'm 'suspicious'," she rolled her eyes at the thought of peoples' behavior. It was good everybody knew about her now. Things would change, slowly, she was sure. "But it helps," she finished.

"Of course. We should probably not try to erase our pasts anyway."

"No, of course not," she nodded. "They've shaped who we are, led us to this point. No, definitely no erasing."

He frowned; "Of course, you still have Mae's friend Miss Jorkins to contend with. She hasn't softened her opinion of you at all, though thankfully our Miss Yates seems to brush aside any of those comments."

"She does indeed," Dinah smiled, an idea occurring to her; "I think I'm going to drop by Minerva's office. I saw her head back already, probably since Gryffindor lost – so much for being an impartial headmistress," she chuckled. "I want to talk to her about setting that thing up for next year. The one I talked to the headmaster's portrait about."

Severus nodded; "Ah yes, your inter-house, let's all get along, weekly get-together idea. Well, I leave the planning to you – it _is _your area of expertise, after all."

She laughed; "No offense, but I don't think I'd want your help even if you offered it."

"I don't intend to offer it."

"Then we have an understanding," she laughed along with him as they entered the school. "I'll see you in a bit then?"

"Indeed," he leaned over to briefly kiss her, blatantly ignoring any students that were standing witness, and headed towards the dungeons while Dinah took the fastest detour to the headmistress's office. It was a bit sad that the password had now changed to 'The cat's glasses', but there it was. The staircase revealed itself and she headed up.

Minerva was engraving the Ravenclaw players' names on the Quidditch Cup when Dinah entered, but looked up and smiled when she saw her guest; "Ah, Professor Dinah Snape, is it?" the older woman teased.

Dinah blushed, realizing that this was the first time someone other than herself, Severus, or those immediately involved in the wedding had called her that. She loved how it sounded even more now. "Yes, I wondered if you had a minute."

"Of course. The Ravenclaws can wait a bit for their trophy," Minerva chuckled, and Dinah couldn't help but laugh. Yes, she was _eventually_ going to have to become a bit more impartial, but it was still early on in her appointment; "What do you need?"

"Well, there are a couple of things," she admitted. "Firstly, I don't know how much you know about the Muggle-born survey that I administered earlier in this year, what Dumbledore shared with you about our plans for it."

"He was very curious why you hadn't finished it yet," Minerva smiled.

She had to flush again; "Well, it's been an, ah... eventful year."

"Oh, I know. You have had quite a few other things on your mind from the very beginning. From what I understand, the survey, when complete, would have been gone over by the headmaster, the results revealed at least to the school, perhaps to the press or the Ministry depending upon what they were…"

"Yes, and I _would _like to do that – reveal the results, though I think like my marriage I'd rather wait until the beginning of next year to do so. I need a summer off."

"Perfectly understandable," she nodded.

"The survey is nearly done, though. I should have the write-up completed this weekend and get it to you next week. There are, I think, some interesting results to be discussed. And that sort of leads me to the second thing I wanted to talk to you about. I was thinking – well, hoping – that I might be able to set up a weekly, school-wide 'event' of some sort next year."

"What kind of event?" the new headmistress sounded cautious, and Dinah couldn't really blame her. She had a _lot _on her plate right now.

"Oh nothing too extravagant, and I'll administer the whole thing myself, with your approval of course. I was thinking something along the lines of a game night in the library. What I want to do is get students from different houses to associate with each other more. They don't normally do so very often and I don't think that's wise. Sorting is fine and everything, but it shouldn't hold the weight that it does. People are, after all, not defined by only one trait. Many traits define us. A Slytherin and a Gryffindor, even, may find that they both have the same hobby or grew up in the same area and have plenty to talk about. If the students just had the opportunity to discover these things about each other we might be on the right path to avoiding some of these ridiculous wars."

Minerva considered her before nodding; "I agree that it would be good thing if the houses got along more. But even if you get all the students in the school together they will most likely congregate by house."

"That's why it needs to be very structured. I'm thinking, Wednesday nights after class, everyone gathers in the library and we set up tables and ask that two people from each house sit at a table together. Essentially force the interaction. It would only be for a few hours and it would not cut into class time at all. It will, understandably, be easier for the first years who haven't made that many connections yet, but I'm hoping the later years will be responsive as well. And then, of course, if we keep up with it, eventually all the students will interact between houses more."

"The idea is promising, but it would of course need to be approved by the board of governors before we initiate any new programs. And you would like these 'game nights' to be mandatory?"

"I would like to, at least eventually. Perhaps if the board of governors would prefer it to start as an experimental thing with one year, or a few years, or…" she frowned; "although I hate to say it, volunteers. But volunteers would naturally get the students who are predisposed to such interaction in the first place."

"Yes, well, perhaps the board of governors will not require that. And you have talked this over with the headmaster?"

"Well, not in so many words," Dinah admitted sheepishly; "But I did speak with the portrait and he said he thought it was a good idea."

"Absolutely!" the portrait chimed in from behind them; "Minerva, you simply _must _let Dinah go through with this plan of hers!"

"Of course, Albus. I also think it might be beneficial. At least to try it and see how things go." She turned to Dinah; "I trust that you will make all the plans for the event, and make certain it is worthwhile and that it doesn't detract from the students' normal study time."

"Oh, of course not. Really, I've been calling it a 'game night' in my head but I think the students can do whatever they like during that time, as long as they associate with people from other houses. They could study together, chat, play games, read, whatever they like."

"Then I leave it to you. It may be good for all of us to relax our house loyalties a bit, myself included." She chuckled; "I fear my disappointment at Gryffindor's loss today was too great for a headmistress."

"Well, I won't judge," Dinah laughed. "But yes, I think the houses should be able to get along a lot better than they think, when they just give it a chance."

"If you and Severus could fall in love and marry, I think that anything is possible," Minerva smiled.

Dinah grinned, blushing a little again; "My thoughts exactly. Should I contact the board of governors directly?"

"I think write up a proposal and run it by me, and we can both send it to them when it is complete. I think I can take enough time out of my schedule for that much."

"Thank you, Minerva. I really appreciate it."

"Well, I trust that you will be able to make a go of it, if anyone can. I'm curious to see how well it goes over."

"Me too," Dinah admitted, thanking the headmistress again before heading out of the office and back towards her new dungeon rooms. Next year was shaping up to be a very good year indeed.


	173. Inquisition

A/N: Long, slightly filler chapter.

* * *

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-THREE

Inquisition

* * *

"Professor Snape!" Dinah smiled and slapped a large pile of Muggle papers on the desk of her enigmatic colleague, causing him to look up from his pile of just-turned-in exams with a curious, amused expression; "I have that information you requested at the beginning of the year."

"Oh?" the gorgeous, greasy-haired Defense Against the Dark Arts professor raised a characteristic eyebrow as the corner of his mouth twitched up a little more; "And what information would that be?"

"I believe I promised you a survey of Muggle-born students sometime in September," Dinah's own mouth was twitching as she tried to keep her grin from broadening into something too ridiculous-looking; "Well, it has been a long time in coming, but the analysis and write-up is finally complete. I'm sure you will find my conclusions most interesting, Professor Snape."

"Oh, I have no doubt about that," his grin turned teasing and became just a tad suggestive; "_Professor Snape_."

Laughing, Dinah perched her bottom on his desk and leaned over, meeting his lips as he stood from his chair to reach her. After a few blissful moments she drew away, flushed, her arms wrapped around his neck; "You'll read it then?"

"I intend to," her husband smiled.

"Even though it's on pasty-white Muggle paper?" she teased.

"I shall endure," he made a face of the utmost strain and she had to laugh again.

"Oops, your office door is still open," she realized with a brief glance.

"I really don't care right now," he kissed her again. "I wondered why you did not come back right after your first exam. You were finishing _that _up then, I take it?" he pointed at the pile of papers held together with what was probably an equally-offensive Muggle clip.

"Of course. I'm lucky I finished it now. After all, we have quite a bit of grading to do this week. I think it would be _much _more reasonable to have administered exams _last _week and given us a full week for grading instead of this joint administration-grading week thing."

"Probably, but as you have said Hogwarts is not necessarily run as _efficiently _as Muggle schools," he said with a reasonably good-natured – for him – roll of the eyes.

"Oh, it's definitely not," she laughed. "You know, I like sitting on top of your desk like this. It's fun."

"You are a bit more attractive than the exams I have to grade, I'll say that much," he teased.

"Just a bit?" she feigned disappointment, laying her head on his shoulder, enjoying the feel of his silky hair against her cheek.

"A bit will do," he smiled, tilting his head to kiss her yet again; "I suppose closing the door now would be reasonable. Office hours end in five minutes anyway and I would be perfectly glad to skip the last stretch of time," he waved his wand at the door and it shut.

"Severus Snape breaking the rules, what a turn-on," she giggled, lifting her head to loop her arms more easily around the back of his neck, adjusting her position on the desk so she could face him better; "At least… just a _bit _of one," she added, kissing him.

He laughed; "Ah, Dinah. I still have no idea what I ever did to deserve someone as wonderful as you."

"Just being your own wonderful self?" she offered, smiling.

He flushed just a little and shook his head, rolling his eyes yet again; "That is _so _utterly idealistic, Dinah."

"I know. But you wouldn't have me any other way."

"No," he smiled, taking her into his arms and kissing her again; "I would not."

* * *

"This is impressive, Dinah," Severus said, putting down her survey write-up after he finished reading about a third of it later that evening. "Even I must admit that your Muggle statistics has promise. It's not _perfect _but then, as you said, neither are any wizard methods we could think of."

"A small victory! I'm ecstatic!" Dinah teased, perched on the edge of his desk again, this time on the corner next to him on his own side, even though he _had _levitated another chair over for her to use and which was currently sitting beside his chair and underneath her perch. She had simply not chosen to use it yet. She could watch his face better as he read from this spot, anyway.

"Small," he assured her, his eyebrow raised, but then he smiled a bit; "The main point of interest is of course the house factor with the plight of the Muggle-born Slytherins as an especially crucial factor, but I do find the financial portion intriguing as well. Interesting that, as you say, independent of house, students coming from lower-income Muggle homes tend to miss their Muggle life less, _but _their relationships with Muggles and their families has improved."

"Mm," Dinah agreed; "Later in the write-up I offer some possible suggestions for that difference. Although Hogwarts books and supplies are expensive, education and food are all provided for by the school. I'm sure the students must feel less of a burden to their families when they are one less mouth to feed."

"Likely a major reason," he agreed. "But again the Muggle-born Slytherins issue is of the most importance. We suspected it would be, but seeing it all laid out like this…" he frowned; "I probably should have realized, should have done something, but I still have the old prejudices against Muggle-borns. They are not completely gone, even though I married one."

"I know," she agreed; "But you're getting so much better. This concern you're showing for my data here proves it. But I admit the results are more of a concern than I'd even expected. Muggle-born Slytherins are generally either neutral or not satisfied with their lives as wizards, and their relationships with other Hogwarts students have been mostly negative. They seem to cling to their old Muggle lives. Yet, they have been getting _so _many points for your house this year. Slytherin is ahead again, isn't it?"

He smiled slightly; "Yes, currently."

"Well, there's only two weeks of school left," she grinned. "I think you're headed for a win."

"_Despite _my giving points to Gryffindor that one week and the fact that I took so many points from Slytherin for the cheating episode and you did for the fox-abuse episode…" he paused, considering; "I wonder if the students' opinions have changed at all over the course of the year, due to the support you've given them? They certainly never gained this many points for us in previous years."

"I could send out a post-year survey and see how things have changed," she considered the idea.

"And take another year to analyze it?" he said, straight-faced, his characteristic eyebrow raised.

"Contrary to popular belief, I'm usually fast at this sort of thing!" she swatted his arm, making him smile again; "This year was just very… eventful."

"All worthwhile events I hope?" he teased.

"Undoubtedly," she kissed him, and then they were interrupted by a knock at the door.

Dinah waited for Severus to decide what to do about it. It was a little odd, the fact that it was _their _rooms but _his _office. To get to her living quarters she had to pass through this place, which was all under Severus's control. Granted, he probably wouldn't care if she told the person to come in, but…

"Who is it?" Severus demanded, not angrily but just in his usual tone.

"Lucy," their friend called though the door; "I was just wondering if now would be a good time for those questions I mentioned earlier?"

"Oh, come in," Dinah tossed aside her most recent thoughts and happily offered their friend access. As expected, Severus didn't seem to mind.

"Hi," Lucy said, opening the door and walking in carrying a furry grey bundle; "I brought Dora with me. I hope that's okay?"

"Put her in the living area," Severus instructed, pointing his wand at the second door to open it. "They do not need to be walking over all of my important papers or crawling on this desk."

"All right," she agreed, dumping Dora in the other room and quickly closing the door as Severus pointed his wand next at the main office door to close that one, preventing any passing students from seeing in.

Lucy, looking a little awkward, sat in the chair opposite Severus's on the other side of the desk; "So, um…what's that?" looking a little relieved to find something to say, she pointed to the Muggle-born survey analysis papers.

"Oh!" Dinah plopped her feet back down onto the floor so she could turn and regard Lucy more easily; "It's about the Muggle-born surveys. I finished the analysis this morning and Sev and I were going through them together. Would you like a copy to look at some time?" She didn't want to flatter herself by thinking her friend might have any interest, but she did want to offer.

"That'd be great!" Lucy enthused. "I might save it and read it over the summer. It'll give me something to focus on besides wedding stuff. We've barely started and I've already sworn I'm not doing a seating chart; it's just too complicated."

Dinah had to laugh; "I told Severus a while ago that I don't envy those of you who have to organize such complicated weddings at all. Ours was _so_ simple and it was still such a hassle. But I don't think seating charts are necessary. Maybe you don't have to do more than just designate tables for close relatives or friends."

Lucy shook her head, "That's probably what we'll end up doing. I mean just inviting the Weasleys alone is like twenty people. Assuming they all bring dates that is, though Charlie probably won't. I wonder if Victoire will sit well enough to be a flower girl by then. Aww, and Teddy could be the ring bearer…Don't mind me," she said, waving her hand, "this is just the start I'm sure."

"I'm sure. If I had gotten married younger I would probably have wanted to go that route… though surely Severus would have objected and we would have met somewhere in the middle."

"All hypothetical in the first place," Severus smiled slightly; "I suppose were we younger I would not have begrudged you a flower girl or a ring bearer. I _did_, you recall, offer you whatever you wanted in the first place."

"Yes, but I didn't want all that," she smiled, settling into the chair next to him that he had summoned over for her. She was getting tired of standing.

"Men," Lucy sighed, "Is that all they can ever say? 'Whatever you want'. I swear its Sirius's new catchphrase or something. Which reminds me…did Dinah ask you about the whole foxglove issue?"

"Yes, and if you _must _alter a perfectly good poison ingredient I suppose I can come up with a spell for you," Severus grudgingly – almost dramatically – replied.

"Only a couple I promise and only because I'd rather not be poisoned on my wedding day." Lucy hesitated for a few moments before saying, "So, I guess I should just ask what I came to ask so you guys can get back to whatever it is you were doing when I got here…Just so I'm clear I don't mean for anything to sound like I'm accusing you of something. I don't think you, personally, did anything wrong in regards to this. I just don't happen to know any other former Death Eaters…"

Severus frowned at Lucy and Dinah gave her friend a curious look. This had taken an interesting turn. "Well, what then?" Severus prodded, his expression cautious, although Dinah wasn't sure Lucy would be able to see that in his face. Dinah had gotten pretty good at reading his most subtle signals over the course of the year.

"A couple things really," Lucy's gaze drifted off to the side and she seemed to consider something. When she spoke, it was cautiously; "Didn't any of you…any of the Death Eaters…didn't they know he wasn't one? I mean I understand why none of them would have stood up and publicly said they knew he wasn't but…I mean shouldn't _someone_ have known?"

Severus snorted, but did not become hostile; "Firstly, I assume by 'he' you are referring to Sirius? And by 'the one' you are implying the person who betrayed James and Lily Potter? A bit more specificity in your questions would be helpful."

"Sorry, yes," Lucy said sheepishly. "I do mean Sirius and the one who betrayed James and Lily…and Harry too I suppose."

"Well, then," Severus's tone was all business; "Clearly, it is possible that as you say _someone _knew but what makes you believe that I would know who knew if I did not know myself?" He was starting to seem a little agitated, and Dinah wondered if Lucy did – at least a little bit – want some kind of explanation for why Severus didn't know. Obviously he didn't know, though. Or he would have done many things differently.

"Severus," she murmured, placing a hand on his shoulder. She wanted this to go well, and Lucy was already starting to look a little bit nervous.

He sighed, his gaze flashing to hers in understanding for a brief second before drifting back to Lucy; "Well, get on with it. If you're ready for my explanation I shall attempt to make everything clear to you, or as clear as I can possibly make it given my _limited _knowledge."

Lucy nodded, "Severus, I understand you don't know everything about it. I'm not expecting a breakdown of V-Voldemort's organization. I just need to try and understand." She hesitated again, but only for a moment, "Part of the reason I reacted the way I did when Sirius…died was because I didn't understand _why_. I…I want to understand if I can."

Severus's eyes lit with realization and Dinah again recalled the zombie-like state Lucy had been in earlier in the year. Her friend's plea for answers made more sense now.

Severus sighed; "Lucy, what happened with Sirius was unfortunate but sometimes there is no _why. _There is no legitimately good reason why bad things happen. They simply do. However, with our knowledge after the fact we see that it was not _supposed _to happen, do we not? That he was reborn means that his death was unnatural and unnecessary. So yes, it was not fair. You had every right to believe that it was not fair… even _wrong_," he finished logically.

"I know," she nodded, "and I appreciate you saying that. Maybe love is blind or I'm just incredibly stupid but I just don't get how anyone who knew him could believe he would have betrayed his best friend like that."

There it was, the – sort of – accusation. Dinah found herself shooting Lucy an agitated look as her hand's grip on her husband's shoulder briefly tightened.

Lucy held up a hand, "Believe me I intend to ask Remus the same question. He liked Sirius and still believed that of him. I don't think a handful of people believing him innocent would have kept him out of Azkaban, that's not what I'm talking about. Besides he's told me he went after Peter with the intent to kill or seriously maim him."

Dinah sighed. Perhaps her 'Severus-defense' had been on a little too strong. At least Lucy realized that Remus had been the same.

"If Remus believed it of him I don't see why you should be surprised that I did," Severus said carefully. "After all, I was not exactly as – _affectionate _– towards Sirius as Remus was. And there were apparently a good number of witnesses. And I do not think anyone believed Wormtail would do the deed either, but he _did_. And after all, and I do not mean to make this accusatory either, but I did tend to think of the time Sirius attempted to have me killed, albeit indirectly and thoughtlessly, as my own personal evidence of what I thought he was capable of."

There. Her husband had come up with a good retort. Dinah felt better.

Lucy was chewing on her lip, but paused to say; "I'm not surprised that you believed that. I know he was and is capable of killing Peter and you did have your reasons for believing he did it. What I find more surprising is that people really believed he betrayed James. I mean I kind of get it I suppose. It would be logical to assume he was their secret-keeper but," she shrugged, "didn't that logic ever war with reason? The assumption that he was secret-keeper versus his loyalty to his friends? I don't really expect you to have an answer for that. I'm not sure what I expected to get out of this I just knew I had to ask."

"Well, as you say, I cannot answer that. And even if certain Death Eaters knew about Wormtail's involvement at the time he committed the act, they were all perfectly pleased to have someone else be accused of the crime. As a matter of fact the Dark Lord – Voldemort," he corrected himself; "probably planned it that way. Or at least, he was very glad that circumstances ended up as they did."

"Lucy," Dinah tried, "If we've learned anything this year is that people never respond properly to things. Nobody, as I understand it, _wanted _to believe that he betrayed James and they were all shocked and said things like 'I can't believe' or 'I never would have expected that _Sirius _would', but they all accepted it anyway. Even Dumbledore seemed to have believed it at first. It's not _right_, but there it is."

"I suppose that's true," Lucy conceded, "I just…like to try and understand. Thanks for being willing to put up with me and my questions."

Severus nodded; "For what it's worth, I think it's unlikely any Death Eaters knew at all. There would have been no reason for Voldemort to tell them of his plan. In fact, it would probably have been unwise to confide in anyone but Peter Pettigrew himself for the sake of ensuring that the mission went through without flaw. Myself for example," he hesitated, and then went on. "I was quite young at the time and while I was one of his more trusted Death Eaters I did not hold the same status I held when he returned and realized I had both gained power and, supposedly, Dumbledore's trust. Yes, I conveyed the prophecy to him, but when I asked him to spare Lily's life he did not… take it well."

Dinah bit her lip and nodded, remembering the Cruciatus curse from the pensieve, used on her husband when he was barely more than a child, just because he had requested that his master show the tiniest bit of mercy. She also recalled how Severus had endured the curse with little more than a grunt to indicate his pain, and she felt another wave of pleasure and pride at being worthy to be called this man's wife.

"In that case," Severus continued, " though he did offer me a small 'reward' in giving Lily the opportunity to step aside without being killed, I think he would not have wanted me to know his specific plans, in case I tried to interfere. The other Death Eaters would have been less of a risk in that department but why tell them if he didn't have to? As I understand it, he only convinced Pettigrew to join him and betray the Potters immediately before the act was commenced. At least, it's what I got from Wormtail's occasional babbling while I was forced to live with him."

"Peter was weak. The Marauders knew that. That's why they took care of him, helped him." She shook her head, "It makes me wonder why Sirius ever thought he'd be a safe choice for the Potters secret-keeper. I am sorry that you had to go through all that though. It wasn't fair that any of that was asked of you."

Dinah smiled and Severus regarded Lucy with a slightly surprised expression. "That is… appreciated," he admitted, almost smiling as well. "And I suppose now that you bring it to my attention it was also not fair that Sirius had to be…" he paused, as if searching for the right words to make this sign of 'affection' towards the other man as mild as humanly possible; "'mistrusted' by everyone he knew. It is not an enjoyable thing, as we all have experienced from time to time, being rejected by what seems like the whole world. Granted, now he has you to change that. He would be pleased, I'm sure, that you came here today trying so hard to get a bizarre form of 'justice' for him. You might talk to him about it. Simply a suggestion."

Dinah nodded. That sounded like a great idea. "Even though he didn't have you back then, he has you now. We can't erase the past, but we can look towards the future. Sorry, that probably sounds idealistic," she grinned and Severus chuckled.

Lucy giggled, "If he'd had me back then he'd probably have been arrested for kidnapping at the very least. I was eight," she clarified at Dinah's confused look. Ah yes, there was definitely an age difference between the two. "It's true though," she continued. "Things are easier when there's someone there ready to defend you against anything."

"We've all needed that, and we all have it now," Dinah said. "So did you have any further questions? You could stay for dinner if you wanted, since our cats are already doing who-knows-what in there," she gestured at the door, thinking that if she kept forgetting to administer the cat protection spell like she did from time to time, they were soon going to have a bunch of kittens.

"I'm not sure we want to know what those two are up to," Lucy grinned, "but no, no more questions. I think I covered everything. Dinner would be nice, as long as you're sure I'm not intruding. I wouldn't be offended. I'm perfectly capable of going up to the Great Hall and attempting to go through my catalogue of invitation samples in front of Slughorn."

"We were just about to break for dinner anyway, so no, you're not intruding. Right?" she asked her husband.

He shrugged, exhibiting his usual lack of enthusiasm; "I have no problem with it." He said that a lot.

"Wonderful," she said standing. "How have your exams gone so far? I only had my third and fifth years today. That means I don't have to deal with Septimus yelling in class anymore but I don't get to see Tad and Jania anymore either."

Dinah stood from her own chair along with Severus; "I had both chunks of fourth years today. The seventh years are taking the N.E.W.T… I already talked to Minerva about making the N.E.W.T.s and O.W.L.s for the Muggle Studies course optional next year, to decrease the hostility some of the students have towards it." She opened the living area door and led the three of them inside, closing it behind her to prevent cat escape, though the animals were nowhere to be seen.

"Mmm. I've been considering talking about the possibility of starting O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s in my classes, as an option. As I understand it Dumbledore had to do a lot of lobbying to get the Board of Governors to even agree to allowing the class in the first place," she said, settling down at the table.

Dinah sighed as she and Severus sat down as well. At least the dinner of soup, salad, and bread looked appetizing today. "I'll be dealing with them all over the place over the next year. With the making tests optional thing and the whole 'game night' thing. Did I tell you about that?"

Lucy considered, "I think you mentioned wanting to do _something_ to get all the houses to interact but I don't think you ever said exactly what you were thinking."

Dinah drowned her salad in her favorite dressing and stole a few extra olives from Severus's plate while he glared at her; "Well, it's going to – hopefully – be on Wednesdays after dinner in the library, and two students per house will be required to sit together for two hours and do whatever they want, as long as they're socializing. I call it a 'game night' but they don't have to play games. It just makes it sound more fun."

"I'd love to help if you need it," Lucy offered, ladling some chicken noodle soup into her bowl. "Then again, Wednesdays…" she grinned, "Don't worry about it though. These get-togethers won't take all night and even if they did it wouldn't be that big of a deal. You know you should talk to Agrona and Derwent. I've seen them hanging out with Eloise and Fin from Hufflepuff a lot. I'm sure they'd be willing to help you out if you need it."

"Well, we'll see if it gets approved first, but yeah I'm sure I'll talk to them. There are a few other students who already associate between houses a lot that I'll try to get involved as well. Archie, Kathleen, and Terrence for example." At Severus's snort she grinned and told Lucy; "They ran into us right when we got turned back into adults again. Severus told them in no uncertain terms that if they let _anybody _know about the youthening reversal they were essentially doomed."

Lucy laughed, "Oh, I can just picture that. Classic Severus Snape threatening doom for the student so terrible that their great-grandchildren will feel the repercussions. I seem to remember getting a similar threat when you gave me that detention. So what do you think? Are my future children going to be feeling your wrath for my transgressions?"

"Well, we shall have to see when you have them, shan't we?" Severus's tone was casual as he snatched an olive back from Dinah.

"I suppose," Lucy murmured, sipping her water, "It'll be roughly eleven years and nine months after December 18th at least before we find out. We've been very careful about using _Caricasium_," she admitted, blushing lightly.

Dinah smiled, demurely sipping her own water as Severus raised an eyebrow at Lucy; "I see. That's good that you finally took my advice to heart, then…" she exchanged a brief glance with Severus and wondered if she should tell Lucy that they'd stopped using the protection spell. But there was really no reason to. Instead, she took a tomato from her husband's salad.

He sighed and dropped his fork; "Perhaps we should start eating from a collective plate?"

She giggled; "No, I just like messing with you," and he sighed again.

Lucy smiled, "Sirius and I sometimes share a plate. We usually end up having two helpings so I guess it's sort of pointless to share but it's nice."

"That's nice. But I think if Severus and I shared a plate he wouldn't get to eat anything."

"As it is I don't get to eat anything," he took his tomato back, and she snatched a chick pea in retaliation.

"Perhaps you just need to develop some food aggression," Lucy suggested, "We have, on occasion, had disagreements over who gets to eat first…in our animagus forms of course."

"That must be something to see," Dinah said, stabbing all five of her olives onto her fork at once to save them from potential theft.

"Dinah," Severus said suddenly, pushing his salad plate away to the side where she could not access it and taking a soup bowl in its place. Lucky for him, she had no intention of sticking her fingers into his soup just to steal a noodle or some chicken or a soggy piece of carrot or celery. "All this talk of Wormtail," he rolled his eyes at the mention, "reminds me that we need to decide on a date to go to Spinner's End. The weekend after we go home - the Saturday is June 19 I believe - does that sound agreeable to you?"

Dinah smiled, finished chewing her olives, and nodded; "That works well. And at least then we'll _half _get to sleep in my house before we're 'married'."

He laughed; "I suppose, if that's the way you'd like to look at it."

"Um," Lucy said, scratching her head in an amusing display of confusion, "Aren't you two already married? Or did I dream all that up?"

Dinah giggled; "Yes, we are. We're married in the wizarding world and in our hearts – all right, I know that sounds cheesy!" she retorted when Severus smirked at the second part of her comment; "But we're not legally married in the Muggle world. On my driver's license, for example, I'm still Dinah Samson. And since I live so much of my life over there I want to change my name and all that. So we're going to Severus's place to dig up his old Muggle birth certificate and get him legal citizenship!" she finished, feeling a little triumphant at being the one to get Severus Snape to legally declare his identity in the Muggle world.

"Oh, well that makes sense," Lucy said, "So you were born in a Muggle hospital then? You can tell me I'm being nosey if you want. I'm just trying to understand again. I mean, as far as I know, Harry wasn't born in a Muggle hospital and he existed to them. Tonks wasn't born in a Muggle hospital either…but then she doesn't spend time in the Muggle world much so I'm not sure if she has legal status there…"

Severus frowned at Lucy and for a short, worried moment Dinah thought he wasn't going to answer her, but then he just shrugged and spoke; "Potter was not born there but he was given to the Dursleys at a young enough age where it would have been easy enough to rectify the situation even without the certificate. After all, one cannot simply deny a baby's existence. I am sure a new certificate would be constructed. With an adult I imagine it would be much more difficult, and although using Confundus with effort might work, it is easier to simply find my certificate. And yes, I was born in a Muggle hospital. My father would never have allowed my mother to give birth in the wizarding world. He despised it."

"Ah," Lucy said, awkwardly. Dinah recalled that she had essentially implied Severus's fathers' abuse of his mother in a long-ago conversation with her friend. "That's true enough I suppose," Lucy continued. "Most wizarding families opt for home births I think. Aunt Molly did with all her kids except Bill and the twins. According to Slughorn the Blacks go the more dignified route of being sedated and having the baby extracted. I don't know he didn't go into details."

"The things that man will come up with as conversation pieces," Dinah sighed, finishing her salad and moving on to soup.

"Yes," Lucy said, doing the opposite and finishing her soup to move on to her salad. "I swear if I have to hear one more story about Regulus…I think Regulus got in over his head and tried to do right in the end, but Slughorn makes him out to be some sort of rock star. His intentions are good and he doesn't mean any harm but…"

"Regulus associated with a different group than the rest of us, for the most part," Severus said casually, finishing off his soup; "His group was tamer, though yes, still very interested in the Dark Arts. I suspect Slughorn sees a lot of himself in Regulus, being a Slytherin and expected to join the Death Eaters due to birth and house alone, but having the strength to ultimately resist it, which Slughorn tries to do but always ends up doing so in a semi-cowardly manner. Still, it makes sense that he would admire those traits. He wishes he could have done something as 'noble' as Regulus did, I would expect."

Lucy nodded, pushing her half-eaten salad away, "That makes sense. I wish I could have known Regulus. Maybe then…" she sighed and did not offer to finish her thought, "Well, I should be going. Thank you again. I'm sure it wasn't the most comfortable of subjects for you to talk about and I do appreciate it."

Severus grunted acknowledgment and Dinah smiled; "No problem. Thank you for joining us for dinner. Oh, and don't forget to find Dora before you leave. I mean, I suppose she can stay but I think Severus-"

"One cat is enough, thank you. It's bad enough that we have to buy a snake…" he grumbled, waving his wand to make the place settings disappear.

"It's just as well," Lucy grinned, "If we allow them too much interaction we're just increasing our odds of kittens. I don't think it's the right time of the month for Dora, so to speak, but you never know. Do one of you want to check the bedroom? As Dinah noted once, she does like to hide under beds…" Lucy said, taking to the floor on her hands and knees to search for her cat.

"I'll go," Dinah laughed both at Lucy's current position and the look Severus gave her which clearly said '_I am not doing that!_' "You check the bathroom and closets, Sev. You don't need to crawl around for those places." She left the other two to their efforts and pushed open the cracked bedroom door. There were no cats in her immediate vision, but when she knelt and peered under the bed there they were, poking their noses at each other and crawling around in crouched positions, investigating all angles. She took her wand and aimed a gentle spell at them, prodding Godric's foot enough to send him flying out the other end of the bed and pushing Dora along with him. Swiftly, she stood up and apparated to the other side to snag the grey cat. Severus would be so proud of her for doing all of that with magic! She laughed and carried Dora into the other room.

"Better not let Severus catch you crawling around under the _potion cupboards _when he comes back, Lucy," Dinah teased her friend, who was investigating that infamous area behind the couch.

Startled, Lucy jumped up and smacked her head on the bottom of the potions cupboard. Dinah winced, ready to apologize for causing what looked like a very painful experience when Lucy muttered; "Tonks."

"Hmm?" What did Lucy's friend have to do with anything?

"Tonks," Lucy repeated, pointing to her head then the cupboard, "She's pretty clumsy. It must be catching," she grinned.

Dinah laughed; "Ah. Well, I _did _startle you. I guess you thought that pile of blankets was Dora?" she pointed to a pile of three blankets, the top one grey, that Lucy had been approaching.

"Uh, maybe," Lucy blushed.

"Well, here's your cat. Your head okay?" she handed Dora over to Lucy as she stood up.

"I'll have a headache I'm sure but it's not nearly as bad as getting hit with a rock," Lucy said, cuddling her cat.

Dinah frowned, "I guess not…"

Looking annoyed, Severus chose this moment to march out of the bathroom hallway, raising an eyebrow at them when he arrived; "You found the cat, then."

"Yes, she and Godric were investigating each other rather thoroughly when I did. Better watch for any weird signs from Dora over the next few weeks," Dinah told Lucy, grinning.

Lucy shook her head and looked down at her cat, "You, missy, are going to get yourself into trouble. Severus doesn't want one cat. I doubt he'd be thrilled with kittens."

"Your cat is the female. _You _get the kittens," Severus retorted, his tone blunt. Dinah covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.

"Oh, sure, but will your wife be able to resist their cuteness?" Lucy grinned.

"We might have to get just _one_," Dinah admitted, sidling up to her husband and grabbing his arm, causing him to growl.

Lucy giggled. "Well, I should leave you guys in peace then. And I let you know if we're to be expecting grand-kittens," she said, heading to the door.

"Sounds good," Dinah walked Lucy to the door and bid her farewell before closing it behind her. "That was… interesting," she commented, not sure what else to say after their friend had left.

"Is that the word you would choose?" Severus responded dryly.

"For lack of a better one, yes," she agreed with a slight smile. "You're right. Lucy has so many insecurities. Maybe that's why…"

"Why what?" he prodded when she didn't finish.

"Well, why she said she hesitated to declare herself to be on stable ground yet. I was saying how nice it was that everything went back to normal, but she didn't seem convinced."

Severus frowned but did not say anything. For a second, Dinah wondered if he knew something, but if he wasn't telling her it was surely because Lucy had asked him not to. He was good like that. "Well, he finally replied, "perhaps she will work through it all in time."

"Yes, of course," Dinah agreed, not wanting to appear suspicious. She smiled; "Well, I hope she talks to Sirius about what she asked us about today. He might have his own interpretations to add to the mix. I can only assume."

"Probably. Shall we continue looking at your survey or do something more pleasant?"

"Hey, my survey is perfectly pleasant!" she laughed, wrapping her arms around his waist; "Oh, and by the way darling, if you really don't want to we don't _have _to get a kitten. I was just messing with you again. Well… half-messing anyway."

He chuckled; "I figured. Truthfully, Godric is not so bothersome. We shall see about the rest when and if the time comes."


	174. Right

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FOUR

Right

* * *

Dinah stuffed her pile of first-years' exams into her bag and headed out of her classroom. Just over half of the silly exams administered, thank goodness! If she made it through the next few years successfully introducing the game night into Hogwarts her next project was going to be designating two weeks for all of this rot.

She stopped at the nearby girl's lavatory on her way back to the dungeons, unable to wait any longer after the tedious past three hours of exam administration, one right after another. It was a strange sort of nostalgia, stepping into a student lavatory again. She hadn't been in one since Tommy had disappeared so long ago. Actually, it hadn't even been a full month yet. Strange…

At the sink as she finished washing her hands, Dinah twitched her shoulder as it was grazed by a little, chilly gust, and then she heard a timid voice.

"Dinah?"

Dinah turned, the voice familiar enough, and saw who she expected to see. Myrtle, shy and subdued, not making eye contact, floating a few feet from her just a little above her eye level; "Myrtle," she said amiably enough. After all, she knew it wasn't really the ghost girl's fault that she had reacted the way she did. It was just in her nature, and she had been shocked, and most definitely didn't understand the circumstances.

"So… they're saying that Tommy got better," Myrtle said shyly, still not making eye contact.

"Yes, yes he did."

"Did I make it worse?"

Dinah sighed; "What you said to him was… well, it did cause trouble, but more than likely that was supposed to happen anyway. I wouldn't worry about it. He's moved on now. He's at peace. And he's not... evil," she finished cautiously, hoping Myrtle would understand.

"No, I know," she spun back and forth with her hands clasped behind her back, keeping her eyes on the ground; "I shouldn't have done what I did. He _was _my friend, and all the newspapers have explained it so I understand now. I was just shocked. To think I was talking all those years with Voldemort! Or at least… a certain part of him…"

"Yes, well…" Dinah wasn't sure what to say to that.

Myrtle's head shot up and she finally made eye contact, her voice becoming a bit more animated; "Do you think he hates me now? I didn't mean to hurt my friend!"

"Oh," Dinah finally smiled; "No, don't worry about it Myrtle. I'm sure he's forgiven you. You overreacted last time, yes, but you were still his only friend for ages. He wouldn't forget that."

"Oh, good!" she sighed with relief, giggled a little, and then in a predictable mood swing sobered again, considering; 'You're not mad at me either, then?"

Dinah chuckled; "How could I stay mad at you? We were kindred spirits for a very long time, you and me, weren't we?"

"Yes, but it's changed, hasn't it? Everybody likes you now. They even say you've married Professor Snape."

"I have... but don't mention that to any of the students."

"Oh, I haven't," she giggled; "So tell me… _kissing _him… must be so weird…"

"Myrtle!" Dinah exclaimed, shocked – well, not really. The ghost girl giggled some more and she sighed; "I'm sure it would be weird to you but it's not to me. I love him very much."

"Well, that's nice. So romantic. Still weird, though," she giggled some more at Dinah's indignant look and then swung moods again and put her hands on her hips; "But now I have _no more boys _of my own, thanks to you!"

"Uh, sorry," Dinah shrugged, sheepish.

"Oh, it's all right. I guess this was the best thing for Tommy. Turns out I'm happy for him, after all, even if it means he has to leave me."

"I'm glad, Myrtle," she smiled.

"I wonder if I should have moved on…" she pondered; "When I died all I wanted was revenge on Olive Hornby. Now I wonder if I made the right choice. Do we ghosts ever get a second chance to try it out? Going on, I mean?"

"Hmm, I'm sure eventually. The world can't stay around forever, after all…"

"No, I suppose not. Well, until then I'm sure a nice fresh crop of students will pop up next year!" she rebounded quickly, spinning around in the air.

"Yes, well, don't torture them _too _much, all right?" it was Dinah's turn to laugh at Myrtle's indignant look

"Torture! For your information I do not torture, I simply… tease," she giggled, then sniffled, then giggled again, and then moved to hover over the sinks. "I'm sure I'll see you around, Dinah _Snape_!"

Flushing at being addressed as such again, Dinah managed a grin; 'I'm sure. Take care, Myrtle."

"You too! Now go kiss the dungeon bat!" Before Dinah had a chance to protest her somewhat rude choice of words, Myrtle had dove into the sink and disappeared.

Shaking her head, but laughing, Dinah headed out of the bathroom to do just what her ghost friend had ordered. Severus was at his desk going through his own pile of exams with a red quill. The pile was about three times as thick as Dinah's own that she had in her bag; "Really!" she chided, laughing. "I thought you were going to _back off _on the written portions this year."

"This _is_ backing off," he grumbled, setting aside a paper covered in red corrections, and then sighing and leaning back in his seat; "What about yours?" he nodded at her bag.

"The first years. Care to take this into the living area? I've got Mae's and Andrew's to go through, but unfortunately also Cantrell's."

He snorted, "Enjoy that one," but took her up on her offer and carried his reddening pile to their couch, where they sat next to each other for about an hour, grading in amiable silence. It was nice to do the simple, ordinary things, with someone just… _there_, Dinah had to admit. It was also kind of nice that they both had the same job, to an extent. She sighed and took a moment to stretch; "I think I can give Cantrell's essay a P. It could be worse, but no matter how hard I look at it it's _just not _passing material!"

Severus frowned; "Well, I can't say I didn't expect it. Still, that's going to force him to do make-up work next year. You really want to deal with him again?"

"He's almost there, Severus. If I could just get him to go a little further he'd be okay. Not wonderful, but _okay_. I think that's a worthwhile pursuit."

Her husband's mouth turned up in a slight smile; "Yes, you _would _think so wouldn't you?" he kissed her cheek; "And you are probably right. Better to start now than to wait until he's Corner and Blekinsop's age."

"My point exactly," she nodded, forcing herself to mark the red P and circle it on Cantrell's paper. "Mae on the other hand gets a resounding O. I really don't think she even needed to come to my office hours on Tuesday but she did."

"And Andrew?"

"Exceeds Expectations," Dinah beamed; "Just barely, but he did it. Just like you," it was her turn to plant a kiss on his cheek.

"You're not going to give me an O?" he glared a little, but she could see the teasing glint in his eyes.

"I think not. Gives you something to work for," she teased back, batting her eyes at him, her grin the perfect combination of innocent with slightly wicked undertones if she did say so herself.

He took the bait easily, removing the pile from her hands and placing it on the coffee table along with his own pile; "I do believe it is time for a break."

"Does Severus Snape take breaks?'

"He does now. After all, you did say I have things to work for, didn't you?" his arms wound their way around her waist.

"Pleasing me sexually does not count towards your Muggle Studies understanding points total," she laughed, looping her arms around his neck; "If it did, you'd _already_ have an O."

He laughed, the barest flush rising in his face; "You _are _the flatterer, aren't you?"

"I expect to be flattered in return."

"And I intend to give you _much_, much more than that," he kissed her as she wrapped her legs around his waist, and then carried her with him into the bedroom and deposited her onto the bed.

"We could have just stayed on the couch," she said, laughing as he climbed on top of her and began to remove her robes as she worked his buttons.

"I would prefer not to mix business with pleasure, and the exams are on the coffee table," he purred into her ear, lightly nipping and licking the edge. She loved it when he did that.

"My, I'm getting good at this," she murmured as she finished his last button and pushed his frock coat from his shoulders along with the bat-like robes, not treating the two layers separately this time. "I should start timing myself."

He laughed against her neck, the rumbling nothing less than intoxicating; "I would like to see you actually do that."

"I might, you know," she slid her fingers into his hair, doing what he loved the best, and smiled at the way it made his muscles relax like a sigh, his arms comfortably wrapping around her waist as he pushed her robes aside. "You know, I'm surprised you haven't told me to just use magic yet. Same with undressing me, in fact. Sirius is always shredding Lucy's knickers…"

"_Please _tell me you don't want me to shred your knickers? And why is it that we know almost as much about their sex life as we do our own?"

She laughed at the agitation in his voice, letting her own tongue trace along his ear, before murmuring; "You know very well that I want you to do whatever it is you want to do, but I _will_ confess that I like my knickers to stay as they are. And it's not as though either of us _wants _to know about their sex life."

"I feel like we keep telling them that, but they don't listen," he mused, removing her knickers the ordinary way.

"You feel right," she agreed, and then giggled as her words dawned on her; "Oh yes, you _definitely _feel right…"

"Well, your knickers shall remain safe. Because I do admit that in _this _particular situation, doing things manually is better."

"My goodness, Severus, first you like my survey and now this? I'm ahead by two."

"Oh no you're not, I still won our debate on your birthday and our debate out at the freezing cold pond, keeping us well tied," he retorted.

"I never acknowledged those victories!" she retorted back, but lost the ability to retort further as they consummated their love on the bed, just as they had always done and would always continue to do, perfectly happy and content with each other.

With a sigh they were soon finished, relaxing back onto the bed, him naturally falling off of her onto not his own side, but hers, as often happened when they were disoriented from enjoying each other. Well, it wasn't as though they were going to sleep anyway. This _was, _after all, only a 'break'. Smiling at the thought , she said, "Well, that was better than a coffee break, anyway."

He burst out laughing. She loved the easy way he laughed with her nowadays; "Indeed," he agreed, smiling. "Oh, Dinah, I love you. This is just so… right," he murmured, kissing her.

"Mm," she agreed, smiling blissfully as she wrapped her arms around his waist as his wrapped around hers, leaning together in bed, their break not yet over; "It _is _right, Severus. Perfectly."

"Mm," he repeated, nuzzling his head against hers, and for a while they just lay there together, relaxed and content.

Closing her eyes, Dinah felt their declaration of 'rightness' quite strongly. It was an odd sensation, like today was something special. Something simply special, naturally special, like the day he told her he loved her or their wedding day, when things in life went about just the way they were supposed to. Like Severus had said, it just felt 'right'. Like, somehow, all was right with the world.

* * *

"Now, now, everyone, settle down!" Minerva's voice, though not quite as booming as Dumbledore's, got the Great Hall's attention as it rang through on this festive occasion; "Thank you, Muggle-borns, for filling out Professor Samson's post-year survey in a timely manner. I am sure the results will be most intriguing, and you will hear all about them at the beginning of next year."

Dinah turned and beamed at Severus, who simply smiled back at her. Yes, she had decided to issue out a post-survey like they'd discussed, and Minerva had been quite happy to allow it. She already had it written, so it had just been a matter of reissuing it on Monday when the exams had been handed back, and requesting that the students turn it back in today, at the End of Year Feast. As Dinah had told Severus, she didn't think there would be a whole lot of differences, but since it was the same population it would be interesting to see what, if any, differences they _did _get. And she expected to see _something_, given what announcement was supposed to be coming next.

"And now, the moment you have all been waiting for. The announcement of this year's House Cup winner!" There was an odd sort of disjointed applause coming mostly from one end of the room and Dinah had to cover her mouth to stifle her giggle as Minerva's excitement had _just _fallen short of what it probably _should _have been for an impartial headmistress.

Severus, on the other hand, was clapping so loudly it was quite nearly deafening, and Dinah smiled out at the green-and-silver decorated hall before turning to her husband. He almost looked like the child Severus again, his smile had widened so much. She laughed again; "Congratulations."

"Wait for it," he teased, holding his hand out to her as she grinned and nodded, and they waited for the school to settle back into silence.

Minerva's little sigh was just caught by the voice amplification magic of her wand and she flushed a little, pulling the offensive object away from her neck to clear her throat before returning it. "In fourth place, with two-hundred and sixty-seven points, we have Hufflepuff!"

Dinah shrugged and clapped happily along with her house. Yes, Hufflepuffs were good and kind; problem was, they didn't care that much about house points and were perfectly happy to be good and kind under the radar and to allow other students to answer questions in class before them. Then again, she didn't really care about house points either, so who was she to talk?

"In third place," Minerva continued, her mouth twitching a little before she shrugged; "We have Gryffindor with two-hundred and eighty-three points!" The Gryffindor's applauded a little half-heartedly, and Dinah had to stifle a laugh _again_ at the ridiculously satisfied smirk on her husband's face. Even with his off-week back then, he still hadn't done enough damage to allow his most-hated house anything higher than third place this year. It was a little vindictive of him, of course, but Dinah was still happy that he felt so good about it.

"Coming in second place this year, with three-hundred and twenty-two points… Ravenclaw!"

Second place garnered much more enthusiasm and Dinah waved at Mae Yates as she stood from her chair with a few other first years, clapping excitedly until Lisette Jorkins muttered something in her ear, gave Dinah a nervous nod, and then Mae put her hands on her hips and started scolding her friend. Dinah didn't let it phase her. She still had enemies here and there but all in all everything had improved so much since she met Severus. And it was unrealistic to think that everybody would like her. She didn't worry about that kind of thing now.

Well, maybe it wasn't a double win but a first place and a second place was quite excellent for Mae's first year. Dinah was very happy for her young friend. Across the way, Lucy was also clapping with heartfelt enthusiasm, and Dinah shared a quick grin with her friend before the clapping died down.

"And this year's House Cup winner is…" there was silence and Dinah both heard and felt Severus draw a breath next to her as they both watched for Minerva's announcement; "Slytherin with three-hundred and fifty-six points!"

The Slytherin table erupted and Severus stood from his chair along with his house, his clapping again deafening. The students decked in green whooped and cheered and Dinah noticed so many familiar faces. Mae was already standing up again in Ravenclaw and clapping enthusiastically for Andrew, who was next to Tad Smyth, a Muggle-born Slytherin, and far away from Cantrell and Septimus, who were actually standing on their chairs in their excitement. Did they even think for a moment that it was because of students like Tad, and Derwent and Agrona who were literally snogging with joy, that their house had won? Oh well. She would just have to keep working on them. The cheater group was far at the back end of the table, and their clapping just a bit less enthusiastic than the rest of the house. At least their ordeal this year had subdued them, even if just a little.

Overall, the Slytherin Dinah saw today was not the 'evil Death Eater house' so many people considered it to be. It was a house filled with a variety of students, young and old, male and female, of all different blood statuses and family backgrounds and interests. It was a house with the stereotypical Slytherin students, certainly, but it was also a house of Muggle-born Slytherins struggling to find acceptance and friendship at this school, of half-bloods like Agrona taking the initiative to make friends with other houses and to accept a Muggle-born Slytherin as her significant other, and even of purebloods like Andrew, starting off stereotypical but healing quickly in the presence of people like Mae to give him a different perspective. Dinah briefly wondered what the boy's home life was like; how his parents, who had obviously not objected to his use of the world 'Mudblood' before he came here, would feel about his newfound friendship and his changing values. But he would be all right, she sensed. He was tough and he was resilient. Now if only he could just take care of that ever-present cold that had him sneezing all the time! It just couldn't be a fun way to live.

Smiling at the celebrating Slytherins, Dinah took it upon herself to be the first non-Slytherin professor besides Minerva (who was already standing) to stand up, joining her husband and Slughorn. After all, the winner of the house cup _always _got a standing ovation. Severus smiled at her, again reminding her of their youth, and she smiled back, feeling refreshed, as the rest of the table slowly stood, Lucy being yanked up by the thrilled Slughorn, and so did the remainder of the students. In a few moments, the clapping had died down and they all sat. "Can I tell you congratulations again now?" Dinah smiled at her husband.

He leaned close to her, his smile still not gone; "I owe it all to you and your ridiculous Muggle-born Slytherins," he kissed her; "Thank you."

"Aww," Dinah literally melted at his gratitude, and had to resist squealing as she hugged him; "You are so welcome," she tilted her head back, their foreheads touching, and kissed him again, giggling as she heard a slight rumble of comments from the student body ; "Do you mind that?" she teased, gesturing with her eyes out at the hall.

"Not for the moment," he admitted, kissing her once more before reluctantly drawing away, clutching her hand in his. "Besides, next year they will all know. I look forward to them knowing."

"Me too," she rested her head briefly on his shoulder before lifting it again and attending to her food; "You know, you shouldn't thank only me. You should thank Andrew, and Tad, and Derwent, and Agrona, and Terrence, and Gloria, and-"

"Yes, yes, all the Muggle-borns and their friends," he chuckled next to her; "Maybe next year I'll thank them."

"You might earn your O if you did. At least one O, anyhow," she teased.

"We'll see," he laughed, taking some mashed potatoes onto his fork.

Dinner passed pleasantly and then the students were all scrambling back to their rooms, muttering about how excited they were to be going home of the summer, but also of how much they would miss their friends. Dinah felt both thins a little bit, too. She was thrilled beyond belief to go back home with Severus, anxious to sleep in her own house with her husband for the first time, and loving the fact that he had consented to move in with her even though it was essentially the Muggle world. At the same time, she was going to miss teaching and the students, especially Mae and Andrew, and hanging out with Lucy on a regular basis.

As they both stood to head back to their rooms, Lucy approached them; "Congratulations," she nodded at Severus.

"Yes, thank you," he replied amiably. "I trust the second place of Ravenclaw pleases you?"

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "I don't think we ever got higher than third the whole time I was here." She fell silent and stared down at her shoes, chewing on her lip; "I feel like I'm leaving Tonks to go home for the summer again," she said, looking up as tears shone in her eyes; "I hated it every time. I'm glad we're friends. I'm glad I didn't have to go through this year alone. Sirius would have…he did and does want to help but he couldn't be here all the time. I knew that going in. I just didn't expect it to be so hard. So…thanks," she finished emotionally.

"Aw, Lucy," Dinah was quite touched by her friend's words, especially as they weren't really leaving for another two days; "You're so welcome. Thank _you_, too. I mean, having you here to talk to and having both you and Sirius on my side with the whole parselmouth thing means so much to me. We've both enjoyed your friendship this year," she said, looking at Severus who shrugged and gave a brief nod. "Are you going back to Hogsmeade between today and Monday's morning's last staff meeting?"

Lucy shook her head, "No, I don't think. Sirius is probably going to come here to help pack. I think I'll leave some stuff here though. There's no sense in hauling it back and forth all the time. We've decided to stay at Hogsmeade House most of the summer…oh! You guys should come visit! Or maybe we should visit you. I don't know but we should definitely visit," she suggested, regaining her enthusiasm.

"I'd like that," Dinah agreed; "We'll have to figure something out. You're welcome at our place anytime, definitely. After all, the summer is such an easy-going time. A little bit of planning for next school year, and I'll be spending some time analyzing those surveys, but no work work, you know?" she smiled. It would be nice to get together with Lucy and Sirius at some point, or multiple points, over the summer.

"Yeah," Lucy nodded, "Just lots of wedding planning. I want to try and get as much done as I can before school starts back up. We're headed to the Lupins' Tuesday. It's been awhile since we've seen them and I'll get to play with Teddy. Not too much longer and I'll have another cuddle buddy."

"Oh yes, when is Tonks due?"

"In about a month. Though I'm not sure if Remus's…condition affects that any."

"It shouldn't," Severus said. "Especially if it didn't the first time."

Lucy nodded, "That's the theory. Unfortunately there just isn't much known about werewolves and their offspring. It'd be an interesting study, but I doubt Remus would let his family be inspected like that…not that I blame him I wouldn't want it done to my family either. Perhaps Sirius and I should try making up some wolfsbane potion for him. I think he'd appreciate it. We're dab hands at making potions, though Sirius doesn't really have the patience for it and I'll admit it wasn't my favorite subject in school…"

"No!" Severus, stoic as usual up until now, suddenly became quite animated; "Are you mad? You and Sirius are_ not_ attempting to make a wolfsbane potion. You'll likely blow yourselves up. Do you have any idea how complicated that potion is? If you and Sirius could concoct it Remus would be making it _himself_; he was as talented at potions as either of you, and certainly better than Sirius. But did you think of that? No. The last thing I need is you two lousing up such a delicate brew. If you simply _must _have a wolfsbane potion, _I _will make it!"

Dinah couldn't stop smiling. If Lucy had wanted to get Severus to volunteer to make that potion for them she had certainly gone about it in the right way.

Lucy looked like she was fighting smiling as much as Dinah. "Thank you for the offer Severus. I almost feel like I should be insulted at the implication I'm not capable of making such a potion though. I'll admit you're better equipped for it but I was an Auror. They don't let you do that if you're a slouch at potions."

"If you were talking about a boil-curing potion, then fine, but not wolfsbane," Severus said, firmly. "Again, I ask you why Remus does not simply make it himself. I think you know the answer."

"All right," Lucy conceded, "If you don't want us making the potion I promise we won't. I'm sure you could make a much more effective brew than either of us could anyway," she said, as their little group headed out of the Great Hall towards their respective rooms.

"Good. There is a great difference between simply being good at potions and making it your career." Severus sighed, "I'm surprised you didn't think to at least ask Slughorn."

"Or Eugene," Dinah agreed.  
"Not Eugene!" Severus snarled, animated again.

Dinah laughed, patting his arm; "Oh, yes, I forget he's your new arch-nemesis now. Well, since you and Sirius get along you _did _need a replacement. You don't strike me as the type of person who can survive without at least _one _arch-nemesis," she grinned.

"Probably," he grumbled agreement.

"Believe it or not I tend to forget Eugene's talent at potions. As for Slughorn…well, he hasn't stopped quizzing me about the Blacks since January. I really don't want to listen to him go on and on about werewolves and his views on them and what he thinks of trying to integrate them with society and anything else that happens to come up in regards to werewolves. I'm afraid there's a little more reason to people's fear of….those of Remus's type than there was of people who speak Parseltongue."

"Unfortunately, though the main thing is that it is not their _fault _and were they given a chance from the beginning I am sure far less of them would go bad," Dinah said, causing Severus to affectionately roll his eyes at her; "Well, it's _true_," she laughed.

"Perhaps," he agreed amiably, turning to Lucy; "When do you want the potion?"

"Um, well we're planning on going there Monday night or Tuesday morning…probably again whenever Tonks has the baby but that probably doesn't matter to you. I'm not sure how long it takes to make the potion, so…whenever you have it ready I guess. I mean we can generally pop over to the Lupins whenever so we're not under a time constraint really."

Severus rolled his eyes; "Planning to brew it before you even knew how long it would take, indeed. As it so happens, I can have it to you by Monday."

Lucy's expression flashed with brief indignance before she replied, "It was just an _idea_, but thank you. I'll be sure to tell Remus you were so concerned about him and offered to make the potion," she smiled.

Severus growled and glared at her, the two of them having a perfectly amusing battle; "I am making it for _yo_- wait, that sounds just as bad," snarling, he turned on his heel and stomped off ahead of them, his robes billowing behind him.

Dinah giggled; "Nice one, Lucy. You've gone and flustered him out of all reasonable retorts. Next, you should offer to help him brew the potion," she suggested to her friend, feeling a little mischievous herself.

"Infuriating man," Lucy muttered under breath and turned to Dinah, grinning, "Perhaps, but I think we'd end up maiming each other."

"Oh, I doubt it, he'd just lecture you again. Oh, and I heard that first part, by the way," she smiled to show she wasn't offended. After all, Severus sort of prided himself on being infuriating.

"Sorry," she blushed, stopping outside the door to her rooms, "It_ is_ nice though; him making the potion for me, not wanting me to blow myself up and all, Sirius too."

"It's okay. Watch this. Severus!" she ran ahead, grabbing her still-snarling husband's arm and pulling him back over to them; "Lucy wants to know if she can just _help _you brew the potion."

"I do no-" Lucy sputtered, but stopped talking when Dinah held out a hand.

Severus glared a little, but actually said; "She may watch. You may help."

Forgetting all about being mischievous, Dinah felt her eyes widen and turned to gape at her husband; "Are you serious? I think I've just become the most flattered person that ever walked the face of the earth!"

He smiled a bit; "We've already established your talents. Besides, I don't intend to let you do everything, just small parts."

"Still, wow…" Dinah felt she was still in a little bit of shock.

"He's not serious," Lucy said, straight-faced.

"He's not?" Dinah, confused, felt her face fall a little. She was sure her husband was being serious but if her friend thought that her own husband didn't have faith in her that she could help him at least a little bit…

"Dinah," Severus tapped her shoulder; "Relax. Your friend was simply trying to be … _witty_," he rolled his eyes.

"Witty?" Dinah was starting to feel a bit dense.

"If he's Sirius, then who am I engaged to?" Lucy grinned.

"If he's…" Dinah repeated, and then it dawned on her; "Oh, why you!" she swatted at Lucy. "That's not funny!" But the fact that she was laughing didn't make her comment very convincing, she was sure.

Lucy giggled, "Sure it was," she sighed, "Well, I guess I'll see you Monday at the meeting then?"

"Unless you want to come watch. You've been officially invited after all," Dinah teased, tugging a little at Severus's arm. "If you're nice he might even let you transport a vial or two."

"Possibly," he grumbled.

"Then I'd best refrain from making a joke about you inviting me to watch," Lucy grinned, "We'll see how much packing I get done tonight and tomorrow. I might make it down there. In your rooms or the potions classroom?"

Dinah laughed, flushing a little at the offhand joke about the way she had worded things. Severus looked much the same, but also a little indignant; "Severus is the DADA professor now, remember? Besides, the potions classroom has _Eugene _in it."

"Ah, right. I forgot about Eugene potentially being in the potions classroom. I suppose I'll bid you two a good-night then and I'll head to the waiting arms of my lonely, single bed…and my potentially pregnant cat."

"Well, not a lonely single bed for _too _much longer," Dinah assured her; "Will Minerva let Sirius move in here?"

"Wonderful," Severus sighed.

"Don't sound so enthused," Lucy teased, "but yes. It'll be a bit weird to do all this in the middle of the year I think, confusing for the students too, but it'll be…I can't even think of a word."

"You'll think of plenty when the day arrives," Dinah assured her, grinning. "Good night."

"Night," Lucy said, blushing and waving before Dinah and Severus turned and headed back to the dungeons where they had begun packing various things to transport home. They would , of course, be leaving a lot here, including most of Severus's potions ingredients save a few he wanted to experiment with as a summer project, so it made sense that he wanted to get the wolfsbane thing done this weekend.

"If she really does want to watch, I'll wait and do the main brewing tomorrow, but I would like to gather the ingredients together in advance," Severus said; "Might you try and locate some pine needles?"

"Sure," she agreed, wandering around for awhile helping him locate all the necessary ingredients for the complex potion. When they were finished she smiled down at the pile they had made; "This will be fun, too. You really… have faith in my abilities and skills, don't you?"

"Of course," he insisted, turning to her with a slight scolding expression; "I thought we were through with the lack of self-esteem, Dinah."

"It's not that," she laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear; "Well, not exactly that. It's just sometimes when I really think about how talented, intelligent, and powerful you are I'm struck by what a complete honor it is just to _know _you, let alone be called your wife. I almost feel unworthy of you."

"Don't be ridiculous," he shook his head, flushing a little but placing both hands on her shoulders; he leaned down and kissed her with such fervor that when he finally let her mouth go again she could barely breathe; "There. Do you still feel unworthy of me?"

"Uh uh," she shook her head, still a little stunned. She grinned sheepishly, fingering the front of his robes; "Sorry. I don't know what that was. I _promise _I have self-esteem Severus. I just admire you, that's all. And I'm just so happy to be able to do things like this with you. It is _so _much fun."

"You know I feel the same," he smiled, pulling her into an embrace; "Besides, I may have power and I may have skills but there are so many things that you have that I am lacking. That awkward boy from a few months ago could not have started making the right choices in his life if he did not have you by his side."

"Oh, Severus," she hugged him tighter, smiling into his neck; "Same here. With the parseltongue and everything. We were _both _only awkward because of our own stupidity, huh?"

"Perhaps," he chuckled; "Which is why we needed each other to end that. We match, Dinah. Don't ever forget that."

"I won't," she whispered, feeling warm and happy.

"I know," he purred, pressing his lips in close to her ear; "Shall we put these ingredients away in a safe place and then go do something else that's fun?"

"Of course," she grinned, nuzzling his neck and then leaning back to kiss him again; "And at least Lucy won't be watching."

He sighed; "We both walked into that joke, didn't we?"

"I'm afraid so."


	175. Home

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE

Home

* * *

"Now, now, hurry along so you don't miss the train!" Along with the remainder of the professors, Dinah and Severus stood doing their duty Sunday morning, ushering the students out of Hogwarts so that they could go home for the summer. Lucy was already looking a little emotional as she bid farewell to Tad Smyth and Jania Whitehorn, and Minerva appeared quite flustered, probably because of the staff meeting tomorrow that she would have to preside over.

"There they are, if you want to say something," Severus nudged her, pointing to where Mae and Andrew were heading towards them with some other first years, all the houses mixed up together as the students rushed around making sure they had everything.

"They're coming to us," Dinah smiled as the two students approached them; "All packed and ready to go home I presume?" she smiled.

"Yep!" Mae beamed, shifting her bag on her shoulder; "Andrew and I are going to try to get together over the summer. We both live in London."

"Yeah, Mum and Dad might object a little but I can always sneak out somewhere," Andrew admitted.

"Ah," Dinah nodded and Severus regarded the boy with an unreadable expression. So her thoughts about his parents were sort of true. But objecting 'a little' was more encouraging than, say, Cantrell's parents who would certainly have objected 'a lot'. "Well, I hope you both work it out. Just be careful. I don't want to sound like I'm advocating sneaking out of your house, Andrew, but it _is _the summer and I doubt my words would deter you, anyway."

"Yeah," he grinned, sneezed a few times, and then sheepishly took the handkerchief Mae was offering to him. It was cute how she took care of her friend like that. "Probably not," he finished, beaming; "But I'm always careful."

Severus smirked at him; "Don't get too cocky, Speasy. Now, both of you get out of here or you'll miss the train."

"Okay. See you both next year!" Mae grinned and then gave Dinah an impromptu hug; "Thanks for everything, Professor Samson!"

"You are very welcome, Mae," Dinah, feeling quite flattered, knelt down to hug the small girl back; "Have a wonderful summer. I look forward to having you in class again next year, if you're still planning on taking Muggle Studies."

"Definitely!"

"And… thank _you_, too. Both of you. You know, for being our friend when we were just barely older than you," Dinah smiled, winking at the first years.

"Of course," Mae blushed; "Those days were fun. Bye, Professor Snape!" Mae smiled and waved at Severus, who almost – _almost _smiled in return as he shooed her off. She giggled at him and pulled Andrew with her towards the train.

Sighing contentedly, Dinah rested her head on Severus's shoulder.

"Good?" he asked her, reaching an arm around her waist.

"Yeah," she smiled. "I'm glad we got to see them off. I'll miss them. You know you will, too." At his snort she laughed, kissed his shoulder, and then lifted her head to continue helping students out of the school.

* * *

"So the young humans are gone. It is safer by the school now?" Sarepta asked from where she sat curled up near the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

"Probably, but I still wouldn't slither around there without caution. Filch never leaves after all. But there's less to worry about, definitely," Dinah smiled as she sat on the green grass next to her snake friend, Severus next to her reading a book while they conversed. The students had all made it safely to the train and Dinah wanted to try and find her friend before she left for the summer. "When do you think the baby snakes will be born?"

"Late season," Sarepta said decidedly.

"Oh, good, then it will be when I'm back at Hogwarts!" Dinah exclaimed, pleased. "Though I'm sure we'd be able to drop by to see the babies if we needed to." Sarepta nodded and she turned to Severus, keeping Sarepta out of her line of sight; "The baby snakes will be born after we return next year."

"I see," he closed his book, smiling at her; "Well, that's what you'd hoped for, isn't it?"

"Mm," she nodded, struck suddenly by how nice it was to just sit out here again with him, under the shining sun. She also liked the way the breeze made his hair flutter lightly as he looked at her. He really was so breathtaking…

"Yes?" his lips twitched a little as he noticed she was staring at him.

She blushed and grinned; "Nothing. Honestly, how can you wear so many layers on a warm day like this?"

"I'm used to it."

Such a generic answer. She gave him another warm smile and then turned back to Sarepta; "I hope you have a good summer."

"You, too. You are now living with Severus as your permanent mate?"

"Yes, I am. It's what we humans like to do," Dinah smiled.

Sarepta nodded; "I've noticed. That's nice for you."

"It _is_ nice," she turned back to Severus, resting her head on his shoulder; "I'm going to miss these grounds over the summer."

"As will I," he leaned his head against hers and slid an arm around her waist; "But we will be back. Many, many years until we retire. And even then I imagine we'll always visit from time to time."

"Yes," she smiled and closed her eyes, feeling the coolness of the breeze caressing her face.

They'd always have Hogwarts.

* * *

"Are you serious, Minerva?" Severus demanded rather loudly at their staff meeting on Monday, as Dinah tried to stifle her laughter. Staring incredulously at the headmistress, her husband continued; "Sirius Black as a Hogwarts professor? Surely you can't be entertaining such an asinine notion."

"I most certainly am, Severus," Minerva chided, causing Severus to look even more annoyed at his longtime house rival. "The man is quite talented in the field of transfiguration and I believe he'd make an excellent, if unconventional, professor."

"That's all right," Lucy shook her head, "I don't think he'd do it anyway. He's still enjoying being able to come and go as he pleases. If you don't find anyone to take the position and you're willing we could probably…ease him into the position. I think he'd enjoy himself once he started teaching…he just doesn't know he would."

"The _point _is that the man has never worked a day in his life," Severus said, still glaring at Minerva; "That _must _be taken into consideration."

"Well," Dinah tried to soften the whole argument; "Perhaps Lucy's point is valid, then. After all, he might enjoy it if he learns slowly. And everyone should at least be given a chance. He has to start somewhere."

"If I hear one more idealistic word out of your mouth…" Severus turned his glare on her and Dinah bit her lip and nodded, more to stop herself from laughing than to shut herself up.

"I had absolutely no experience when I started teaching," Lucy argued. "In fact my sum total of work experience was three years Aurors training and one year of what I'm sure was very minimal work as an Auror. Besides work is a relative term anyway. He's been teaching me to dance all year and he was doing it well enough that I didn't even know he was doing it until I suggested he teach me."

"One year of minimal work is still paid work during which you had to report to a superior – _what_?" Severus demanded as Dinah tapped him on the shoulder.

"Can I say something that's _not _idealistic?"

"Possibly," he grumbled.

"Okay," she laughed, noticing that the rest of the table was watching them curiously. They all knew they were married but were probably just _itching _to see them interact with each other, curious as to what it would be like. If Dinah wasn't one of the pair herself _she _would certainly be curious as to how they would interact, as opposite as they seemed to the whole world. "He's going to be living here next year, anyway," Dinah logically told Severus; "At least he would have business to attend to while Lucy is teaching, instead of sitting in his room bored or wandering around, possibly annoying you in some way."

"This is not about my personal opinion of him," Severus sighed; "I admit he has a few decent qualities," that made the collective table gasp and he glared around to shut them up; "but his experience is still lacking. But I suppose you _might _make a point. Still, I am uneasy about this," he told Minerva again.

"This whole discussion is moot anyway since he's not taking the position." Lucy declared, and then blushed, probably realizing how final her statement sounded. "I'll be very surprised if he accepted it, anyway. He'll have to find something to do when he moves in here, even if it's not teaching. He doesn't take well to being confined too long."

"The way she describes him he sounds like a child," Severus muttered aside to Dinah.

"Hush," she told him, shaking her head with a smile. Luckily, nobody heard what he said.

"Well," Minerva said with a smile at the school's youngest professor, "we'll have until December to figure out something for him to do."

Lucy blushed as everyone's gaze came to rest on her. "Yes, we will."

Dinah wasn't sure just how many details had been decided or what the rest of the faculty knew about Lucy's engagement. She also wasn't sure what _else _Sirius could do here besides teach, unless he was going to help the house elves serve food or something.

"Now," Minerva said, switching subjects, "I'm sure you're all excited that we will once again be hosting the Triwizard Tournament. It will run very similar to the last time. Like Hogwarts Durmstrang will have a new Headmaster but we're all hopeful things will run smoothly this time. There are still some details to be worked out but both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons seem willing enough to participate. Yes, Horace?"

Slughorn, his hand raised into the air with the excitement of a first year, lowered it and pointed to the man sitting next to him, an honorary faculty meeting participant much to Severus's chagrin; "Eugene can help us out with Durmstrang! Knows the new headmaster, a teacher from his school days. Help relations run smoothly and all that."

Meanwhile the very subject of Eugene was making Severus snarl viciously, causing Trelawney, who was conveniently seated on his other side, to shuffle as far away as she could, pushing her chair up against Professor Binns's. Not that the ghost professor was even _using _his chair, simply floating above it. That didn't stop him from giving Trelawney a cynical look, though.

"Wonderful," Minerva said, eyeing Trelawney and Severus. "I'm sure that will help ease any tensions Horace. The Ministry will be devising the three tasks for the champions and though I expect them to be similar to the last Tournaments I cannot guarantee that. I can only hope that this year we have no slip-ups."

After everyone had agreed to help out to the best of their ability with the tournament details beginning next year, the faculty meeting was adjourned. Severus led Dinah over to Lucy, holding out a large bottle to their red-haired friend and his recent rival-in-all-things; "Here. Since you did not come to_… watch_," his lip curled slightly at the infamous word, "I am giving this to you now. There is enough in there for five months, effectively taking care of the summer."

"Thank you," Lucy said, "I'm sure it will be much appreciated. I got caught up trying to pack some of those books you were looking at in the library just before Valentine's Day. I kept trying to box them up and a couple of them kept bursting right out, and of course they were the ones that needed to go on the bottom due to their odd shapes and sizes."

Dinah had to laugh as Severus sighed, shaking his head in his hand and not looking at Lucy; "Fine. Thank you for the information. Well, at least you've made use of them. I thought you might."

Lucy rolled her eyes, laughing quietly at Severus, "We do do other things you know. Of course if you'd like to borrow them…" she waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"NO!" Severus shouted, and then flushed as Dinah covered his mouth and he realized he had yelled a little too loudly. Some of the other faculty members were giving them odd looks.

Dinah grinned; "He doesn't need them, Lucy, but thank you." She snickered a little at how red Severus turned at her comment. "Not that you _need _them either," she was quick to explain to her friend; "but I don't think they're Severus's form of entertainment any more than they're his research materials."

Lucy grinned, "I was just teasing. I didn't really think he'd take them. Even Sirius refuses to read them, so I would have been surprised if Severus_ had_ wanted the books."

"He knows you're teasing," Dinah finally released her husband's mouth so he could speak again.

Severus sighed; "Yes." He turned to Dinah; "We should go. There is no more need to stay here."

"Ah. Yes," she turned back to Lucy; "Well…"

True to her character, Lucy started tearing up a bit, "Have a good summer," she murmured, and then launched a hug at Dinah, "Don't forget to write…and visit."

"Of course not," Dinah hugged her friend back just as tightly; "I'll definitely write. We can come up with a time to get together, for sure."

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "even if I have to put Snuffles on a leash for it." Dinah elbowed Severus when he looked a little too pleased at the prospect of Snuffles on a leash. Luckily, Lucy was so overcome with the farewell that she didn't seem to notice. "Well…I had my boxes sent along this morning so I guess this is goodbye," she sniffled.

"Thanks for everything," Dinah said, smiling and feeling her own throat tighten just a little bit.

"You're welcome," she wiped her eyes, "Oh, this is silly. It's not as if we're never going to see each other again." She turned to Severus and held out her hand, "Severus, thanks for not…blowing up Sirius," her pause and the look that she was giving Severus seemed to indicate that she meant something different from what she said.

Severus extended his hand to her; "I would not… blow up Sirius without your permission, Lucy."

"Her permission?" Dinah was now more confused than ever; "Why would she give you permission to-"

"Hush," he placed a kiss on her temple, and Dinah realized that this was something personal that Lucy must have asked Severus not to tell, perhaps what she had thought about before. And Lucy's right to privacy was important. "I was simply messing with her as she always insists upon messing with me," he explained.

Understanding, she just smiled and leaned her head on her husband's shoulder; "I see. Okay, then." The way he tightened his grip on her arm made her think that they really did had a very deep, mutual understanding going on here.

"Have a good summer, Lucy," Severus told their friend, his tone cordial and almost warm.

"You too…bye," Lucy waved and walked out the door, leaving Dinah and Severus alone, the last two people in the staff room.

Dinah tried not to cry at all and leaned into Severus; "I'm going to miss her."

"I know," he nuzzled his long nose against her forehead, wrapping his arms around her; "But I'm sure you will both find a time to get together over the summer and drag Sirius and I along."

"Oh, you'll have fun, too," she giggled, lifting her head to kiss him; "Shall we go home, then?"

"Yes," he agreed, "everything has been sent, including the ridiculous animals. We have simply to fly back. _On brooms_," he clarified when she shot him what had to be the tenth hopeful look in two days.

She laughed; "Oh, all right. I suppose if we _must _use brooms, we must. I guess it makes sense not to want to fly around by your own power all the time."

"Especially not over London," he agreed. "Much too many chances for complication. It would be very difficult to maintain a temporary invisibility spell and flight at the same time, especially if I am also trying to fly _you_."

"I know, I know," she agreed. He had explained this to her about ten times as well.

In a few moments Dinah was stuck in the most bizarre form of reverse deja vu she had ever experienced. Standing with her broom on the green grass in front of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the sun shining down on her. But this time with a companion by her side. "Wow," she murmured, smiling at Severus; "I had no idea when I arrived at the beginning of the year that I'd be going home with a husband."

He laughed; "Do you think I imagined I'd be going home with a wife?"

Laughing as well, Dinah shook her head; "No, I admit, I don't believe you imagined that at all. No offense."

"None taken. It is true," he leaned over to kiss her; "But I'm glad I was wrong."

She smiled at him for a few moments, thinking how lucky they were, and then they took off for home. Dinah had never felt more thrilled to see her silly Muggle house than she did right now. When it wasn't just _her _house anymore. "Severus," she slid her hand into his as they stood in front of her door; "Did I ever tell you how happy this makes me? That you want to move into _my _home with me? That you don't mind being surrounded by Muggles? That we're going to live here together?"  
"I think I have some idea," he wrapped his arms around her, then sighed and looked around; "It is rather infested with Muggles, isn't it?"

"Most places are," she laughed; "It's a matter of population sizes."

"Yes, Mrs. Sociologist."

"_Dr. _Sociologist," she corrected with a smile; "We're in the Muggle world now."

"Whatever," he smiled, "Now are you going to open the door?"

"Mm, yes," she grinned, feeling happy enough to whistle or skip or something, if she wasn't a thirty-nine year old woman with at least a small amount of pride. Instead, she withdrew her key and turned it in the lock, putting it away before starting to twist the doorknob.

"Wait," Severus's hand landed softly on her wrist, stopping her.

She turned to him, confused; "Yes?"

Smiling, he wrapped his arms around her again and lifted her up into them.

"Severus!" she shrieked, her face on fire.

"What? This is what you're supposed to do, isn't it?"

"Y-yes, I just didn't think you would…" she stammered, looping her arms around his neck, unable to stop smiling.

"I intend to surprise you today," he murmured, softly kissing her lips before reaching for the doorknob, twisting it and opening it into _their _house. One step over the threshold and they were in. He looked around as Dinah rested her head on his shoulder; "My third time here. It appears to be in order, except," he sighed and shifted around a bit, rolling his eyes; "_Cat_."

Dinah laughed; "Godric, go away. I'll cuddle with you later. You have plenty of food."

"He's not listening to you," Severus grumbled, shifting around some more.

"Well, put me down and I'll – Severus!" she exclaimed, blushing again as he started walking forward, up the stairs; "You can put me down now, you don't have to carry me all the way upstairs. I must be heavy!"

"I'm going to do this right. We aren't in the bedroom yet."

She sighed, content, and rested her head back on his shoulder. "If you insist." In a short while they were in the bedroom and he put her down on the floor, kissing her once before looking around.

"The bed has been moved since Christmas."

Dinah nodded, agreeing with his statement; "I changed the furniture around a bit." The bed which had been on the right wall when they had entered before, she had now moved to the back wall, allowing for easier access to the bathroom door. "Do you like it?"

He chuckled; "I'm not usually picky about that sort of thing, but yes. I like it." He gently guided her shoulders so that she was sitting on the bed. "There," he said; "Go on and get into bed and I'll be right back."

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"You have been waiting for this for a long time. I'm going to make it special for you," he murmured, kissing her again.

She giggled, feeling like her face would never change from pink to its normal color again; "Severus. You really can be romantic sometimes, can't you?"

"I don't know about that," he grumbled a bit, and then went to his bag, taking out his black bathrobe and various bathroom objects, including the shampoo which had quickly become 'theirs'.

"You're going to shower without me?" Dinah, climbing back towards the head of the bed on the side that Severus had placed her, stopped for a moment to entreat him, sure her face showed just how disappointed she felt.

He laughed; "No, love. I'm just going to get ready and put my things away. I realize you probably wish to spend this moment with the greasy-haired Severus and not the fluffy-haired one."

She blushed – again – and smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear; "Well, a little. I love both, but… the most natural you…"

"Mm," he smiled, blushing a bit himself as he shook his head; "As I suspected. I still don't understand, but it makes me happy. Just wait a moment. This will feel natural. Like we've always been here together."

"Oh, Severus…" she murmured, watching him disappear into the shower and waiting, her heartbeat refusing to calm down its excitement, for him to return.

In a moment he did, his bathrobe tied around his waist. He climbed into bed next to her and smoothed the covers over their sitting forms; "There. It is as though this is the end of a normal day, as though we have been living here like this all our lives. You wanted to come here sooner and we were unable to, but now we can sleep together in your – _our _bed."

She blushed, reaching to trace the collar of his bathrobe, letting the bare skin of her fingers brush along his chest and collarbone as she did so, causing him to shift around. She smiled; "It's perfect. Except of course that there's no buttons this time."

He smiled, lifting one of her hands to his lips; "There will be ample opportunity for that in the future. And besides, I feel like you're going to start forcing me to wear Muggle clothes again very soon."

Dinah grinned a little wickedly; "Possibly. Oh, you know!" she laughed, looking around them; "You put me on the wrong side!"

"Oh," he frowned, looking to see that that was indeed the case. His frown quickly turned to a smirk, though, and then to a smile as he turned back to her; "It feels natural like this, though. Perhaps we shall have opposites sides in the dungeons and in the Muggle world? It might be… fun."

"Hmm," she considered this, looking around and nodding; "You're right, I do like it like this." She laughed and shrugged; "Well, why not? It works." She leaned forward, pressing her lips to his as his arms wandered around her waist, pushing her robes apart and then sliding his warm hands along her body and up to her shoulders, pushing the robe off the rest of the way as she slid her fingers up into his hair and let herself lean backward, their mouths opening and their tongues mingling together.

Moments later they lay collapsed on the bed, entwined together as colors still seemed to flash before Dinah's eyes from the glorious gift her husband had just given her.

"Mm," Severus murmured into her neck; "Good?"

"Yes. Oh, yes. Perfect. Thank you," she slid her fingers into his damp, greasy, silky hair.

He tilted his head to kiss her; "I told you I would make it special."

Laughing, she snuggled close and melted into his embrace; "You did. I'll never scold you again for waiting so long to stay here with me."

"I appreciate it," he laughed along with her.

"Granted, we still have to sleep. I said sleep here," she pointed out, grinning.

"I could probably sleep, after all of that," he admitted, chuckling.

"Probably," she chuckled as well, grasping his arms and guiding them to wrap around her waist; "It's not too early for a nap."

"Mm," he agreed, resting his chin over her shoulder and his head against hers, pulling her back tightly against him. He pressed his lips to the upper part of her neck just near her ear, and then whispered; "We're home?"

"Yes," she sighed, closing her eyes and smiling along with him; "Home."

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A/N: More in the bonus story. Oh, and there shall be only ONE more group of chapters posted before we hit the epilogues. Finally! I really added so much after the wedding… it didn't seem like a lot when I wrote it but now it does, lol.


	176. Reminiscing

A/N: Hi everybody! Welcome to the last round of chapter adds before the "main" story is over (but not including the epilogues so don't go away just yet when you're through! :-D). Thank you so much for all of your support and reviews. I believe I've responded at least once to all reviews from those who have pages on the site, and thanks also to those who have reviewed anonymously, including Kat and MysteryGirl :) As for everyone's questions about babies, kittens, and original secondary characters, all I can say is please keep reading and following all the other stories and supplementary materials and I don't think anybody will be disappointed! :)

Special thanks to Amani Ishikawa for the ideas for some of the scenarios presented in this and the next chapter, and her request for more scenes at Spinner's End! Hope you all enjoy it! Read on! :D

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CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SIX

Reminiscing

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The smoky, industrial town of Spinner's End was a sharp contrast to the environment surrounding their permanent summer home in London. There was a chill in the air even in summer and it just seemed wet and murky and stuffy and yet… in an odd way, Dinah liked it. It wasn't somewhere she'd want to stay permanently, but it held a lot of Severus in it. His past, and so much of his life. Things she wanted to be a part of.

He pushed open the door to his plain little house, where she had been once before, and they walked in to its darkness, closing the door behind them to encounter an eerie quiet.

"I think I'm going to keep the property," Severus decided, looking around at his long-time home.

Dinah nodded; "I agree. This place holds so much of your history. I'd hate to see you get rid of it."

"Mm," he smiled; "I'm glad you feel the same. Besides, that way we don't need to occupy the London basement with all of my books, half of which I never even read."

"Well, I wouldn't mind and you could use wizard space, but I do agree that they look nice here. I really wouldn't mind living here permanently if it weren't for the area."

He nodded; "No, it's not a good area. Not a place for a new married couple to live, and the air is not good. I think maintaining the property, visiting from time to time, is enough." He turned to her; "Shall we go down to the cellar? If my birth certificate is anywhere it's down there."

She nodded and followed him through the simple kitchen and to the little door at the edge, adjacent to the old back door where the infamous milkman from the pensieve scene would have dropped off milk in ages past. As Severus opened the cellar door a wave of musty air wafted out, and he waved it out of their way as they both coughed a bit; "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I haven't been down there in some time."

Dinah chuckled; "It's all right. _Lumos_," she lit the end of her wand and took a hesitant step on the creaky stairs, testing it a little before she let her other foot land next to the first, her hand grasping for the old wooden rail, which itself was a little loose on the hinges. They walked down the stairs in silence, Severus behind her, as she mentally increased the light from her wand to reveal stacks and stacks of old boxes covered in cobwebs. The cellar was quite small, and so the stacks almost looked like a cramped city of skyscrapers, pressed up against the walls and some old shelves containing Muggle tools. "There's a lot here."

"Indeed," he agreed, placing a hand on her shoulder as he stepped past her, off the landing to brush some dust off of one of the nearby boxes; "We don't need to go through them down here. I'll levitate them upstairs into the sitting room. We will breathe better in there."

Dinah nodded wryly. It _was _quite musty down here. She wouldn't be surprised if there was mildew, too, but she wasn't going to lecture Severus on the dangers of such things. The rest of the house was fine, after all. Instead, she lifted her wand and helped her husband with his levitation.

Soon the sitting room was stuffed with the same boxes from the cellar. Dinah knelt in front of the couch while Severus sat in his chair, and they both opened the boxes closest to them. "What did you have packed down there?" Dinah asked, lifting what appeared to be an old photo frame with nothing in it from her box.

"A number of things," he frowned, setting aside an old, flowered vase; "Things my parents packed that I know nothing of; I'm guessing my birth certificate is in one of those boxes. Everything I packed myself was after my mother's death… Anything of _his _I destroyed, and I moved her things downstairs into boxes… Undoubtedly some things of his are in some of these, though. I never sorted through the boxes that were already there. Didn't really want to."

"Mm," she agreed, understanding. The box seemed to be full of nothing but old photo frames with nothing in them, but Severus made no comment. She wondered if maybe they once held pictures of Eileen's family, destroyed by Tobias because they were 'freaks'.

"Yes, here," Severus kicked at a box he had just opened, glaring at it as he dropped an old shoe back inside. Dinah stood and walked over, peering down into it to see a number of old suits and that pair of shoes. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination but she thought it still reeked of hard liquor.

"Well, it can't be in here," she closed it and pushed it aside, drawing another box over for Severus to go through.

"No, I suppose not," he grumbled, but seemed a bit relieved to have his father's clothing out of the way as he leaned over and opened the next box of concern. It was full of old papers; "This one has potential," he pulled the papers out and began to go through them. Dinah soon found another box of papers and settled on the couch to examine them, but neither of them found anything useful. Severus's box seemed to be full of old Hogwarts exams and papers of his mother's, and they seemed to hold his interest. Dinah was glad he hadn't gotten _her _box of papers, which were mostly bills and things illustrating just how poor and in debt Severus's family was due to Tobias's incessant drinking.

The next box Dinah opened also seemed to hold wizarding items. Severus was still skimming his mother's papers while she looked through it. She found an old deluminator, pieces of a broken broom – she didn't have to guess who broke it – and an old gobstones set.

"That set," Severus mused, putting down the last of the papers to regard the last item she had pulled out with an expression of surprise.

"Mm," Dinah nodded; "An old gobstones set. Your mothers?"

"Yes, I didn't think it would still be here and intact," he stood from his chair to walk over, running his hand along the top with a considering expression; "We should take it home with us…"

Dinah felt herself smiling; "That sounds like a wonderful idea. I've never owned a gobstones set."

"No, you have colorful, bizarre Muggle games like that one with the dots," Severus rolled his eyes.

Dinah giggled; "It's just a kids' game. I never got rid of it. Besides, all the contorted positions…" she trailed off, winking at him.

"I don't need a _game _to get me into contorted positions," he grumbled, kneeling down in front of the box. He took one look at the old, broken broom, scowled, and then pushed the box aside, turning instead back to the gobstones set; "I haven't seen this since…"

"Since?"

He nodded; "It was only once. I couldn't have been more than five years old. My father was away on a 'business trip' – I'm fairly certain he was just staying a few nights at the local pub, though – industrial workers don't even go on business trips…" he sighed and shook his head; "Anyway, Mum taught me how to play gobstones. It was … fun," he sighed again, frowning, his gaze a little distant; "I think it was the most fun I ever had before I met Lily. And it was probably the happiest I ever saw her, when she played gobstones…"

"Severus," Dinah murmured, resting her hand on her husband's shoulder, dropping from the couch to kneel next to him; "I bet it was nice."

"It was. It should have always been like that, but it wasn't… She never played gobstones again," he shook his head. "In the later years she didn't have the will to do anything she enjoyed. And when he died, the way she mourned for him. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a box in here enshrining items she considered precious to them." He growled; "It's disgusting, Dinah. The whole thing is disgusting."

"I know," she whispered, squeezing his shoulder; "I know. It always is."

"There are women all over that still endure that. Why can't they see what is being done to them?"

"It's a psychological thing… oh, you probably don't want to hear that…" Dinah bit her lip, afraid she might annoy him by making any kind of generalization.

Instead, he looked at her and smiled; "It's fine. I know it is. It wasn't just my Mum. But that still doesn't make it right."

"Of course not," she agreed sadly; "At least there's a greater awareness nowadays. People are _trying _to change it, even though I guess they'll never be able to fix everything. It's really tragic…" she sighed; "But I'm glad you got to see your mother happy, Sev, even if it was just for a moment. I bet she really enjoyed teaching you how to play."

"It seemed like it," his lip twitched into a mild, reminiscent smile.

"I bet you were such an adorable little boy, too. Five years old, huh? With silky black hair and big brown eyes. A happy little Severus playing gobstones with his Mum…"

"Oh, Dinah," he blushed and shook his head, laughing; "You are so…"

"Endearing?"

"Hmm, sometimes, but I don't think that's the word I wanted to use."

"Probably not," she grinned, kissing him, and then considered for a moment whether it was a good time to bring this up; "Severus? I've been thinking. If we _do _have children and we have a girl, maybe we could name her after your Mum. Would you like that?"

He considered her for a moment, his expression more curious than anything, and then his brow furrowed thoughtfully; "A daughter named after Mum, huh? That might be… nice," he smiled a little and then shrugged; "Perhaps as a middle name."

Dinah smiled too, noticing that recently Severus had taken to calling his mother 'Mum' instead of 'my mother'. It was nice and really showed that his opinion of her was softening. "Eileen is a lovely middle name. I think your Mum would be happy…"

"I can only hope that she's somehow… happy, Dinah," Severus said quietly.

"I'm sure she is," Dinah murmured, stroking his arm. "I'm sure she's happy that you're happy." That got him to smile a little.

"You don't wish to name a child after your own mother?" Severus asked; "The first name, perhaps?"

Dinah considered it; "Well, it would be nice in a way, but I really only think you should use other family member's names as middle names for new children, at least up through two generations. And my grandmother's name was Eustace, so…" she laughed.

Severus chuckled; "Not the _worst _name, but not exactly modern."

"Exactly," she agreed, smiling. "But if we had a boy maybe we could give him my father's name as a middle name. I confess for a boy's first name I'm leaning towards Thomas. For Tommy, you know, unless you're opposed to the idea."

"No," he shook his head, taking her hand; "No, I think it's a good choice. Thomas Edward Snape has a very nice ring to it."

"It does, doesn't it?" she squeezed his hand. "Wow, this was such a nice conversation."

"Indeed," he stood, bringing her with him; "We're still blanking on a girl's first name, though."

Dinah laughed; "Well, I'm sure we have time. It's not as though I'm pregnant or anything."

"True," he kissed her cheek; "Back to the boxes, then?"

"Of course," she agreed, releasing his hand and heading back to her spot on the couch, pulling another box over to go through.

It felt like nearly an hour of finding useless items had passed before Severus announced that he had located his birth certificate.

More excited than she had expected to be, Dinah jumped from the couch and hurried over to perch on the edge of her husband's chair, taking the folded piece of paper from him when he held it out in offering, an amused smile on his face.

She laughed; "I'm sorry, this is just exciting." She unfolded the piece of paper and sighed happily; "There. Birth Certificate. Severus T- oh…" she stopped, frowning as she stared at the paper, not really sure what to say or even what to think. The name on the certificate was for a Severus Tobias Snape, born on January 9, 1960."

Leaning over to see it, Severus scowled; "Yes. Well, did you think my mother would pick any _other_ middle name for me?"

So he was back to 'my mother' again, was he? Well, she couldn't exactly blame him, in this situation. Dinah sighed and bit her lip; "No, well… I don't know. I guess not, now that you mention it."

Severus didn't look very happy as he stared at the certificate, and then he finally said; "She was so obsessed with him, it was the only choice in her eyes. But she couldn't see anything at all. I don't think – at least I hope she wouldn't want it like that anymore. Well, I don't use the name, obviously, but do you think… I don't know, maybe there's a way to get it removed legally in the Muggle world? Maybe they can get rid of it…"

"Yes," Dinah whispered, nodding; "Yes, I'm sure of it. We'll do that as soon as we go into town to get your legal citizenship taken care of. It can definitely be done. We'll take it right off of there for you. It shouldn't even be that hard."

With a sigh, Severus rested his head on her shoulder. Surprised, Dinah leaned close to him and let her hand move to stroke his hair. When he didn't speak for awhile she got a little concerned; "Severus?"

"It's fine," he assured her softly. "Just… thank you."

Her heart filled up with a sort of overwhelming warmth tinged with a tiny bit of sadness; "Of course," she whispered, cuddling close to him and pressing her lips into his hair; "You're welcome."

After a bit more silent snuggling he finally lifted his head and took the certificate back from her, folding it up and setting it on an end table; "It's a little late to go into town now. We should put these boxes back and make dinner. Tomorrow morning we can take care of the legal details."

"Sure," she nodded, standing from the edge of his chair as he stood with her; "I'll cut up the vegetables! The Muggle way!" she grinned, teasing him. They had brought a small amount of food with them, including the ingredients for spaghetti for dinner tonight.

He sighed; "Fine. You do it at home all the time anyway. If you don't mind, I think I will use magic to prepare the noodles."

"Fair enough," she agreed cheerfully. They had had fun so far, switching over from having their food always prepared for them at Hogwarts to making their own meals in London. Dinah had mixed up all number of fun Muggle-made dishes for Severus, while he had gotten his revenge by forcing all-magical meals on her. But this would be their first time doing half-and-half together.

Severus didn't start on the noodles right away, though, rather watched her cut up the tomatoes and onions and mushrooms for the sauce. He sighed, tapping his foot; "What is so enjoyable about this? It takes so _long _and additionally you risk cutting your fingers off."

"I haven't cut any fingers off yet, Severus," she laughed, waggling her still-intact fingers in front of him; "And it's just kind of fun, is all. Plus you can eat stuff along the way," she popped a mushroom into her mouth and then offered one to him.

"No thank you, and you can do that with magical cooking, too."

"I suppose," she admitted, and then pointed at the stove; "Noodles."

"Yes, dear," he smirked and turned to face where she was pointing. He waved his wand at the pot full of water on the stove and it sprung immediately to boil. Another flick of his wand had the noodles floating into the pot and the cooking began. Walking over to stand in front of said pot he tapped his wand once over the boiling noodles and a sprinkle of salt popped out. Another tap and a drop of cooking oil completed the mixture.

Dinah carried her bowl of vegetables to the stove and peered over his shoulder at the cooking noodles; "Boooring," she sing-songed, and laughed as he shooed her off.

"Make your sauce," he grumbled at her.

"Yes, yes," she placed half the tomatoes along with their juices into a second pot and started mashing them up, just about halfway. She liked her sauce chunky and hoped Severus would enjoy it like that. Then she dumped in the remainder of the tomatoes, mushrooms, and onions and used her wand to light the flame underneath; "Well, you don't have matches," was her retort when Severus raised an eyebrow at her.

He smiled, "I didn't say anything," and turned back to the noodles.

While her sauce was cooking Dinah chopped up some fresh basil and dumped it in at the halfway point along with some salt and sprinkles of dried oregano, and then added a bit of olive oil. It finished cooking at about the same time as the noodles. She smiled at Severus; "If you get all of this stuff onto the table with magic I'll grate the fresh parmesan cheese manually."

"Of course," he leaned over and kissed her, then nuzzled her forehead; "I like cooking with you."

She blushed; "Me too. This was fun." It indeed seemed that all they did lately was have fun. Granted, they were still newlyweds and surely there were some fights and annoyances in store for them further down the road, but none of those things could possibly stand up, in the long run, to the complete and utter joy that they both brought to each other. Of that, Dinah was certain.


	177. History

A/N: Again, thanks to Amani Ishikawa for suggesting scenes involving Wormtail's passageway and the nearby park! :D

* * *

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SEVEN

History

* * *

Despite the occasional traffic noises from outside, Spinner's End _did _get kind of creepy as night approached. But the fact that she and Severus were playing gobstones with his Mum's set and he seemed to be enjoying himself much more than the only other time they had played gobstones in the library when they were children made everything feel safe, warm, and cheerful. He won though, of course. Next they played cards and he won again. Dinah was really going to have to find _some _game that she could beat him at one of these days!

"You know what?" she asked as he laid down a winning hand of cards and she sighed again.

"Yes?" he asked, a bit smugly.

"I deserve to win all of our debates since you win all of the games we play. It's only fair."

"Is that so?" he teased and then a loud noise snapped them out of their light-hearted little mini-debate. Dinah jumped and her cards popped out of her hands; "What was that?"

"Don't worry," he murmured; "It's just the pipes. That happens sometimes. This is an old building, and the passageway makes everything echo a bit."

"Passageway?"

"Yes," he smirked, flicking his wand at the bookshelf to reveal a hidden doorway. Dinah just sort of gaped at it. "I haven't been back there in years. It is where I … 'kept' Wormtail."

"I see," she grinned; 'I'm surprised you didn't keep him in the cellar."

"I considered it, believe me," he stood from his chair. "Unfortunately, that might have been _too_ suspicious for the Dark Lord. I suppose it would be better to stop leaving the things that I don't want to deal with as is and start going through and getting rid of the unnecessary items. The upstairs room is probably filled with all of Wormtail's flea-ridden possessions."

"You did just leave things a lot, didn't you?"

"I didn't live here enough. There was no reason to go through items that would only make me angry. But now that you're here, I think… I could do it."

Dinah walked over to stand close to him, resting her hand on his arm as they walked over to the open passage. A narrow, ascending staircase appeared to lead to a dusty upper level. One tiny window covered in more dust provided the barest bit of light to the upper landing. "What's the point of this place?"

"It was originally a part of the house, I'm sure. But it was already like this as far back as I can remember, so I don't know who put it into the bookcase. Possibly Mum before I was born. It has an air of being done by magic about it." There was no railing here, so they started up the stairs with nothing to grasp onto, but it was so narrow they could both barely fit. About halfway up it seemed to narrow more and they were forced to face each other.

Dinah laughed and reached her arms around his waist; "A bit narrow, isn't it?"

"Yes," he smiled, pulling her to him and pressing his lips to hers. In a few moments he frowned; "Dinah, I'm not really sure I want to have sex with you on Wormtail's staircase."

"Mm, true," she frowned as well, looking down at the dusty staircase below them and releasing his waist; "All right, let's continue on then."

When they made it to the top of the staircase they found an old wooden door that was half falling off of its hinges . Pushing it open with a creak, they emerged into a room strewn with old clothes, blankets, and pillows. A pile of clothing appeared to form a makeshift bed, and seeds and grain covered the surface of the floor.

"Disgusting," Severus snarled, kicking aside an old cup half-filled with water, causing it to spill against the wall as the cup rolled away.  
"He ate… pet food?" Dinah stared at the particles strewn over the floor.

"Used to it, I suppose. Granted, I had no choice but to offer him real food but he did not want it. Said he was fine here. Rat droppings!" Scowling again, he next kicked at a pile of the things.

"We should just vanish all of these things and Scourgify the place," Dinah suggested.

"Probably the best course of action," he agreed, glaring out at the place again. It didn't take more than a few minutes to get the job done and then they were standing in much cleaner, empty room. The boxes in the cellar would take longer to go through, though, as they presumably wanted to actually examine all of the contents first.

Severus sighed; "Better. I should not have let this place get as bad as it did, I just… didn't want to come up here and look at anything that had to do with Wormtail. Probably stupid…" he ran a distracted hand through his hair, a gesture she hadn't seen much of recently.

Dinah shook her head; "You had a lot of other things on your mind last summer."

"Yes. Admittedly."

"It wasn't _that _much time that you left it here like this. It's not like it was this way for years or anything."

He chuckled; "Thankfully. Though I don't imagine myself using this space at all, even now that it's been sanitized. It was still… _tainted _by Wormtail's presence," he scowled and shook his head; "I suppose it's sort of like what Lucy was saying to us before we left Hogwarts…"

"What is?"

"If I _had _known the truth… if I hadn't wasted all that time believing the wrong man was guilty maybe I could have gotten my revenge on Wormtail the way I should have. As it was I ran around trying to get Lupin and Sirius thrown into Azkaban when I could have just located that infernal rat, forced his transformation, and sent him off to the dementors all before the Dark Lord was revived. But no, I chased the wrong person and by the time I realized it was Wormtail that had betrayed Lily Voldemort was reborn and I could do _nothing _to harm his prized vermin. Not only that, but I was forced to work with him! Do you have any _idea _what it was like, being forced to be even the slightest bit respectful to that rat? But if I tried to harm him I would have lost my cover… if I had just known, or even believed Sirius and Lupin when they tried to explain it in the Shrieking Shack. If I could have _caught _the rat before he escaped…"

"Yes," Dinah put a hand on his shoulder; "But weren't you knocked out by the trio at the time when he escaped?" At Severus's scowl she squeezed his shoulder and smiled, chuckling a little bit; "Unfortunate, I know, but I don't think it could have gone any other way. If you had known who he was at first others would have known. You would at least have told Dumbledore. Everything would have been different. Maybe Sirius wouldn't have even been imprisoned. But like you told Lucy, sometimes unfair things just happen for no reason. What's important is that it all worked out."

He smirked a little, turning to look at her; "Your logic is sound, my idealist. Are you sure you aren't a Ravenclaw?"

"Oh, we've already got the house thing established pretty well, I think. I've got a few of those traits, but so do you." Dinah laughed; "Besides, you know what? I think it stands as a true indication of your character. Lucy told us that Sirius went after Peter with the intention of killing him. Even when you believed Sirius responsible, you only wanted to send them to Azkaban and the dementors. Was it because you cared less about the betrayal of Lily than he cared about the betrayal of his friends? I don't think so. I think it just shows that you are not the type to kill anyone."

Severus shrugged; "The dementor's kiss is worse than death, anyway."

"True," she sighed; "But it was, unfortunately, the punishment of choice in those days. People became desensitized to it. I probably was a bit as well. Actually, it was more like I didn't let myself think about it, like I just kept hiding from everything," she smiled when he pulled her against him; "Either way, it is no longer the punishment of choice, and I think after seeing the flayed baby on that hill neither of us would ever consider sending someone to that kind of fate again."

"It's true. That was a horrifying sight. Did I tell you how much I admired you trying to help it? I never saw anyone like that before… the way you wouldn't give up on it until it turned back into the boy. It's still strange to think that the Dark – that Voldemort is normal now…"

"Thank you," Dinah smiled and closed her eyes; "And yes, it's odd in a way, but it's right."

"Let's leave this place. It's clean. We can ignore it," Severus released her and turned back toward the staircase, and in a few moments they were back in the large bedroom.

Dinah smiled at the grey sheets; "Our other bed. I seem to recall it being quite nice and bouncy."

"Oh, do you now?" his dark eyes glinted; "Well, we were both smaller then, so we should probably re-test your theory with our current bodies, wouldn't you say?"

"My thoughts exactly," she grinned, sliding her arms around his waist and letting her tongue teasingly enter into his mouth before withdrawing.

He smirked; "Trying to make me squirm, are you? Well, there is something that I'd like to point out to you."

"And what is that?" she cooed, tracing the edge of his robes.

"I wonder why it is that you offered to grate the cheese for dinner manually while asking me to use magic to set the table and not the other way around."

She frowned, trying to look appropriately stubborn; "Simply random coincidence."

"Really? Or do you admit that magic is much more convenient for food preparation due to the elimination of essentially all mess?"

Dinah sighed. He had her and she had no retort; "Oh, all right. I'll give you that one since you so generously gave me my survey and the fact that it's more fun to manually undress me," she guided his hands to the front of her robes.

"How generous of you," he said amiably, spreading her robes and reaching around to unclasp her bra; "This means, of course, that I'm either ahead by one now or only behind by one, depending upon whether you choose to acknowledge my other two victories."

"Well, how about I acknowledge only one of them and it puts us even again?"

"That's fair. But which one?" his gaze was teasing as he kissed her, tossing her bra aside.

"Hmm, that's a toughie," she moved to unbutton his frock coat; "I'd hate to acknowledge either of them. Well, how about I give you half for each and that still totals to one?"

He laughed; "This is getting a bit convoluted."

"I know," she giggled, falling onto the bed with him; "But that's all right. It's fun." And they proceeded to only have more fun.

It was like déjà vu again, as they rested against each other in the soft bed, the sounds of industrial England outside the window not infringing on their peace in the least. But now the bed belonged to the both of them. "Last time we were here," she murmured, snuggling closer to him, "You told me that I remind you of what it means to be happy. I wanted to tell you how happy hearing that made me, but I think we both fell asleep before I could…"

He sighed, his warm fingers stroking her hair; "My Dinah… I'm glad. I'm glad that I made you happy back then. Even though it was before…" he trailed off for a moment and then continued; "I told you I loved you after that, in my head. But I couldn't… I wouldn't tell you out loud until I was certain just how much. I needed to be certain it was as much love as you deserved. I kept trying to make myself feel it, but I had to let it come naturally. Still, I wish…"

Dinah shook her head; "No, don't. I was just as bad. The signs were all there, even before your epiphany. I should have realized, consciously, how much you loved me. But I think in moments like that I did know it. Even if it was only subconsciously. I wasn't worried when you told me that. I was just happy. Happy that you were happy. That I could make you happy."

He responded with a soft smile; "Good. That's all I wanted. To make you happy. Because it's what you did for me. You _did _make me so happy, Dinah. As you still do and you always will. And those were the best times we had before I told you. The times when we weren't thinking too much."

"Mm," she nodded; "Then let's not think anymore now, either."

Light, pleased laughter followed from him and he nodded, tightening his grip on her; "What is there even to think about?"

* * *

"I knew it," Severus grumbled, more for show than anything else.

Dinah laughed, buttoning the black Muggle dress shirt for him in a weird sort of reversal from last night; "We're going into town to get _Muggle _married, of course you have to wear Muggle clothes. At least I didn't pack the white shirt for you."

"Yes, that was… oddly merciful of you. I wonder why you didn't. Could it be that you're planning a different time to spring it on me?"

"Oh, _possibly_," she teased, finishing the last button; "There. You look so nice."

"If you say so," he muttered, blushing as he held out his arm for her; "Shall we go, then?"

She agreed and soon they were walking along the plain, black streets of Spinner's End, passing rows and rows of houses that looked just exactly the same. But their place was special.

The sun was just rising as they took their journey, and it was really kind of nice to just walk and not drive. Soon they were traveling alongside the river toward town, and the yellow morning light illuminated a more friendly area of the country, less impoverished and just a bit… brighter.

And then the river veered off and away from them, and they were passing a field of green grass as the swings and see-saws of a park began to fill Dinah's line of vision.

A familiar park.

"You wanted to walk," Severus reminded her. "This was on the way. I didn't think you would mind. I have no particular desire to come here anymore but I pass by every now and again."

"No, I don't mind," she shook her head; "It's just a little strange to see it in person." She laughed; "I can just see you hiding in the bushes, ready to jump out and declare Lily's identity as a witch, the sister getting in the way…"

"It didn't really go the way I'd planned," he admitted. "But I got her friendship. It was nice… to go to Hogwarts with somebody already on my side. At least she started out that way."

"She did, but things change as you get older…" Dinah sighed, tightening her grip on his hand; "It would have been nice if I had a friend to go to Hogwarts with, even if the friend was only temporary… but I didn't realize it would be so hard to _find _friends. Even with the age difference, even with Dumbledore telling me about the negative associations with parseltongue beforehand… I guess I was pretty stupid."

"No. You are the last person that should have thought you wouldn't make friends at Hogwarts. You couldn't have known. Honestly Dinah, if _I _thought everyone at Hogwarts would like me you had every right to think that. If anyone was stupid I was."

"Severus, don't say it like that…"

"I don't mean-" he sighed; "Well, you know what I mean. I'm not saying that I deserved or should have expected 'Snivellus' or-"

"Don't say that word!" It was the most horrible word on Earth.

"Dinah," he pressed his lips to her hair; "All I'm saying is I should have realized that my background and my behaviors would have stuffed me into a bit of a corner like they did. Even without being forced to wear my father's clothes all the time, I was unconventional-looking. It's not _right, _but even you know that children latch upon the unconventional to mistreat and to bully. Look at what happened to Speasy this year, and almost immediately, too."

"It's still not right."

"I never said it was. But you should have been all right. They should have let you room with older students and simply take classes with the younger ones, or … something. I honestly don't know what the solution would have been but there was one, certainly. Some way to-"

"Prevent me from revealing the parselmouth or the prophecy?" Dinah shook her head; "No, there was no way."

"But you couldn't have anticipated those things."

"The parselmouth I could." She sighed; "I guess it doesn't matter. I got what I got. Seven years of isolation and misery. And yet I always loved Hogwarts itself. Funny, that."

"I wish I could have found and helped you. Wish I could have known you," her husband said softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, and Dinah felt comforted.

Suddenly, Severus chuckled; "Did I tell you I had a very convoluted dream towards the beginning of the youthening? It was that scene in the pensieve when we saw each other, and I went to talk to you, but you turned into Lily. And then you were in Lily's place, running back into Hogwarts, so I ran back… you both kept changing into each other. I guess it was symbolic of my indecision at the time. Ultimately, you told me to come here with Lily, to this park of all places," he gestured out at the swings in the sunrise and Dinah had to smile at the bizarreness of it all; "but Lily wasn't here, and I thought… I should have gone with you…" he shook his head; "Well, it was just a dream. A long time ago. But it just popped into my head from our conversation and this place."

Dinah covered her mouth and giggled; "It's almost as bad as Lucius Malfoy in a frilly pink dress."

"_Almost_," he agreed, and they laughed together for a moment, the tension breaking.

"I bet I told you to go with Lily in the dream because I was indecisive myself back then. I wanted you for myself, but I didn't have the confidence for it. Wanted you to be happy and figured you just _couldn't _want me over her. You probably noticed that about me and it reflected itself in the dream. It probably didn't help your indecision any, though, my behaviors…" she shook her head; "But I'm glad you decided you should have come with me."

"I should have in all things," he murmured his insistence. "But those were not the paths we took. Still,' he sighed and stared out at the swings; "I wish things had gone differently with Lily. I wish we had stayed friends and I…" he sighed and shook his head; "They shouldn't have died like that, Dinah. Sirius and Lucy are right. Even James Potter didn't deserve his fate. They should still be alive with their friends. I should have told Lily that, as her friend, I was _happy _for her that she found the person that made her happy. And I should have introduced you to her as the person that makes _me _happy, and we should have stayed friends."

"She is still your friend," Dinah said gently; "Even though she rejected your older self I don't think she ever fully rejected the younger you that she met in this park. She would have always fondly remembered those days, I'm sure. I hope she regrets what she did to you, though. Still, I suppose you're right. It would have been nicer if we could have – all of us – had a normal life like that, as friends."

"But it's impossible now. And the whole thing is still… in some ways… ultimately _my fault_…" pain flashed across his eyes.

"Oh, Severus," she gave him a hug; "No, no. Don't. You played a part in it, but there were _so many _things that led up to what Voldemort did. So many factors involved that you had nothing to do with. Even without your participation it likely wouldn't have changed things."

"He would have found out about the prophecy, anyway…" Severus sighed.

"Yes, and if he did through anyone that was not you, you might not have known ahead of time, might not have gotten on Dumbledore's side and taken on your role, and who knows what _worse_ things could have happened without your involvement. It's not exactly a consolation, but…"

"No. No, you're right," he smiled and kissed her; "It's true. And there we go again with the 'what ifs'." He chuckled; "Really, have we any right to tell Lucy not to do that?"

Chuckling, Dinah shook her head; "Probably not."

"Well, since we're still _on _the subject, I kind of wish that it was _you _I met in this park as a child," Severus smiled reminiscently and Dinah felt a small smile of her own form as she curiously considered his suggestion; "Not that I would want to erase Lily's friendship from my life, but… just think about it. If it had been you things would have been so different. I can just imagine it. Watching you, no stupid sister to get in the way of things. I could see you finding me in the bushes and demanding that I come over and look at a snake nest that you found."

Dinah laughed; "Possibly. But my powers didn't show up until sixteen, remember? You'd probably have taken one look at me and said 'Ew, a Muggle, get it away'!"

He laughed; "Maybe that would have been my initial thought, but if I kept watching you I know I would have figured out very fast that you were better than other Muggles. Or…Well," he flushed a little when she raised an eyebrow at him; "At least than what I thought other Muggles were like back then. I imagine that you were very inquisitive as you are now, that you could find fascination and beauty in things other Muggles didn't seem to…"

It was Dinah's turn to flush; "Well, I guess I _was _sort of inquisitive."

He smiled, tracing her cheek with his fingers; "I knew it. You were certainly just as beautiful as Lily, even more so, though in a different way. And you wouldn't have been cautious around me at first, like Lily was. You would have _wanted _to be my friend. Right away."

"I know I would have," she agreed.

Severus sighed, dropping his hand to rest on her shoulder; "And yet, that is not what happened. You were growing up in London, so far away from me. Our lives refused to entwine until just last year. Still, think how nice it could have been…"

"I'm thinking it, and I know it would have been nice," Dinah smiled, placing her hand over his and lifting her head to receive his long, gentle kiss.

"We'll always be able to imagine it," Severus smiled when his lips released hers; "But I suppose that's enough 'what-ifs' for today. After all, here we are. And I believe we are going to get married?"

"Just as soon as you legally exist as a Muggle," she grinned.

He sighed, gave an exaggerated groan, and then they both laughed as he kissed her again; "For you, I think I can endure it."


	178. Future

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-EIGHT

Future

* * *

It started out simple enough, but they both had their wands ready. Severus told the man they were speaking to that he was a victim of identity theft and needed a new ID, offering his birth certificate for reference.

"All right, let's just look you up here to start..." the man typed into his computer, which Severus was – of course – glaring at, and after a moment he pulled something up onto the screen; "Ah! Here we are! Severus Tobias Snape…" Severus gave another scowl at his horrid middle name and then the man spoke again, surprised; "Wait, we have you on record as going missing at the age of eleven, Mr. Snape… if this is who you actually _are _then-"

"_Confundus_," Severus flicked his wand where only Dinah could see and it was done. He looked squarely at the man; "It is me and I am here now."

"Oh, well then we'll just have to change the computer record that's all. You're obviously not missing, you're right here… there!" he smiled, satisfied, at the screen. "Now, about that identification…" he wandered off, presumably to get some paperwork or something.

"I'm fairly certain his supervisor would _not _be happy with whatever he just did," Dinah said, watching the man search around.

Severus shrugged; "It is done. It was the only way."

"Mmm," Dinah frowned agreement as the man returned. And a bit more paperwork later and Severus's identification was nearly ready along with his new full name of only 'Severus Snape'. No awful middle name to be seen.

"Now, all that's left is your ID photo," their helper said cheerfully.

"What?" Severus glared, first at the man and then at Dinah.

She laughed; "It's a part of the identification card. Surely you must have known that."

"I wasn't thinking that much about it. Is it absolutely necessary?"

"Just stand over here, Sir," the man walked out from behind the counter and gestured to a spot on the floor.

"No."

"Now, Sir, nobody likes to get their identification picture taken, but you have to if you want to get married like you two said. Now stand."

Grumbling incoherently at both the man's insistence and Dinah's gestures to 'just go on', Severus allowed himself to be guided to the spot on the floor, while the man went back behind the camera and told Severus to look at it. As expected, Dinah's husband took the order to 'look' as an order to 'glare'.

"You might want to smile at least a little bit?" Dinah suggested. Actually, she wasn't sure how a perpetually smiling ID photo with him staring straight at the camera would turn out, especially if he smiled awkwardly.

Luckily, she didn't have to worry. "No," Severus said again, and continued to glare, though thankfully mostly straight-faced, at the camera until the picture was taken.

"Thank you, Mr. Snape. Now we will simply print your card. Take care not to be a victim of identity theft again."

"Whatever," Severus snarled at the man, coming back to stand next to Dinah. A few moments later, his Muggle identification was handed to him over the counter. He glared at it; "This is ridiculous, Dinah. Make them re-take the picture."

Laughing, she took the card from him and looked at it. It wasn't really all that bad. He looked fairly natural, just glaring straight-faced at the camera. It was a familiar look for him, anyway. "Oh, it's fine. Besides, nobody likes their ID pictures. Here, look at mine," she dug her own driving license out of her purse and handed it to him without looking at her image. She thought she looked awful. She had been wearing the wrong color, her hair was sort of frizzy, the light reflected off of her all funny, her head was tilted at a weird angle, her smile was goofy, and her skin looked orange.

"You look fine, Severus said predictably.

She sighed, snatching it back as they left that office and headed towards the place where they could get married; "See? We all just hate our identification pictures. It's a natural reaction. You can't escape it. Though…" she considered, "I wonder if once my name gets changed I can try for a new picture."

"Oh? But if you 'can't escape it', like you said-" he began, smirking, before she interrupted him.

"But we have to keep trying! Someday, someone will do it!" she declared, and then laughed at the look he gave her; "Well, it's worth a shot anyhow. I don't think I could possibly look worse in it, anyway. So I guess the next step for you is turning that ID into a driving license, huh?" she batted her eyes at him.

He snarled; "No! I have no need to _ever _learn how to drive an infernal Muggle vehicle."

Dinah had to laugh; "Oh, I'm sure the day will come when you'll need to, but since you don't right now I won't force you to. Now," she grasped his arm, "let's go get married. Rosa and Luke said they'd meet us in the proper section of the register office to sign as witnesses."

"We'll still need plenty of Confundus charms," Severus grumbled as they headed to where they were supposed to meet their friends; "I can't believe you forgot about witnesses until we got town. You're lucky your friends were even available."

"Yeah, I know," she sighed, and laughed; "Well, we could have pulled random people off of the street."

"Lovely. There they are."

"Dinah! Severus!" Rosa ran up and threw her arms around both of them at once, causing Severus to scowl a little but keep his mouth shut. At least Rosa didn't seem afraid of him anymore; "This is so exciting! Wow, Severus, I never saw you in regular clothes as an adult before. You look good. Less, uh… scary and more cute," she winked at him.

He sighed; "Let's just get this over with."

"Did you give notice?" Luke asked.

"Um, no," Dinah blushed, keeping her voice down; "We just got Severus's Muggle ID and we don't want to wait. All we have to do is use _Confundus _to make them _think _we gave them our fifteen days' notice of intent to marry. And, um… also to make them think we've been living in this town together for seven days."

"Wow," he shook his head; "Magic is pretty… impressive, isn't it?"

"I guess so, if you're not used to it," Dinah smiled; "Then again, there are those who are quite used to it and still think it's impressive, right, darling?"

"More impressive than Muggle things, anyway," Severus admitted. Rosa and Luke just smiled. They had figured Severus out by now, but they liked him anyway. That was all that mattered.

In a few more minutes a lovely marriage certificate was sitting on the counter across from them; "Sign here and here, please," the clerk pointed to the spots where both of them should sign.

Dinah took the pen first and signed her name in her spot, then handed it to Severus and he did the same in his spot. She liked his handwriting – rapid and scrawled and sharp, but also written with a sort of smooth ease. It was fitting. Then Rosa and Luke signed as witnesses and the clerk handed them the certificate, thanked them, and wished them the best of luck in the future, and they were done.

Dinah smiled, looking down at the paper, and turned to Severus; "Now we're married in both worlds," she said, kissing him.

He smiled back; "Good. And this should be enough to change your name if we go back to the other place?"

"It should be, indeed."

* * *

"It's just not fair," Dinah whined for the umpteenth time, staring at her new driving license as she, Severus, Rosa, and Luke sat in a little café in town for lunch.

"Oh, Dinah, you look fine!" Rosa laughed; "Honestly, you're seeing things nobody else is in that picture. Besides, isn't the new name what's most important?"

Dinah sighed. She didn't think she was seeing things. Her eyes were most definitely not even in size and her nose looked weird and her hair was frizzy again. And yet, it was true, the words 'Dinah Marie Snape' across the top made it all worth it.

But just barely.

"I suppose," she sighed, putting it away and leaning her head on Severus's shoulder, reaching to take a sip of her water.

"You should see _my _license for comparison," Rosa laughed; "If you think _you _look weird…"

"Oh, no, yours is fine Rosa, _mine _is definitely the worst," Luke muttered, ripping apart a piece of bread; "I look like a girl."

"Oh, you do not!" Rosa laughed.

"Well, I suppose you're right, Dinah," Severus said; "Apparently everyone _does _hate their ID picture."

"Told you," she grinned, her mouth watering as the waitress brought their lunch over. She had ordered a risotto dish, one of her favorites. And if she had room for dessert, which she always did, she was getting some banoffee pie.

"So, how's married life treating you?" Rosa asked, biting into her sandwich, which looked quite tasty. Dinah considered asking if she could have her friend's pickle.

But she just ate her own rice; "It's perfectly wonderful so far. We're getting used to being off work, but we've each got our own projects over the summer. Severus is doing some potions experimentation and I'm working on analysis of another Muggle-born survey like the one I told you about. Other than that we read a lot together, eat together, and do… you know… things," she blushed, grinning.

"Ah, yes," Rosa laughed; "Things. I know all about things."

"Don't turn into Lucy, darling," Severus murmured into her ear.

She laughed; "I'm stopping there, no worries. Though I guess I could take it one step further and say we were organizing our clothes."

"Infernal metaphor," he chuckled, kissing her.

Rosa sighed, grasping Luke's arm; "You two are so cute. We're really just so happy for you."

"Thanks," Dinah blushed, turning back to her friend; "How about the both of you? It's been over a year now."

"As good as always," Rosa smiled.

"Yes," Luke teased; "Except for that one day where you lost your mind and made me search endlessly for a saxophone you knew perfectly well you had already sold and then broke your grandmother's vase on the ridiculous notion that your child friend could magically fix it."

They all laughed at that, even Severus as he cut into his roast chicken, and Rosa shrugged. "Ah, well it all worked out. Oh! Luke and I have started trying for a baby, you know. We're not getting any younger, after all."

"I am. I'm two years younger than you," Luke joked.

"I am not an old maid!" Rosa retorted, giggling.

"Congratulations," Dinah smiled.

"What about you two?" her friend wiggled her eyebrows; "Any plans for family expansion in the near future?"

Severus cleared his throat and took a bite of chicken, causing Rosa to giggle at his blush, and Dinah smiled, blushing a little herself. "Well, we aren't really trying at this point but we're not… _not _trying, either, if you know what I mean."

"Ahh, just letting things take their own course," Rosa acknowledged.

"Basically," Dinah nodded. "So we'll see what happens. But best of luck to you two! I would love to have a little niece or nephew around because I _so _cannot rely on Larry for that."

Rosa giggled; "Thanks. Your cousin is _never _going to get married, is he?"

"Get married?" Dinah laughed; "He has to move out of his parents' house first! I love Larry don't get me wrong, but I can _almost _see why Aunt Mildred is the way she is about other couples when she just can't marry her son off. He's like a brother to me. Maybe I'd better start with a little friendly sisterly pushing. Granted, it doesn't usually work. Stubborn…" Dinah rolled her eyes at the thought of her cousin, devouring three heaping spoonfuls of her rice mixture.

"He works at an advertising company?" Severus asked.

"Yep," Dinah nodded, pleased that her husband remembered the things she told him about her Muggle family's life; "And mostly men there, I'm afraid. I wonder if I could coerce some nice girl to join…"

"Are you normally this sneaky and underhanded?" Severus chuckled, and she knew he was just teasing her.

"Only with Larry. It's our little rivalry thing. Guess that's my Slytherin side showing through," she grinned at him.

"Now _that_ is a turn-on," he teased.

She laughed and repeated his words from earlier; "Don't turn into Lucy, darling."

Severus's face turned a little pink; "I'm not!"

Rosa giggled; "Yes, you two are officially the most adorable couple on the planet."

"Careful, you're starting to sound like Aunt Mildred," Dinah warned her friend, raising an eyebrow in the Snape tradition. After all, she _was _a Snape now. In all worlds.

That got her friend to shut up. Rosa cleared her throat and bit into her sandwich as Luke laughed and cut into his slice of pizza.

"So, Severus, you are experimenting with potions, then? It's your hobby but not what you teach, right?" Rosa finally got back into the conversation, changing the subject.

"I used to teach it," Severus admitted. "Funny enough, now that I've finally switched part of me wants to go back to potions, but Slughorn has his successor planned already," he scowled briefly at the mention of Eugene; "and Defense Against the Dark Arts needs a solid, permanent professor, so I intend to stay in the position. There is still time to experiment with potions on the side, since it is my only hobby. Unlike your friend here, who seems to have an overabundance," he sighed, pointing at Dinah.

Dinah grinned; "Yes, I admit, I spend a lot of time on the survey and reading books, but I also watch movies and play video games and listen to recorded Muggle music and Severus hides out until I'm done," she laughed. "Well, he doesn't always mind the music as long as he doesn't have to see the CD player."

"You have a lovely voice. It's the only reason I sometimes stay for the music, Severus said, eating some vegetables.

Dinah smiled and snuggled against him for a brief moment; "He's set up his potions materials in the basement, but he works in the kitchen sometimes. Everything is really starting to feel like home, though I worry that I have too many things and am somehow taking over all of our space."

"Can't be helped, you lived there first. And I don't have as many things as you do. But I don't need such things. It's fine," Severus assured her.

"Well, when we gather all your books from Spinner's End tonight we'll make sure to split the shelves evenly. If I have to pack some of my books away or move them to the basement shelves so be it. I want it to be _our _space."

"I know you do, and it already is," he insisted; "Don't worry."

She smiled; "I'm not, really…"

"What kind of potions experimentation are you doing this summer, then?" Luke asked; "If you don't mind my asking. I know I'm not really educated on such things."

"No, I can try to explain it," Severus said amiably; "Muggles cannot make potions because magic needs to be channeled into the ingredients to get them to mix in the proper way and create the desired effects. Still, the logic behind the methods should be understandable to all groups. I am attempting to perfect a thus-far imperfect energy potion…"

Dinah listened on, pleased, as Severus explained to the fascinated Rosa and Luke the methods of potion making, but was a bit dismayed when Rosa bit into her pickle with a tantalizing crunch, so she compensated by devouring more rice. But by the time the explanation was finished and the waitress came back to ask if they wanted dessert, Dinah found that she did not feel like banoffee pie anymore after all.

"My snidget does not want dessert?" Severus frowned at Dinah as the waitress walked away upon her decline; "Strange..."

She shrugged; "It does happen sometimes. And my meal was quite large. Besides, rice is filling." She wasn't worried, but Severus seemed to be.

"You're certain everything is all right?" he asked slowly.

"I'm fine," she kissed him; "I ate _a lot _already. Just not craving dessert at this exact moment. I certainly will be later, though."

He smiled and seemed to be at ease again; "I'm sure."

"Snidget? What's that? A random term of endearment?" Rosa looked confused; "Because, no offense Severus, you don't strike me as the type of person who would make up a random cutesy name as a term of endearment."

"I most certainly am not," Severus scowled his agreement; "A golden snidget is a magical bird. Like hummingbirds, it is fast and has quick metabolism, though magic enhances those traits a good deal."

"You have magical animals too!" Rosa exclaimed. "Like, ones we can't see?"

"Plenty," Dinah smiled; "I'll have to lend you my copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _at some point. You'd love it. I find the Nundu especially fascinating, though I would never want to meet one."

Severus sighed; "I certainly hope not."

"Do you have dragons?" Luke asked.

"Oh, yes. Multiple species of dragon," Dinah smiled at the thrilled expression on Rosa's husband's face; "Oh, maybe if you come to visit I'll make dragon steak. It is _so _much tastier than beef."

"Or your dragon-pumpkin stew," Severus smiled; "And that was just a victory for me, putting me ahead by one."

"What, just because I like one magic meat over a non-magic meat? Please!" Dinah snorted, waving him off; "You'll have to come up with more than that, unless you would like to make it clear by me ranking all of my food preferences in order for us to tally all the ultimate scores for magical versus non-magical foods."

He sighed; "Too much effort, I suppose."

"He supposes," Dinah laughed, rolling her eyes at her friends as she pointed to Severus.

"Well," Rosa giggled at their little mini-debate; "We'll have to find a good time to drop in. I would _love _to try dragon steak or stew. But mostly I can't wait to see your place now that you're both living there and everything. Maybe in a couple of weekends after work dies down. Oh, and we should plan a get-together with some of our other friends! Have you told any of them you're back from New Zealand yet?"

"Not yet," Dinah winced; "Kind of trying to psych myself up for not spilling the beans. I've never had to be this deceptive before, but I'll meet them soon. Need a good marriage story, too."

Severus sighed; "Which puts me back studying the aborigines with you again."

"Yep," she laughed; "Hey, it could be fun. We should try it someday."

"No, thank you."

"Not even magical aborigines? It could be like the tribes Scrump met with. We could discover new things."

"Well, maybe then."

Rosa smiled; "I still find that whole thing fascinating. That there are magical groups of all types all over the place like that. A human ability that makes such a big difference in lifestyle that the groups have to permanently separate in order to get along together properly."

"Yes. It's all about differences," Dinah agreed. "I have a lot of studies planned in the future. Lots more surveys, and I want to make a good, fresh Muggle Studies textbook. None of this 'home life and social habits' field-guide-style rot. We may be different but we're still the same species, after all."

"I hope you can fulfill all of your ambitions," Luke smiled.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Severus agreed, putting an arm around Dinah; "she will."

Dinah smiled and leaned up to kiss him; "And so will he."

* * *

Dinah squealed. She couldn't help it. Yes, she was an adult now and she should be able to control herself but she just _could not _today. Not when she was actually standing in this place with her current intentions.

Severus had been laughing at her nearly all day, as this was most definitely not the first time she had squealed; "Well, we're here. Go ahead and make your dream come true."

She nodded, throwing her arms around him, burying her face in his neck, and closing her eyes, just in case there was a creature in her line of sight that might make her hiss. She could hardly ever go into Muggle pet stores for fear of that happening, and yet now that was going to change; "Thanks," she whispered against his ear; "You'll have to do all the talking, though."

"I know," he held her tightly. She could tell he was smiling as he stroked her hair; "You are going to have to master this skill soon if you're going to have a pet snake, my love."

"Once I have him I'll be able to practice all day long," Dinah smiled; "Okay, I'm not going to look back out in the store until we have a game plan ready, but we need to be fast otherwise we might get arrested for obstructing the door at best and exhibitionism at worst."

"Please try to spare us that fate," he said sarcastically, though she was sure he knew she was teasing.

"Okay, I don't know how I'm going to do this but I guess I'll just be really, really quiet when I try to pick one out. And when I know which one I want I'll point to him and he'll signal with a nod so you can have the shopkeeper come and buy him. If I _have _to say anything I'll do it with my eyes closed and make it brief."

"All right. Now, people really are staring."

"Got it!" she grinned and drew away from him, planting a quick kiss on his lips before turning and bounding over to the reptiles section.

The cages were filled with snakes and her heart started fluttering faster as she looked around at them, silent at first and reaching over to grasp Severus's hands tightly in her own as she continued her perusal. There were ball pythons and a king snake and a gigantic boa constrictor and a couple of corn snakes.

Finally, she made her voice the softest whisper she could and said; "Hello. Who would like to come home with me?"

The snakes raised their heads almost collectively and out of the corner of her eye she could see Severus looking around the shop, making sure nobody had noticed this odd behavior. She gave his hand a brief squeeze, thanking him for being such a diligent guard while she took care of this.

"You can speak to us!" the king snake exclaimed.

"Unbelievable! That has never happened before!" said the boa constrictor.

One of the corn snakes, and anerythristic or grey, black, and brown one with a bit of yellow in the neck region (Dinah had read up on snakes _a lot _over the course of her life), slithered over to the edge of the glass, watching her with a surprised expression; "How do you do it?"

"It is a … gift that I have," she admitted; "Some humans are special and can use magic, and among those magic humans even fewer of them have this gift. We can talk to snakes."

"Fascinating. I have never heard of such a thing," the corn snake said, and his fellow corn snakes nodded. From what Dinah could guess of their voices, the corn snake and the king snake were male but the boa constrictor was female, and she was looking for a male so that she could name him Slinky. Plus, she wasn't really sure she wanted such a large snake, anyway. Not that the boa constrictor wasn't a perfectly nice individual.

"Yes," she smiled at the corn snake, liking him already. He seemed inquisitive. "I've never been able to have a pet snake before now, but due to a unique set of circumstances that I probably shouldn't explain in this pet store where anyone can hear me 'hissing', I was able to change all of that and I would really like someone to come home with me. Are you interested? It would be a nice home and you'd have plenty of space."

"And conversation, it seems," he cocked his head at her; "It _is _rather crowded in here, though there are many females. But we will all be purchased eventually."

"That's true," the king snake agreed; "You seem like you would be good to any of us, but I assume you only wish to take home one snake."

"Unfortunately, yes, "she shot him an apologetic look; "I probably shouldn't have made such a large announcement at the beginning, then. Though I'm tempted to take all of you, I really shouldn't. I need to at least _start _slow. Talking to snakes is sort of frowned upon in the magical world, but I want to change things. First I need to learn how to control my abilities properly."

"Oh, don't worry about us," a female ball python laughed; "We did not hold any expectations for this before you came here and we are all already resigned to our fates with whoever may purchase us. You seem to be a good human, but you seem to also have already made your choice."

Dinah flushed; "Thanks for your understanding," she looked up at the corn snake she seemed to be befriending; "How about it, then?"

"Will that human be living with us, too?" the male nodded to where Severus was still diligently watching the store.

"Yes," Dinah smiled; "That's my wonderful husband. That is, my permanent mate. We humans do that. He is a good man. You will have a perfect home life with us, I promise."

"You have… offspring?" the corn snake asked.

"Uh…" she blushed; "Not yet, anyway. But we might in the future. Is that a deal-breaker?"

"I don't think so. I know nothing of human juveniles, I was simply curious when you said he was your permanent mate," he admitted.

"That makes sense," she agreed. "Oh, I do have other animals. A cat, an owl, a toad, and a rat. But they all get along quite well. And um, you'd have to promise not to try and eat any of them."

He sighed; "I can manage. You humans are so interesting with your animal collecting."

"I know," she admitted sheepishly. "But I take very, _very _good care of my animal collec- companions," she shook her head, blushing at her almost-choice-of-words. She was just blushing all around today, it seemed.

He laughed, "Oh, I understand. Living in a store such as this one, we begin to understand very quickly. Yes, I will go home with you. What is your name?"

"Dinah, and my companion there is Severus. And you are?"

He gave her his name and she acknowledged it, and then explained; "For ease of talking to other humans, I try to give my snake friends names they can also pronounce. So, if you don't mind, I think I'm going to call you Slinky."

He looked stricken; "Slinky? Really? I don't… that's such a strange…"

"Aw, please?" Dinah noticed Severus giving her an odd look and realized she must have looked silly pleading with a snake, especially when he had no idea what was going on; "I've dreamt of getting a snake and naming him Slinky my whole life, but I really like you and I want you to come home with me. I don't have to call you Slinky _all _the time, just-"

The snake sighed; "You humans are so strange. Fine. I will think about it. _Sometimes_."

"Great! Slinky it is, then!" she did her best to ignore the snake's annoyed look and then smiled; "I'm not normally pushy like this, but it's something I've always wanted and-"

"Fine, fine. I still want to go home with you. Shall we do so then?"  
"Oh, right. Well, I'm going to point at you and when I do if you could just nod then my husband will know that I've made my choice."

"Fair enough," he agreed.

Dinah, her hand still in Severus's, tugged on her husband's arm and then pointed to Slinky, who nodded.

Severus smiled and squeezed her hand; "All right. I've got the message. You seem happy. Thrilled, even."

Dinah grinned broadly, nodding at him, feeling a little silly acting like some kind of mute.

Severus leaned over and whispered in her ear; "Reminds me of the child Dinah, a little."

Blushing, Dinah hugged him tightly, closing her eyes and pressing her lips to his ear; "I love you," she whispered.

"Ah, Dinah," he sighed, pulling her close to him; "I love you, too."

"Thank you, Severus," she murmured, feeling tears of joy spring to her eyes; "I'm doing this because of you. I'm so happy. I can tell the world about my parseltongue abilities and I can have a pet snake and all of my dreams are coming true because of _you_. Thank you! You are also my miracle and my greatest dream."

His arms pulled her in tighter; "You're welcome, Dinah," he murmured, nuzzling her ear; "Dinah, Dinah, Dinah. My miracle and my life. You know I feel the same about you."

She giggled, not wanting to let go but realizing that people would probably start staring again; "We should stop before we're carted off somewhere."

Laughing, he nodded; "Are you ready, then?"

Nodding again, she released him and he summoned the shopkeeper over.

* * *

_Dear Lucy,_

_How is your summer so far? My summer has been absolutely wonderful! Severus and I are now legally married in both worlds and could not be happier for it. Things have slowed down due to the summer holiday but we are both keeping busy, him with his various potions projects and me with the Muggle-born post-year surveys. But we always find lots of time to relax together and enjoy life as newlyweds. It will be so much fun when you and Sirius are married and he moves into Hogwarts and we can all be newlyweds together! At least, I think it will be fun, I'm not sure about Severus, though. You know how my silly husband can be. But I'll make sure he has fun whether he likes it or not!_

_All joking aside, I have some wonderful news! I purchased my snake yesterday. I'm so thrilled to finally be able to keep one as a pet and you and Sirius both played big parts in helping me to reach this point. So thanks so much for your understanding about the parselmouth issue. I'll never be able to fully express how grateful I am for that._

_The snake is a male and I have named him Slinky. He is a black, brown, grey, and yellow corn snake and we get along very well so far. I'm hoping to start practicing control of my abilities with him and he is perfectly happy to help me out with it. I bought him a _huge _cage so he loves all the space. I do think Severus is getting a little jealous, though, since I'm talking to Slinky so much. Well, tonight I will make sure his clothes are so organized he won't be able to feel neglected ever again! Just a little too much information for you in return for all the times you gave it to me. After all, isn't that what friends are for?_

_Well, I hope you are having a perfectly wonderful summer and you are welcome to come visit at any time, as long as you owl in advance. I really hope we can find a time to get together before school starts up, as I really miss chatting with you and I _know _Godric definitely misses Dora!_

_Say hello to Sirius and Dora for me and Severus says hello as well. We wish you all the best and hope to talk to you both again very soon._

_Love, Dinah_

Dinah smiled, stuck a smiley face after the part that said 'After all, isn't that what friends are for?', and folded up the letter, sticking it into an envelope before standing from the kitchen table where Severus had left some sort of potion simmering and walking to the window in the living room before whistling for Rowena.

Her owl appeared right away and Dinah offered the letter to her before she alighted into the sky, flying off into the beautiful robin's-egg-blue dotted with puffy white clouds and bright with sunshine. Then she felt warm arms reaching around her shoulders; "Severus," she smiled, folding her arms over his.

"Sent your letter off to the troublemaker, have you?" he murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Yes," she smiled, lifting her head to the sky again as she watched her bird disappear off into the distance; "I hope they're having a good summer. This was such an eventful year, but it turned out wonderfully, didn't it?"

"I think that's an understatement," he smiled, resting his head against hers.

"Mm," Dinah closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying their contact, enjoying the feeling of his hair brushing her cheek and neck and skimming her shoulders, and then looked out the window again, feeling Severus's gaze shift with her to regard the bright day; "We met each other, we met new friends, we started a new life while still embracing and sharing the old one. I feel…" she smiled; "Well, I just feel like there's so much to look forward to."

"It's a good feeling, isn't it?" Severus agreed, his tone indicating that he was smiling; "One I never felt until I met you."

"Me too," she smiled; "Life never held this much promise before. Now it does. Now it is filled with nothing but promise."

"Indeed," he smiled, turning along with her so that they could kiss. Releasing her lips, they returned their gazes back to the sky and he held her close to him; "I love you, Dinah."

"I love you too, Severus," she leaned into him, her smile real, genuine, and as happy as it had ever been; "Always and forever."

* * *

A/N: Well, that is officially the last chapter of the "main" story :-D but DON'T GO AWAY! *begs* LOL. There will next be a series of shorter epilogues illustrating key points in Dinah and Severus's life over the years. Those who have left reviews asking about children, secondary characters, loose ends, etc, will not want to miss out on these epilogues! :) I envision myself releasing one every couple of days and there will be around 15-20 of them in total. If you read CommanderValeria's story, "Don't Leave Me", Chapter 86, you will also see a few more letters in the correspondence between Lucy and Dinah over the beginning of the summer.

I also intend to continue to write in "His View of Things", for Severus's point of view, and might add a few extra short stories at some point. If you are looking for more Dinah and Severus RIGHT NOW, chronologically after this, _please _head on over to CommanderValeria's page where she will be posting a short story entitled "Summer at Hogsmeade", a sort of companion piece to "Christmas at Grimmauld Place", where Dinah and Severus visit Lucy and Sirius in Hogsmeade for the summer and experience some VERY INTERESTING AND SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES… you'll _definitely _want to check it out, that's all I'm saying! ;) And as it is a co-short it is split down the middle between Lucy and Sirius and Dinah and Severus scenes, as was "Christmas at Grimmauld Place", with me composing all the scenes from Dinah's POV and CommanderValeria composing those from Lucy and Sirius's POV, so it is truly a joint effort!

That said, thank you SO MUCH for reading thus far and I really hope everyone enjoyed the story! I know I enjoyed writing it and am still shocked by the sheer length and amount of content I shelled out over the past year… wow! Thank you all for your support, favorite story and author adds, story alert and author alert adds, and reviews! It has been a wonderful experience and is still not over!

Thanks again! :) Please enjoy the epilogues! :)


	179. Epilogue I: Snape

**A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks so much for your response from last chapter and throughout the whole story! Here's Epilogue I. There will be quite a few more before this is over!**

* * *

EPILOGUE ONE

Snape

* * *

"Good morning, students!" Dinah's fresh crop of first years looked even smaller than last year, if that was even possible. After all, it wasn't as if she was growing any more herself… or, well, not up anyway. She smiled and let one hand skim over her stomach for the briefest moment before returning it to grasp the other side of her attendance sheet; "My name is Professor Snape and I will be your – yes?" she smiled, as a Slytherin boy's hand had shot quite quickly into the air. Since she had not taken attendance, she didn't know the student's name yet.

"You can't be Professor Snape!"

"Oh… can't I?" she raised an eyebrow at the student.

"Our head of house is Professor Snape! He's the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!"

"Oh, they say he's really scary!" a Hufflepuff girl cringed a little in her seat.

Dinah smiled. This would be the first official announcement and she had no clue how things would go from here, but she and Severus had discussed it at length and they were ready for it; "I cannot say anything about the rumors surrounding the _other _Professor Snape's teaching style, but I assure you all, I am also Professor Snape."

"But how can you be?" a small Slytherin girl demanded.

"Oh, quite simply as a matter of fact," Dinah smiled again, lifting her hand to show the class the sparkling rings she had received last year, thrilled to not have to conceal them anymore; "He is my husband."

The expected chorus of gasps rang throughout the room, and Dinah felt more satisfied than worried.

"Professor Snape is _married_?" a different, taller Slytherin girl asked, her mouth hanging open in shock.

"Who would marry _him_?" A Gryffindor boy laughed, and Dinah had to assume he had siblings or relatives who knew of Severus, as he could not have taken a class with him yet, this being the first class period of the entire year.

Dinah frowned; "Well, obviously _I _would. Now, I know you're all shocked but if any of you haven't heard I do take points from students who insult my husband. Not to mention you don't really want to be insulting any of your professors, myself included by your statement," she nodded at the now sheepish-looking Gryffindor boy who'd spoken. She looked around pointedly at the room; "Now, do you?"

The class looked sufficiently subdued and some students nodded timidly.

Dinah almost laughed. She seemed to start off all of her classes seeming stricter than she normally was. Last year it had been because the enigmatic 'Professor Snape' had been sitting in on her class. Little did she know she'd be using the same name the next year. It still made her very happy.

She didn't want rumors floating around that she taught like Severus did, though, and so she smiled out at the students and softened her expression; "Don't worry, this is just the first day and I don't intend to take any points away just yet. I hope that your first class period will be fun and interesting as we discuss – yes?" another student's hand had shot into the air.

The Ravenclaw girl's hand lowered; "Does he have a ring, too?"

This time Dinah couldn't help but laugh; "Why don't you see when you're in class with him? But don't go on about it or anything or you'll surely lose points." At the students apprehensive looks she couldn't prevent an indulgent smile from forming; "Yes, my husband can be very strict. The rumors are true. Unfortunately, we make it our business not to interfere with one another's teaching so I cannot soften any punishments or point losses you might receive from him, except in very special circumstances, which I shall designate by my own choices. In other words, I don't entertain requests."

The class looked a little disappointed, but they would get over it. "Now," Dinah continued, smiling; "Would you like me to take attendance this year or would you rather I called you all 'you' until June?"

"Just one more question," a Gryffindor boy said, raising his hand at the same time as he spoke.

"In the future, please raise your hand _before _speaking, but yes?" she asked, raising another eyebrow. Being a Snape was fun. The eyebrow gesture was quite addicting.

"You're the one from the newspapers last year, aren't you? The parselmouth!"

Ah. Dinah had also expected this to come out again eventually, but maybe not this soon; "Yes."

"Ohh!" a Hufflepuff girl said, flushing and raising her hand afterwards before Dinah nodded at her; "The articles said you were with Professor Snape. My Mum and Dad were almost going to keep me out of Hogwarts this year until those later articles came out talking about how you destroyed that evil creature that might have been Voldemort!"

Dinah resisted correcting the student's mistakes. She hadn't destroyed anything, and there was no evil creature so much as a lost soul that needed help, and there was no 'might have' about it. But she found she rather preferred it if the details were slightly obscure in the public eye. "Well, I'm glad you've seen fit to attend this school. Is anybody worried about the parselmouth issue, because I would like to put your minds at ease. You are perfectly safe here."

"I'm not worried," another Hufflepuff, a boy this time, said; "They said you're nice."

Most of the students nodded and Dinah sighed, a little relieved. Things were most definitely better. She wasn't sure, though, and neither was Minerva, if it was _quite _time to tell the students that she was keeping a pet snake in the dungeons.

Attendance went by smoothly and so did her first class. In fact, it was quite similar to how it had gone last year, but of course without Severus there to swat unruly Slytherins upside the head with a rolled-up piece of parchment.

It was during her first break of the day that a familiar face popped in for a visit. "Mae!" Dinah smiled, waving as one of her favorite students walked towards her desk.

Mae Yates smiled as she approached; "Hi, Professor Samson – or, sorry, Professor Snape! It's so hard to remember sometimes."

Dinah grinned at her young friend. She had run into Mae and her mother while shopping over the summer and as a consequence Mae knew all about her marriage in addition to the other exciting development that had hit them over the summer; "That's fine. I'm sure it will take some getting used to. But I bet it's already all over the school."

Mae laughed; "I did hear some first years whispering about it on my way here."

"Then everyone will know by dinner," Dinah laughed, and then looked the girl up and down. She had seen her in the Great Hall at breakfast but only from a distance. Now, up close, she looked so much older and more mature than she had last year, or even over the summer; "You know Mae, I'm sure you hear this all the time but I swear you've grown an inch just since I last saw you in July!"

The second year giggled and tucked a strand of dark brown hair behind her ear; "I know. Everybody says I'm at that age," she smiled. "How's the baby?"

Dinah felt her smile soften a little as it always did when she thought about this; "So far, so good. Oh! Would you like to see the ultrasound picture?"

"Really?" Mae beamed; "I'd love to, if that's okay!"

"Of course, I'll just go get it," Dinah stood from her desk and headed over to where she had set her bag against the side, lifting out the envelope with the precious picture inside. Taking it out, she handed it to Mae.

"Oh!" Mae cooed; "I can see its little head and hands and feet! How exciting!" she handed the picture back; "Congratulations again."

Dinah cradled the image in her hands and smiled affectionately down at the tiny creature growing inside of her; "Thanks." She chuckled; "Professor Snape says it looks like a 'stubby mandrake'."

Mae giggled; "Well, I suppose I can see that a little bit."

"I know. It's kind of turned into its nickname, although he or she will probably not be happy the day they find out," Dinah laughed.

"Probably not," Mae grinned. "I bet he's excited, though."

"He is. We both are," smiling again, Dinah returned the picture to its envelope. "How are things as a second year so far?"

"Good! I'm very excited for your class after lunch. Andrew and I have History of Magic together first period. It's boring, like normal, but Professor Binns told me he's been diligently exploring great-grandfather's notes that we gave him last year."

"Oh, good," Dinah smiled. "I have high hopes for what he will do with them."

"Me too," she agreed. "Well, I just wanted to stop by and say hi, that's all. It's so exciting that there are two Professor Snapes now. I bet everybody will be happy for you two when they find out. Maybe a little shocked at first, but ultimately happy."

"I think so. I hope so." Dinah nodded.

"They will be," Mae smiled. "Weddings are great. I still can't believe Professor Ketteridge and Mr. Black are going to get married _here_, at Hogwarts, and that we students are invited! I'm so excited for it!"

Dinah grinned; "Me, too. I'm going to be a bridesmaid, you know." Lucy and Sirius had moved their impending wedding up to September fourth, which was this Saturday, due to the fact that Lucy was also pregnant. It was so bizarre, but would be fun, Dinah was sure, being pregnant together with a friend. Especially if her body decided to throw any more weird afflictions at her between now and when she had the baby. So far her only major symptom was a bizarre shift in eating habits, in which she would be hungry one second and not hungry literally the next second, which was nearly driving Severus mad already, and the episodes were only getting more frequent. Still, she always ate enough for their child's healthy development. It was more her attitude about it that had become problematic, but there was little she could do about it. Sometimes food just didn't look tasty.

"That should be fun. I love getting dressed up for weddings," Mae beamed. "Well, I should go. I have class with the _other _Professor Snape next. I can't wait to say hi. See his reaction."

Dinah laughed; "Probably what you'd expect. A brief nod and a 'Hello, Miss Yates', followed by point removal as soon as you raise your hand to answer a question." They both laughed a little and then she bid Mae farewell.

Hogwarts was going to be fun this year. Surely all of the drama from last year was over and the only dramas would be good ones surrounding the baby and the Triwizard Tournament which would start in late October when the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were scheduled to arrive. Additionally, she had plenty of work to do with her Muggle-born surveys and the inter-house 'game nights' she was going to organize with the students on Wednesday nights beginning next month. So far, the Hogwarts Board of Governors had been very receptive to her ideas, again probably due to her 'destruction' of the 'evil creature' that 'might have' been Voldemort. Why the fact that she had helped save the soul of a young boy had drifted out of people's minds so quickly she wasn't sure. Apparently valiantly destroying evil creatures was more exciting. Blame it on the Gryffindor mentality that still permeated the wizarding world.

Oh well. She would take care of that all in due time. Ideas were already changing, and the Muggle-born Slytherins' responses on her surveys had improved just a tiny bit when she administered them again at the end of the year. None of it was statistically significant, the changes were so small, but she had determined that that didn't exactly matter in this case since she was interviewing the exact same sample. So a mean change was a mean change, and a real one at that. Granted, it didn't say anything about Muggle-born Slytherins outside of Hogwarts, and the ones in Hogwarts still had a ways to go. But it was a start.

And now there were two Professor Snapes at Hogwarts. She loved that. She loved being called Professor Snape by the first year students when they had asked questions today. The students who had had her last year would probably have a harder time making the transition, but they would, and in time she would be known by her married name all around. She looked forward to that day.

And, she thought with a smile, her hand drifting down to rest gently on her still-flat-as-of-now abdomen… by the end of the year there would be a tiny, third Snape living in Hogwarts with them.

* * *

**A/N: SURPRISE! :D If you want to see how the pregnancy thing came about I HIGHLY suggest reading "Summer at Hogsmeade", on CommanderValeria's page (accessible from my favorite stories or favorite authors on my profile). It is in the process of being posted at this very moment and chapters will be released over the next couple weeks. We both wrote it in equal parts, and we would LOVE to hear your thoughts so please read and review!**

**Incidentally, in case anybody wonders, the baby was conceived during Dinah and Severus's "break" from grading in "Chapter 174: Right".**


	180. Epilogue II: Snakes

EPILOGUE TWO

Snakes

* * *

"Hurry!" Dinah pulled on Severus's arm, dragging him across the grounds to a spot near the edge of the Forbidden Forest by some boulders that they had visited together once towards the end of last year; "Sarepta said surely by today!"

"I know, you continue to inform me, and Dinah, should you really be running this fast at this particular point in your-"

Dinah laughed, stopping as they neared and turning to look at him, letting her hand drift down his arm to clutch his hand instead; "Silly, you know it's perfectly healthy, even advisable for me to get lots of exercise at this point."

"Yes, but you might fall or something," he frowned, his eyes skimming the ground for any twigs or rocks they could trip over as they got closer to the forest. She only knew that's what he was doing because he had expressed concern before they left. Sometimes his protectiveness could get irritating, but really she loved him for it. And at least he wasn't as protective as Sirius was with Lucy. She swore, that man hardly let his new wife do _anything _he would consider remotely strenuous.

"Shh," she smiled and put her fingers to her lips; "We might be approaching the babies."

"Number one, I don't think baby snakes are disturbed by noise – do they even sleep? And number two, since I do not speak parseltongue they would not hear me anyway, especially due to the fact that you've explained snakes cannot hear and parseltongue is actually more about the vibrations produced from the vocalizations."

Dinah grinned. She was glad he was being so diligent in understanding the nuances of parseltongue. As she had practiced controlling her abilities better over the summer he had practiced listening to her and trying to learn to understand the language. It was slow-going, but he had identified a few words already, in addition to the word 'mouse' that he had learned last year. "I was just being silly, Sev darling. I know we won't disturb them. Not by our voices, anyway. Just watch where you step."

"Noted," her husband agreed, and they carefully made their way over to where they had seen Sarepta last year and where Dinah had seen her a little over a week ago at the beginning of the school year.

The black adder was curled up in her usual spot, but this time tiny little slithering baby snakes clustered around her. Dinah couldn't hold it in. She squealed, squeezing Severus's waist tightly in her excitement. Severus, for his part, had gotten very good at recognizing her facial expressions right before she squealed, and so consequently was already covering his ears.

"You seem happy," Sarepta said, sounding amused.

Dinah giggled and reached to pry her husband's hands from his ears, as he was now giving her a slightly indulgent smile. When she had freed him she knelt down to meet Sarepta's gaze; "I am. Your babies are adorable. Hi, baby snakes!"

"Hi," one baby said.

"What?" another baby asked, looking at her curiously, apparently trying to identify what she was.

"Human," Sarepta said in explanation.

"Human," a third baby repeated, nodding briefly.

Dinah had to bite down on her lip – rather hard – to keep from squealing again, and Severus's hands were already going for his ears a second time. She grasped for one of those hands and clutched it in her own, thinking about their baby growing inside of her, and watching the tiny snakes squirm around. She reached her other hand out, hesitantly, and rested it on the ground in front of them; "Can I hold one of you?"

"Don't bite the human," Sarepta ordered them. She was being quite short, but snakes did not exhibit too much parental care, so it was understandable. The babies would need to learn to survive on their own soon, because Sarepta would leave them in a few days.

One bold baby slithered up into her palm and curled up, fitting just perfectly and staring at her; "Safe?"

"I would never hurt you," Dinah smiled at the tiny baby; "Neither would the other human next to me. But some other humans might, so don't crawl up to them, okay?"

"Okay."

"Dinah is a special human who can talk to snakes," Sarepta said. "Most humans cannot."

"Special," another baby said.

"You're special, too," Dinah smiled, hoping that all of these babies would survive. It was a long shot, she knew, but maybe with her advanced warnings and with a little bit of luck… it could definitely happen. They were too precious not to survive. And she could talk to them just like with Sarepta. She hadn't been sure if she could, them being so young, but she was so glad that it worked. They seemed to understand her perfectly, but could only say so much themselves. It was utterly adorable.

She took a deep breath and turned to Severus, keeping the baby in her hand just barely in her line of sight and concentrating all her magical energies on speaking English and not parseltongue, hoping it would work. It did about seventy percent of the time now, she would guess; "I can talk to them. Look how tiny they are!"

He smiled slightly and nodded; "They are rather… cute, I suppose. As you might say."

Dinah beamed. She had gotten through to him, then; "I can't believe I'm doing this. Look," she held the baby up closer to his line of sight. "They won't bite. Sarepta told them not to."

"This means you would like me to touch it, doesn't it?"

She giggled; "Only if you want to. It's just a suggestion."

He smiled at her indulgently again, and reached one pale finger out to briefly touch the snake's back before withdrawing it; "Feels like a snake."

"Killjoy," she giggled and leaned against him as she regarded the baby snake in her palm, trying to make her choice of speaking in parseltongue a conscious one; "Severus here is also a nice human."

"Severus."

"Yes," she smiled, liking the cute way the baby said her husband's beautiful name; "Here," she lowered her hand to the ground and let the snake slither off again before turning to Sarepta; "Do you mind if we just sit out here with you all for a while?"

"Of course not," Sarepta nodded; "I enjoy your company. You shall have to introduce me to that pet snake of yours soon."

Dinah nodded; "As soon as Minerva and I decide we can tell the students, I can bring Slinky out onto the grounds. He's looking forward to meeting you and to getting out of the dungeons. It's a lot less sunny than our summer home."

"I will be around," Sarepta said amiably.

Dinah smiled, sighing contentedly before lifting her head from Severus's shoulder and turning around to face him; "Sarepta says we can sit out here with them for awhile like I'd hoped. It's such a nice day for September."

He nodded; "It was around a year ago today that the weather was much worse and I found you on those steps in the rain."

"Oh, Severus," she murmured, nodding; "Yes. Only a year. So hard to believe."

"I know," he rested his hand on her abdomen, which she thought was finally starting to expand the tiniest bit; "Now look where we are."

She smiled, placing her hand on top of his; "Soon we'll have our own tiny baby creature."

"Stubby mandrake," Severus corrected, his lips twitching in a smile.

Dinah laughed; "Right, but much cuter and not deadly. Though it might keep us up at night."

"And you won't be able to converse with it right away."

"Doubtful," she smiled and laid her head back on his shoulder as he wrapped his free arm around her waist. Their other hands remained clasped over her abdomen as they sat in the grass near the boulders and trees, enjoying this comfortable September day and indulging in everything their future had to offer, surrounded by sweet little baby snakes and the promise of new life.


	181. Epilogue III: Yule

A/N: So just for all you Sev fans out there, I envision this scene opening quite like that picture from the Yule Ball that you see everywhere, you know from the fourth movie with Severus in just his frock coat standing with the faculty staring uninterestedly out at the dancers and obligatorily clapping for Dumbledore and Minerva... well, just imagine that after that happens Dinah pops out from behind! :D And now Sev is not alone and has somebody to dance with! And then he smiles! YAY! Okay, I'll stop now, it's late and I'm loopy... ummmmmm, on to the next epilogue! :)

* * *

EPILOGUE THREE

Yule

* * *

Oh, these are so good!" Dinah gushed with her mouth full of éclair, carrying her heaping plate of food over from the designated table to stand next to her husband and watch the four champions and their dates swirl around the dance floor in the opening dance of the Yule Ball as other pairs started randomly joining in; "They really just have the best spread for these events, don't they?"

"Two more months of this, two more months of this, two more months of this, two more months of this," Severus chanted what had become his mantra as of late, glaring out at the dance floor where Lucy and Sirius were now attempting to dance, her belly nearly as expanded as Dinah's at this point.

"Careful, you might get a twitch," Dinah teased; "Cruller?" she held the appetizing pastry up to his nose.

"No, thank you," he muttered, lowering her hand.

"Cream puff? Éclair? I've got them all!"

"I can see that."

"Oh! Let's go dancing!" she exclaimed as her gaze shifted out to the center of the room again. She had been focused on food up until now, but suddenly she wanted to join the other couples, twirling romantically on the dance floor.

"No, not during the first dance. Besides, you have a plateful of French pastries to contend with, do you not?"

"Oh," she frowned down at the plate in her hand, full of things that no longer looked appetizing. "I don't want them anymore."

"Dinah!" he growled, whirling to face her for the first time since she'd abandoned him to attack the dessert table. He reached into the pocket of his frock coat and held a tiny vial threateningly in her line of vision.

She frowned and took a bite of cruller.

"That's better," he put the appetite stimulant away. He had been brewing the concoction throughout her pregnancy in an attempt to combat her sporadic changes in appetite. But the problem was that they were _so _sporadic half the time if he gave it to her during a 'not hungry' moment she would next shift to a 'hungry' moment and then eat double what she normally would. And yet, she never knew how long her 'not hungry' moments would last and he worried about her eating enough. Her 'not hungry' moments disturbed him. But she would rather avoid the stimulant if she could help it. It tasted awful.

She finished the cruller and set it aside. "I ate that whole one. _Now _can we dance?"

He couldn't stay annoyed with her for long. His lips twitched into a smile and he nodded, extending his hand for her; "I suppose."

She smiled and placed her hand in his. The first dance was still going but he'd obviously made his point or whatever already, since he said nothing of it as he wrapped his other arm about her waist, leading her out onto the dance floor.

The length of her dress and her giant stomach in-between them had her tripping in seconds. Severus chuckled and caught her just as she caught her own balance and they laughed with each other. "All right now?" he asked, and then some nearby muttering had him shooting the most potent death glare she'd ever seen at the students dancing next to them who had started staring. At his glare they scrambled off, terrified, and gave them a wide berth. Satisfied, Severus turned back to Dinah and his gaze softened again, filling with affection as they went back to dancing.

Dinah chuckled; "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Switch moods so fast."

"Years of practice," he smirked.

She laughed as they found their rhythm, dancing slowly to prevent any more tripping, as the glittering snowflakes of the Yule Ball decorations floated around them.

"Have I told you how lovely you look?" Severus murmured.

Dinah smiled, blushing as though it were actually cold in the room, which it wasn't. "Yes. But thank you again. Even though I'm huge." She and Lucy had had their Yule Ball dresses custom-designed in Hogsmeade by the same seamstress who had designed Lucy's wedding gown, the genius Nerissa Hastings. The gown Dinah was wearing fit perfectly over her pregnancy, and was a lovely shade of green with silver accents and flowing sleeves. She had worn, to match, the snake necklace that Severus had given her for Christmas last year.

"You are beautiful," he insisted, brushing his lips against hers.

"Thank you," she whispered again, tracing his cheek with a finger, "You look perfect as well."

Blushing a bit, he managed a smirk and pulled her tighter against him, as far as her bulging abdomen would allow; "My flatterer."

She chuckled; "It's true."

"If you say so. But, thank you," he whispered against her ear as the music stopped.

"You're welcome," she said with an indulgent smile as they slowed, lightly kissing his lips again.

"Is it just me or was that first dance exceedingly long?" Severus asked.

She grinned. "No, I think it was definitely long. But thanks for joining me," she leaned forward with the upper half of her body so she could wrap her arms around his shoulders and rest her head on his chest. With the leaning involved in this now she was sort of shorter and her head didn't really reach his shoulder as it normally would when she could stand straight against him. She could if she turned to the side, though. But a new dance was already starting up.

"Oh, I'm hungry again!" she exclaimed as her second wave of cravings for French pastries that night hit her. She lifted her head to eye the table where she had left her unfinished plate, her eyes roving to locate the item of concern.

Severus sighed, exasperated, sliding his hands down her shoulders to her waist, "You've already had dinner and two pastries. You don't need to eat anymore."

"My plate's gone!" she moaned, feeling a little like she might cry; "Somebody took it!"

"Dinah," Severus groaned. The music picked up and he looked like he was going to try and distract her with more dancing when Lucy and Sirius swirled up to them.

"Cut in?" Sirius asked, grinning.

Severus sighed and released his grip on Dinah, looking a little frustrated as per usual, but to his credit was not fighting the switch as he allowed Lucy to take Dinah's place in front of him. After the other woman had forcibly demanded him to dance with her at her wedding earlier in the year, he knew resistance was futile anyway.

Dinah, for her part, could not be rude and tell _Sirius _that she wanted to eat and not dance, and so she was stuck.

Luckily, the craving passed very quickly and was gone by the time they made it out into the center of the dance floor.

Sirius grinned down at her, expertly holding her since he'd had so much experience dancing with Lucy and she was nearly as pregnant as Dinah was. "How are you doing?" he asked before glancing over at his wife, "She should probably sit the next couple out after this. She needs to take it easy. Poppy ordered it. You probably should too," Sirius said, his gaze returning to his dance partner.

Dinah smiled at the man that she was now much closer with, after a few months of him living in Hogwarts with his new wife. Odd that soon the anniversary of the day she hit him would be approaching. "I feel good, actually. Well, the obligatory appetite issues, but they seem to be tame at this specific moment. Though I'm sure I'll sit some out. Lucy seems like she's having a good time," she observed. Her friend had had to face a lot of stressful personal issues this year, not least of which was the now school-wide realization that she had become pregnant _before_ her marriage. But Dinah was confident that if the school had accepted her parselmouth abilities it would be able to accept Lucy, too.

"She is," Sirius confirmed, "It's good that she has this to take her mind off things. Did she tell you the Board of Governors wants to interview her about her supposed mental instability? Minerva's been good, keeping them off her until after the baby's born, but I don't know how much longer she can hold them off."

Dinah frowned, "Oh no. She just mentioned that they found out but not that they wanted to _interview _her about it!" Over the summer Dinah had learned that during her period of intense grief after Sirius's death a few years back, Lucy's horrible father that they had had the 'pleasure' of meeting this year had stuffed her in the mental ward of St. Mungo's in total isolation from her family and friends for seven months. The ward was normally home to those who had 'lost their minds', such as Gilderoy Lockheart, but Lucy had not belonged there at all. Yet, the questions were now flying and Dinah was quite concerned about her friend. "At least it's not the Ministry and there won't be any Veritaserum involved, will there? If they want the press involved, get Sedley Alder! He'll spin the story straight for you. OH! And of course, if you need me to do or say _anything _at all, I'm right there!" she insisted, feeling herself fill up with the familiar fire and conviction that made people label her the empathy queen of the universe. She didn't mind the title so much anymore.

Sirius smiled at her, "I didn't doubt it, but thanks for the offer anyway. I doubt they could give her Veritaserum right now if they wanted to anyway. I'll have to keep Alder in mind though, depending on how this all goes. Sorry," he sighed, "I didn't mean to spoil your fun. I just worry about her."

"Oh, no, I understand," Dinah said; "And nothing is spoiled. It'll take a lot more than that to spoil my fun. If you hadn't noticed, I find everything fun these days," she grinned. Her pregnancy had definitely instilled a sort of childlike enthusiasm into her, pretty much from day one.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "You found things dull and boring before you were pregnant?"

"Oh, you know what I mean!" she laughed. "It's okay. You can tell me I'm a nut. I promise I won't be offended. Not right now, anyway. I can't make any promises about later if I have a mood swing," she teased.

Sirius laughed, "Then I won't say a word. I know how violent you can be when you're offended. I especially wouldn't want you taking it out on the Gryffindors."

Dinah pretended to look annoyed; "Hey, that's my husband's department, not mine. Speaking of," she smiled as the music slowed and they twirled back over to the other couple, who looked like they had just finished a slightly more subdued conversation. "Thank you for the dance," she said to Sirius as they switched partners back.

"You're welcome," he said, gently leading his wife off the floor and towards one of the tables.

"How'd it go?" Dinah smiled at Severus, taking his hands again and starting up another dance, slowly.

"Fine," he frowned. "It seems the Board of Governors-"

"Sirius was saying the same thing," she nodded. "It might be a struggle for her, but I think it'll work out. She has us on her side. She should know that, the way you told off her father that time."

"Henley Ketteridge is a worthless bastard," Severus sneered.

Dinah nodded. She knew that, to Severus, Lucy's father was not far removed from his own. Although he had not physically abused Lucy or his wife, he had most certainly done plenty of emotional damage to both of the women in his life. From what little Dinah had seen of the man, she fully agreed with her husband's assessment of him; "But Lucy will get through all of this."

"Yes, and hopefully be all the stronger for it," Severus agreed, and then smirked as he changed the subject. "Do you want to continue dancing or are you hungry again?"

Dinah giggled; "For the time being, dancing is good. But Sirius did make the point that a few breaks every now and then will be good."

"Fine. Because later in the evening I intend to become involved in my favorite pastime of searching the bushes for snogging students and removing hundreds of house points."

She chuckled; "I hope you mean hundreds overall and not hundreds from each student."

"We'll see. And perhaps when I'm finished we will take over one of the empty bushes for ourselves," he murmured with a slight smile.

Dinah couldn't help but laugh some more; "But we can't do anything in the bushes. Not tonight, anyway. If a student were to catch us…"

"It is the principle of the matter," Severus said stubbornly. "I will take a bush because I _can_. Because I now have someone that I can be in the bushes with. And besides, there are no rules limiting this," he leaned over and kissed her.

Dinah indulged in the kiss to her heart's content. This Yule Ball was turning out just as romantic and wonderful as she had dreamt it would be, _despite _the fact that she was huge. When her husband released her lips she grinned; "You're just _so _anxious to dangle over the students heads that you can go snog in the bushes and they can't, aren't you?"

"Can you blame me?" he asked with a half-smile, half-smirk.

"Guess not," she smiled. "After all, there were no Yule Balls back when we were students."

He snorted, "Not that I would have gotten much out of them. That's why I'm glad to get something out of it now. Then again, I suppose if it had been held before my fifth year my young self would have gotten at least a dance out of Lily to add to the memories I clung to for years. And then…" he smiled slightly as something seemed to occur to him, "had it been held in one of our overlapping years perhaps it would have been an excellent vehicle to bring us together, were you allowed to attend because of your age. We'd probably both have ended up standing over there like those dateless students," he nodded off into the distance.

Dinah smiled at the thought, and then turned her head to follow his gaze to where a few sad, lonely-looking students stood staring out at the dance floor from a spot near the punch bowl. Her heart ached for them. "Ohh, I wish I could go over there and pair each and every one of them up with somebody."

He chuckled, "I know you do."

"Then again, if I did you'd just go out into the bushes and separate them!" she laughed.

"Most likely," he agreed pleasantly, and they continued to dance, enjoying the music and togetherness.

* * *

"I love the Yule Ball," Dinah murmured, resting her head on Severus's shoulder as they sat on the main Hogwarts steps, hands intertwined and gazing up at the clear, starry night. "I can't believe we won't host it for another fifteen years. Do you think we'll even still be teaching at Hogwarts by then?

"I don't know," he admitted, stroking her shoulder with his free hand, "I think it's probably about fifty-fifty, at this point, if we'll stay that long."

"Do you think we should teach our child here? It seems to me there would be both good points and bad points associated with doing something like that."

"Hmm, yes. We shall have to see how we feel when the time comes, I suppose. The child's personality may influence our decision as well."

"Mm," she agreed, nodding and wondering just what a the personality of a child of hers and Severus's would be like, as her free hand wandered over her belly. "You know, it's been around only a year and three months since we were hear on that day."

He moved to nuzzle her ear and whisper, "It's not raining this time."

"Yeah," she wrapped her arms around his waist, "And we're not alone anymore."

"We weren't alone on that day either," Severus said, his hands in her hair; "Why do you think I found you here on that day?"

She smiled against his shoulder and nodded, "I love you."

"Dinah," he whispered her name, the sound of it only is lips still breathtaking when she thought about it in moments like this. His fingers gently tilted her chin up so that he could kiss her. "I love you," he murmured against her lips when they were finished.

"Severus," she returned the courtesy, making him smile. She loved it when he smiled. He was so beautiful and she was just so lucky. "Thank you for finding me."

"I could do nothing else," he kissed her again, under the stars and not in the bushes as they had joked about earlier, though they _had _manage to separate about ten young couples during their half hour of searching. Severus had been highly amused that she apologized to each and every one of them after he had removed what he considered were an adequate amount of points. She was trying to ignore the fact that those amounts had been highest when applied to Gryffindors and lowest when applied to Slytherins. The students had grudgingly returned to the party, but upon examining the overgrown bushes both Dinah and Severus had decided that climbing into them was likely much more trouble than it was worth.

And so here they were instead, kissing on the Hogwarts steps. There were still occasional passersby that might have stared at them, but Dinah didn't care. And neither did Severus. The whole school called her Professor Snape now, and everyone had accepted and knew about their relationship. The little bit of press attention surrounding their marriage and pregnancy had completely died away, eclipsed by the Triwizard Tournament. They were together, happy, and normal.

That normal, but perfect, life that they had both dreamt about for years had finally begun.

* * *

**A/N: Hope everybody is reading "Summer at Hogsmeade" on CommanderValeria's page! Also, Dinah and Sirius's conversation here and a little bit of Dinah and Severus's are shameless plugs for the future stories CommanderValeria has planned which feature Lucy and Sirius (and plenty of Dinah and Severus scenes written by me as well), so keep an eye out for those and I'll keep everyone posted! :D**


	182. Epilogue IV: Remember

A/N: Well, we have come a year and reached Severus's birthday again. If you can remember the angst-ridden chapters 61 and 62, this is sort of the "anniversary" of that, which I am now calling "angstiversary" (lol yes I'm weird), so again we have a mild angst warning label here. But don't worry! It's not THAT bad! Enjoy! :)

* * *

EPILOGUE FOUR

Remember

* * *

"Thanks again! Good night!" Dinah smiled as she gave their friends one more wave and then closed the office door after them, allowing Lucy and Sirius to head back to their rooms.

She slid her hand into her husband's and smiled at him. "That was fun, huh?" She was glad that he could have a good birthday this year, with her and with friends, after last year's fiasco. He still mentioned that day every now and again, and he had seemed a little thoughtful or distracted at various points throughout the night, but he had seemed to have had a good time, so she was confident his worries about last year would soon be over.

He smiled slightly and squeezed her hand, "Yes. Sirius becomes more tolerable each day, oddly enough. And the spattergroit cake was good, as usual."

Dinah laughed and let her husband lead her through his office and back into their living quarters. "You need to start asking for more creative presents, though," she teased, tapping the pile of books and potions ingredients on the coffee table as he led them past it to stand in front of the green couch.

Severus shrugged, looking slightly contemplative again as he took her other hand so they faced each other; "Those are my interests."

His comment was casual enough but the look in his eyes was a little odd and distracted again. Dinah frowned at him, a little concerned for a minute, but smiled and said; "So, did you have a happy birthday?"

"Yes," he admitted with a smile, making her feel better. "The best birthday I've ever had, but…" he looked different again, releasing one of her hands and regarding her with a curious expression. "It's not over yet. There's still…"

"Still?" Dinah blinked at him and tilted her head a little to the side, confused.

"I have to do more. Make it happy for _you_."

"But I had a great time."

He shook his head, releasing her other hand and instead taking her shoulders, leaning closer. "That's not what I meant."

He kissed her and she happily responded. But the kiss dragged on and became quite intense. A little _too _intense, and he was only holding her tighter as his tongue guided their mouths open and started searching fervently. For what, she didn't know.

She wanted to indulge, but something was wrong.

"Severus. Severus!" she murmured, dragging up the strongest effort she could muster so that she could pull away from him. "What are you doing? What's going on? This doesn't feel right!"

"It _should_ feel right," he clutched her shoulders tighter, his gaze smoldering and a little desperate as he leaned in closer to her. "It has to feel right. That's what I'm trying to do here."

"Severus, what-?" she broke off as he kissed her again. She could sense his desperation now, and it was both uncomfortable and confusing. "What-" she managed again, briefly when he allowed her a breath. Then she had to use a bit more strength to draw back from him and finish her sentence. "What _are _you trying to do here?"

"Fix it."

"Fix – Severus!" she resisted his next attempt at a kiss, pushing back on his shoulders to try and make him stop.

"Dinah," he murmured, resting his hand on her cheek, "Don't you understand? I'm doing this for you. I'm going to do things right this time. I'm going to replace the misery I caused you last year in on this date by giving you everything – at least almost everything – that I couldn't back then. No. Not that I couldn't. That I _didn't_," pain flashed briefly across his features.

"Replace?" Dinah just stared at him, still not believing what she was hearing.

"Yes. Replace," his eyes pleaded for understanding, his fingers still resting warmly against her face. "Don't you see? I can make you forget the pain I caused you on that day. If you just let me change it for you… you won't have to remember the pain anymore. We'll do everything from last time but I won't stop. I won't abandon you and I won't hurt you. That day will finally be gone."

"Forget? Gone?" those words were even worse than 'replace'. "Severus, we've talked about this!"

"I _know_, but now it's the day of. Everything is different."

"What's different?" she demanded, unsure what she could possibly do to put a stop to this.

"Everything," he insisted without further explanation, leaning close to her. "I'll erase it for you. I promise. Dinah… just let me…"

"Erase? Severus-!" she broke off when his lips landed on hers for the third time. "No," she murmured when she got a breath, struggling against his urgent kisses. "Severus, stop!"

"No!" he refused, clutching her more tightly to him. "I need to erase it. You have to let me do this Dinah. _Please_!" She had never heard quite this much raw desperation in his voice, but she just could not let this continue.

She shook her head as his lips demanded more, her chest tight with worry and with fear over this whole scenario that had cropped up apparently out of nowhere. This was not supposed to happen. He should have been over this by now, but clearly he was not. "Stop it, Severus!" she shoved on his shoulders, but as expected he resisted. "Severus, no!" she shook her head, struggling harder. "This has to stop, _now_!" she finally managed to wrench away from him, shoving him back and shooting him an insistent look along with the order, hoping it would get through to him.

To his credit, he didn't grab for her again, but his expression when looking down at her was still confused, still worried, and still – a little bit – pleading. "Dinah, why? Why won't you let me…?"

"I don't want to erase anything, Severus!" she insisted, searching his gaze for understanding. Her Severus. Standing there before her in his black robes with what to most people would appear to be the normally stoic look on his face, framed with the shoulder-length, greasy black hair that she loved so much. Yet, in his eyes she could see the things that other people could not. The desperation, the fear, and the sadness. "I thought we agreed that we weren't going to erase anything from our past."

"This is the one exception."

"No, it isn't! Severus, I-"

"Dinah," he interrupted her. "Don't you understand? Don't you want to erase it? Last year on my birthday you were suffering. I hurt you. I made you cry. All day I haven't been able to stop seeing that look on your face from last year that I caused. The pain, the agony. I can't stop seeing it!"

"But you were in pain, too!" Dinah protested, tears stinging her eyes as she stepped forward and rested her hands on his chest, over his heart. "We were both crying on that day, Severus. Even so, I still don't want to forget or erase any moment that we've spent together."

"Dinah… I…"

"Listen to me, Severus," she said softly, taking his hands into her own, gazing up into his face as he listened, his expression subdued but his eyes beginning to shimmer. "I don't want to erase anything . Yes, that day was very hard on both of us, but it really did happen. Whatever this thing is that you're trying to do, whatever you think will happen if you do it, it can't _erase _what happened a year ago today. Time and life don't work that way."

"But… I just-" he looked a little stricken.

"Severus. I know how terrible you feel about what happened on that day and how much you wish you could take it back. And believe me… it means a lot to me that you care so much, but… it's really not needed. Obviously that day still affects you very deeply. I don't think it's so much _my _pain that you are trying to erase from that day, but your own."

"Don't say that," he murmured. "I am not so selfish."

"It's not selfish," she laughed warmly, feeling a wave of affection for her husband who was still listening almost expressionless to her words. "The fact that it still bothers you so much is just a sign of how much you love me. And you have no idea how much that means to me. But I stand by what I've always said, Severus. Every moment that we've spent together is precious to me, even the sad and the painful moments. We were in so much pain on that day because we meant so much to each other. You say you abandoned me, but you really didn't. You stayed when I asked you to. You tried so hard to explain to me how you felt… what was going on… because you cared about me. You tortured yourself over staying with me versus letting me go because you wanted me to be happy. But I wanted to stay with you no matter what. We needed each other and we proved it on that day. Because we belong together. Even though it hurt at the time, it was still right and we became closer. It was an important step for us and we would not have made the choices we made on that day if we weren't truly meant for each other. So don't you see? That day means so much. You've told me now that you're certain you loved me even then, although you didn't realize it, and I absolutely know that that is the truth. I couldn't see it then either, but it was always there. That love. Keeping us together no matter what. And so that day is precious to me, and I know it is to you as well. Shh," she murmured, brushing away the single tear that had slipped down the side of his nose during her speech.

"You're right," he said softly. "I know you're right. I'm sorry, Dinah. I don't know what I was… thinking."

"It's all right," she smiled, squeezing his hands. "Everything turned out perfectly, didn't it?" she moved their hands to rest on her pregnant abdomen in-between them. "For heaven's sake, Severus, look where we _are_."

He finally smiled, nodding, "I know. It's only…" his smile turned to a frown as he looked down at their hands and then back into her eyes. "I can't believe the things I said back then. This," he fingered the wedding and engagement rings on the third finger of her left hand, "and this," he ran his free hand over her belly again. "I told you I could never give you any of it. Why? I just don't understand why I ever said that. Why did I say that, Dinah?" that pleading note entered his voice again and he lowered his head, curtains of black hair falling forward to hide his face from her.

"Severus, look at me," Dinah murmured, taking his hands again as he lifted his face to obey, his eyes shimmering once more. "Tell me that you love me," she encouraged gently.

"I love you," he murmured, full of such insistence no one could not believe him.

"You see?" she smiled. "I heard you. And I know. And I feel the same way about you." A slight smile from him again. She was making progress. "Oh, my Severus," she took his face into her hands and kissed him. He responded, fast and warm, but to his credit not intense and desperate as his kisses had been before.

When their lips released he apologized again.

"No, it's all right," she assured him, fingering the buttons of his frock coat with a small smile. "That it matters so much to you to make me happy means so much. We all have these little things that worry us and make us sad from time to time. You want to know what makes me sad?" she offered, wanting to show him that she understood how he felt right now.

"What?" he murmured in question, squeezing her shoulders.

"When I think about how many years you spent all alone," it was her eyes' turn to shimmer as she felt tears stinging the backs. "I mean, we all had it but I think you had it the worst. Lucy and I had big families and Sirius had all those friends and… fans I guess you could say, despite the years in Azkaban. You had… Dumbledore and some semi-friendly colleagues. Sometimes the Malfoys but that could be so strained. You shouldn't have been so lonely. It's not fair," she shook her head and tried not to cry. "I wish I had come and found you sooner, when you needed me so much…" she felt a single tear fall.

Severus stared at her, seemingly stunned. His fingers, warm and gentle, wiped away the tear and he pulled her into a tight embrace, his hands shaking slightly as they moved to stroke her hair. "I never knew… you still felt any guilt over that…"

She shook her head, pressing her face closer into his warm chest. "Only sometimes. You know how it is."

"Yes," he agreed softly, "But it's all right. There were good moments in that stretch of time, although few and far between. I could endure because I was waiting for you to come into my life. And you're here now. That's what matters. If you had been involved in the first war and something had happened to you, that would have been much worse. I think of what happened to Charity Burbage and if that had been you-" he broke off, clutching her to him. She tightened her own grip as they offered each other comfort, a blessing and a miracle that they now shared with each other whenever necessary.

After a moment, he shook his head and continued. "You don't have to feel sad. You've given me everything."

Dinah smiled, tilting her head back to meet his eyes. "You see? Same here. You told me you couldn't give me those things but you _did _give all of it to me. You've given me everything," she whispered, repeating his statement.

He smiled and nodded, kissing her lips and hugging her to him again.

"We're happy, aren't we?" she asked.

"Of course," he insisted. "I'm sorry if I made you doubt that."

"I don't doubt it," she smiled, lifting her gaze to his and briefly stroking his cheek with the backs of her fingers. "I just want to make sure this doesn't happen every year on your birthday."

He laughed and shook his head. "No. It won't. Believe it or not I'd actually like to have a normal birthday one of these days too."

"Well, we did," Dinah smiled. "Didn't we? I mean you seemed to have mostly normal fun during the actual party."

"I did," Severus smiled back. "This crossed my mind from time to time but it really didn't get bad until we were alone and I started really thinking about it and you tried to keep me from doing what I thought was necessary. Thank you, by the way," he offered, his gaze light and almost teasing, "for stopping me."

"You're welcome," she grinned, her own gaze affectionate. "You think too much, you know that?"

He laughed again. Everything felt so much better when he laughed. "I don't deny that you speak the truth. But I do it a lot less… when I'm near you."

"I love you," she felt overwhelmed, for an instant, with love and joy as they kissed and embraced again. She thought she could just stay cuddled up to her precious husband forever.

They sat down on the couch and he rested his head on her shoulder with that relaxed ease that he had about him now. That pure happiness she had not seen in him in the early days and had never felt herself until he had come into her life.

"Happy birthday," she murmured, resting her cheek against the dark, soft hair that she loved as she trailed her fingers through the tendrils. They had all night to indulge in each other now. The _right _way.

"Mm," he made his relaxed, comfortable noise, a companion to his non-committal noise, and closed his eyes. Merlin, he was so beautiful. "Thank you. Tomorrow perhaps we will go through the books and ingredients and make… something."

"Yes, I'd like that," she smiled, feeling her own eyes flutter shut. She enjoyed so much helping him with his potions research.

He tilted his had to press a soft kiss to her shoulder. "I love you, Dinah. You know that."

"Yes, Severus," she murmured, cuddling close as they clasped their hands together on their laps. "I know that. And you know I love you too."

"Yes," his response was comfortable and sure, "I know you love me too."


	183. Epilogue V: Maylene

A/N: Thank you everyone for your continuing reviews! Glad you are enjoying the epilogues! Also, thanks to Mother Hen for pointing out that sex during the third trimester is okay. As I've never been pregnant, I have no idea and I don't know why I assumed it wasn't allowed. I feel like I heard it somewhere, but oh well. I've been trying to do research the best I can, though, but there still might be mistakes in this chapter as well, so bear with me. I think I've gone and fixed all the mistakes of that nature in the previous two epilogues now though, so thanks for the FYI! I _did _read that you have to wait a month or so before having sex again after giving birth, though, and that's addressed in this chapter.

* * *

EPILOGUE FIVE

Maylene

* * *

"Thanks for meeting with me today, Hermione. I know it's the weekend and you have so much else to do, but I really appreciate your willingness to take over class completely next week," Dinah said cheerfully, devouring a donut as she and Hermione Granger made their way out of the Great Hall where she had insisted that they meet so that she could have the house elves make her a snack. That had brought up a slight debate, but pregnancy and hunger won out and Hermione had grudgingly agreed to that particular meeting place.

The girl and one of Severus's many nemeses – which made it so amusing considering she was going to be substituting for Dinah's class for at least the rest of this school year – smiled and nodded. "It's no problem. It was either this or head to the Burrow earlier and Ron can survive a whole half a day longer without me. Besides, I'm really looking forward to teaching."

Dinah smiled; "The students already like you and you have an excellent grasp of the material. And I'm always here for advice. Grubbly-Plank, too, if I'm occupied with the baby. She knows the ropes really well, too. Between the three of us, the class will run smoothly I'm sure."

"I'm sure," Hermione agreed. "Well, I should head out. Oh, hello Mae," she smiled and waved, along with Dinah, at the second-year they saw walking down the hall towards them.

"Hi, Professor Snape, Miss Granger," Mae Yates grinned, stopping to turn and head for them. "It's a lovely day outside, isn't it?" She raised a knowing eyebrow at Dinah's second donut and Dinah just gave a sheepish shrug. Ever since the youthening this girl and Andrew were more like friends than students, at least much of the time.

For the past month or so her 'unpredictable' appetite had turned into a very predictable 'hungry-all-the-time-ness'. Which was all well and good, as far as Dinah was concerned, because Severus actually felt _better _about it and there was no longer any reason for her to imbibe that nasty-tasting appetite stimulant.

"Very," Hermione smiled. "I should definitely enjoy my walk to the Hogwarts gates. Well, I should be going. Have a nice day, you two. See you in class next week, Mae. Good luck, Dinah," over the past few weeks as Dinah had trained her for the position, she had let Hermione call her by her first name. She figured, eventually, when Mae and Andrew had graduated, she would have them do the same too.

"Thank you. Say hello to R-" Dinah cut herself off as a sharp pain slammed through her abdomen. She grunted and her hands grabbed for the precious baby growing inside of her as her knees started to buckle. Next thing she knew there was a second pain and a puddle of water underneath her feet.

"Dinah!"

"Professor Snape!"

Hermione's exclamation came just before Mae's and then they were both at her side as she tried to make it to the wall, resting her back against it and sinking down to the ground. The pain seemed to die off for a few moments, but Dinah was… scared. "Severus…" she murmured. "Get him."

"You need to go to Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said. "Mae, could you go and get Professor Snape?"

"Detention," Dinah said. "He's administering a detention. I don't want to go and see Madam Pomfrey, I want Sever-" she cut herself off as another pain ran through her. This wasn't as intense as the previous ones, but she still didn't feel right. There was something alive inside of her and it wanted to get out.

"Detention?" Mae chewed her lip nervously. "If I interrupt that, he'll kill me. Miss Granger, could you-?"

"At least he actually _likes _you," Hermione protested. "He _hates _me. If he even sees my face I might get hexed."

"But you're not a student and you won't lose points."

"Would you two stop arguing about who goes to see scary Professor Snape and just _get him_?" Dinah moaned. "Please, Mae. Please. I need him _now_."

That seemed to be enough for Mae. She stood and nodded, running off down the hallway as Hermione helped Dinah up and led her the short distance to the infirmary despite her protests that she wanted to wait for Severus. Poppy got her into a hospital bed quite quickly and determined that what she was feeling were indeed contractions and they were at least three minutes apart since it had been three minutes since the last one. As if Dinah could not figure that out herself.

Hermione hesitated a bit, but when Madam Pomfrey assured her that she had everything under control the girl decided to leave Hogwarts to head to the Burrow. Dinah thanked her and then let Madam Pomfrey mess around for a minute before the door burst open and Severus stood there, looking more bat-like than normal after his apparent rush to get there. His robes billowed every which way and his hair was a complete mess as he tried to catch his breath, staring at her as though in shock.

But to Dinah, him standing there was the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen.

"Severus," she murmured, reaching a hand out.

He rushed to her side, taking her hand to clutch in his, while Mae trailed behind him, nearly matching his pace. Dinah hadn't even realized she was there right away but the girl looked as flustered and out-of-breath as Severus. "Dinah, are you…?" her husband began, but didn't finished his sentence.

"I'm fine. It's just contractions and my water broke."

He sighed; "So this is… it, then? Why are you following me?" he suddenly turned, demanding this question of Mae.

"Um," she began, embarrassed and timid, and Dinah could guess that Severus had probably yelled at her at first but been fine once he had heard why he needed to come up here. "I wanted to see if she was all right."

"Thank you, Mae," Dinah smiled at her young friend. "I don't know what I would have done without you going to get my husband."

Severus sighed, turning to regard the girl with a grudging expression; "Yes, thank you, I suppose. You can leave now."

"Oh, okay," she took a step back and then hesitated. "Um, but do you need anything at all? From the kitchens or a potion or… well, is there anything that I can do to help?"

"Well, _I _could certainly use your help, Miss Yates," Madam Pomfrey said, coming over and seeming a little flustered. "This is the first baby delivery I've been involved in in ages and there are many things that need to be taken care of. A helpful Ravenclaw student is just what I need. If you promise to do exactly as I ask and if the expecting couple doesn't mind your presence."

Dinah turned a questioning look to her husband, silently hoping that he would be okay with this and also hoping that he could see that hope in her eyes and her face.

He sighed, seeming to get the message, and turned to Madam Pomfrey. "If you think it will help, then fine. She may stay." Dinah squeezed his hand in thanks and Severus smiled at the reward for his grudging acceptance.

Mae was also quite bright-eyed and smiley; "Okay! What should I do?"

"Find the potion bottle labeled 'pregnancy pain relief' and bring it over to me while I set a spell to keep track of Professor Snape's vital signs," Poppy ordered, pointing to a shelf on a nearby wall.

Dinah's abdomen chose that moment to contract again and she moaned, clutching a hold of it with one hand and doubling over while her other hand strangled Severus's.

"Dinah. Dinah," he murmured, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and hugging her to him. "Are you all right? What can I do?"

"It's just a… contraction," she strained, pressing in close to him. "It's okay. That's what the pain reliever is for… right?" she looked up along with Severus at Madam Pomfrey.

"It should help at least," the healer nodded. "Ah, thank you Miss Yates," she took a small bottle from the girl and measured out a teaspoon for Dinah. "You will still feel the pressure of the contractions and there will be some pain, but it won't be as bad and we can still keep track of the time between contractions. I would say they're at about seven minutes right now."

Dinah sighed, catching her breath. The few hours or so went by in a bit of a blur. Mae ran around and helped Poppy to gather ingredients and monitor her, taking a break for lunch in the middle, and the contractions got closer and closer until they were around four minutes apart. They were like extended bursts of pressure now that Dinah had taken the potion, almost like long, drawn-out hiccups. But they were slightly painful and quite annoying and starting to make her grouchy.

"I'm hungry," she complained. "Poppy, can't I have a sandwich or something?"

The healer just stared at her; "You're the first woman in labor that I've known that's ever asked for food. Water, maybe, but not food."

"Yes, well, this is Dinah we're talking about," Severus said dryly, her grouchiness having rubbed off on him pretty good by this point.

"Be quiet," she snapped at him, turning back to Poppy. "So can I have one?"

"I'm afraid not. All of the research advises against it."

"Well, what am I supposed to do? Starve? It's been how many hours now? Ugh!" she growled as a hiccup-like contraction ran through her.

"I think it's been a little over three," Mae said cautiously, looking up from the pregnancy book that Poppy had given her to peruse. "This says that most women during their first-time pregnancies are in labor around ten hours at least."

"Well, books don't know everything!" Dinah snapped now at the young girl, snatching the book from her and throwing it across the room where it slammed into a wall, landing face-down with bent pages. Lucy would probably report her to some kind of authority for book-abuse if she saw it but Dinah didn't want to think about having these horrible 'hiccups' for that long. At least with normal hiccups there were fool-proof remedies like getting scared… if only one could replicate _really _getting scared when you knew it was going to happen… which was nearly impossible.

Boy, her thoughts were certainly getting convoluted. And Mae was sitting there with her hands still in the position they had been while holding the book, looking a little stunned at Dinah's action while Severus simply smirked at the scene.

Poppy chuckled; "Well, Miss Yates, this is I suppose your first lesson in the behavior of pregnant women during labor."

"I hope I'm never pregnant," the girl sighed, getting up from her chair and heading over to pick up the book.

"I'll remind you that you said that when you are and then you'll wonder why you weren't more diligent with _Caricaceum_, like I'm wondering right now," Dinah called, not caring if she was being rude to a student or bringing up the protection spell in the presence of a minor who shouldn't even be thinking about sex for at least four more years, preferably ten. But Mae could take it and Dinah was too hungry to be nice.

"Oh? Well, I somehow remember that _you _were the one who wanted children, _dear_," Severus almost sneered at her.

"You couldn't have talked me out of it?" she almost shouted at him.

"Now, now, let's all relax, shall we?" Madam Pomfrey chuckled again, holding her hands out in a gesture that Dinah guessed was supposed to subdue them. But she wasn't feeling it, especially as another contraction ran through her.

"I'm hungry!" Dinah whined again, folding her arms over her chest and glaring out at the lot of them as Mae cautiously re-approached with the book in hand.

"Well, sandwiches are definitely off-limits," the healer said while Dinah scowled at her. "But perhaps some mild pumpkin juice would be all right. Miss Yates, would you like to escape for a bit? Ask the house elves for some pumpkin juice?"

"I want cherry syrup and soda," Dinah ordered the girl.

"Pumpkin juice," Poppy said firmly to Mae whose head was now drifting back and forth between the two of them. "No carbonated beverages for pregnant women. It might irritate the stomach."

"Then put cherry syrup in the pumpkin juice," Dinah decided.

Severus sighed, shaking his head in his hand; "Who drinks cherry syrup with pumpkin juice?"

"I do today. Get it," she growled at the group, and then Mae was gone and they were back to waiting. The pumpkin juice was somewhat helpful, although the cherry syrup in it wasn't as good as Dinah had hoped, but within the next hour her contractions had sped up to three minutes apart and Madam Pomfrey was ordering her to switch positions on the bed so that they could observe her dilation.

"Does that mean I'm going to have the baby soon?" Dinah hoped, desperate that this would be almost over.

"Perhaps. We'll have to see. Miss Yates, go to the head of the bed. I think you've helped all you can for the day, unless anything goes wrong."

"Wrong?" Dinah gasped, terrified.

"I thought you didn't want this baby," Severus rolled his eyes.

"I want it," she whispered. "Nothing's going to go wrong, is it?"

"No," her husband squeezed her hand. "Poppy was simply saying _if_," he shot the woman a potent death glare. "But there is no indication that anything should go wrong. You have had a healthy pregnancy, hasn't she, Poppy?"

"Oh, of course," Madam Pomfrey flushed. "I was just being cautious. I didn't mean to frighten you, Dinah. Everything should be fine."

"Good," Dinah sighed, but her more subdued mood didn't last long as the contractions increased in frequency and Poppy informed her that she was six and a half centimeters dilated. "So how much longer does that mean this will go on?" At the woman's shrug she growled; "What do you mean by that? You have to give me an estimate! I want more pumpkin juice – owwwwwww!" she moaned. The contractions were long now. They felt like they lasted for hours every time she had one. If they bothered her this much with the potion she didn't want to know how bad it would be without it.

Severus was gently rubbing her back and it helped her muscles relax but she also felt like an invalid and it annoyed her. "Leave me alone," she ordered. He removed his hand and her muscles went all tight again. "No, don't stop!" she moaned.

"Well, make up your mind!" he snapped, but went back to the motion. Slowly, it managed to improve her mood a bit.

"Miss Yates, everything is looking good," Poppy addressed the girl. "Thank you very much for your help, but it's near dinner time and so you should probably head on over to the Great Hall and your common room. I can handle everything from here. But if you want to come back and check on things right before curfew perhaps that would be okay with Professors Snape, since you've done so much already."

"Sure," Dinah said, smiling at her favorite student, feeling much better for the time being. "I'm sorry if I've been annoying. Really, you've been so much help. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

Severus sighed. "Yes, Mae, thank you."

She smiled at them both. "You're welcome. It's okay if you were irritable. I'm sure anyone would be. Thank you for letting me be a part of this. I might come back later," she bid them a good night and left the room.

Dinah smiled; "She's such a nice girl. We're lucky, aren't we?" she asked her husband.

He shrugged, but smiled slightly, "She has been a help, I'll give her that much. How are you feeling?"

"Better. Sit next to me, okay?" she scooted over on the bed, feeling mushy and affectionate.

"Anything you ask," he agreed, settling in next to her.

"I love you," Dinah whispered, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes, intent on enjoying this 'between contractions' moment to the fullest.

"I love you," he whispered back, his lips against her hair and his arms hugging her tight. It felt so good.

But in another hour nothing felt good and she was screaming and glaring at him again; "Why did you do this to me?"

"I point out again that _you _are the one who wanted children!" he snarled right back at her, excellent at this arguing thing, but he could not win when she was in such a foul mood with a giant thing pushing through her uterus at a disgustingly slow pace and contractions slamming through her every two minutes and stupid people left and right telling her to push and breathe and push and breathe and… ugh!

"Push, Dinah, push," Madam Pomfrey encouraged, right on cue.

"Maybe I don't _want _to push or breathe, did either of you ever think of that?" Dinah shouted at them.

"Well, luckily, you don't have a choice," Severus sneered. "Now do what Poppy says."

"NO!"

"Do it, Dinah!"

"I don't want to!"

"Arguing will not help, Severus!" Poppy chided him. "I know it's not always in your nature to respond gently when you are being attacked but you need to be gentle and encouraging with your wife, _despite _the fact that she is screaming at you."

"Do _not_ tell me what to do, Poppy," he growled. "How would you like it if she was screaming at _you_?"

"She _is _screaming at me, Severus. The world does not revolve around you!"

"_Both _of you stop talking about me as if I'm not here!" Dinah screamed, straining and pushing - despite her protests - against the contractions that would not stop. "You rotten little bugger!" she yelled now at her abdomen. "Get _out _of me!"

"Now, now, shouting at the baby won't help, Dinah," Madam Pomfrey's 'encouraging' voice was condescending and sickening. In all honesty, Dinah preferred Severus's argument over that sort of behavior.

"Don't tell me what to do or what not to do, and don't tell Severus to be nice to me; I _want _him to argue with me."

Poppy threw her hands into the air in exasperation. "Well, then I don't know what to tell either of you anymore!" she fumed, shaking her head, as Severus offered her a satisfied smirk at his 'win' of the argument.

Dinah continued to push, trying to force the stupid animal out of her, but it seemed unwilling to budge. She couldn't think of it affectionately right now. She couldn't even think of it as a stubby mandrake. It was an infernal beast, as Severus would say, invading her body and resistant to leaving it. And she wanted it _out_!

When it finally _was _out, however, the entire world changed.

First, there was a little whimper, and Dinah could see a wiggling of limbs at the end of the bed through her already blurring vision. Severus was, as far as she could make out, just sort of staring at what had just come out of her, as Madam Pomfrey carefully checked things out and wiped it off with a blanket, using her wand to put on the finishing cleaning touches, before handing a tiny bundle of arms and legs with a tuft of jet black hair into Dinah's arms and saying; "It's a girl."

"A girl," Dinah whispered, feeling the tears well up some more as she clutched the tiny creature in her arms. A baby girl. Made by herself and Severus. "Look," she said to her husband. "We have a daughter."

"We have a…" he was still just staring, from her to the baby and back again, looking a little confused.

"Come here, silly," she grinned, wiping at her eyes and beckoning him back to the spot where he had been sitting next to her an hour or so previously when she had been having her mushy moment. She sensed that she was having another one.

He obeyed, settling in next to her and smiling down at their child. "Dinah… it's…"

"She," Dinah corrected, resting her head on her husband's shoulder.

"She, then. I never…" he paused, searching for words. He shook his head; "I honestly never imagined I could feel this strongly for someone under the age of… twenty-four."

Dinah had to laugh; "You just picked that age arbitrarily, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"You do know that that excludes Lucy when you first met her, right?"

"You noticed," he smirked.

She giggled, until she had a realization; "Why you! That also excludes me during the youthening, did you ever think of that?"

"Er… well, no… that's not what I meant…" he stammered, embarrassed, but when she giggled again he just laughed with her. Somewhere in the midst of it all Dinah had felt a few more, weird contractions and vaguely registered Madam Pomfrey telling her to push for some reason, but she was paying too much attention to the baby and to laughing with her husband to know what was going on.

They shared a kiss, and then Dinah held the sleeping infant out to him. "Want to hold her?"

"Um… er… that's all right, I don't really think I need-" he broke off his nervousness when she plopped the child into his arms.

Dinah's heart warmed as her husband cracked a smile as he held their daughter. She laid her head on his shoulder again and whispered; "Eileen. We decided that, right? For the middle name?"

His smile widened, but he hesitated, turning to meet her gaze; "Mum's name. Yes, as long as you still want it that way. If you would prefer something else…"

"No," she shook her head. "Eileen. After her grandmum. Her middle name will be Eileen."

Severus turned his gaze back to little 'something Eileen' and his smile returned, a bit contemplative; "All right, then. Mum would be… happy, I think. Wouldn't she?"

"I know she would be. I just wish she could have lived to see her granddaughter."

"As do I," his eyes closed momentarily. "Perhaps somehow…"

"Yes. Somehow," Dinah agreed, reaching across to stroke the baby's soft black hair. "She's so beautiful, Severus. I can't believe we did this. And she doesn't look like a stubby mandrake at all."

"Mm. No," he agreed. "She looks a lot like you. She has your eyes. And your nose," he cracked another smile. "Her hair color, though…"

"It's beautiful. Just like yours," she trailed a strand of his shoulder-length hair through her fingers.

"But if it…" he frowned. He didn't have to finish his sentence. He was worrying about the affliction of greasiness.

Dinah shook her head; "Don't worry. It'll be fine. Even if she does have that problem, it can be lived with. We will accept and love her and if anybody makes fun of it I'll hit them."

"I'll kill them," Severus growled, tightening his arms around their child.

"Oh, Severus," she smiled, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and squeezing. "Killing won't help change peoples' behaviors, it will only make them scared of you."

"Which would be just as well," he sighed. "Perhaps she will be resilient. We must teach her resilience."

"She might not even have greasy hair, darling," Dinah murmured affectionately, placing a kiss on his temple.

"No one should have to suffer through what I did, least of all our child."

"I know. But no one will. We'll make certain of it."

He smiled; "I suppose that's what we have her mother the hopeless idealist for, isn't it?"

"I told you it would be good for something someday," she teased.

"It's already performed miracles, Dinah," he said softly, meeting her gaze and kissing her lips. "Never underestimate how powerful it is and how much I love that about you. It is your gift. You've shared it with Tommy, and with me, and you will with our child."

"Oh, Sev," she laid her head on his shoulder again. "She needs a name, you know. She's so quiet. So beautiful. Wait, where's Madam Pomfrey?" Dinah had the sudden realization that the healer had disappeared.

"Undoubtedly, she left to give us some time alone with the baby," Severus said, not seeming surprised at the healer's disappearance. Perhaps he had noticed her leaving. "I don't know what to tell you, though. We've been blanking on a girl's name for months."

"I know," Dinah sighed. "Well… how about… no, I don't like that. Maybe we could do… no…"

He chuckled; "That's what you always say."

She smiled a little, "It's true. But we'll think of something. It's been a long day, but we've had so much help from Madam Pomfrey and… wait, Severus…" she blinked as something occurred to her.

"Yes?" he looked at her, curious.

"What about May?"

"Mae? Like Miss Yates?"

"Yes, but with a 'Y'. You know, so it's not exactly the same. Maybe naming our child after one of our students seems like a bit much, but… she's done _so _much for us, Severus. Up to and including helping with everything today, even when I was so rude to her during the labor and…" she bit her lip, feeling guilty.

"That wasn't your fault. Mae knows that."

She sighed. "Exactly. She's so understanding."

"Just like you. She's practically a Hufflepuff," he smirk-smiled.

Dinah giggled. "Maybe a little bit. I just… it seems natural and right. She's been so helpful and kind throughout the entire pregnancy. She brought you here today, even though she was scared to interrupt your detention," she laughed when her husband rolled his eyes. "She was even one of the first people to know about the pregnancy," she flushed a little as her husband next raised an eyebrow. Mae Yates had known before he did, due to a variety of complicated circumstances at the time. "And also," Dinah hurriedly continued, "she and Andrew made such a difference in our lives during the youthening. We should honor that somehow. Besides, May is a beautiful name."

"It does have a nice ring to it, I'll admit," he nodded slowly, regarding the sleeping form of their daughter as he held her. "May Eileen Snape…"

"Maylene," Dinah whispered.

"What?" Severus turned back to her.

"Maylene. We can call her Maylene. That's even more beautiful a name than May."

"Maylene Eileen Snape?" he asked, sounding skeptical.

She had to giggle again. "No, Maylene Eileen sounds silly. May Eileen Snape, just 'Maylene' for short. It's different, but I like it."

Severus considered her for a moment, but finally he smiled too. "I like it too. Maylene it is then. May Eileen."

"She looks like a Maylene slash May Eileen," Dinah smiled down at their baby, and then chuckled; "You know, technically she was conceived in May too. Never underestimate the power of breaks in grading."

He laughed. "I never will again. You know, speaking of conception," he leaned over to whisper in her ear. "In a few weeks' time…"

"Mm, yes. Soon. I'll have to check the books again but I think it's at least a month. Can you hold out for that long?" she teased. She wasn't exactly turned on at the moment, after the day's ordeals, but figured that was natural. Still, she knew how much she loved sex with her husband and how nice it would be to be able to do it again when the time came.

"I think you're worth it," he murmured against her hair, before kissing her again.

She smiled, leaning into him; "However, for at least a while we're using protection spells."

"Judging from your words earlier today, we'll be using them forever."

"Mm, my outlook has changed a little bit now. I think in a year or two, maybe I'd want to do this again. If you would."

"I would," he said softly. "This is an experience I would be more than happy to repeat. But for now, let's enjoy the first time."

"Exactly," she murmured, feeling herself blushing a bit. He understood _everything_. "Exactly."

There were a few moments of peaceful, comfortable silence as they lay against each other, before Severus spoke again. "Oh, the baby is… shifting around. Wants something…?" he hesitated, holding Maylene out to Dinah, asking what he should do.

"Maybe I should feed her," Dinah suggested, gently taking the baby from her husband's arms and into her own again. "Now how do I do this…"

He chuckled; "Figure it out. It should be instinctual, I would guess."

"Maybe," Dinah did in fact manage to figure it out, and Maylene was only too happy, it turned out, to have something to eat. The minutes passed by slowly, peacefully, and their daughter was just drifting off to sleep again after a good meal when there was a soft knock on the door.

"Excuse me?" Mae Yates's voice murmured; "Madam Pomfrey? Professor Snape…s?" she added the plural onto the end of their name after a short hesitation.

Severus sighed, glaring a bit at the door. "You forgot about one detail. Apparently we have to somehow _tell _the student that we named our child after her."

Dinah had to laugh; "I didn't forget that detail, Severus. You obviously didn't think about it, though."

He groaned a little; "I suppose you want me to go and let her in then."

"It would be nice," she teased. "After all, she _has _been extremely helpful."

With yet another exaggerated sigh, Severus got up from the bed and walked over to the door, opening it to reveal Mae Yates looking timidly up at him from the other side. "Hello, Mae," he said, civilly enough.

"Professor Snape. Is everything okay? I just wanted to see… I mean Madam Pomfrey said I could… but if you want me to leave I can-"

"_No_, Mae, you can come in. Come in, now," he ordered, stepping back to allow her access.

"Y-Yessir, she stammered, shuffling in on the orders, but her eyes widened and she let out a gasp of excitement when she saw Dinah holding the baby; "Professor Snape!"

Dinah smiled. "Come in, Mae. You can meet our daughter."

"You had a girl," she breathed, smiling, her eyes twinkling with excitement. She slowly headed in that direction.

"Yes. A healthy baby girl, just around a half hour or so ago I would say. Right, Severus?"

"About," he grumbled.

"Mae, I'm sorry," Dinah said quietly when the girl approached. "I feel terrible about… throwing your book and saying… um, those things I said before. I didn't mean it. I hope you're not angry…" she felt a little silly apologizing to the student but it needed to be done. And she did feel horribly guilty.

Mae actually giggled. "Oh, no, I'm not angry. That's okay. It was a little… um, weird at first but it's actually kind of funny now. And I know you weren't exactly yourself at the time, right?"

"No, I wasn't. Still, that's no excuse. Thank you so much for all of your help and everything you did today. And, um… well, always."

The girl blushed and shook her head. "I didn't do anything. I just wanted to help. Especially since I was there when it happened. I hope I wasn't a bother."

"No. Not at all," Dinah insisted. "Um, Mae… our daughter… well…" suddenly, she didn't know how to say this.

"Oh, she's beautiful," Mae gushed, leaning over to peer at the tiny, black-haired baby wrapped in blankets. "I can already see both you and Professor Snape in her. What's her name?"

"May," Dinah whispered, almost too quiet for the girl to hear, staring down at her sleeping baby.

"What?" the girl questioned, thinking that Dinah had been addressing her.

Dinah smiled and shook her head. "No. That's her name. We named her May. May Eileen Snape. With a 'Y'. The May part, not the Eileen part. With the 'Y', that is. May with a 'Y'. And we're going to be calling her Maylene, usually, so…" she felt tears threatening all of a sudden – probably postpartum hormones – as she watched her and Severus's favorite student just sort of stare at her. She pushed the wave of emotion aside, though, and just waited for the girl to say something.

In a moment the girl seemed to snap back to reality, although she still looked shocked with disbelief. Her eyes widened as she stared up at Dinah. "You named her May?"

"Yes," Dinah smiled. "And yes, after you. I mean… well, think about it. You helped us so much today, you and Andrew were so much of a help during the youthening and everything. You've both been such good friends to us, despite how much younger you are, and… well, you were even one of the first people to find out I was _having _the baby. It makes sense."

"No one's ever… named a baby after me before," Mae murmured, smiling a little at her tiny namesake, but looking uncertain as her gaze shifted back to Dinah. Her eyes shone with tears, but she shook her head; "Thank you. But are you sure you want to do this? I'm just some student. I mean this is your baby's name. It will be her name forever. I don't know that…"

"No, no," Dinah smiled, putting her hand on her young friend's shoulder. "Believe me, this is right. You are our friend. You've helped us so much. We've really had fun together this year and last year. No. I want her name to be May."

"Thank you," she whispered again, smiling. "I don't know what to say. Professor Snape," she turned suddenly on Severus, staring shyly up at him. "Are _you _sure about this? I mean… I just don't want you two to make the wrong choice."

Severus had been silent, just standing in the middle of the room watching them with consideration this whole time, but now he frowned at Mae; "First of all, Mae is a lovely name regardless of whether it is yours or not, and we have grown attached to the ring of both 'May Eileen' and 'Maylene'. If you think we make these choices lightly then you are sorely mistaken. Secondly, Dinah is right. You _have _ been quite helpful today and you were both the person who summoned me here and helped Dinah and one of the first people to learn of the baby's existence. Thirdly, you _are _our friend and you and Andrew _did _make a rather large impact on and difference in our lives during the youthening a year previously. In short, yes. Yours is a perfectly worthy name to give our daughter."

Dinah smiled. That was the most direct acknowledgment of their friendship that Severus had ever given Mae, and the latter looked thrilled to hear it. In fact, so thrilled that her eyes lit up and she launched herself at Severus, hugging him; "Thank you, Professor Snape!"

A million wonderful things ran through Dinah's mind at the moment, but the strongest was the urge to giggle as Severus went completely rigid in shock. He had responded similarly the first time _she _had hugged him, she recalled. After a brief second he sort of _almost _smiled, very awkwardly, and gave Mae an absent pat on the head, stammering; "Y- yes, well… you are… welcome, I suppose. Anyway, that is… er…why we have chosen the name. It is… ah… late. You should go back to your common room," another awkward pat on the shoulder and then he was stepping backward, trying to get away.

Mae released him and smiled; "Okay. Thank you again and congratulations to both of you."

"You're welcome and thank you," Dinah smiled. "I'm sure you'll have a lot more chances to see little Maylene over the next few days. You're always welcome to stop by and to come to the dungeons in office hours or evenings before curfew. Andrew too, of course."

"Mm. Go on. Get out of here. Dinah needs to rest," Severus managed, shooing the girl off.

Mae giggled and nodded, starting to turn before Dinah exclaimed, "Oh! If you want to go and see if Professor and Mr. Black are around, since there's still ten minutes or so till curfew, you could let them know that the birth went over just fine and they can come up any time to meet Maylene."

"Of course! I'll run by their quarters on my way back to common room! Oh, and I have to tell Andrew the news, too!" she hurried off.

"Go to your _own _common room, not Slytherin's!" Severus shouted after her, but she was already out the door.

Dinah chuckled; "I don't think she can get into Slytherin's common room, dear."

"Dinah…?" Severus began, slowly, turning a slightly strained look to her. He had not moved from that same spot on the floor in minutes.

"Yes?" she batted her eyes at him teasingly.

"A student hugged me. My life is over."

She had to laugh. "I don't think your life is over, darling. Come back over here. Besides, I think that was very sweet. You have to admit that it made you feel a little good inside."

He sighed, settling back down next to her. "How many years are you going to keep trying to convince me that I like being liked?"

"Until you admit it," she grinned. "I have a feeling you might never admit it, but that's okay. I know you don't really mind me saying it to you," she smiled as he put an arm around her shoulders.

"Perhaps. I wonder if Mae will catch Lucy and Sirius before they go to bed. It was good that you held off telling them until the baby was born. The way her hormones are these days she would have been in a complete panic throughout the labor and waiting periods. And seeing you throwing things and shouting at everyone might have terrified her."

"Mm, those were my thoughts," Dinah agreed, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Are you tired?"

"A little bit, but I'm just enjoying watching our baby sleep so much. I have to stay awake. She's so quiet and so beautiful…"

"Mm," he agreed. "You're already a wonderful mother."

"You're a wonderful father, too."

He chuckled. "Well, we'll see."

"This is going to be a great adventure," she insisted, cuddling the sleeping Maylene close to her.

"Yes, I have to agree with you there," he lightly touched the dark fuzz on top of their baby's head, resting his own head against Dinah's after pressing a kiss to her hair.

"You know what's going to be the most exciting thing of all?" she asked.

"Hm?"

"Seeing what kind of a person a child made by you and me will become."

"Hmm," he agreed, and she could tell that he was smiling. "Yes. That will be a very exciting thing indeed."


	184. Epilogue VI: Family

A/N: Thanks to MrsYaya and Kat for your reviews of last chapter and to all my other reviewers! Warning! The remaining epilogues contain MAJOR SPOILERS for the continuation of CommanderValeria's stories featuring Lucy and Sirius, which are far from complete at this point. If you are reading both stories you might want to wait until hers are finished before coming back here. Don't worry about missing anything, as this story is most definitely not going anywhere :) so you can always come back later and finish up reading the epilogues, if you wish.

Note: A 'cot' is what they call a baby's crib in Britain. Oh, and please no comments about the new movie in anybody's reviews until Sunday afternoon when I've actually seen it XD

* * *

EPILOGUE SIX

Family

* * *

"DINAH!" Severus's shout came from beyond the closed door to his office with the usual fury.

Dinah chuckled, her fingers adjusting the position of the dark green Slytherin blanket in her arms, "Well, Maylene, shall we go and see Daddy? I think we have visitors, if I recognize that all-too-familiar tone," she smiled at the tiny three-month-old she held in her arms, wrapped in the blanket and drifting off to sleep after her recent meal. May Eileen Snape had turned out to be the most well-behaved infant Dinah had ever known. She almost always slept through the night, she rarely cried, and she was very sweet and affectionate. She and Severus were the luckiest parents in the world.

Dinah stood from the famous green couch, its color nearly matching Maylene's blanket, being cautious so as not to disturb the two cats curled up next to each other on another cushion, Godric and their new kitten, Gelbus. One of the three offspring of Godric and Lucy's cat, Dora, they had named the brown and white tabby to honor Gellert Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore, the reunited lovers and their two close friends.

Dinah headed to the office door, opening it to be greeted with a scowling husband. "Take care of this," he ordered, gesturing across his desk to the two eager-looking first years on the other side.

"Yes, dear," she turned to the two students with a knowing smile. "Did you lose points?"

"Five each," said the girl, grinning. "But it's worth it. Can we see the baby?"

"Of course," Dinah carried Maylene over to them, kneeling down so the students could see better.

"Be quick about it!" Severus growled. "Can't you see that I'm busy grading?" The fact that students continuously dropped by the dungeons, of which his office was the gateway to, to see the baby and did not seem to care that he took away points for it infuriated him, but he could not say no to them. Even if he did it wouldn't help. They would come anyway as Dinah and Severus had both quickly discovered. Lucy was having a similar problem with hers and Sirius's little son, Owen.

"Aww, she's so cute!" The students gushed on for a while, as normal, before Severus growled one too many times and Dinah decided that it would be best for them to head back to their common rooms.

She turned an amused smile on her husband when the students had gone and the door had been firmly shut and locked for the night; "Well, at least all the house points are being lowered somewhat evenly," she chuckled.

"Hm," he made his noncommittal noise, putting aside the piece of parchment he had just finished grading and then grabbing a new one from a large pile. "Infernal students. You would _think _that they would be more concerned with the exams that are coming up in a few weeks than with coming here and gawking at our child."

"Hmm, you would think," Dinah agreed with an indulgent smile, perching on the edge of his desk and holding the sleeping bundle in her arms out to him. "Here."

"Dinah, can't you see that I am busy?" he repeated, growling at her again.

"But May wants her Dada." They had taken to calling her May a lot, too, due to the ease of it.

Severus snorted, "Well… _May _is going to simply have to learn to…" his gaze shifted, briefly, from the baby back to his parchments and he growled again. "Oh, for heaven's sake, give me the child!" He held his arms out for her.

Dinah grinned and placed Maylene into his waiting hands. He easily shifted around so that he was holding his daughter at the same time as he was grading the parchments. For all his grumbling, he could multi-task very well. She sighed happily as she watched them together. This year, apart from some drama in Lucy's life that had finally been neatly tied up, had been just wonderful, with their marriage and the birth of their child and no fighting or dark magic or issues of any kind.

Feeling affectionate, she leaned over and whispered against her husband's ear, "I love you."

"Mm," a slight smile briefly grazed his lips. "I love you, too."

"You're perfect," she murmured, nipping and nuzzling at his ear, feeling a little turned-on as she did so.

"Dinah…" he began in a slight warning tone as she continued messing around with his ear. "Dinah!" he hissed, more loudly, and she had to pull away to glance at him. "_I am holding a baby_!"

She blushed. "Sorry. You're just so irresistible. I want you."

He sighed. "Make up your mind. Either you want your husband or Maylene wants her father. Both _cannot _happen at the same time."

She grinned. "All right. How about this then? We wait a few more minutes until you finish _that _parchment," she placed her finger on the one he had just started grading, "and as long as it looks like May's going to stay asleep we can put her in her cot and then go take a… 'break'."

He made a point of sighing again, but the hint of another smile told Dinah that no matter what he was going to say she had won; "You do realize that I _still _have to finish grading these parchments and that our track record for 'breaks' currently stands at one child," he nodded at their sleeping daughter.

"Protection spells are our friend," she smiled, grabbing the chair on the other side of his desk and scooting it over and around so that it was next to his, sitting down in it and cuddling up to him. "Say yes."

"Hm. I knew you would push that chair over here instead of levitating it."

"Oh, shut up," she nuzzled her head into his shoulder and whispered again, "Say yes."

"Yes," he murmured against her hair with a smile.

She smiled. "Good. Oh, Severus…" she sighed, content, looking down at Maylene and out at their little office home. "We're just the happiest little family ever, aren't we?"

He chuckled, tightening his arms around her as they cuddled their child between them, and said again, simply; "Yes. That we are."


	185. Epilogue VII: Announcement

A/N: Thanks for the response from last chapter! Oh! I FINALLY saw the movie! I won't post any spoilers or anything but it was excellent! I will say, though, that for this story I imagine the "flayed baby" looking more like a creepy baby than what the movie showed. That didn't really fit my image :-/ Oh well, it was still a great movie!

* * *

EPILOGUE SEVEN

Announcement

* * *

"I'm pregnant!" Dinah burst into the dungeons on an afternoon in early February with that loud proclamation, and then stopped to catch her breath as she had run all the way down there from the infirmary.

Her husband met her exhausted gaze with his characteristic smirk from where he sat in the sofa feeding a bottle to their now nearly one-year old daughter. The calm, quiet, well-behaved sweetness of Maylene's first few months of life had turned out to be a brilliantly elaborate ruse consistent with her true personality. The little girl sitting innocuously in Severus's arms had quite quickly turned into a complete little firecracker, with the most interesting combination of hers and Severus's traits that Dinah could imagine. They were both convinced that she was a genius, like her father, and she already spoke a number of words at this young age. But she functioned very well socially, more like Dinah, and she had a stubborn streak that she got from both of them. Most interestingly, she was a parselmouth, and often communicated – minimally – with Slinky and Sarepta, who were generally amused by her… except when she pulled their tails.

"Well, hello," Severus said. "Lovely to see you, too. Don't you have a class right now?"

She flushed, still breathless. "Dismissed early. Felt funny. Went to see Madam Pomfrey. Said I might be pregnant. So I used a test and I am."

He set Maylene aside, where she began entertaining herself with a toy. Their daughter was very good at entertaining herself. She most definitely had an independent streak. Severus came over to Dinah and put a hand on her shoulder, smiling. "Breathe. I'm a little shocked. That was a rather sudden proclamation you just made."

"Yes, well," she began, still red; "It's just that last time I hurt you by telling four other people before you and so this time when Madam Pomfrey said I might be I didn't even let her check I went to the infirmary's lavatory and checked myself and then came here right away and told you to make sure you know before anyone else. I mean Madam Pomfrey thinks I might be but she doesn't _know _and she probably thinks I'm a nut for not letting her find out for sure. So you know first now. Just you. Not Lucy or Sirius or Mae or her mother or any Muggle doctor or Madam Pomfrey. Although she suspects."

Severus just stared at her for a while. She figured he probably needed time to interpret everything she had just said. Finally, he smiled again and took her face in his hands, kissing her. "Thank you. I appreciate your forthrightness; although I must admit I might possibly think you're a nut too."

She giggled, placing one of her hands over the one he still had resting on her cheek. "Actually, now I think of it I probably should have brought the test down here, used it, and had you read the results before I saw them. Then you _really _would have been the first to know."

He laughed and leaned forward, his forehead resting on her shoulder for a moment as he shook his head. "You really _are_ a nut, Dinah."

Dinah smiled and put her arms around him, cuddling close. He lifted his head and kissed her once more and when she looked into his eyes she saw so much joy. Yes, she had known he would be happy about the pregnancy this time, but it was still wonderful to see, after she had torn herself up needlessly during the first pregnancy and told a bunch of people before she had told her husband. "I feel so good now."

"I'm glad," he smoothed her hair. "Now don't you think it would be _polite _to go back to Madam Pomfrey and let her check in her own way? For absolute certainty?"

She sighed, a teasing smile playing on her lips. "Polite. I'm still not used to the _polite _Severus who thinks about social norms. What have I done to you?"

"I keep asking myself the same question," he shook his head, and then traced the edge of her face with a finger. "But if you want me to _not _be polite why don't you try later tonight after Maylene is asleep? I can show you the old Severus... if you want."

"Complete with plenty of smirks, raised eyebrows, and snarky comments?" she murmured, feeling her body heating up to match her face.

"I'll even talk in monotone and call you 'you' the whole time," he said in the deepest, classroom-style monotone he could conjure up, indulging her fetish.

"Is it tonight yet?"

He laughed. "No. We still have to go to Madam Pomfrey. But maybe if we're lucky we can get Maylene down for a nap after we get back and she'll stay asleep for an hour or two."

"Then what are we waiting for," she slipped her hand into his with a grin. "Let's get started."


	186. Epilogue VIII: Fullcircle

EPILOGUE EIGHT

Full-circle

* * *

"Miss Snape!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, exasperated, her hands on her hips as she chased after Maylene, who had grabbed ahold of a bottle of some bright orange liquid that resembled Pepper-up Potion and carried it over to Dinah's hospital wing bed.

"Mummy sick!" Maylene insisted, holding the potion out to Dinah, who was now enjoying two minute apart contractions.

"_No_, Maylene, Mummy is not sick," Severus sighed, plucking the potion from their daughter's grasp and handing it back to Poppy. "Now listen to Madam Pomfrey and behave yourself."

"That's right!" the healer chided. "I've been kind enough to let you stay in here while I try to help your mother through this birth. I'll have to send you away if you don't sit still and do as I say. I _know _you're worried about your Mum, but she's going to be _just fine_, okay?" the healer spoke a bit more kindly.

"It's fine, Maylene," Dinah managed a smile at the little girl with the grey eyes that matched hers, shiny black – but thus far not greasy – hair that matched Severus's, Severus's face shape and Dinah's facial features, "Thank you for trying to help. Listen to Daddy and Madam Pomfrey and everything is going to be just fine." Really, it had been very smart of May to find the orange liquid, even if it wasn't Pepper-up potion. Their daughter realized that Pepper-up Potion made her feel good when she was sick and had extrapolated to determine that the same would happen to Dinah. Wrong, of course, but a very good deduction considering her age. Maylene was indeed a gifted child.

"No potion?" her little brow furrowed in consideration of this.

"No potion," Severus said more gently, placing a hand on top of her head. "Now, go listen to Madam Pomfrey. Mummy will be fine."

"Come here, you can help me fold blankets. Dinah, let me know when anything changes," Madam Pomfrey ordered, heading off with the precocious 'Miss Snape' at her heels.

"Are you all right?" Severus asked, taking her hand and scooting up a little further on the bed to be closer to her.

"Yes," she strained, mid-contraction, squeezing his hand and managing a smile at him.

"You're screaming at me a lot less than you did last time. That's a good sign, I can only presume," he teased.

"It's not so bad this time. Because it's my second time," she agreed, and then a sudden rush of pain slammed through her. Nothing extreme or unusual, but she was fairly certain that the baby was ready to come out. She moaned and doubled over and Severus was right there, wrapping his arms around her and rubbing her back as Madam Pomfrey rushed back to help with the birth. There was no fighting, screaming, or yelling this time. Just a little bit of pushing and breathing and then Madam Pomfrey announcing the birth of a healthy baby boy.

"A boy," Dinah breathed, reaching her arms out for the squirming infant that Madam Pomfrey lowered into them. A son. They had one of each now.

"Merlin, Dinah…" Severus murmured, leaning in close to look down at their baby; "Again…"

"Again. Isn't he beautiful? He's perfect. He looks a lot like you."

"His nose…" Severus frowned, reaching a finger out to touch the nose which was – without a doubt - longer than normal. "I knew this would happen…"

"Shh," she murmured, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. "It's a beautiful nose. You know that."

"You may think so, but if this gets any longer… If he," Severus growled. "If anyone says a single thing about his nose they will die," he finally declared.

She smiled, grasping his arm. "If we're lucky he'll be as tough and resilient as Maylene is. Nobody has ever hurt her over being a parselmouth and Tommy will survive just fine no matter what size his nose-" she broke off, the planned name having left her lips unconsciously for the first time. Her head spun back to her son and she just stared for a few moments, letting it all register.

"Dinah…?" Severus ventured, his fingers gently stroking her hair.

"Tommy," she whispered down at the little, brown haired and dark-eyed boy that was just starting to fall asleep in her arms. She recalled the little boy she had found in the Hogwarts lavatory a little over three years ago, a friendship that had developed, fear that she would lose him to the horrible circumstances surrounding his other self, and ultimately redemption and peace. Her friend, still with her somewhere… somehow. And now, his name given to this child. Hers and Severus's baby. Thomas Edward Snape.

"Yes," Severus murmured. "It's Tommy."

"Tommy," she turned her eyes upon her husband, feeling a single tear slide down her cheek.

"Yes," he repeated, gently wiping it away. "Tommy."

She clutched their baby tighter and cuddled up to Severus, turning back to regard their son. "Thomas Edward Snape. I think Tommy would be glad to know we named our son after him, wouldn't he?"

"Of course," he murmured, kissing her hair. "This is the right thing to do."

She giggled; "Even though you're technically naming your son after the Dark Lord?"

"It's different," he shook his head. "I know it's different. This is Tommy. You brought about the miracle of Tommy returning to himself just as you gave birth to our precious baby, Dinah… there is consequently no better name for our son than that."

"Oh, Severus," she closed her eyes, feeling a fresh wave of tears threatening. "Yes. Yes. It's right. It's our Tommy." She opened her eyes again and smiled down at the sleeping baby with Severus's precious nose and the barest sprinkling of brownish hair. And the name of Tommy. "We've come full-circle, haven't we? Since that year?"

"In more ways than one," Severus agreed softly, turning her face to him to give her lips a gentle kiss. "We have had so many second chances, and we have done everything right."

"'Tommy', too, I think," Dinah nodded as they regarded their child together. "This one will not live as the first one did. The world is changing after what happened earlier this month among the Muggles… and yet… there is now more opportunity than ever for understanding and making things better. I want him to live in a better world than Tommy did… I want to change things."

Severus sighed and his arms tightened around her shoulders, "I love you, my hopeless idealist," he whispered.

Dinah smiled, snuggling into her husband. "I love you, too."

"Daddy! Daddy!" an insistent little voice interrupted them, and they turned to smile down at their daughter, who had finally been released by Madam Pomfrey and was tugging insistently at the tail of Severus's frock coat, demanding to be let up to see what was going on.

Severus turned a teasing smile to her; "May. May."

"Ooooooh, DADDY!" Maylene stomped her foot on the ground, showing Severus just how she felt about him not taking her request seriously.

He laughed. "All right. Come here," he lifted her up onto his lap, kissing the top of her head. "There. Now, what do you see?"

"Baby!" she pointed at Tommy, her eyes lighting with excitement.

"That's right, that's your brother Tommy."

"Brother Tommy!"

"Very good!" Severus praised. Dinah smiled at the affection between them. She knew Severus was extremely impressed with their daughter's intelligence. Truly, Maylene was brilliant.

"I wanna-" she began, clambering over towards Dinah.

"Wait, May, stop!" Severus scrambled to stop her; "Don't climb on Mummy. She's-"

"It's fine, Severus," Dinah chuckled. "I feel okay. She's not going to hurt me. Here, sweetheart," she took Maylene onto her lap. "Would you like to hold your baby brother?"

"Can I?"

"Of course you can," she hugged her daughter close, maneuvering so that she could gently spread the little girl's arms and place Tommy there. "See? Support his head like this, okay? And sit very still. You're a big sister now, you know."

"Big sister… baby brother. Tommy." May smiled down at the infant, happy and content. Dinah turned a smile to Severus and he returned it, wrapping his arms around all three of them and pressing his head to Dinah's as they sat there together as a family, Madam Pomfrey nowhere to be seen. A few minutes passed like that, but soon Maylene began to squirm, bored with holding something that could not play with her.

"I know, May," Dinah smiled. "Why don't we ask Madam Pomfrey to get Auntie Lucy and Uncle Sirius and Owen to come up here and meet Tommy? And maybe your Auntie Mae and Uncle Andrew, too?"

"Auntie Mae-Mae! Woewo!" Maylene cheered, and Dinah and Severus both chuckled at her excitement. Dinah wasn't sure why Maylene always added the second 'Mae' onto their fourth-year friend's name. Perhaps it helped her differentiate the girl's name from her own. And 'Woewo' was Maylene's still-favorite term for her 'cousin' Owen. Although she could say 'Owen' now she seemed to prefer to use her baby name for him most of the time.

Dinah extracted Tommy from May and handed him off to Severus as she called Madam Pomfrey back in. In moments the healer left to try and find the people of concern.

"Oh, Dinah," Lucy breathed, having come straight up as soon as Poppy had delivered her message. "He's adorable. Can I hold him?"

Dinah smiled and was about to reply as Severus held Tommy out in the direction of the approaching Black family, when Maylene jumped down off of the bed and ran over to intercept them.

"Auntie Lucy, Uncle Seeryus, Woewo!" she pointed behind her at the bed; "Brother Tommy!"

"It is! Isn't it?" Lucy smiled down at the little girl while Sirius offered his congratulations to Severus and Dinah.

"Thank you," Dinah smiled, "May, honey, why don't you come back over and sit on my lap so Auntie Lucy can come and hold Tommy?"

May grumbled a bit, but obeyed and Lucy was able to settle down next to Severus on the bed and allow him to hand Tommy over to her. Owen stuck his thumb in his mouth and tugged on his mother's robes, not looking too happy at the attention she was giving to the little baby.

"Owen?" Dinah smiled at the little black-haired boy who resembled Sirius's side of the family except for his bright, light-brown eyes which were clearly Lucy's. He was quite a bit more subdued than Maylene, but it made for the best of both worlds when the two children were together. "Would you like to climb up onto the bed and get in a little closer? I'm sure your Mummy would let you hold Tommy with her."

"Tommy mine, no Woewo!" Maylene protested.

"Hush," Dinah kissed the top of her daughter's head. "You can share your little brother with your cousin Owen, can't you?" When she shook her head 'no' Dinah gave her a stern look and she switched the expression to a hesitant nod. "That's better," Dinah chuckled.

"Here we go," Sirius said, lifting his son so that he could see the baby.

"Look, it's your cousin Tommy," Lucy said. She sounded like she was trying to mollify her son's feelings.

Owen stretched out his neck to look at the baby. "Thomah," he said around his thumb, still not looking too thrilled about it.

Sirius chuckled, "Better get used to it son. You're going to have a sibling of your own soon enough."

"Lucy!" Dinah exclaimed, not having heard this news. Even Severus raised an eyebrow at the other couple.

Lucy shook her head, blushing and smiling a little, "No, no. He's just anticipating. We're…trying, but that's it."

"Oh!" Dinah laughed at her mistake, "Well, I knew _that_, but the way you said it, Sirius, sounded…"

"Yeah, and everyone thought_ I_ was the one wanting all the kids," Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Hey," Sirius grinned, "Owen was a really good baby. Maybe the next one will be too. Besides, you were a beautiful pregnant lady."

"Are you sure you should say that?" Severus asked Sirius, "If you aren't careful about such comments she might hit you."

Maylene giggled, "Mummy hit Daddy."

"Oh, you've seen that happen, have you?" Severus teased their daughter.

"Lots!" she agreed, nodding.

"Oh, you!" Dinah chided the little girl, laughing. "Not _lots_."

"I have witnesses," Severus said, ruffling May's hair.

"Ah, but I have a shield," Sirius said, hefting his son a little higher.

"He won't save you forever," Lucy murmured, still watching Tommy. Lifting her head she turned to Dinah and said, "I'm sorry. I never asked how you were doing, did I?"

"It's true what they say," Dinah said, "The second labor is much easier than the first. I think Poppy was quite relieved to escape my wrath today."

Smiling, Lucy said, "I didn't think it was bad myself. Just long."

Severus smirked, "We were kind enough to spare you Dinah's wrath when May was born. Poppy, Mae Yates, and myself, however, were not so lucky. I can safely say that all three of us are glad to have escaped it this time, in one way or another. No hitting," he added, giving Dinah a pointed look when she frowned at him.

But she was too happy to be annoyed by his comment. "Oh, Sev, honestly, does it even hurt when I occasionally give you a playful swat?"

"No," he smiled, shaking his head and leaning over to kiss her. Yes, they were both far too happy today to even pretend to argue. Their little family was complete.

"Do you like the name?" she asked Lucy, resting her head on Severus's shoulder and regarding her tiny little boy in her friend's arms, "Thomas Edward Snape… I told you that's what we were thinking of. Edward for my father but Tommy for… well, Tommy. What do you think of that?"

"It's a lovely name for a handsome little boy," Lucy assured her.

Dinah smiled and nodded, feeling Severus's fingers stroking her hair. She had been a little worried, to be honest, about the wizarding world's acceptance of her naming a child – in a way – after Voldemort. But it was different. It was fine. And that was his name. She yawned, "I think the day's events are catching up to me."

"You should sleep," her husband whispered, kissing her hair.

"No," she shook her head, "Wait until Poppy comes back. She might find Mae and Andrew."

"Auntie Mae-Mae!" Maylene emphasized again, trying to squeeze onto Lucy's lap to hold her brother one more time.

Lucy smiled at her 'niece', "Why don't I give brother Tommy back to Daddy and let Mummy rest. Maybe we can go take a nap too?"

"NO NAP!" Maylene shouted, predictably.

But Dinah smiled at Lucy. "You don't mind taking her? I don't imagine Madam Pomfrey will keep me but overnight at the most, but you know what a handful our little stinker can be," she said, but with nothing but affection for their precocious child.

Lucy smiled gently, looking over at her own child who was practically asleep in his father's arms, still sucking his thumb. "It's fine. May, you don't have to nap, but do you think you might lay with me for a little while? Uncle Sirius has some grading to do, so he can't lay down with me."

Sirius had now fully transitioned, after a year and a half or so of training, into Hogwarts's new Transfiguration Professor, allowing Minerva more time to attend to her headmistress's duties. Even Severus had to admit that Sirius did his job well. It was quite fun, them all being educators and raising their children at Hogwarts together. Yet another thing Dinah loved about the life she had built since returning to the wizarding world over three years ago.

"Okay," May reluctantly agreed.

"Thank you," Severus said to Lucy, gently taking Tommy back from her and cradling the squirming child.

"No problem," Lucy assured him and picked up Maylene, "Are you ready to go? I'm getting kind of sleepy and maybe after me and Owen nap, we can play and get a snack. If Uncle Sirius finishes his grading Snuffles might even come visit."

Owen perked up at the mention of his father's animagus, "'Nuffle?"

Sirius chucked, "Maybe," he told his son.

"Aww," Dinah cooed. She absolutely _adored _the way Owen said Snuffles's name in that cute little voice of his. Maylene preferred to call him-

"Puppy!" Maylene exclaimed, bouncing a little in her excitement. She turned her grey eyes up to Lucy, "Foxy?"

"We'll see," she said, "There should be at least one _human_ adult watching you two."

"Ideally," Severus muttered. Then they both hugged their daughter and Owen good-bye and told them to be good, thanked Lucy and Sirius once more, and the Blacks started to head out, as luck would have it, just as Mae Yates and Andrew Speasy walked in with Madam Pomfrey.

"Auntie Mae-Mae!" Maylene shrieked, squirming for Lucy to put her down.

"Hold on, hold on," Lucy told her. "You can't visit long," she insisted, waving Sirius and Owen on, "Mummy needs to rest."

Mae laughed, smiling at her much smaller namesake as she stood hand-in-hand with Andrew. The two had finally begun 'officially' dating in this, their fourth year, though their relationship had essentially been solidified much longer than that; "Hello, Maylene."

"Auntie Mae-Mae! Uncle Andoo! Mummy sick! No potion! Brother Tommy!" Maylene ran over to hug the Ravenclaw's legs when Lucy finally released her, looking eagerly up into the eyes of her young 'aunt'.

"Is that so?" Mae asked, exchanging a smile with Andrew before lifting Maylene up into her arms, "Wow, you _are _getting big, aren't you?" she said, straining a little with the child's weight; "So you have a baby brother?"

"Yes! Me big sister!" she said proudly.

Dinah smiled at her daughter's excitability as the two students, Maylene, and Lucy walked back over to the bed for one more visit before Dinah passed out from exhaustion. Hopefully she could at least stay awake long enough to feed Tommy for the first time, but her eyelids were getting heavy...

She yawned, "Thanks for coming. There's Tommy. Thomas Edward Snape, to be exact," she inclined her head in the direction of where their newborn son was now squirming a bit in Severus's arms. Probably hungry.

"He's beautiful and the name is lovely," Mae said softly, handing Maylene back to Lucy so she could lean over and get a better look at Tommy. "Hello, Tommy," she said, stroking the brown fuzz on his head. He responded by making a small, gurgling noise but otherwise still squirming. Severus smiled indulgently down at the infant in his arms, and then looked up and nodded greeting at the two students.

"Congratulations," Andrew said, less talkative than Mae as a general rule, but still improving so much over the past couple of years. His cold or allergies were still present, but not _quite _as bad or as persistent as they had been in his first and second years at Hogwarts. And, while he was by no means the most popular student or Slytherin in the school, he was no longer the butt of John Wortham and Porter Lee's mocking. Not much, anyway. And he was extremely resilient to it at any rate, when it did happen.

"Thank you," Dinah said, "I'm so glad you both made it here." And she_ was _glad. But she was also sleepy. Her eyes were starting to close.

"All right. I think it's time to go and let Mummy rest," Lucy said to the little girl in her arms.

Maylene squirmed around a little bit and protested but Dinah and Severus both told her to calm down again and she obeyed.

"You do look exhausted," Mae Yates smiled when Lucy had left the room with their daughter. "We'll go too, then. But thank you for having us up here."

"Thank you for coming," Dinah said, repeating herself for about the third time she was sure, but her body was just losing energy. She vaguely waved at the two amused students as they exited and let her head fall onto her husband's shoulder. "Tommy's hungry," she managed, "I can't sleep without feeding him."

"You're going to be sleeping _while _feeding him in a moment," Severus said, amusement in his voice as he carefully helped her hold their son and feed him. Her eyes kept drifting shut the whole time but Severus kept her awake with small conversational comments and little reminders, until finally their son seemed to have eaten his fill. Dinah nestled her head into the pillow and watched through half-closed lids as Severus took the sleeping baby over to the cot Madam Pomfrey had provided.

She managed a little smile as she watched Severus make sure Tommy was covered up and kiss the top of his head before returning to the bed and decidedly climbing in with her. His strong, warm arms wrapped around her and held her tight, as he murmured in her ear for her to sleep.

She had no trouble obeying, snuggling herself into those familiar, bat-like robes that she loved so much. "I'm so happy," she whispered.

"As am I," she could feel his smile against her ear, "Sleep," he again softly encouraged.

Nodding, she allowed the pleasant, comfortable haziness to envelop her. Her last concrete thought before drifting into dreamland was, again, the wonderful fact that now their happy little family was complete.

* * *

**A/N: Guess what! That's half of the epilogues complete (I envision 15 or 16 total).**

**FYI, Tommy is born on September 23, 2001, so the Muggle incident Dinah is referring to is Sept. 11. I figure since pretty much everyone everywhere in the "Muggle" world knew about it, it only makes sense that all countries in the wizarding world would be aware of it too, at least somewhat.**

**I know the whole May/Mae thing can be confusing but I hope nobody had too much trouble following. Thanks for your interest in the story!**


	187. Epilogue IX: Name

A/N: By the way, the "incident" briefly mentioned in the third paragraph here is actually going to be expanded into a sort of "sequel" to "The Serpents' Kiss" that I am working on, tentatively titled "Scoundrel or Saint?", which I hope to start posting shortly after the epilogues are complete. Yes, it fits in-between the previous epilogue and this one so you know everything turns out fine but I hope everyone will read about Dinah and Severus's new adventure anyway, when I get to posting it! :D

* * *

EPILOGUE NINE

Name

* * *

Four and a half years later...

* * *

Dinah sat with Severus at their dining room table, skimming a few old Muggle Studies books while sipping her coffee. It was quite early and the _Daily Prophet _had not been delivered yet, so Severus was instead watching a new potions concoction he was experimenting with as it bubbled on the table, all the while sipping his own coffee. Now that they had young children her husband was finally starting to be a better morning person, although just barely.

She frowned down at the description of Muggles that she was reading. This particular book was worse than most. She would have to take care to address these errors in her own book that she was working on. Hopefully, within a few more years it would start shaping up for publication. Writing a textbook was… challenging, to say the least. And Severus was working on one as well. A Potions textbook where he could put all of his improvements as the Half-Blood Prince to good use. Dinah often joked that they could sell their books in a two-pack of they got published around the same time, although they had absolutely nothing to do with each other.

The almost seven years following their marriage had passed by peacefully and wonderfully, with only one major challenge presenting itself. There had been a small incident a couple of years back when a sadistic, ambitious wizard had attempted to infiltrate Hogwarts in the hopes of starting another war based upon Death Eater ideals, but he had been inexperienced and they had managed to quash his attempts, with the help of their young friends Mae and Andrew, now graduated and happily engaged to be married. Looking back, it had almost been a nice little adventure, and it had given Dinah an excuse to finish learning how to fly with her own power like her husband could. However, she found she did enjoy these peaceful times the best.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud pounding on the office door and Lucy's voice shouting, "Dinah! Severus! Open up! Hurry!"

Dinah exchanged raised eyebrows with her husband. This was new. They hadn't seen the Blacks this weekend. Their friends had been conspicuously absent since Saturday evening but Dinah had just assumed they'd made a split decision and gone to Hogsmeade for the weekend, as they were often wont to do. But they didn't usually reappear with such excitement. "_Alohomora_," she said, pointing her wand in that general direction and unlocking both doors that stood between their dining room and the Hogwarts hallway, before calling; "Come in!"

There were the sounds of many footsteps and Dinah knew Lucy had brought the whole clan with her. Sure enough, her red-haired and very pregnant friend entered their rooms with almost-two-year-old Adara Jennifer Black hoisted up on her hip, almost-seven Owen scampering next to her, and Sirius trailing behind looking slightly amused as he carried two-and-a-half year old Altair Remus.

Dinah and Severus had very deliberately stopped at two children, guaranteeing that stop by having Severus go to St. Mungo's and get some 'permanent protection' bestowed upon him. Dinah was still amazed he had done it so quickly and agreeably without any complaint. It made life so much easier that way, to not have to worry about using the spell every time they wanted to have sex. Lucy and Sirius, on the other hand, seemed to have different plans. But it was sort of nice, in a way, to still always have small children around as their own grew, and Dinah and Severus loved all of their little 'nieces' and 'nephews' dearly.

Owen ran right up to the table and grinned up at them, "Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny had a baby! He's-"

"Hush," Lucy smiled indulgently at her son as she covered his mouth. "Why don't you go and play with Maylene?"

"She's in her bedroom with Tommy," Dinah said, blinking at the news at the same time as Severus smirked. Yes, their children, Lucy and Sirius's children, Rosa and Luke's children, her husband loved. Harry Potter's children, on the other hand…

For some reason, Severus's smirk made Lucy's grin widen and Sirius chuckled a little under his breath as Owen sped off towards Maylene's bedroom on his mother's request. "We wanted to make sure we got to you before you got the _Daily Prophet_ this morning," Lucy explained, putting Adara down on the floor as Sirius did the same with Altair. "Thought it would be better to get the news to you in person, as exciting as it is."

"All right. So Potter had another child. What is so thrilling about that?" Severus demanded, one-hundred percent uninterested.

"His name," Sirius said simply.

"Oh," Dinah smiled. She wasn't really sure what was so exciting either but she was much more amicable about the news than her husband, "Please give Harry and Ginny my congratulations again, of course. Their first son is James Sirius, correct?" She only really knew about the rest of the Weasleys and the Potters through Lucy anymore. None were currently attending Hogwarts and Severus was more than happy to try and put those relations from his past behind him as they built their own life together, moving forward from the days of the old wizarding war. Although Dinah did keep up a slight professional correspondence with Hermione Weasley, through a few letters she had sent complimenting the young woman on her efforts with house elf welfare.

"Yes, and he's shaping up to be a lot like his grandfather James in personality," Sirius said with a grin. "But their newest son-"

"Al," Altair said simply, informing them of the name.

Sirius smiled and placed a hand on his son's head, nodding. "They call him Al," he clarified.

Lucy also smiled at the intuitive little boy before turning back to Dinah and Severus, "His first name is Albus," she explained.

"Oh," Dinah smiled, "That's nice."

"It is," Severus said. "But it's not so unexpected. Dumbledore meant a great deal to Potter."

"I like that they call him Al," Dinah added. "Albus is a nice name and all but it isn't exactly modern."

"His middle name is Severus."

Severus choked and nearly spit out his coffee. Dinah dropped the book from her hands and it fell to the floor. They both stared at their friend, not believing what they had just heard.

Lucy looked pleased with herself. "I _told_ you it was exciting news."

"_Why_?" was the first word that came out of Severus's mouth, after what felt like an eternity of silence. He looked like he was in some sort of mild shock.

"Albus Severus," Dinah smiled, picking up her book from the floor. "It has a lovely ring to it." She had recovered quickly, and found that she really adored the name Harry Potter had given to his second son. It _was _lovely and it was a lovely thought, too. Surely, Harry would have wanted to do something tangible with the admiration and gratitude he had so long felt for her husband. It had been done to honor Severus and the sacrifices he had made during the wizarding war, and it was a beautiful gesture.

She was quite moved by it, but Severus still looked baffled.

"Doesn't it, though?" Lucy asked, smiling. She turned to Severus, "Why? Well, to thank you, of course. For everything you did for Lily and for the wizarding world all those years. Harry truly admires you, Severus, and wanted to honor all of that. And… well, the baby, Albus Severus… he has Lily's exact eyes," her smile widened.

Dinah gasped, turning a smile to her husband, feeling it soften as she saw his expression. His lips had parted slightly and he just stared at Lucy for a long time, awestruck, bewildered, and also oddly subdued. Finally, he spoke softly; "Forgiveness…"

Dinah's eyes closed for a moment and she stood from her chair, walking over to stand behind her husband's instead, and put a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Yes, Severus. Forgiveness and redemption. I'm sure Harry is trying to tell you, somehow, that Lily forgives you for everything from before. You haven't lost a friend. Everything is all right now." She noticed that both Lucy and Sirius were also smiling, the former nodding a little to indicate that it was the truth. The latter's expression also proof that Severus had now fully reconciled any issues with that group of people from his past.

Severus's hand moved to rest over hers and he leaned towards her a little, nodding, his own eyes briefly closing. "Yes. I had accepted that if her son forgave me, Lily must have as well, but this gesture, still, is…" he trailed off, before simply saying, "Nearly unbelievable."

"But it's true," she leaned over, hugging his shoulders, "The child's name will be that forever. Albus Severus."

"Who's Albus Severus?" a new, younger voice demanded, and they all turned to see six-year old Maylene standing in the doorway to her room, regarding with interest the adults and two much smaller children in front of her. She giggled, "That sounds like mixing Dad with the cat."

"I am not mixed with a cat," Severus growled his protest at the idea.

Dinah had to laugh, "No May. It's the name of a new baby. Owen, Altair, and Adara's little cousin."

"And Four's cousin too," Lucy said, indicating her stomach, "A little brother for James Sirius."

Dinah smiled, liking how Lucy referred to her unborn child as 'Four'. She wondered if it would end up being four total or closer to ten, the way her friends seemed to be going. Severus's amused smirk seemed to indicate the same thoughts.

"I wanna meet him!" Maylene said.

"I did!" Owen bragged, popping up behind his friend, causing her to shoot him a rather Severus-like scowl.

"That won't be necessary," Severus said with a slight grimace. He truly did try to distance himself from that time in his life, even now. "I'm sure you will at Hogwarts eventually, that will have to be soon enough for you. However," he sighed, turning a slightly uneasy, but sincere look to Lucy and Sirius, "You can tell Potter – Harry – that… well, that the gesture is a… a…" he balked at finishing the word.

Dinah chuckled, "It's okay darling, you can say it."

"Appreciated," Severus finally forced out the word.

She smiled, "See, now, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Yes," was his stubborn reply.

Lucy nodded, "We'll let him know. Ouch!" she said, glaring down at her stomach and pushing on a particular spot, "Your foot does not belong there."

Sirius chuckled, placing his hand over his wife's, "Be nice to your mother."

Dinah smiled at the other couple and rested her head close against her husband's, which he responded to by leaning in closer as well.

"Hey, Maylene," Owen said, tapping his friend on the shoulder, "want me to show you this new trick Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny showed me on my broom? It's for Quidditch!"

"Oooh! I wanna try!" Maylene quickly lost interest in the Albus Severus conversation and disappeared after Owen back into her bedroom.

Severus sighed, "Wonderful. Potter's influence insists on following my children everywhere whether I like it or not, apparently."

"You just called him Harry a moment ago," Dinah reminded him.

"I did not," he denied.

"Remember, he named his son after you."

"He…" Severus's' gaze drifted into 'bewilderment zone' again, "He named his _son _after me…"

Smiling, Dinah turned his head towards her and kissed him, "Yes. We've established that."

He met her smile with an affectionate one of his own and nodded, accepting the circumstances again. After a brief moment he returned his gaze to their visitors, "Speaking of children, however, does anyone know where the boy has gotten to this time? Since he was not following his sister and Owen around I fear odds are he must have snuck out of the bedroom at some point."

Dinah chuckled, "Probably devising methods of getting into the potions cupboard again, or in the bathroom trying to see what kind of concoction he can come up with by mixing soap and toothpaste." Their four-and-a-half year old son was much too inquisitive for his own good, and seemed to share his father's passion for potions as well as his nose, though he would investigate anything non-potions-related just as readily. But he had been conspicuously absent for far too long, which indicated that he had most likely gotten into something again.

"Tah!" Adara called for Tommy, "Fine Tah!" she ordered Altair, enjoying her status as the Black's only, and perhaps slightly indulged, daughter.

Altair appeared to roll his eyes at his sister, an adorable Lucy-like gesture, but obeyed, starting to wander around the room. But when the two children began looking behind desks and under the couch Dinah determined that they would likely not find her son. "Maylene, come out here for a moment!"

"What?" Maylene reappeared at the door with her hands on her hips, "Owen was teaching me how to fly!"

"Where is your brother?" Severus ignored the fly comment.

"I dunno, he was with me before."

"And when is 'before'?" Dinah calmly pressed. At Maylene's shrug she ordered, "Go find him and take Adara with you. Try the bathroom."

"Oh, okay," she heaved a sigh and reached her hand out for the much littler girl, "Come on, Dara. Let's go find Tommy."

"Tah!" Adara agreed, grasping her older 'cousin's' hand, and it did not take long for the two girls to come back from the bathroom with Tommy in tow, his shoes and the bottom of his robes dripping wet.

"Thomas Edward Snape," Severus ordered, beckoning their son in his direction until he came over. "And what it is that you have been doing _this _time?"

"Taking a bath," Tommy answered innocently.

Dinah sighed. Of course, the tub had been bewitched not to fill at all unless either herself or Severus was present, but that did not stop him from accessing the sink. It figured that at this age Maylene had been going through an 'anti-bath' phase and here Tommy was trying to do it himself. "And are you dirty?"

"Not anymore!" he said proudly.

Severus chuckled and ruffled his son's hair, using a hot air charm to quickly dry his robes, "Don't do that again and stay with your sister when we tell you to. You know that."

"Sorry," he apologized sheepishly.

"Tah! Tah!" Adara tugged on Tommy's robes, "Me bath too!"

Lucy glanced down at Adara, "Not until tonight you're not. Just because Tommy took a bath doesn't mean you have to."

"Come on Dara, we can go play with the 'Child's First Potions Set' instead," Tommy offered, smiling at the younger child and walking towards his room with her.

"That was mine first!" Maylene chased after them, always possessive of the toy that had been hers first and the children now shared.

Dinah smiled at Lucy, "I don't know, those two are pretty joined at the hip. Adara might just have to do everything 'Tah' does. May, keep an eye on Adara if you're going to play with that toy. She's a little young still to do so without yours and Owen's supervision."

Lucy just smiled and shook her head, "I don't know about those two. I'm forever finding toys she's taken from 'Tah's' room."

"If it helps, Tommy never seems to miss them," Dinah smiled, and then gazed affectionately at where Altair and Owen had gone to join the rest of the children, "I think that means you're staying for breakfast."

"Food!" Lucy squealed, looking much like Dinah sometimes did when thinking about food, "Do you think we'll have apple cinnamon pancakes today?"

"You and your apples," Sirius grinned, citing Lucy's favorite food during all four of her pregnancies.

"If not I'm sure a custom order will suffice," Dinah teased, releasing Severus and returning to her seat as Sirius and Lucy joined them at the table. She smiled, "Give Harry and Ginny our congratulations. He didn't really have much of a family growing up, did he? I'm glad that he has one of his own now. I hope they're all as happy as we are, Hermione and Ron as well as I know they're expecting a little one soon."

"Indeed," Severus said, "I suppose I can wish Pot-" he sighed, "Harry that much if he was willing to honor me with his son's name."

Dinah exchanged a smile with her husband, who finally seemed to be getting used to the idea of the naming. And she knew they both wished the same for all of the people they had known in the past. Even if they didn't see them much now, and even if Severus had a mostly grudging attitude when it came to the golden trio and friends, they did wish them the best and she could tell her husband was truly grateful for the gesture that Harry had made.

And although Dinah knew it was quite Hufflepuff-like of her, she truly wished that every person in the world could have as happy a family and as wonderful a life as that of hers and Severus's.


	188. Epilogue X: Scorpius

**A/N: Here's yet another epilogue! Thanks to everyone for your reviews thus far! Five more epilogues, I think, until the story is over, but I will be posting other related stories on the site soon. I did just add a one-shot, entitled "Do You Remember Love?" featuring an alternate universe Severus and Dinah more in line with the horribly depressing "canon" and based upon the new movie (it does contain spoilers though, so don't read it until you've seen DH Part 2). I wrote it to try and help soothe my sadness at the injustice of Severus's "canon" fate, but it is definitely AU from this story. And I totally consider this story as "canon" too, in my universe :D - Still, please check it out if you like! Thanks to those of you who have already reviewed it, brontefan and Spazzeh's a Hufflepuff, as well as those of you who favorited it :)**

* * *

EPILOGUE TEN

Scorpius

* * *

Lucy laughed, "You know, you are going to be late, Dinah."

Dinah just laughed along with her friend, smiling down at the sleeping infant she cuddled in her arms, one Mira Dinah Black, Lucy and Sirius's newest addition. Dinah was quite honored to have a child named after her now, like her husband had Harry Potter's son. But really, she just didn't want to put the baby down because she was so adorable, sweet and well-behaved. Although ultimately Dinah was satisfied with hers and Severus's decision to stop after Tommy, she did miss having really tiny new babies like this around sometimes. And the way Severus smiled indulgently down at Mira over her shoulder, she knew he felt the same.

Still, her husband chuckled in amusement at her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "You know, we really do have to go. We're going to be seeing another baby where we're going, so I don't see why it's so hard to put this one down."

She grinned, "I know, but that's one thing and this is another. I am treating the events as statistically independent."

"Whatever you say," he smirked, "We still have to go. Give Mira back to Lucy while I go and collect May and Tommy," he stood and headed out to snag the children from where they were playing in Owen's bedroom during this summer visit to Hogsmeade House. Since they would be traveling a lot to day anyway, they had decided to visit the Blacks before apparating to their next destination.

"You know," Dinah said to Lucy and Sirius, still not letting go of the little red-haired two-month-old in her arms, "It's probably about time you two considered trying to bridge the gap with that side of the family. They're really improving, you know."

"Indeed," Severus agreed as he returned with Maylene and Tommy in tow and the remainder of the Black clan tagging along behind, "They have improved a great deal, and I would not say that lightly."

Lucy sighed, "It would be nice, especially since Mrs. Tonks has made peace with her sister."

"And she would really love it if you started calling her Andromeda," Sirius teased.

"I know," Lucy grinned, "and so would you, but old habits die hard you know. I worry that some sort of…explosion would happen in front of the children though."

"I think I've proven that I can behave myself, Lu," Sirius said, "and I suppose if Severus says they're more tolerable now then I'll have to believe him."

"Well, yes, but now is hardly the time to drop in on them. Maybe," she said, looking shyly at Dinah and Severus, "some sort of get together with them. At your home maybe? I don't know, that's probably rude to ask you to have it there. I just feel like a neutral place would be better for that."

"No, that might work out just fine," Dinah tried to encourage her nervous friend, "Would you like us to bring it up this visit or would you prefer to wait a bit or contact them yourselves?"

"Best do it this visit if you can," Sirius said, "Don't want anyone getting cold feet."

"My feet are never cold," Lucy insisted. She leaned over to check on her infant, "Your goddaughter is looking quite content

Dinah smiled. It had also been an honor for her and Severus to be named Mira's godparents. Lucy and Sirius were Tommy's, while Rosa and Luke were Maylene's. "I know. That's why I don't want to put her down."

"Well, you will be," Severus had apparently had enough and held his arms out for Mira, "Give her to me and I will give her back to Lucy as I can apparently not trust you to do that on your own."

Dinah sighed, whining a little under her breath but realizing that they did indeed have to go. She gave Mira another hug, "Bye, Baby. We'll see you again soon, I'm sure. Sleep well and don't give Mummy and Papa too much trouble," she said, kissing Mira's soft forehead and reluctantly handing her off to Severus.

"Well, Mira," Severus said, cradling the child briefly, "I do apologize for your Aunt Dinah's incessant attention. I fear she grows more and more like your Great Aunt Mildred every day."

"Oh, hush!" Dinah laughed, swatting at him playfully.

"Great Aunt Mildred's not coming with us, is she?" Maylene inserted into the conversation, chewing on a nail nervously. She was reaching the age where she was starting to grow exasperated with the old woman's mauling.

Severus laughed, "No, indeed, Maylene. I hardly think this would be the place for her, even if our other friends _have _improved a great deal. Here," he said, gently handing Mira to Lucy.

"Thanks," Lucy said quietly, "I have a feeling it's almost time for a feed anyway, so unless Dinah can suddenly accomplish that feat she would've had to give Mira up soon anyway."

"Are Grandpa Ed and Grandma Dahlia going to come see Mira again? It_ is_ summer now and they said they'd come back. And bring us presents!" Owen asked May, Dinah's parents having become a regular fixture in the Black's lives.

"I want a present!" was how Maylene chose to answer him.

Dinah sighed, "You get enough presents, silly. And you'll just have to see, Owen," she smiled mysteriously at her 'nephew'. "I think your Grandpa Ed and Grandma Dahlia will be around sooner than you think." They actually had a surprise visit planned for a couple of weeks from now, after they got back from a holiday in Ireland, and wanted the Black children to be surprised. Maylene and Tommy had already been sworn to secrecy about it.

"You mean_ I_ get a present and May doesn't?" he looked rather pleased by that, then frowned, "but that's not fair. She should get one too."

"Owen, hush," Lucy told him, "Aunt Dinah and Uncle Severus have to go now. You need to say goodbye."

Dinah chuckled, "Owen, I never said May _wouldn't _get a present, I just said she gets enough already," she hugged the little boy good bye before moving on to Altair and Adara. Severus followed suit as Dinah turned to Lucy and Sirius, "Thank you for having us. It was a lovely visit."

"Any time," Lucy assured her.

"I miss you Aunt Didi! Uncle Sev!" Adara whined. Her brothers, however looked ready to bolt back into their room and play.

"Now, we will return again before you know it," Severus chuckled, when the little girl refused to let go of him. "You are quite a bit like your mother, aren't you?" he murmured, kissing the top of her head. "Now go hug Aunt Dinah again, if you must, but then we have to go."

Adara rushed over to latch on to her 'Aunt Didi', as she called Dinah, scrunching her little face up in apparent grief.

Lucy chuckled, "Only a little bit like her mother."

Dinah was never going to be able to leave if adorable children kept throwing themselves at her for her to cuddle. She hugged Adara close and kissed her as Severus had, "Bye bye, sweetheart. We'll be back soon, I promise. Now, why don't you go play with your brothers? Don't let Owen be too helpful, or your smart brother Altair might take advantage of his kindness." Owen was a kind, helpful Hufflepuff-in-the-making, while Altair had turned out to be as brilliant and gifted as Maylene was. Dinah adored all of the children's personalities. One of the most exciting things about being a parent was watching those personalities develop as the children grew, and each new development was a lovely, miraculous little surprise.

It would be wonderful to watch this new one they were about to visit grow up, and see how his personality turned out, especially given his parentage and family history.

Dinah stood as Adara obeyed, following her brothers into the bedroom. Dinah hugged Lucy and Sirius good-bye, and then Severus obligingly returned Lucy's hug before he and Sirius briefly shook hands.

And then Dinah took Maylene's hand and Severus took Tommy's and they joined their own hands in-between before their happy little family apparated away to Malfoy Manor.

* * *

"Big knocker! I wanna knock on the big knocker!" Maylene squealed, jumping up and down on the stone footsteps and trying to reach for the large iron knocker on the Manor's menacing front doors.

Severus chuckled and lifted her up so that she was level with the item of interest, "There you are. Make sure to knock nice and loud so that Daisy will hear you."

Their daughter giggled, "Silly Daddy. House elves can hear from very far away, you know?"

"Is that so?" he teased back, before she reached her hand up, and, as if to prove her point, knocked very softly.

Sure enough, as soon as Severus had put Maylene back down, both he and Dinah giving her indulgent smiles, the door creaked softly open to reveal, happily, a much more nicely 'clothed' and healthier-looking Daisy the House Elf than when Dinah had first met the creature.

One of her large ears twitched and she smiled up at them; "Master and Mistress Snape, little Mistress Maylene and Master Tommy. Please come in," she stepped aside to allow them access.

"Good afternoon, Daisy," Dinah smiled at the elf as she stepped inside, tugging Tommy gently along by the hand while May ran ahead of them all, stopping at the huge staircase and waiting impatiently for them to catch up.

"The family are all in Master Draco and Mistress Astoria's bedroom and have been anxiously awaiting your arrival," Daisy said with a smile. "Can Daisy do anything for you before then? Some water or snacks or some such?"

"No, Daisy, we will be fine on our own, but thank you," Severus said simply, and Dinah felt a wave of happiness as she smiled at her husband. He, too, had been 'improving' in so many ways over that past eight years.

They followed the impatient Maylene up the many steps and down the hallway to the second largest bedroom in the Manor, which Draco and Astoria used when they visited the home they would one day inherit. Most of the time, they lived in a little flat in London they had procured for themselves upon their marriage three years ago. But for this event the two oldest blonds standing in the room as Dinah and Severus entered had insisted the young couple stay here.

"Welcome, Severus," Narcissa Malfoy stepped forward first, obscuring their view of the bed in the background as she heartily took Severus's hands in greeting. Dropping them, she turned a smile to Dinah, "Hello, Dinah."

"Hello, Narcissa," Dinah smiled back, and then nodded the same gesture to Lucius, who politely returned it. It was truly amazing, the improvements this family had made over the past few years. Almost all traces of uneasiness from Dinah's first meeting with them were gone, and she felt that she was – again, _almost _– as close to and accepted by them as Severus was.

Almost.

At the very least, she now had no issue or fear of calling them her friends. Because that's what they were.

"How have you been?" Naricssa continued to make friendly conversation.

"Very well, thank you," Dinah agreed.

"Auntie Cissa, Uncle Lucius!" The children were as accepted as Severus and had no problem hurrying forward to greet the older couple, Maylene in the lead. "Where's the baby?"

"Ah, yes, we are very proud of our newest addition," Narcissa said with a smile, finally stepping aside along with her husband to give them a view of the large bed, where Astoria sat underneath the covers, Draco on top of them beside her and with his arms around her, and a tiny bundle of blankets held in the young woman's arms. "But I'll let the children tell you more," Narcissa finished.

Dinah forced herself not to smile. Even now, Draco and Astoria were a bit overshadowed by the former's highly dominant parents. Yet they took it in stride and were still managing to build a nice life for themselves, obvious by the new addition in concern.

"Thank you for coming, Professors Snape," Draco smiled, beckoning them over. Dinah was cognizant of Lucius and Narcissa hovering very close behind them as she, Severus, and Tommy walked at a slower pace over to the bed, behind Maylene who rushed ahead and jumped onto the bed, causing the springs to bounce.

"Uncle Draco!" she squealed, grinning wickedly at the young man she had perched near.

He managed a chuckle, "Maylene. How are you? You aren't here to bite me today, are you?"

Maylene giggled and chomped her teeth together in the air a couple of times, but did not actually bite Draco as she used to do, playfully of course, when she was smaller.

Dinah laughed softly along with Severus and they sat down on the edge of the bed when Astoria indicated it would be all right for them to do so. Severus secured Tommy on his lap so the inquisitive child could not get into anything, and they waited to be introduced to the new arrival.

"This," Astoria smiled, parting the pale blue blankets to reveal a tiny baby boy with not much hair, but the visible strands quite obviously platinum blond, "is little Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy."

The name was sort of… dark, Dinah couldn't help but think. And yet it truly fit the Malfoy family, and she knew they were all good people deep down. She smiled at the sleeping infant, "He's beautiful."

"Yes, Draco," Severus smiled at the boy he had mentored through his years at Hogwarts and the young man whose life he had saved by taking on the horrible role of murdering the headmaster in his stead, "He is very beautiful. You should be proud."

"I am," Draco gave Severus an odd look and then his gaze flitted to his parents, "I'd like to talk to the Snapes alone for a moment, if that's all right."

"Oh, but…" Narcissa hesitated and Lucius raised an oddly suspicious eyebrow, "Are you sure you won't need us? We would rather stay…" she trailed off when Draco gave her a meaningful look and nodded, silently sending her some sort of message with his eyes, but Dinah could not guess what.

But the mother and son were quiet close, and Narcissa's gaze registered understanding and she gave a slight nod back, an understanding smile having taken shape on her lips, "Very well then. Come, Lucius," she turned an affectionate smile to her husband, who still appeared suspicious, and took his hand into hers, "We should make certain that Daisy's dinner is coming along satisfactorily. Let's give our son a bit of time to talk to his favorite professor in private."

"The elf will be fine. I don't see what he needs to say that he can't say in the presence of-"

"Lucius," Narcissa said, gently but firmly, and again the family connection seemed to come into play as she told him something with her gaze. In a moment, his gaze softened and he nodded, his hand tightening around hers as they shared a smile of understanding, and then the other couple left the room.

It warmed Dinah's idealistic, Hufflepuff heart to see a family that understood each other so well. The Malfoys had come a long way indeed, but even before their reform they had cared about each other more than they cared about power or the dark arts, and that had ultimately been their redemption.

"It's only been a day since he was born," Draco began, and Dinah's attention flitted back to the boy in concern, who was looking down at his son with affection and yet some hesitancy as his wife smiled at him. Dinah recognized the expression from Severus's early days with Maylene more than six years ago. The happiness and pride mixed with apprehension, an apprehension that seemed to be stronger with fathers than it was with mothers. Draco looked up at Severus, "Being a father is a challenge, I'm sure. But you must find it… worthwhile? I assume I have a lot to look forward to."

Severus seemed uncertain what Draco was driving at, but nodded slowly, "It is… more rewarding than I can possibly describe," he admitted, with a glance down at Tommy, or 'the boy' as he often called him. He liked to refer to their two children as 'the girl' and 'the boy', which Dinah thought was adorable and one-hundred percent 'Severus'. And yet she knew that he adored them.

While Maylene's gaze anxiously flitted back and forth between the adults as she waited for an opportunity to burst into the conversation or demand to hold the baby, as she was often wont to do, Tommy's more subdued nature had him sitting calmly and quietly in Severus's lap, smiling curiously down at the baby and awaiting instruction on what to do. The two siblings really could not be more different.

"I know," Draco admitted. "I see how you are with them. I… Professor Snape, I realize that my family has made a number of mistakes, and yet I _do _know that ultimately I am grateful for everything they've done for me. My mother is wonderful and my father also has managed to put aside his dark arts ambitions for the sake of our family. I love both my parents and ultimately I hope that my new family can be as close-knit as my old one in the face of any hardship. However, he… well, let's just say that growing up I feel like there are things that I want to be able to do differently than what my father did." Suddenly, it became clear why Draco he had wanted his parents to leave the room. It also always amazed Dinah how the usually quiet young man became more talkative when that domineering presence vanished.

"Yes…" Severus said, hesitantly, "I do understand that."

"In other words," Draco sighed, his gaze sincere, "I am trying to say that I hope I can be as good a father to my children as you are to yours."

Severus just stared at first, as Dinah smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. Finally her husband spoke, his voice quiet but his gaze as sincere as that of the young man in front of him. "That is… meaningful, Draco," his gaze shifted and his arms tightened a bit around Tommy, "Thank you."

Draco smiled slightly as his own wife's hand slid into his, "Thank _you _for everything you've done. I'm glad I was finally able to say it."

"So how come you didn't name the baby after Mum or Dad like everyone else is doing these days?" Maylene cut in, breaking the solemnity of the occasion and causing everyone to laugh. Obviously since two of the three other babies she'd heard of that were born that year had been Albus Severus and Mira Dinah, she was starting to find amusement in the concept. The third child, of course, had been Hermione and Ron's daughter Rose Weasley, and Dinah had taken it upon herself to owl a card of congratulations to that specific pair due to the fact that Hermione had been so helpful to her during her first pregnancy and Dinah admired the younger woman's house elf efforts so much.

Astoria smiled, "Well, much as that would be nice, Maylene, we've given him a traditional Malfoy name and a traditional Greengrass name instead, to continue his legacy. But I'm sure there only need to be so many children running around with the same name, wouldn't you agree?"

"That's what I thought, but nobody else seems to," she replied with authority, causing everyone to chuckle again.

Draco snorted, "Though I doubt our child will be plastered all over the papers the way Harry Potter's children are."

"Indeed," Severus smirked. The two were, as usual, united in their opinion of the Potters.

"Now, now, you two, I don't think the Potters actually _want _all the publicity they're getting," Dinah said with a soft laugh, shaking her head at the boys, "They really aren't 'attention-seekers' at all."

"Hufflepuff," Severus accused her, but could not help smiling at her sheepish shrug, leaning over to kiss her.

Maylene huffed a sigh, "Are you two done being gross now because I would _like _to hold the baby sometime this century!"

"Mummy said wait," Tommy informed his sister, reminding her that Dinah had told her not to ask to hold the baby until the adults had had a turn to, and until she was offered.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Astoria apologized, blushing, "In all this talk I forgot. Of course, you may both hold Scorpius whenever you like, and you children as well, of course. Professor Snape?" She, not unexpectedly, offered the child to Severus first.

Tommy started to move, but Severus said, "You can stay if you wish. Here," he adjusted Scorpius so both he and 'the boy' were cradling him together.

"No fair!" Maylene protested. "That's not what Mummy said to do!" For the past year or so, she tended to switch randomly back and forth between 'Mummy' and 'Daddy' and 'Mum' and 'Dad'. Dinah wondered when the transition would finally be complete.

She laughed, "It's all right, May. Remember, Tommy waited until he was told it was all right. But if you promise to be as patient as your brother, you and I can hold Scorpius next," Dinah smiled as her daughter nodded and moved to sit on her lap. She hugged 'the girl' and combed her hands through Maylene's dark hair, so similar to Severus's but without the affliction of oiliness. She didn't mind waiting a bit to hold the baby because she knew she would have her opportunity soon.

All in all, Malfoy Manor had ended up a much more welcoming place than she had ever imagined it could be.


	189. Epilogue XI: Petunia

A/N: Hi everyone! As always, thanks for the reviews! Just FYI, CommanderValeria has just released a new story called "Carry On", which is a sequel to her Lucy and Sirius story "Don't Leave Me" and STRONGLY features Dinah and Severus in many new, exciting scenes that I wrote especially for it that you cannot find in any of my stories! It tells the tale of Lucy and Dinah's second year at Hogwarts, chronologically placed after the main "The Serpents' Kiss" and eventually encompassing Epilogues 1-6, time-wise. And there are scenes in BOTH Dinah AND Severus's POV for you to enjoy! :)

Although it is not necessary to read "Carry On" to understand "The Serpents' Kiss", again I do encourage it! There are plenty of good Dinah and Severus moments to see, and of course the story is very good in and of itself. Please check it out! :)

* * *

EPILOGUE ELEVEN

Petunia

* * *

Four more years later... August, 2010...

* * *

"We're buying this!" Dinah announced, reaching out and grabbing the e-reader device from the shelf on the bookstore before showing it to Severus. The things almost seemed poised to take over paper books in the Muggle world, as fast as technology was evolving these days. It would be a truly sad fate if that happened, though.

"_Why_ are we buying this?" Severus demanded, raising an eyebrow as he stood next to her in the breathtaking white Muggle dress shirt she was now proud of making him wear from time to time.

"To show to Lucy, of course!" she chuckled, "She'll probably think it's an affront to nature."

"_I _think it's an affront to nature," her husband snorted, but did not argue with her purchasing decision. He was getting so good at living in the Muggle world these days, at least for him. He had finally even broken down and got a driving license, although he refused to use it unless absolutely necessary and still preferred to use magic to drive, when forced, than to do so manually.

But it was lovely to be able to go shopping with him like this over the summer. "Well, now where do we need to go?" His enthusiasm, however, was not much better than most males, especially as they'd been at it for half a day now.

"Just the department store. Ten year olds grow so fast, you know," she grinned.

He sighed, "Yes, the girl's clothes are constantly too small and yet she tries to wear them anyway. I suppose in a year she'll be able to cast her own resizing charms on them and your morning arguments will be fewer and more far-between?"

"Oh, I'm sure she'll find something else to argue about," Dinah laughed, taking his arm and heading with him to check out of the bookstore. The department store was just the next spot over in the mall so it did not take long to get there.

She sighed, breathing in the scent of fresh leather as her eyes wandered around the large store. It had been too long since she'd gone on a nice clothes-shopping trip.

"You say we're here for Maylene but I'm going to have to endure another three hours of you picking out your own clothes, aren't I?" Severus demanded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, you can always drive home and come back," she teased, giggling at his disgusted expression. "Come now, Tommy needs a few new things as well. Why don't you go to the boy's department and get them and I'll go take care of May's things."

"Should I meet you in the girls department or the women's?" he asked knowingly.

"Oh, try one or the other," she said airily, giving him a brief kiss before they went their separate ways.

She began heading towards the girls department, she really did, but soon some adorable shirts caught her eye and her body went off of its own accord and started wandering towards the women's department. Soon she had a pile of clothes to try on and was blissfully marching off towards the fitting rooms to do so. She found a purple shirt she really liked – for some reason purple was one of her favorite colors to wear in the Muggle world. Probably because it had no 'house implication' associated with it. As a Hufflepuff, she was just as much 'house neutral' as she had 'house pride'. But that was a part of her personality and she wasn't ashamed of it in the least.

She also found a lovely black sweater dress for more festive occasions, though it was odd to be purchasing autumn clothing when it was still so warm outside, but that was the way stores in both the Muggle and wizarding worlds chose to release their clothing. She would have to find some nice matching jewelry next, and then she would _certainly _make it to the girl's department. Not that she was really in a rush. Her and Severus's two children always had a wonderful time staying at Rosa and Luke's and playing with their boy Jacob, who was nearly a year younger than Maylene. The two would probably not want to leave when they picked them up anyway, so Dinah wasn't going to worry about it.

She didn't even make it to the jewelry section when a rack full of long-sleeved shirts with golden stitched flower patterns caught her eye and she began to thumb through it. She chuckled. Getting the red would probably be a little mean to Severus after he'd put up with her shopping all day, but the white and gold was quite nice.

"Oh, my, aren't these lovely!" another voice spoke, and Dinah turned from where she was debating between the white and a grey to see that a second woman with shorter brown hair had joined her thumbing through the rack.

"Yes, I'm having a hard time deciding color," Dinah laughed, being friendly.

"I agree! The black is nice, though… oh!" the woman turned, eyeing the items on hangers that Dinah had draped over her arm, "Where did you find that purple shirt? It would be just perfect for my husband's dinner parties, paired with some dark slacks. He's a very successful businessman, you know," she almost bragged, her eyes glinting with self-importance. For an instant, she appeared oddly familiar, but Dinah could not place why.

"Ah. That's nice," Dinah said politely, although in general she wasn't impressed by such bragging, "They were over on that wall there, and they have a few different colors."

"Wonderful. I will go right over there when I'm finished here. Well!" she rudely reached out to finger the sweater dress, "That's lovely, too! And quite elegant. Rather expensive, though. You must have a special occasion planned to wear it, too."

"Nothing specific," Dinah admitted, a little put off by this woman's behavior.

"Oh, well I'm sure it would look nice on you," she said, a more friendly comment at least. She herself was rather plain in appearance, though, "Do you live in London? I'm a bit further away myself, so I always love coming into town for a good shopping spree."

"I do," Dinah agreed, nodding, "though I don't make large trips like this but a few times a year. I should probably go and meet my husband, though…" she glanced at her watch, more interested in escaping than she actually was in going to find Severus.

"Ah, you're married as well, then? What does your husband do for a living? You can obviously afford many nice things."

"He… teaches…" Dinah responded carefully, resigning herself to having a conversation with this woman who seemed incapable of shutting up.

"Ahh, teaching, a lovely profession, though it doesn't always pay much. He must teach at a wealthy institution. Either that or you work as well," she threw on the last comment in an _almost _disapproving tone, as though she were an old-fashioned woman who considered a husband a failure if he could not support his family on his own and the woman had to work as well. But Dinah honestly didn't know what she would do with herself if she was just a housewife, even though that was still quite a bit more common in Britain than in some other countries.

"I also teach, but I assure you we each make enough money to support our family individually if that were necessary. In fact, we're really here to buy clothes for our daughter and son, so if you'll excuse-"

"Oh, you have a _son_!" the woman gushed, "So do I and I could not be more proud of him. How old is your boy?"

"He turns nine next month."

"Ohh!" the woman nearly squealed, and it was a much less pleasant sound than when Dinah squealed over cute animals if she did say so herself. "I remember back when my Dudders was a little boy. He was so sweet, too!"

"Dudders?" Now Dinah was definitely getting hints that something was off. Why did she feel like she should be catching onto something here that she just wasn't?

"Yes, my Dudley. So proud. He's got a lovely job now and Vernon and I could not be more pleased. Certainly easier now that the _other _boy has gone off on his own and stopped tying us down. Not that I wish him badly, you understand. After all, he and Dudley _do _exchange Christmas cards and I have no choice but to accept my son's choices of acquaintances. Vernon still disapproves, though."

"V-Vernon?" Dinah felt an odd sinking sensation settle into the pit of her stomach. It _couldn't _be…

"Oh, I'm sorry! My goodness, I suppose I should have introduced myself, shouldn't I have?" the woman extended a hand, "I'm Petunia Dursley."

"Dinah Sn-" Dinah cut herself off in the middle of the reflexive introduction and pulled back the hand she had been extending, feeling her body kicking into fight or flight mode… but she couldn't make herself bolt away as she struggled with the realization of who she had been having a conversation with.

"Dinah, is it? I'm sorry, I didn't catch your surname."

"S- uh, no! I can't! Um… I'm sorry, ma'am but I really have to-"

"Dinah," her heart sank further at the sound of the familiar baritone voice, laced with frustration as her husband approached, "Have you even made it to the girls'-"

The world seemed to screech to a halt as both Severus and Petunia froze, recognition lighting in both their eyes as they stared each other down, his face frozen in a mask of shock, but his eyes glaring.

"I'm sorry!" Dinah moaned, clutching his arm, "I didn't realize! She only told me her name just now!" his gaze shifted to hers for a split second as he registered her explanation, "I was trying to leave, but-"

"You!" Petunia interrupted Dinah, her finger pointing rudely at Severus as she glared at him.

"_You_," he sneered right back, his gaze returned to his old nemesis.

"What in – what in heaven's name are _you _doing in here, in _our _world?" Petunia sputtered, "And dressed like _that_!"

"I… _hardly_… think that is any of your business, Dursley," he growled. "I see you have been having a conversation with my wife, then?"

"Your – your _wife_?" she repeated, and then scoffed, a terribly nasty look of disbelief in her eyes, "Who would marry _you_?"

"I would!" Dinah snarled, appalled at the rudeness of the comment, although what more did she expect from 'Tuney' from the pensieve? She wrapped her arms around Severus's waist and moved in close, intent on showing the world that he was just as wanted and loved as anybody and Petunia couldn't treat him like she used to.

He showed his gratitude by pulling her tight to him, but his glare didn't leave Petunia's, "There you have it."

"I don't believe this," her gaze shifted to Dinah, "You didn't tell me that you were one of _them_. And you seemed so _normal_."

"I am just as normal as the next person," Dinah attempted to explain, "And you shouldn't make assumptions. I never said I was anything in particular, did I? Just because I'm married to Severus doesn't _automatically_ make me a witch, although yes, I am one, if you must know."

"Ugh," Petunia groaned, bringing her hand to her forehead in an overly dramatic gesture as though she might faint or something, "That word is awful; don't even say it. And if you _are _one of _those_, then what do you think you're doing in one of _our _stores? You should stay in your own stores; keep away from the normal ones."

"That kind of thinking is-" Dinah bit her lip to cut herself off as she had been about to say something rude, and then sighed, "We live in both worlds, if you _must _know. I'm a Muggle-born, we both teach at Hogwarts, and during the summer we live in London. I appreciate both worlds so in many ways we live a double life, magical and Muggle."

"Oh, really?" she appeared baffled at first, but then snapped, "I don't understand something," turning to look at the still-glaring Severus, "Perhaps a… _Muggle-born _woman like her would be interested in living in both worlds, but you? No. You _hate _our world. Why would you try to make my sister _abandon _our world for yours and then turn around and suddenly start dressing like us and shopping in our stores with _her_?" she pointed rudely at Dinah yet again.

"That was Lily. This is Dinah," Severus said, as though that made all the sense in the world, and to Dinah it did. She felt a rush of love filling her up and closed her eyes for a moment, resting her head on Severus's shoulder as he trailed his fingers through her hair.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Predictably, it didn't make sense to Petunia.

"Since I need to spell it out for you I will," he snapped, "While I cared for your sister, I did not understand her nor she me. I suppose if you were right about anything back in those days then you were right about that. I wanted to change her, yes. I didn't accept her as she was. I was also much younger then, and a little stupid, as were you." Dinah almost laughed at Petunia's changing expressions. First a smug amount of pride at being told she was right about something, and then indignance and insult at being called stupid.

"However," Severus continued, "I am now much older and realize that the person I am_ supposed _to be with is someone that I can accept for _exactly _who she is, and who can do the same for me. Lily could not do that. Unfortunately, it took me too many long years to realize that I deserved better. But, it took that many years for me to find Dinah, so I suppose it worked out in the long run. I can live in this world for her, because she _matters _that much to me."

He probably could not have said that much to Petunia even five years ago, but age and their years together had made Dinah's husband more and more open about his past in front of others. After all, they were both fifty years old now. Ultimately, though, he was still her stoic, snarky Severus. And she still adored him more and more each day as they lived out their life together.

"I see," Petunia snorted, "Rather romantic now, are we? It's nice to know that your affections for my sister were nothing more than a childish infatuation and you tried to alienate her from her family for no good reason."

"I loved your sister and I still love her!" Severus snapped, "You misunderstand me, you stupid woman. No, I am not _in _love with her, but she was my friend and still is. I devoted sixteen years of my life to protecting her son, for Merlin's sake! We were simply incompatible. We were selfish with each other, destined to never be more than friends. Dinah is different. You _must _understand that. You chose a husband who understood _your _lifestyle, didn't you?"

"Vernon understands that I want to be _normal_," Petunia admitted.

"You didn't always want to be _normal_, though, did you?" Severus almost sneered. "You were jealous of Lily. Of us. Back then. Threw a conniption when we found that letter of yours that you sent to the headmaster. And you latched onto normalcy to cope with that jealousy. A rather cowardly move, if you ask me."

"Awful boy," Petunia bit at him. "You dropped a branch on me!"

"You insulted me first."

"Ah," Dinah hesitated, cutting into the conversation, "Is it just me or are you both regressing a little bit?" She almost laughed when Severus flushed a little in embarrassment. Even Petunia cleared her throat and averted her gaze.

"Look," Dinah sighed, "I know you two have a lot of animosity, and you're probably going to say I'm just being a Hufflepuff, Severus, but… well, Petunia, you _did _care about your sister, didn't you?"

"I… regret that I estranged myself from her, I'll admit," Petunia admitted softly. "And I'm sorry she suffered the fate that she did. We were close once, you know? A long time ago…"

"That's right," Dinah encouraged, "And you just told me that you wish Harry well, at least somewhat. I thoroughly disapprove of the way your family treated him as he grew up but you seem to have redeemed yourselves a bit, mostly through Dudley from what I understand." She didn't tell Petunia how she knew that, because she didn't know if the other woman realized that Harry had published a series of treatises on his adventures in the years following the second wizarding war, to appease the nagging press. Leaving out potentially dangerous details, such as information about the Deathly Hallows, the autobiographical tales still told a lot about his life growing up, and he had revealed much of the Dursley's horrid mistreatment.

"What are you trying to do here?" Petunia now simply looked baffled.

"She's being a Hufflepuff, weren't you listening?" Severus snapped at her.

Dinah couldn't help but laugh a little that time, "The _point _I'm trying to make is that you both care for Lily and regret that things hadn't ended up differently. So couldn't you reconcile just a little bit? You've both changed since those days. It's been around forty years, after all."

Severus sighed, briefly closing his eyes, "This is why… I needed a Hufflepuff and not a Gryffindor." He looked at Petunia, "Dinah makes some points, as always, though they can be infuriating. I regret trying to 'steal' your sister from you, but it was not all my responsibility. She wanted to be close to you and _you _rejected her. That was not my fault."

"You think it's so simple, don't you?" she asked, rather bitterly.

"It was not simple. Your parents held an equal amount of responsibility."

"Mum and Dad wanted a witch in the family…" Petunia murmured agreement, her gaze growing distant and… perhaps a little sad.

"I'll let you handle this part," Severus muttered aside to Dinah, taking a little step back, apparently having chosen to bow down to her Hufflepuff abilities.

Dinah smiled at him before turning to Petunia, "A lot of parents make wrong choices. They're only human. It doesn't matter if you're a Muggle or a wizard. _People _make mistakes. But you've finally found the acceptance you so craved in the normal world, so you know that there are people who aren't biased towards wizards. Likewise, there are wizards that _aren't _biased against Muggles. We're not all like the types you've seen, you know. I've personally dedicated my professional life to trying to help work through prejudices and pre-conceived notions people have so that we can all got a little further towards understanding each other, even if the worlds can't mingle."

"That seems a bit idealistic," Petunia smirked.

"It is," Severus said bluntly.

"If you'll forgive another idealistic comment, you two just agreed on something," Dinah said with a chuckle. They both paled at the realization and did not look happy at all. She smiled, "Look, it's probably best we go our separate ways now. Petunia, it was… um, interesting meeting you. I hope you continue to be happy in your life with Vernon and Dudley and if we, er… run into each other again I'll be sure to say hello."

"Hmph," she snorted, "You _are _an interesting one, aren't you? Dinah Snape, is it?"

"Yes," Dinah said, standing tall and feeling an immense amount of pride in her name, "Dinah Snape."

"You don't seem like the type of person he would have chosen, but then again neither did Lily," she mused, turning towards Severus, "Well, best of luck with your family, I suppose. I hope they don't drop branches on people," she glared back at Severus's brief scowl, before the two returned to being slightly civil.

"Good-bye," Severus did little more than nod at her, but she seemed satisfied enough.

"Good-bye," she turned, and then stopped after a few steps, looking back at Dinah and pointing to the black sweater dress she held, "I still think that will look good on you. Have a good evening," she turned and disappeared into the store.

Dinah exhaled, thinking that that had gone _much _better than expected. She glanced down when she saw Severus take hold of the dress and briefly examine it with his dark-eyed gaze, "She's right. This _will _look good on you."

Lifting her gaze, she smiled at her husband, and the look he returned spoke more than a million words ever could. She reached around his neck and met his kiss, which seemed to linger forever. When they finally had to breathe she murmured against his lips, "What happened to Mr. Anti-Public-Displays-of-Affection?"

"He needs to be near his idealist and doesn't care who knows it," he replied, kissing her again before briefly nuzzling his long nose against hers, "Still, as you once pointed out in a snake shop, we should stop before someone carts us away."

"That was a pet store, not a 'snake shop'," she teased, giving him a final peck on the lips before stepping back, "I guess I should get to the girl's department now, shouldn't I?"

"It would be helpful," he smirked at her.

"Oh, you know! We should stop in the baby section and get a small Muggle gift for Six," she used Lucy's number-baby-naming scheme to describe the child Lucy was currently very pregnant with. They had five now; Owen, Altair, Adara, Mira, and their newest little son, Rhys Harry Black, but this sixth one was most definitely a 'surprise' and Dinah had a feeling it would probably be the last. Unless Sirius wanted to raise a teenager at the age of seventy, and somehow she didn't think that he did.

Still, it would be nice to have another new baby around.

Severus sighed, "If we must," he reached down to entwine his fingers with hers, and together they headed towards the children's section of the store.


	190. Epilogue XII: First

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! The following epilogue is quite long and a little… convoluted, I'll admit, but hopefully it's easy enough to follow. The more characters that keep popping up (blame Sirius and Lucy for having so many kids, lol!) make it a little harder to keep track of where things are but I tried my best, so please enjoy and leave a review if you can! :)**

**Also, Dinah and Severus have now made their first appearances in Chapters 2 and 3 of CommanderValeria's "Carry On". Dinah's POV has appeared already and Severus's will show up soon, too, so please check it out and leave a review there as well. Thanks! :)**

* * *

EPILOGUE TWELVE

First

* * *

One year later...

* * *

"Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, WAKE UP!" a loud voice shrieked, and Dinah felt her bed bounce and squeak in her groggy, just-waking-up state. Severus's growl next to her indicated that it had to be very early in the morning. He was _still _not much of a morning person.

She yawned and forced her tired gaze to focus on her daughter, already dressed in her best robes and sitting eagerly in-between her and Severus on the bed, "Maylene? What time is it?"

"Time to go to Hogwarts!"

"You are already _at _Hogwarts," Severus snarled, shoving a pillow over his head.

It was true. As per normal, their family had moved into Hogwarts on the Saturday before the school year began. But this year was a special year.

"But _Dad_!" she whined, "You and Mum promised that we could go to King's Cross today so I could take the train with all the other students like normal! Let's go, get up, hurry!"

"What time is it, May?" Dinah asked again, excited for her daughter but also wanting to know exactly how early she had chosen to get them up this morning.

"Five o'clock!" she said, eliciting another, louder snarl from Severus.

"Have you lost your mind, child?" he demanded, throwing off the pillow and propping himself up on an elbow to look at their daughter, dark strands of greasy hair haphazardly framing his face, "We do not have to leave here until at _least _seven to apparate you and your brother to King's Cross! Exactly what do you think you need to do for two hours that requires us to wake up and attend to you?"

"We have to eat breakfast and you have to get our things together and we should meet Owen and you just need to _get up_, okay? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

Dinah chuckled, "All right. I know you're excited. Come on, Sev, let's just get up with her. She's not going to leave us alone until we do, and at least that way she'll stop shouting so that Tommy can still get some sleep."

"You'd think she didn't _live _at Hogwarts the way she's carrying on," Severus muttered, but a smile tugged at his lips.

Maylene put her hands on her hips, "Oh, shut up, Dad."

"Excuse me?" he turned a teasing, slowly awakening gaze to her, "Do we tell our father to 'shut up' at five o'clock in the morning?"

She giggled, "Yes."

"I don't think so," he smiled, ruffling her hair, "All right. Fine. We'll get up."

"YAY! I'm going to go tell Tommy!"

"Wait, Maylene, don't wake your broth-" but Maylene had already darted from the bed, ran across the room, and slammed the door before Dinah could finish her sentence. She sighed.

Severus shook his head, turning to her, "How did _we_… produce _that_?" he demanded, not for the first time by a long shot, as he pointed at the recently closed door.

Dinah had to laugh, "I have no idea… but I'm glad we did."

He smiled, "As am I. However, now we have a long morning with an overexcited eleven-year-old and a most likely groggy and grouchy nine-year-old to contend with."

"You can handle the grouchy. You're good at that," she delegated the appropriate task to her husband.

"Indeed?" he smirked and raised an eyebrow, "Well, then I'll leave you to attend to the remainder of the group."

"All of them?" Dinah teased, extracting herself from the covers and getting out of bed, "Because I don't know if I'm going to be able to handle Lucy all by myself. She's probably an emotional wreck right now."

Severus groaned and shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose; "Undoubtedly. Which makes utterly no sense considering that-"

"Leave me alone, May!" Tommy whined from the next room, his voice laced with a combination of irritation and exhaustion.

Dinah and Severus smiled and headed out of the bedroom still in their nighttime robes to greet their son. He was glaring at his sister, his brown hair disheveled from sleep as he resisted her tugging on his arm, trying to drag him to the dining table for breakfast. With his long nose, almost but not quite the length of his father's, he almost looked like an irritated little Severus, although his hair color and face shape were tributes to Dinah's side of the family.

"Maylene, do _not _drag your brother into this. There is no reason for him to get up as early as you," Severus scolded, "Now, release him and sit at the table so we can summon an early breakfast from the house elves." He walked over to attend to Tommy, who yawned and started trying to go back into his bedroom. "Best to stay up at this point, son. Your sister is going to be yelling all morning so I hardly think you'll get good quality sleep at any rate."

"Why can't she ever be quiet?" Tommy demanded, sullenly walking over to the table with Severus. His subdued aloofness, also, matched that of his father, and yet he showed traces of Dinah's idealism as well.

"Quiet is boring, don't you know?" Maylene demanded, clambering into her seat; "Can we request pancakes and egg on toast and bagels and fruit and corn muffins and kippers and porridge and-"

"Why do we not just order _everything _and have done with it?" Severus asked, his tone tinged with laughter.

"I would accept that," Dinah smiled, joining her daughter's food enthusiasm as their whole family settled down for breakfast. And sooner than they might have imagined Maylene was all packed, Tommy was dressed and at least _slightly _more chipper, and they were getting ready to head out of the dungeons to meet the Black family.

"It's my first day of school!" Maylene told Slinky enthusiastically as she hovered over his cage, "I might get sorted into Slytherin, which is all about snakes, or Hufflepuff like Mum or even Ravenclaw because I'm a genius!" she beamed. "But I hope I don't get Gryffindor. They are _so _annoying!"

Dinah noticed a pleased smirk form on Severus's face as he and Tommy patiently listened. Both understood a fair amount of parseltongue now, and Severus nearly as much as the former headmaster, due to the fact that they heard it so often at home, but of course neither could really speak it more than occasional successful repetition. But for most words, the nuances and proper vibrations were unable to be replicated except in those who had the ability. And now, Dinah could control her ability perfectly. But she was glad that her daughter had been able to do so right from the beginning.

"I see… how interesting," Slinky, as usual, was patient with Maylene but had no particular interest in the affairs of humans. He and Sarepta got along very well, too, but Dinah occasionally lamented the fact that they were different species and couldn't somehow produce baby snakes for her every single year. Yet, snakes approached mating from a strictly biological sense, anyway, so it wasn't as though it would have been romantic or anything. The fact that the two snakes were essentially friends, though, was nice, as was the fact that Sarepta continued to survive in the wild after so many years. Being friends with humans probably helped her out on that front quite a bit. Though, sadly, each year only a small handful of her babies ever survived.

But such was nature.

"All right, May, you were the one who got us up early, don't make us late," Dinah said with a smile, "Say good-bye to Slinky. You can visit him as often as you like anyway, since you still have a home here." Maylene would, of course, be living in her house dormitory like all other students, but there was no way Dinah and Severus wouldn't allow her to come back into the dungeons any time she wanted to.

"All right, bye Slinky," she resigned herself to Dinah's words and nodded, bidding the snake farewell.

"So," Slinky said quietly to Dinah, as Maylene hurriedly made her way over to Severus and Tommy, "I'm going to get a slight reprieve now that she won't have to have an hour-long conversation with me every night?"

"Oh, stop," Dinah laughed with her friend, "And I can't guarantee she won't be here every night anyway. We're not going to turn her out, you know. Well… maybe if she _is _here every night we'll encourage her to branch out more, but… I doubt we'll have to worry about that," she smiled affectionately at her daughter, who was now having an excited conversation with her brother as Severus looked on.

Maylene was intelligent, confident, and independent. Yes, she could be a handful, but Dinah was nothing less than brimming full of confidence for her daughter's future. No one had made fun of her for being a parselmouth yet, but even if they did Dinah knew Maylene would endure. It was sad, in a way, that she didn't need as much guidance from her parents as some children, but Dinah and Severus could not be prouder of the way she had turned out. It was nice not to have to worry about her and to know that she would have no trouble making her own way in life, even if she _was _a little… pushy around others sometimes. But there was most definitely a niche in the world just for her.

And, after years of fighting the stigma, Dinah was also confident that the prejudices against parseltongue were well on their way out the door.

On that front, all was well.

She smiled, bidding farewell to Slinky and joining her family, heading out the door, through Severus's office, and into the dungeon hallways.

Severus smiled down at Maylene, "Do you have everything then? Your wand?"

"Yes!" Maylene agreed happily, clutching the wand she had obtained from Ollivander's earlier in the summer to show that she had it, a medium-length, sturdy ash with split Veela hair and Hippogriff talon core, already representative of her intelligence, commanding presence, and… 'unique' temperament.

"Good," Severus said, placing a hand on her shoulder, briefly squeezing as he looked down at their daughter with a gaze full of pride. Gently releasing her, he gestured toward the hall, "Go on ahead, then. I'm sure Owen is anxious to see you."

She nodded and hurried down the hall. Dinah watched her go, feeling a slight tightening in her chest as she stood next to her husband, watching their daughter as she ran ahead, "Severus…"

"I know," he murmured, resting a hand on her back, before turning to her and smiling, "However, please don't turn into Lucy, all right?"

Dinah laughed, "Oh please, I'm not _that _bad. Come on," she took his hand as they walked more slowly down the hall with Tommy, "Let's go see what our wonderful red-haired friend is up to."

As soon as they reached the Black's rooms they found Maylene and Owen talking nonstop in the doorway, showing off their wands, the latter's also made of ash but with a unicorn tail hair core. Sirius looked on with as much pride in his son as Severus had in their daughter, while Lucy alternated between sobbing and making sure her other five children were behaving.

"Dinah!" she said, rushing over and embracing her. "Can you believe they're eleven already?"

Dinah had to laugh, though she did so affectionately, at her overzealous, overemotional friend, returning her hug, "They've been eleven for the past six months. But I know how you feel."

"Mum," Altair said, tugging on Lucy's robes, "you'll see Owen like every day and he's going with Maylene so he'll have friends."

"Oh, I know honey, but…"

"Tommy!" Adara squealed. The pair of them had retained the special relationship they'd had since Adara had been born, "Papa said I can get my own wand soon and we get to come watch Owen get sorted!"

"I'll be watching May, too!" Tommy nodded, "Though I don't know why she's always so against Gryffindor… it's not really fair to pick house favorites."

Dinah chuckled as their son's comment elicited a massive eye roll from Severus. There was Tommy's idealism shining through, one of only a few places where he and Severus had very little in common. "That's true, it's not, but we can't always change your sister and father's minds," Dinah grinned, looking at Lucy who had picked up nearly one-year-old Ayla Nymphadora Black, the youngest and last of hers and Sirius's children, "Ready to head out?" she asked, predicting the answer.

"No," Lucy said, her bottom lip quivering.

"You'll be fine," Sirius, who was holding almost three-year-old Rhys Harry, said. Rhys was sticking his tongue out at Severus and laughing hysterically at the glares he received in return. "He's going to be great."

"May," Owen groaned, "why do you keep calling Gryffindors annoying? You know Dad was one?"

"And _that _one will probably be the same," Severus said, still glaring at his toddler nemesis, a child who was shaping up to be just like a young Sirius Black or James Potter. Still, Rhys was their 'nephew' just like the rest and Dinah knew Severus loved him.

May laughed, "Well, Dad says Uncle Sirius _was _annoying, but that's not always a _bad _thing."

"The second part of that was her embellishment," Severus said to Sirius, "I assure you, I never told her it wasn't a bad thing. In case you were wondering."

"Oh, I wouldn't doubt it. It's no different than me assuring Owen that not following the potions instructions is a bad idea."

"Unless it comes from Uncle Severus!" Owen piped up. Dinah, however, was starting to have a hard time following the entire conversation.

"Your son catches on," Severus smiled, briefly placing a hand on Owen's head, "And after all, now all of my potions improvements _are _in the instructions." Indeed, Dinah and Severus's books had both been published, finally, and Eugene, now the Potions professor upon Slughorn's retirement, taught from Severus's book. Dinah used her book a little bit for Muggle Studies, but she had written it more for her successors than herself, as she still preferred to find individual articles to discuss with her students.

"We should go," Dinah smiled at the husbands' friendly bickering. When Lucy whimpered a little she laughed, "Oh, come now, you've still got this little one," she reached over to grasp little black-haired Ayla's hand, causing the baby to flash an adorable smile, "And she won't be eleven for a long time yet."

Lucy hugged the baby closer, "She's never going to be eleven." After a moment she sighed, "I know it'll happen eventually. I'm not being crazy."

Sirius chuckled, "It could be worse. You could be like Tonks and already sent all the kids off to Hogwarts."

Owen's face lit up, "May! We get to go to school with Anne and Teddy and Victoire now! And maybe then you can play with us more often!"

"Wonderful," Severus scowled, turning on his heel, "Now, we're going to be late. Shall we leave these grounds and apparate or just stand here forever?" He, of course, never outright banned either Maylene or Tommy from playing with the older Teddy and Anne Lupin and Victoire Weasley at Hogwarts, but he did make a point to rarely visit the Blacks when the others were over, thus limiting their children's contact somewhat, at least in comparison to the Black children.

Lucy took a deep breath, leaned into her husband's embrace, and glanced around at all her children before saying, "Okay. Let's go."

It did not take long to gather together their little group and walk across the Hogwarts grounds to the gates, whereupon they exited them and, as soon as they were able, apparated to London and King's Cross Station, straight onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters, where students in their school robes ran around full of excitement as they got ready to bid their parents farewell and head on their way to Hogwarts.

Dinah felt a rush of déjà vu to her own Hogwarts days as she looked around. Her first year here had been thrilling, full of fascinating new things to discover about a world she was just beginning to be able to imagine. Her next six years, however, had been filled with fear and apprehension. Thankfully, neither Maylene nor Tommy would ever have to feel those things.

"Mum," Tommy, his eyes wide as they took in the sights around him, clutched at Dinah's hand, "This is Platform Nine and Three Quarters? I get to come here in two years too?"

She smiled affectionately down at her son who still seemed so young in comparison to the new first years here, who were also so very tiny, "Yes. Soon."

"Indeed," Severus agreed, also smiling at the boy.

"I wonder what my wand will be…" Tommy mused, as the crowd of children began to board the train.

"It'll be perfect, Tommy!" Adara said, coming up on his other side and grabbing his hand. "It's going to be four whole years before I get my wand and that's so far away."

"It'll come soon enough," Lucy said, her eyes puffy and her lower lip trembling a bit.

Dinah was trying to think of some way to console her friend, but was interrupted by a shriek from Maylene; "Oh no! We did it wrong!"

"Did what wrong?" Dinah blinked at her daughter, confused.

"We didn't run through the wall! In the stories about Harry Potter he runs through a wall to get onto the platform!"

"Don't read those tales!" Severus snarled, and a few nearby third year students picked up their paces as they walked by. "I don't see why everyone has to continue to be so wrapped up in Potter's celebrity that-"

"Yeah, yeah!" May waved him off, used to her father's rants, "We need to go out and come back in."

"You can run through the wall _next _year if it's that important to you," Severus rolled his eyes. "It is designed more for Muggles, anyway."

"I'm half Muggle," she giggled, "and so are you." The two stubborn individuals glared at each other, as they often did, and Dinah couldn't help but laugh.

"Uhh, Mum? How come nobody's standing around us anymore?" Tommy asked, tugging on her arm again. Indeed, as Dinah looked around it appeared that the majority of the population at King's Cross had given their family and the Black's a wide berth.

"Oh, they're just scared of your father, that's all," she explained with a smile.

"And some people _still_ think Dad's a crazy murderer," Altair said.

"Well, some people are just ignorant, that's all," Dinah assured the children, especially as Lucy was looking to burst into tears again at her son's comment. Granted, it probably had little to do with the comment itself and more to do with the events of the day and the other woman's nature.

"I can't wait anymore!" Maylene seemed to be bursting at the seams as she turned to Dinah and Severus, "Can I get on? Please?"

"Well, of course you can," Dinah said, smiling softly at her daughter and fighting back the _slightly _Lucy-like reaction that was building up inside of her, although she knew it would never get that intense, "But, then again, if you _really _want to run back through the wall-"

"Oh, I'll do that next year!" she waved that idea off, apparently having lost interest.

"I told you so," Severus teased her, and then knelt down to reach her level, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Maylene…" he paused, considering, and then just seemed to decide not to say anything, instead hugging their daughter tight. Releasing her, he smiled that proud smile again, and she returned it happily. And no words needed to be said.

"Oh," Dinah felt a few tears in her eyes, but brushed them away before they could fall, and knelt down next to her husband, taking her turn to hug their daughter. "You will do _wonderfully _at Hogwarts, May."

"Yes. Of course. Even if you end up a Gryffindor," Severus said with a slight smile.

"Never!" May insisted.

Severus chuckled, but looked quite satisfied at her declaration. "Fine. We both know we'll see nothing but great things from you."

"And we're very proud of you," Dinah added, turning to smile as Tommy came over.

"Good luck, May!" he encouraged, smiling at the girl he had been furious with only a little more than two hours ago when she woke him up from his deep sleep.

"Thanks, Tommy," Maylene threw her arms around her little brother in a tight hug, "You'll do great in two years and then we can go to school together and I can bug you all the time."

"Thanks, May," the two siblings shared a smile and Dinah clutched Severus's arm in the sweetness of it all.

"Oh, and stay out of my bedroom!" May tagged on as an afterthought, and Dinah hid a laugh as Tommy placed his hands squarely on his hips and insisted that he would, of course, stay out of his sister's messy bedroom. Luckily, he now found less interest in Maylene's things than he did when younger, although he was still highly inquisitive.

"Can I go with Maylene, Dad?" Owen asked, apparently knowing better than to ask his mother a question like that.

"Of course you can," Sirius said, crouching down to hug his son, "You'll do great and, uh, don't be mean to any kids that might be a little…different, okay?" His gaze shifted, ever-so-slightly, up to Severus as though he was seeking approval. And Dinah's husband, with the grace he had achieved in his older age, smiled slightly and nodded. Those days were long past, and at any rate, Owen was such a sweet boy Dinah could _never _see him being mean to anyone at all. Rhys, on the other hand, might be more of a challenge, but that would be dealt with when the time came.

"I won't," Owen assured his father, obviously preparing himself to deal with Lucy next.

She knelt on the ground, releasing Ayla and crushing Owen to her. "I love you," she told him, "I don't want you to _ever_ doubt that." Lucy, given her troubled past with her neglectful father, was always trying to guarantee that her children did not face the same, though she really had nothing to worry about.

"I won't Mum," the boy said, returning his mother's hug, "I love you, too. And you don't have to cry. I'll see you tonight, okay?"

Lucy smiled and nodded, tears still streaming down her cheeks no matter how much she wiped at them. "Yeah," she said, "I'll see you tonight."

Dinah nodded, looking down at Maylene,"Now go on ahead. We'll see you at the Sorting tonight and in class tomorrow. Be sure to get a good night's sleep so you can do well in class and garner lots of points for whatever house you get sorted into."

"I'll try," she giggled, "But if I _do _end up in Gryffindor, which I won't, you'll take lots of points from me, right Dad?"

"Hm… we'll have to see about that," Severus smirked, and then smiled, "Go on. We love you. We'll see you at Hogwarts."

"Yes," Dinah hugged her daughter one more time, "We love you very much. Have fun on the train ride. Oh, and Owen," she hugged Lucy's son next, "Your Uncle Severus and I love you very much too and please don't buy Maylene any food on the train, okay?" she grinned at the helpful boy, who could still occasionally be taken advantage of by May's demanding nature.

"Aw, Mum, I wasn't going to ask him to!" May whined.

Severus snorted, "I highly doubt that."

Owen grinned, "I doubt it too, but I promise not to buy her anything. Agrona and Derwent sent me a bunch of sweets anyway."

"Oh, May!" Lucy sobbed, launching herself at Maylene, "We love you just as much as we do Owen. You'll both do excellent, no matter your houses, I'm sure."

"Y-" Maylene cast amused glances at Dinah and Severus, who just shrugged, as she endured her Aunt Lucy's attack, "Yes, Aunt Lucy, I love you and Uncle Sirius, too," she laughed, "You know, I might have to start comparing you to Great Aunt Mildred." At that line, Dinah had to hide her face in Severus's shoulder to muffle her laughter, the warm rumbling of his own quiet laughter mingling with hers at their daughter's usual presumptuousness.

Lucy laughed, "Oh, honestly May. I'm not quite_ that_ bad."

"No, you're not," May hugged her back before quickly hugging Sirius as Severus similarly hugged Owen, and then they were bidding the two children farewell as they made their way onto the Hogwarts Express, which all too soon was chugging out of the station and disappearing into the distance.

Dinah waved as Severus looked on with pride and admiration for their daughter and nephew. Her chest was a little tight but she knew that it was time for Maylene to make her way in the world and that they would see their daughter plenty over the course of the year.

In contrast, next to them, Lucy was a complete wreck. "My baby's going away to Hogwarts!" she wept.

"You are _also _going away to Hogwarts in five minutes!" Severus exclaimed, apparently having had enough with this drama.

"Severus Snape, don't be insensitive," Lucy said, placing her hands on her hips, "It was about twelve years ago I almost lost him before I even _had_ him and now…" she made a vague motion to where the train had been.

"And now," Sirius said, "he's growing into a fine young man."

"My point exactly," Severus rolled his eyes, "I was not trying to be _insensitive_, Lucy, simply attempting to remind you that you will be seeing him day in and day out if you so choose. I wonder…" he turned to the train, a considering frown crossing his features.

"I know," Dinah agreed, taking his hand. They had often started to wonder if it was such a good idea teaching their own children at Hogwarts. But they had decided to try it out this year and see how it went, then go from there. They hadn't confessed these worries to the Blacks, because they didn't want to influence the other couple, who had to make their own decisions on that front. Still, this was far too happy a day and promising a school year to worry too much just yet, "I remember the day _I _first came here," she confessed.

Severus chuckled, "You should remember the day I first came here, too. You saw it in the pensieve, after all, without my permission."

"Oh, stop!" Dinah blushed, even now _still _embarrassed at her behavior on that day, though it had ultimately led good places.

"I thank you for it," he murmured, sliding his fingers into her hair and pressing her head into his shoulder. Dinah closed her eyes briefly, full of love for her husband, a love that was still only growing stronger and stronger each day, though it was somehow always infinite in size as well.

"I'm glad we're here now, seeing our own children come to Hogwarts, hopefully for much happier experiences than what we both had to have," she said softly.

"Undoubtedly happier. They have been given _everything _we did not have in those days and then some."

"Mm," she nodded, kissing his shoulder before turning to look at Lucy, "You two as well, I'm sure. Do you remember your first days at Hogwarts?" She grinned at Lucy, "Though, of course you must, you're so young after all." After having given birth to six children, Lucy was still only thirty-eight years old, younger than Dinah had been when she had Maylene.

Lucy nodded, "Yes. Tonks tripped over me, right into the compartment I was sitting in."

"Papa," Lucy's little clone and Dinah's namesake, Mira, said, tugging on her father's robes, "Tonks tripped over _me_ too."

Sirius chuckled, "I know. She does that a lot. Tonks is very clumsy."

Dinah smiled, turning back to look at where the train had disappeared. "I'm glad we're all where we are now. And you two should be pleased as well," she turned to nod at Severus and then Sirius, "Who would have thought that after your less than stellar first meeting at Hogwarts all those years ago you'd be standing here watching your two children, who are best friends, go off to Hogwarts together?"

"Mmm," Sirius agreed, and both he and Severus had to smile a little as they watched the spot that Dinah watched.

"It _is _a good thing," Severus nodded.

"Yes, it is" Sirius agreed, "I know I for one didn't expect to ever have kids. That Owen and May are best friends is just a bonus."

"I also," Severus said, his lips quirking into a satisfied smile, "Enjoy the fact that _my _child is the dominant one."

Dinah had to laugh when Sirius looked annoyed. "All right, Sev, you have your revenge, now be nice. Honestly, you two, I thought we were having a heartwarming moment here."

"I meant no offense to Owen, of course," Severus assured Sirius, "I was speaking more about May… the fact that she will have no trouble standing up for herself and making her way at school. Besides, Owen really shouldn't have any trouble either. He _does _have a certain stubborn streak."

Lucy smiled, "With the two of us for his parents is it any wonder? Besides I love his humble nature. I wouldn't have him any other way, nor Maylene either."

Dinah smiled, "Same here. There is a trade-off involved with all children, I'm sure, though I think you're going to have your hands full with that one," she pointed to Rhys who was currently trying to stuff a chocolate frog down his father's robes.

"Likely, he does seem to take after the Marauders, after all." Sirius grabbed ahold of his son's arm, bringing the frog up to his mouth and taking a small bite, "That's enough, son."

"Ugh," Dinah looked away; "I _still _just can't watch it when people eat those things while they're still moving. It's disgusting."

"Look! A Dumbledore card!" Rhys exclaimed, waving it in front of everyone's faces.

Dinah smiled, taking it from his small hand, "Certainly takes you back, doesn't it? To that year? Keep it safe okay, Rhys? Just don't collect hundreds," she said, handing it back to the boy as Severus slid an arm around her waist.

"Okay!" he said, dropping the chocolate frog card and jumping up to try and grab Dinah's nose.

Lucy caught the card before it hit the ground while Sirius grabbed his son's hand again, "Leave Aunt Dinah's nose alone."

Dinah just laughed while Severus glared at the boy. He was most definitely shaping up to be a little Marauder. But he'd be all right. After all, Sirius had turned out just fine indeed.

"Let's go and find Remus and Tonks," Lucy said to Sirius, before turning to Dinah and Severus, "You're welcome to join us, but you probably won't."

"You can give them our hellos, if you must," Severus said grudgingly, "But I think we need to be getting back."

Dinah smiled, moving to grasp her husband's hand, "Besides, if we stay here much longer the whole place is going to clear out. You're very scary, darling," she murmured, kissing her husband's cheek.

"That has always been my goal," he muttered, squeezing her hand.

"I don't understand it," Tommy shook his head, "Dad's not scary at _all_."

"You know that and I know that, Tommy," Dinah said, taking her son's hand on her other side after waving farewell to a smiling Lucy, Sirius, and family, "But maybe it's better that that's a secret just kept between us," she smiled softly at Severus, "For now."

"Mm," he agreed, tugging a little on her hand to pull her just a tiny bit closer, before the three of them apparated back to Hogwarts.

* * *

"THERE!" Dinah shrieked, standing up from her chair and pointing, garnering stares from the rest of the faculty table and half the students that were already seated in the Great Hall. But she couldn't help it. She had just spied Maylene and Owen walking into Hogwarts in line along with all of the other tiny first years. While most of the young children stared in awe at the enchanted ceiling and everything around them, her daughter and 'nephew' strode forward with confidence, side by side, smiling as they clutched their wands, already experienced Hogwarts veterans.

"_Sit down_!" Severus hissed, grabbing her arm and returning her to her seat. "Everyone is staring at you."

She blushed, "Um, sorry. I couldn't resist. I didn't expect that _I _would be the one up here embarrassing my children in front of the whole Great Hall today." To be absolutely honest with herself, she had figured Lucy might be the one to make an outburst, but across the way her friend was only crying again as she and Sirius proudly watched the two children enter, the entire Black brood clustered around them.

"It's okay, Mum," Tommy said from where he was sandwiched in-between herself and Severus, "I don't think May and Owen were in far enough to hear you or that they were really paying any attention."

"Thanks, sweetheart," Dinah chuckled, ruffling the little boy's hair and turning with Severus to watch as deputy headmistress Pomona Sprout stood in front of the first years giving the pre-sorting speech. As Owen's last name was Black, he was called up rather quickly, and it took only about two seconds for the hat to decide to put him in Hufflepuff.

"As expected," Severus said, briefly smiling at Owen as he went over and joined the table in concern. Dinah grinned and clapped as loudly as she could for her 'nephew' and for her house, looking over to catch the reactions of the Black family.

Lucy was smiling and nodding while she cuddled tiny Ayla, and Sirius winked at Owen as he tried to keep Rhys from flinging food at an irritated Mira and an eye-rolling Altair. Adara looked over and grinned, catching Tommy's eye, as Dinah and Severus's son smiled back. For some reason, those two always seemed more like best friends than siblings, in contrast to pretty much all of the other relationships between the Snape and Black children. But Dinah wasn't going to speculate further on that just _quite _yet, she thought with a smile.

First-year after first-year came up, and Dinah could only feel herself growing more impatient as she waited for May's turn. "Oh, honestly, Severus!" she finally huffed, when Pomona began sorting the M's, "Why does your last name have to start with an 'S'?"

"Your maiden name _also _started with an 'S', Dinah," he retorted, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, well, that's not the point," she retorted, making Tommy laugh. Finally, it was Maylene's turn, and Dinah and the boys watched with bated breath as Pomona decidedly placed the tattered old hat on their daughter's head.

"Ah!" the hat gasped, "_Snape_… and Samson, or so it would seem… very curious combination…" and then his words became unintelligible to the hall as he said things that only Maylene could hear.

Dinah craned her neck forward so that she could get a better view of her daughter's face, trying to read what she was whispering to the hat. It looked like she said something along the lines of, 'Ha! I knew it!' as triumph splashed across her face, but no decision was made just yet. Maylene listened to the hat for a while, and then she seemed to be saying something along the lines of 'Yes, I thought that too'… or something, but the hat _still _would not make a decision.

"How are your skills at lip-reading, my dear?" Severus asked next to her, a smirk in his voice.

"SHH!" Dinah hissed back at him, waving him off without turning around. She had to keep watching this. The next words she caught from Maylene were a smug 'Yes' about something, and then she saw her daughter nod, and then furrow her brow as if in deep consideration. The hat's 'mouth' was moving too but Dinah could not lip-read its odd folds and creases in the least, and so she could only rely on Maylene for information.

The longer their daughter's conversation with the hat seemed to drag on, the worse Dinah began to feel. She flashed back to her own, private sorting, sitting there with the hat, going on and on and back and forth forever as it examined her, scrutinized her, and then what did it do but decide to put her in two houses? That could _not _happen again.

Dinah clenched her fist on the table as she waited. She would kill the hat if it did that again. It could not … _would _not… it just couldn't…

She winced as she felt her nails digging into her palm. How much time had passed? It felt like hours and the two were still conversing.

And then there was warmth as a gentle hand covered hers. Dinah turned to look at Severus, meeting his concerned gaze. He shook his head, "Stop, Dinah."

"It can't… it can't do that again…" she murmured, pleading with him with her gaze.

"It won't," he insisted softly, shaking his head again as he gently guided her fingers from her palm, stopping the pain, and entwined his with hers, nodding in the direction of the hat, "They are merely talking, Dinah. Neither looks stressed in the least. They're working it out. The headmaster made the hat _promise _not to do that again and it won't. _I _promise."

"Thank you," Dinah whispered, squeezing his hand and trying not to cry. She steeled herself, though, and calmed her emotions as she turned back to watch the hat and Maylene again, secure with Severus's hand in her own.

And then the hat stopped talking and Maylene was smiling. Seeing her daughter smile made Dinah feel a hundred percent better. Everything _had _to be okay _now_.

"After careful consideration, we have jointly decided on…" the hat began, and Dinah held her breath before he announced the last word, "Ravenclaw!"

The crowd erupted into their usual applause and Dinah let go of Severus so that she could clap as hard as she could along with them, so much relief flooding through her. She turned to look at Severus and was only slightly surprised to see such approval in his gaze as he clapped. Sure, she knew there was probably some part of him that had wanted Maylene in Slytherin, and she had a feeling it had been considered between her and the hat during their long discussion, but ultimately Maylene's intelligence had put her in Ravenclaw, and Dinah felt one hundred percent confident that it was the right place for their brilliant daughter.

Exchanging a smile with her husband, she looked over to catch Maylene's eye and shared a proud smile with her daughter, sure Severus's expression was the same. Tommy, also, was clapping enthusiastically for his sister as she gave them a quick wave before making her way over to the Ravenclaw table. Dinah caught Lucy's eye next, and her friend looked very excited for May to have been put in her house. It was actually a fun coincidence, Dinah couldn't help but think as she beamed at her friend, that Owen had been similarly put into Dinah's house. Surely this would spark all sorts of interesting Quidditch and House points rivalries over the course of the year.

But she looked forward to it.

She looked forward to absolutely everything.


	191. Epilogue XIII: Retirement

A/N: This is also a fairly long epilogue. Enjoy! :) Two more after this one!

* * *

EPILOGUE THIRTEEN

Retirement

* * *

"Severus?" Dinah asked softly, knocking on the doorframe to his dungeon classroom.

He looked up from where he had been staring at a pile of parchments, and a small smile formed on his face as he nodded, beckoning her inside the dark room.

She sighed, returning his smile and walking over the threshold towards his desk, her gaze flitting around the many chairs in the dim light, and the shelves that were now fully cleared of their contents. Her footsteps seemed to echo more than normal, probably because the room felt so empty today. And a bittersweet sadness filled her chest.

She settled herself onto the desk where she liked to be , facing his chair, "So this is it, then? The last day of the school year. All exams handed back and Office Hours ended, nothing left but the End of Year Feast and then…"

"Mm," he agreed, looking out at the classroom with a contemplative expression. Their decision had been made after a lot of intense consideration throughout Maylene's first year at Hogwarts.

They were retiring.

Dinah sighed again, "I remember the first few times I saw you here." She had to laugh, "The day I first saw you _ignoring _Hermione. Remember that?"

He laughed a bit, "Yes. You most certainly told me off for that. I confess, I had _no idea _what to make of it."

She smiled, "It was always fun to throw you for a loop in those early days. Still is, really, though you take it so much better now."

"Yes, well, two children and regular contact with the Black family can make one rather resilient to being 'messed with'," he said, smiling, "That and age, of course."

"Indeed," she murmured, that sadness tightening her chest again as she stared at the empty dungeon room, "I was a little overly indignant about it though, probably."

Another laugh, "You were being your normal idealist self, although you have also calmed a bit since then I admit. And yet, you were right. I went too far on occasion. Though my other teaching behaviors you have never questioned."

"I never want to. Wanted to," she murmured agreement, biting her lip, "Ignoring students was a bit much, but everything else is pure you. Oh, Sev…" she forced a laugh, "Just _what _are the Hogwarts students going to do without you from here on out?"

He smirked, "Probably be happy, for a change."

"No. No. They need you. They need – as Dumbledore always said – the experience of having an unusually tough teacher. It helps them learn and grow, and they _do _learn. They learn _so much _from you. You are an amazing teacher, Severus," she sighed again, turning to look at him, "It's not that I regret our decision, it's just… Hogwarts won't be the same without 'scary Professor Snape'."

"You as well, my love," Severus murmured, meeting her gaze with sincerity and looking a little moved by her speech, "The Muggle Studies course has been transformed because of you. Our _world _has been transformed because of you. A successor, no matter how talented, will not be able to live up to that, even if they use your textbook. And the Game Nights… Grubbly-Plank does not handle them anywhere near as well as you do."

It was Dinah's turned to feel moved as she nodded. Every Wednesday for over ten years now she had been administering the Game Nights, encouraging students from different years and different houses to interact for a couple of hours in the library, breaking through the barriers they always used to set between themselves, creating new friendships and new understandings. Despites some slight doubts she'd had at the beginning, it had turned out to be a complete success. And she would miss them. She would miss them terribly.

"We'll miss a lot of exciting transitions next year," she said quietly, "Pomona taking over as headmistress, Filius overseeing the sorting as deputy Headmaster, Neville Longbottom taking over Herbology," she laughed a little at Severus's eye roll. It was a common joke among them and the Blacks that Neville was ridiculously lucky starting the year after Severus left. Actually, it was probably best for both parties involved that there was no overlap. "Well, at least Minerva is retiring with us."

"Hm. She is quite a bit older than we are," Severus was smirking again as he stared out at the room, but Dinah had a feeling it was to cover up the emotions he felt at leaving this place, which she was certain matched hers.

"Yes, but with our textbook sales we have more than enough money to retire comfortably for the rest of our lives… and… it's not right… teaching Maylene here. She should be able to go away to school, without us. She needs that. It will be good for her."

"Yes… it will be…" he agreed quietly, still smirking, "Though she will still have 'Aunt Lucy' and 'Uncle Sirius'. The boy as well, when he begins in a year. But as you always say, we cannot make the Blacks' decision for them."

"Mm. It's not _bad _having parents teach their children, necessarily, but it's not what I want for ours." They'd had this discussion before, of course. Dinah just felt like repeating herself today, reminding herself why they'd made this decision. And Severus didn't seem to object to her babbling in the least.

"No. It's not what I want for ours either," her husband agreed, still staring out at his empty classroom.

"I'm glad Tommy understands…" Dinah said quietly, feeling like her voice echoed more than normal in this huge, empty dungeon, "He doesn't think that we're trying to cheat him by leaving a year before he starts school, after we taught Maylene for one year. He understands that we're doing this for _both _of them. They are both so smart…"

"They are brilliant," Severus murmured agreement, and then there was silence as they both took in their surroundings, probably the last time they would look out at this specific classroom as teachers. "Dinah," he said suddenly.

"I'll miss it, you know," she whispered, fighting back tears as she turned to look into his determined gaze, "Hogwarts. So much has happened to us here. You've been here for thirty-two years and I've been here for fourteen. These are _our _dungeons."

"Ours," he agreed, nodding, "They may have been mine alone for eighteen years but they were never really home until they were _ours_," he decidedly reached his hand out and grasped hers, bringing her fingers to his lips, "Thank you. For a perfect life. One which will only continue, although… not here…" he sighed, looking back out at the dungeons, his hand tightening around hers.

"Severus," Dinah whispered, unable to hold her emotions in any longer. With tears stinging her eyes she slipped off the desk and reached out to him as he stood up and took her into his arms. Pressing her head into his shoulder, she allowed herself to feel comfort against the familiar robes. They would probably be worn less once they'd permanently moved into the Muggle world. She would miss so much seeing her dungeon bat in his natural environment, and yet… those moments would always be a part of them. Forever. No matter where they went or what they did. They were tied to Hogwarts.

He didn't say anything more to her. She didn't think he could any more than she could. And so, they just held onto each other in the empty dungeon classroom for one last time before leaving this place. There was nothing in the room, just as soon there would be nothing in the rooms of their dungeon home. And yet, they had made their mark here and Dinah knew it would never fade.

The dungeons would always be theirs.

* * *

"Ready to go?" Dinah asked, as Maylene carried a tiny satchel out of her bedroom. It held only her most precious possessions, whatever those were – Dinah tried not to be a prying mother – and the things she didn't trust them to send ahead to London. Similarly, Tommy carried a few important possessions in his knapsack. Severus and Dinah had nothing but Dinah's small purse, in which she had placed a few galleons.

The children's rooms were emptied as well as Dinah and Severus's bedroom, and the animals had been sent ahead to London, all save for one. Helga and Salazar had long since passed on, but Godric, Gelbus, and Rowena were waiting in London while Slinky slithered impatiently along the floor, waiting for them to be ready to leave. They would say farewell to Sarepta on the grounds before they apparated away.

"I'm ready," Maylene said. "It'll be so strange… not being able to come here. Having some other Professor take over."

"The new Defense professor does not want the dungeons," Severus explained to the children what Minerva had informed them of during this morning's final staff meeting. The final staff meeting the old woman would ever administer. "I'm afraid I'm the only one who was ever especially attached to them, before the rest of you came along. Slughorn certainly wasn't. Consequently, it will remain empty for now."

"Always empty…" Dinah whispered, her gaze drifting over their vacant living room. "That's sad… perhaps Lucy and Sirius could come by every now and then and give the place some love…"

"We will too!" Tommy assured her, "At least, May will and I will next year."

"Thank you," she murmured, placing a hand on her son's shoulder, "We should go. There's no reason to sit around and stare forever. Oh. Lucy," she looked up at the footsteps she heard announcing the arrival through the open doors of Lucy, Sirius, and the Blacks. Dinah met her friend's sad gaze with one of her own, not at all looking forward to the moment of good-bye.

"It doesn't seem real yet," Lucy said, clearly blinking back tears.

"Tommy has to stay," Adara insisted, "I'll be lonely without him!"

"We'll be fine," Sirius said, hugging his wife and Mira, who like her mother was quietly sniffing.

"I'll be back in a year," Tommy said softly, actually looking for a moment like he might cry. He shook his head to clear the expression, instead putting on a determined one, "A year's not that long, 'Dara… and then in two more years you'll be a student, too. And at least you'll have Maylene till I come back. Be nice to her!" Tommy whirled around and ordered his sister, his expression so Severus-like in its insistence that even Maylene shrunk back a little.

"I'm not mean to anybody," she whispered. Even their normally spunky daughter was subdued at this final departure.

"No, just bossy," Owen grinned, walking over to stand next to Maylene. Ever since they began their first year at Hogwarts together, the eldest Black child had started to look at Dinah and Severus's daughter a little differently. Dinah wondered… if he was beginning to fancy her in some small way. And yet, the two were still so much like siblings she doubted it would ever work. Tommy and Adara, on the other hand… even at this young age…

Dinah turned, her throat tightening, to look out over the empty living area again. "I remember the first time I was here," she glanced at Severus, "You were in the shower. You told me to sit down and not touch anything. I was so excited to be in your rooms for the first time."

"I wasn't sure what to make of having a woman in mine, especially an idealistic Muggle Studies professor who liked to snoop in other people's pensieves and randomly decided that she wished to 'date' me," he said softly, taking her hand.

"I still wish to date you," she whispered, feeling tears threaten again.

"Mm," he pulled her closer, "And I you. We should go. As you said, there is no reason to continue to stare."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, imitating his old nemesis, "You really don't know what to do with a girl in your rooms? You're a smart man, Severus, surely you could have figured it out."

One of Severus's priceless glares appeared on his face, "Please _attempt _to be solemn on this occasion, will you? I think I know enough of what to do to have produced the two children you see before you!" he made a flamboyant, agitated gesture at their offspring.

"Um… ew?" Maylene inserted, sounding exasperated, "Can we leave now?"

"No," Lucy shook her head.

Adara flung herself at Tommy, "If you won't stay then you have to come visit! At least during holidays and stuff!"

"I'm sure we will. Mum already insists it," Tommy said, hugging his smaller friend back.

"We will. I do insist," Dinah said softly, and then sighed, taking one last look out at the room, "I suppose there's no further reason to wait. At least all our furniture and everything remains with us… the green couch, our shampoo, the potions ingredients… everything that makes this place home except for… the place itself…" she whirled on Lucy, "Take care of this place, okay?" she pleaded with her friend. "Keep it safe…" she knew she sounded a little ridiculous but she could not help it.

"We'll do our best," Lucy said, holding almost two-year-old Ayla, who had no real idea what was going on.

"But who's going to help Altair with his potions? And…and teach me how to make a Patronus, and keep Rhys from turning into Uncle Fred and Uncle George, and help Ayla with her Muggle Studies?" Mira asked, using her sleeve to wipe at her eyes, a habit she'd no doubt picked up from Lucy.

Dinah bit her lip and only felt more anguish when she saw pain flash across her husband's gaze as he looked down at the child, "You can ask us for any of that… any time you wish, Mira. An owl will suffice. And summers are always open," Severus said.

"Oh," Mira said, blinking. They'd learned long ago that, like Lucy, logic usually quieted her emotional side. "It still won't be the same," she insisted, "but I guess it'll be okay."

"Yes," Lucy smiled, running her free hand through her daughter's bright red hair, "it'll be okay."

"Let's go," Dinah said quietly, taking Severus's hand again and squeezing it as they took one last look out at their long-time dungeon home. Tears stung her eyes and, looking at Severus, she could see that he was holding them back as well. But they were strong. They could move forward. This place would always be theirs, in their hearts.

Her husband, recovering first, turned and pressed a kiss to her lips before nodding, tugging on her hand and helping her move towards the office door. There was no reason to close or lock either that door or the one to the hallway that they now approached through the empty office, full of bare shelves that had once been brimming with potions.

"_Nox_," Dinah whispered, extinguishing the light in the main room after one last longing look through the doors.

Severus, such a powerful wizard, rarely needed to speak the incantations to spells and so he did not, waving his wand once and extinguishing the office light, casting the dungeons into darkness.

Dinah closed her eyes briefly, gazing back into her memory at how this place used to look, making sure it was always etched within her mind. A squeeze from her husband's hand had her opening them again and she nodded. They would come back someday. But now, it was time to move on.

In a few moments they were out on the Hogwarts grounds, and Sarepta slithered up to them on the empty lawn. Dinah knelt down and let Slinky coil around her arm, while Maylene crouched next to them and Severus, Tommy, and the Blacks waited patiently.

"Thank you," Sarepta said simply, "You and Slinky will visit from time to time?"

"We will," Slinky said, "and this one," he nodded at Maylene, "Will still be here as I understand it."

Maylene laughed, "Don't worry, I'll hang out with you _all _the time, Sarepta."

"Not too much, I hope…" Sarepta muttered, and they all four laughed.

"Thank _you_," Dinah said softly, "We've had a lot of experiences… but I wouldn't trade any of them for the world."

"Nor would I," Sarepta said, and then she looked up at Severus and gave a brief nod, and Dinah saw her husband nod back. Her mind flashed back to that distant day that she had first found Sarepta outside and the two had met, a sixteen-year-old Severus and his first meeting with the friendly snake that would share his dungeon rooms for a month. The relationship had been slightly uneasy at first, but they had quickly learned to get along. Now, they were all friends, as Sarepta next shared a nod with Tommy.

"Bye, Sarepta! I'll see you in a year or so, I'm sure," Tommy said, and Dinah translated, bidding her friend a last farewell before she slithered off towards the Forbidden Forest.

Handing Slinky off to Maylene, Dinah stood to address the Blacks, "Well, I… I guess this is it, then. Lucy. Sirius. Owen. Altair. Adara. Mira. Rhys. Ayla."

Everything seemed to happen in a rush then, as first May and Owen and Tommy and Adara, and then the rest of the children hugged and said their good-byes. But Dinah could not take her eyes off of her two adult friends. The ones she had shared so much with since the year she had first come to Hogwarts. "We'll visit," she said softly to Lucy, "I promise. And we'll get together over the summer holiday as well, of course. As always."

"You better," Lucy practically sobbed, trying to smile, "After all by the end of the summer I might have to tell you I'm pregnant again."

"Don't you dare!" Dinah exclaimed, laughing even though she felt like crying, turning to Sirius, "I thought you took care of that. You'd better have. You aren't getting any younger, you know."

Sirius chuckled a bit, "I did. No worries there. I think we've done enough to repopulate the Black family tree."

"Oh, good," Dinah said, pretending to exhale with relief as she put a hand over her heart. But she could not prevent a few tears from escaping when she hugged Lucy, "I'll miss you all so much…"

"No one can replace you here," Lucy said, sobbing more, "It won't be the same not having you close by…"

"Oh, _Lucy_," Dinah sniffled, "That means so much, really. I… oh, Merlin, we have to stop this!" she reluctantly released her friend and forced a smile onto her face, wiping her eyes, "Thank you. Thank you for everything. And… we'll make sure we see each other as often as we can, okay?"

Lucy nodded emphatically, "Of course, if we don't I might be forced to become an…obsessed psycho stalker."

"That's psycho _obsessed _stalker and do not steal my title," Severus ordered, smirking and raising a classic eyebrow, but the barest hint of a sad smile cracked through his normal composure as he gave their friend a brief nod, "Lucy."

Lucy grinned, "Oh, don't think you're getting away that easy." Before any of them could move, Lucy had wrapped her arms tightly around Severus, reaching up to give him a brief kiss on the cheek. "You'll miss this, I know," Lucy whimpered.

"I don't deny it," he said softly, in a rare show of affection as he hugged her back, "Life will not be the same without your meddling."

"Or your snarky comebacks," Lucy said, not letting go immediately. At least not until Sirius pulled her back so he could shake the Severus's hand.

"If James were here, I'm sure he'd be laughing at us now. It's going to be weird not having you around to pick on."

"Likewise, I'm sure," Severus sneered back, briefly, before he nodded, "It has been… different. Making peace with you. But it seems to have worked out well enough."

"Yes, it does," Sirius said. "Still can't believe you and Dinah came with us to Godric's Hollow that time, to see them."

Severus smiled slightly, remembering the day they had all gone to see James and Lily's grave upon Sirius and Lucy's invitation. Severus had long made peace with the two, but it had been nice to go there with the Black's, hear Severus forgive Lily but not after scolding her for not being as good a friend as him. And saying, as he often did, that he now realized he deserved better. That he belonged with Dinah.

Not that she _ever _doubted that. The words had been for Lily's benefit, not for her. Because Dinah and Severus were soulmates, plain and simple. It had been clear since the moment they had met, since their first kiss, the day he accepted her parselmouth abilities, the day she told him he would never be alone, and the moment that a tiny comment about Aero Mint chocolate had convinced him he had found the person he had always been meant for. Their life was perfect, and they had welcomed so many other friendships into it, including that of the Potters.

It had been nice, to directly see the opposite of what Dinah's husband had always worried about that first year. Severus forgiving Lily instead of the other way around. And forgiving James too. Grudingly.

"There was no reason not to," Severus was saying. "I think, given time, all six of us may have become friends, had things turned out differently." Still, he liked to avoid Harry's group as much as possible, Dinah thought with a laugh. Well, he did still find them annoying. It was more his need for peace and to build his own life than anything else, she thought, especially after the boy had infuriated him in school for six straight years.

"I think so, too," Sirius agreed, "Given time."

Dinah smiled. The two men were closer than they liked to admit. "Sirius," she moved over to give the other man a tight hug, mimicking Lucy and kissing his cheek, "Thank you. It's been fun."

"It'll still be fun," Sirius said, "Just not during the school year."

"You're right," she grinned, shoving him playfully, "Leave it to you to keep this whole thing light. After all, it's not like this is good-bye forever. It's a big change, but… well, if we're all this important to each other we don't have to worry about anything. But I'm still not leaving until you tell me you're going to miss me," she teased.

"I'll miss you _almost_ as much as I'd miss Lucy," he nodded, sincerely.

"Thank you; I'll miss you too," she replied softly, "Of course, Lucy's not going anywhere so that's irrelevant, silly."

"Not even death could keep us apart, remember?" Lucy asked.

"Of course I do," he said, kissing his wife.

"Ew! Dad!" Owen groaned.

"You'd think they'd be used to this by now," Severus smirked, and then they had to turn their attention to the children. Dinah hugged each and every one of them thoroughly, knowing she would miss them like her own.

Even Ayla, who still didn't really understand the situation, shrieked 'Bye-bye Auntie Didi! Uncle Sev!' And Dinah hugged the adorable little girl tightest of all.

Severus, though slightly more subdued than her, also hugged them all and assured them like he had assured Mira that 'Uncle Severus' and 'Aunt Dinah' were never more than an owl away. "And of course," he said to Lucy, "You and Sirius will keep an eye on ours. Maylene now and Tommy in a year. While at Hogwarts."

"Yes, of course," Lucy nodded, blowing her nose on a hanky. "I'll probably be worse in the fall when this all really sinks in. At least I won't be sending another kid off to Hogwarts on top of it."

"You have a while before that happens again," Dinah said, smiling, and figuring now was probably not the best time to point out to Lucy that she still had a whole lot more children to send off than Dinah and Severus ever would.

"Oh," Lucy said, wiping at her eyes some more, "I told you that first year I hate saying good-bye. We'll see you in a couple weeks? Or at least for Altair's birthday."

"Both," Dinah assured her, giving her friend one more hug, "You should get back to Hogsmeade, then, I guess. We'll head out the main gates and apparate home. I'll owl you later this week."

Lucy nodded and let Sirius lead their family down towards Hogsmeade House. All eight of them, five black heads and the three red ones of Lucy, Altair, and Mira, headed out of sight. Lucy, Mira, and Adara sobbing the whole way. They would eventually calm down and return to normal, Dinah knew, but it didn't make the parting any easier. Not even the knowledge that they'd be seeing each other again soon did that. In a way, they were losing part of their family.

"I'll miss them," she whispered.

"Yes," Severus said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder, "As will I. We should go."

"All right," she agreed, walking towards the main Hogwarts gates with their children and stopping in front. She smiled at her daughter, "Well, this is your last moment on Hogwarts grounds for the summer. You should perform a spell or something, if you like, before we leave the gates."

"Yes!" Maylene agreed, producing her wand at the thrilling idea. It was still such a pleasure to see their daughter with her wand, performing magic as a young witch her age should. She pointed it at a nearby tree and exclaimed, "_Incendi-_"

"Stop!" Dinah exclaimed, "Don't burn the grounds down! Do something tamer!"

Severus laughed a little as Maylene whined, "I was going to put it out with _Aguamenti _anyway. Fine, _Lumos maxima!_" A bright white light left her wand and she grinned before extinguishing it with _Nox_. "_Wingardium Leviosa_!" she lifted a twig into the air and floated it in front of them. Spell after spell she performed, until Severus had had enough.

"Your mother said _a _spell not a million spells. We have to go home. Enough."

Maylene lowered her wand, turning a grin to her father, "Well then, can I use-"

"No!" he growled, knowing exactly what she had been about to say, "You _cannot _use _Sectumsempra_. We have been over this."

"Even if I just used it on the tree or the air or something? I wouldn't actually _hurt _anybody."

"No."

"You and Mum got to use it before."

"Not for fun, but because it was necessary. And it is no longer necessary," he sighed, but smiled slightly, "You _are _a little Slytherin, aren't you? I sometimes still wonder how you ended up in Ravenclaw."

"I was almost in Slytherin. The hat really said I could do either but it kept going back to how smart I was, and apparently I'm not modest enough to not want to show off my intelligence by picking Ravenclaw, so I picked Ravenclaw. To show off," she beamed.

Severus chuckled, "That's quite a Slytherin reason for ending up in Ravenclaw. And yet, your intelligence is much better than that of Granger or even your Aunt Mae. You _never _give by-the-book answers."

"Generally, the books aren't good enough," she said solemnly.

Dinah smiled, "You can definitely think outside the box, that's certain."

"She gets a lot of it from you. Though this one inherited most of your idealism," Severus said, placing a hand on top of the grinning Tommy's head. He smiled at their son and daughter, "Let's go home."

"Yes," Dinah agreed, feeling a lot less sad than she had earlier in the day as she looked out over the grounds. "We'll come back," she murmured, looking at her husband.

"Yes," he agreed, "We will come back."

And their little family stepped outside the gates and apparated back home to London.

* * *

"Hufflepuff," Severus declared a little over a year later, unfolding the _Daily Prophet _Rowena had just delivered to Spinner's End and turning immediately to a page near the front… to the list of which houses all of the new Hogwarts students had been sorted into, "Hufflepuff is the most likely place he would be in. We will start by looking there."

Dinah yawned and curled up on the grey couch – not exactly their beloved green one but comfortable enough – sipping some coffee as she perused one of Severus's old, massive tomes. Next to her, Gelbus and the aging Godric slept curled up next to each other, their furry abdomens moving up and down in peaceful rhythm. It was always interesting when they spent time at Spinner's End. There were always new books to examine no matter how many she felt she had read. Truly, her husband's collection was impressive, "It does seem the most logical first choice, doesn't it?"

"Indeed," Severus did not sit down, simply stood in the middle of the sitting room as his eyes traveled down the paper. "No… he is not here. He has your idealism, we both know this, but he is _not _in Hufflepuff." A frown of consideration creased his brow.

"Well, try another…"

"Slytherin?" Severus considered some more, turning the page, "He does share some of my traits, I'll admit, in addition to this infernal nose. Yet I don't know that I really imagine… no. He is not in Slytherin either," he frowned again as he lowered the paper, and his dark eyes met hers, asking what she thought.

"Well… there are only two more houses…" Dinah was starting to have a very… curious feeling about where this was going.

Severus looked a bit stricken, "Ravenclaw? He is smart, no doubt, but the traits of the house… the studious nature, valuing logic above other traits, again I don't really imagine… I can't see him in… and yet maybe…?" a flicker of hope crossed his questioning gaze, as if he wanted her to say, 'Yes, I'm sure Tommy must be in Ravenclaw, Severus'. Problem was, she wasn't sure about that at all.

Dinah felt a small smile creeping onto her face, and it seemed to make her husband nervous, which was only more amusing, "There's really no point in dragging this out or beating around the bush… I think we both know where this is going. You might as well check that one first. I have a feeling… and I know you do, too."

"I have no feelings!" Severus snarled.

She laughed, raising an eyebrow, "Really? Because I truly doubt that."

"You know what I mean, Dinah. It is… impossible… it cannot possibly…" when she only raised her eyebrow further he scowled and turned to a new page. Dinah could just make out the silhouette of a lion along the top. Severus's gaze was cold and calculating as his eyes skimmed the page, and then she got what she expected to see. A widening of his eyes and a look of shock on his face, "Impossible!"

"He's there?"

"No!" Severus snarled, "He is not… Gryffindor? Impossible! How? How could he have made… made…"

Dinah laughed again, but warmly. He was in shock, as expected, but she knew he would get over it. She wasn't worried. He was not angry at their son.

"This is no laughing matter!" he, predictably, scolded her, "But it's here in black and white. Thomas Edward Snape. Gryffindor."

"Severus. Severus." Dinah stood and walked over to stand next to where he was practically shaking the paper in his frustration. She placed her left hand across his so that their two wedding rings, both silver and gold, glittered next to each other, "Look," she murmured, smiling.

His grip on the paper relaxed and then, slowly, a soft smile formed on his face as he considered the rings, "The gold we both chose. So the 'second house' issue comes into play again…"

"It makes sense, in a way," Dinah agreed, watching their rings as they shone in the soft blue-grey daylight that came through the windows into the simply furnished home, "I was considered half Gryffindor for most of my school days, Dumbledore made that comment to you about sorting too soon. Although I do believe that Hufflepuff and Slytherin are our ultimate houses, we've both been courageous in so many ways throughout our life. And Tommy, too, is a strong boy. In a sort of quiet way, though, like you, and an idealist like me… I bet he was hard to place."

"Probably…" Severus agreed, tilting his hand a little to continue to examine the rings. The warmth of their hands' contact seemed to make the tiny decorations glow even more strongly. It was a good feeling, Dinah couldn't help but think. "Then," Severus continued, "He will be a good Gryffindor, at least. He will not be _that _type of Gryffindor, but a more well-rounded, intelligent, _better_ one. As long as he always has those other house traits to balance him out."

"So many people do," Dinah agreed. "Sorting is more arbitrary than anything, I think, anyway." She smiled, "You're proud of him, aren't you?"

"I am… immensely proud of everything he has _ever _done," Severus insisted.

"Oh, Sev," Dinah murmured, hugging her husband, the _Daily Prophet _falling out of their hands and fluttering to the floor as they embraced, full of nothing but pride for their son. In a moment, she heard a fluttering at the window and looked up, "Oh. Rowena," she smiled, releasing Severus and going to collect two letters from her large, beige-colored owl, stroking her feathers and sending her back off to her nest before examining the notes. She giggled, "One from Tommy and another from Lucy. Which should we read first?"

He gave a little snort of laughter, "Why not Lucy's? Those are always highly entertaining."

"My thoughts exactly," she undid the envelope and smiled as Severus came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning his head over her shoulder as they read the note.

_Dear Dinah and Severus,_

_I assume you already heard the news, from Tommy or from some other source, but your son's been sorted into Gryffindor! I think it goes without saying that Adara's thrilled to have Tommy back and she is now insisting she'll be a Gryffindor too. She's got her father's…charisma, we'll call it, so I really wouldn't be a bit surprised if she does become a Gryffindor._

_It is only the first day so there isn't too much to report on the kids yet. Tommy looked like he was getting along with all the kids at his table. I think he'll do quite well as a Gryffindor myself. Maylene is doing excellent as I'm sure you knew she would be. Owen is hanging out with her as much as ever, though I haven't seen any evidence of him sneaking her any food. They have already come by to steal Altair though and go down to your old rooms for some Potions practice. _

_Mira is begging me to ask you if you'll teach her to drive a Muggle car next summer. Silly girl, I keep teasing her and saying she can't learn until I do or I offer to teach her myself. Unsurprisingly neither of these options went over well. Oh, I've just remembered! Maylene was not pleased to discover that at some point during said Potions practice Rhys had snuck down and put pudding in one of her shoes. How in the world he managed that we have no clue. Four years old and already a handful. I'm dreading puberty. _

_We were trying to figure out a way for all of us to get together for Ayla's birthday this October. Maybe during the first Hogsmeade weekend? Of course Tommy still wouldn't be there and Owen and May would likely want to be with their friends. Well, if nothing else I suppose we can have a party here with Maylene, Owen, and Tommy and a party in Hogsmeade with you guys. _

_Oh, I have the most exciting news! No, I'm not pregnant Dinah. But Filius talked to me the other day about training me to be the next head of Ravenclaw! Neville is the head of Gryffindor as I'm sure you know, but he's done excellent so far. Really, Severus I don't know what your problem with that boy was. He's really quite good. _

_Okay, Sirius is now making fun of me for the length of this letter so I suppose I should close it off. We miss you all as always. Hope to see you soon._

_Love,_

_Lucy, Sirius, Owen, Altair, Adara, Mira, Rhys, and Ayla_

They were both quietly laughing by the time they finished, Dinah enveloped in the warm rumbling she loved so much and the feel of her husband's dark hair floating over her shoulders and brushing against her face.

"As I said, highly entertaining," Severus repeated.

"Indeed," she agreed, tucking the letter aside and opening the next one, this one from their son:

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_Well, I'm sure you've already read of this in the _Daily Prophet, _but I seem to have been sorted into Gryffindor! The hat did consider Hufflepuff and Slytherin, but ultimately we settled where we did. Don't worry, Mum, I promise he wasn't being biased. We had a nice discussion about it and I'm actually very satisfied with where he placed me._

_I can only assume your first reaction was shock, Dad, and I'm already laughing as I imagine the expression on your face. But I know you'll come to terms with it quickly, especially if Mum has anything to say about it. I'm not worried. You know I'm not _that _type of Gryffindor, anyway._

_The school year is going well so far. Aunt Lucy was predictably thrilled to have me here and attacked me in Great Aunt Mildred fashion, though I did assure her she's not quite _that _bad. Maylene is the same as usual, of course, and you can't imagine how glad I am to be with Adara and the others again. I love and miss you both, but I'm looking forward to a wonderful first year at Hogwarts. I'm sure I'll be seeing you both very soon, if Aunt Lucy has anything to say about it. I wouldn't actually be surprised if her letter arrived before mine did._

_Love, _

_Tommy_

"Predictably short and to the point," Dinah smiled affectionately at the letter as she re-folded it, "He's going to do so well…"

"Indeed," Severus agreed with a satisfied smile, "And he agrees that he will not be _that _type of Gryffindor."

"Phrased it in the exact same way you did, in fact," Dinah said softly, "See? He had faith in you from the beginning."

"That's our son," Severus agreed with a gaze full of pride, "Made sure to assure you about the bias, too. Such an idealist like his mother…"

"I wish we could teach him for just one year," Dinah whispered, feeling tears sting her eyes, "Did we make the right choice?"

"We did," he murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "You know we did."

"Yeah… I know… he'll do fine," Dinah sighed, full of faith in their son. This was the right path. He would be okay. "Isn't it odd, though? Our two children were sorted into completely different houses from us and from each other. Collectively, we now cover all of them."

"A testament to what you always say, I suppose," Severus nodded, "That everyone has a variety of traits and that, apparently, you and I and our family are much more well-rounded than most. If even you have Slytherin traits and I have Hufflepuff ones…"

"We do," she smiled, "You know we do."

"I know. Then, this is right."

"Yes," she agreed, thinking of her son and assuring herself one more time; "Tommy will do just fine, then. He is, after all, as well-rounded as the rest of us. And he has his sister with him."

"Yes. He has his sister. And a family full of meddling Blacks. Now," in a rush Severus had decidedly pulled them both onto the grey couch and pinned her back to it, sending two balls of fur tumbling to the ground as the cats were unceremoniously evicted from their sleeping spot, "Since we are so secure in our children's future successes, shall we take advantage of what this year has to offer?"

Dinah felt her face flush. They hadn't really had the freedom to be intimate in the middle of the day since the children were born, and the softness of the couch combined with the silky baritone of her husband's voice as he gazed seductively into her eyes had her body growing positively mad with desire, "That sounds… breathtaking."

"That is my goal," he purred, devouring her lips with his as their bodies melted together, their passion and desire filling the simple Spinner's End home with the pure love it had gone for so many years without, but had been eternally blessed with ever since they had begun to come here. Even the gloomy, industrial backdrop seemed to shine brilliantly whenever they visited.

It wasn't too many people that could say they had so many places they could call home, but Dinah and Severus did. In fact, anywhere they were so happy like this was home to them. Hogwarts, Spinner's End, London… anywhere. As Severus had said long ago, when they were still sixteen years old and he had first told her he loved her… wherever they were together was home.


	192. Epilogue XIV: Animagi

EPILOGUE FOURTEEN

Animagi

* * *

Five years later... September, 2017...

* * *

Retirement was nice, Dinah couldn't help but think one Saturday morning in September as she and Severus sat at the breakfast table together in their London home, enjoying a relaxed, silent meal. Yes, they had both retired a bit early, but when you had enough money built up to live comfortably on it didn't really matter if you were only fifty-two years old when you stopped working. Plus, she had always sort of secretly assumed Severus wanted to get out of Hogwarts before Harry Potter's children showed up, and teased him about it on occasion.

These past five years of retirement had been pleasant. Children off to school most of the year, but they had the freedom to spend time with them on holidays without having to worry about making lesson plans for when school started up again. Plus, Dinah did occasional volunteer social work in the Muggle world and sometimes spoke at the Ministry or wrote articles about wizard-Muggle relations. She also monitored her surveys, now reaching wizards of all birth types and circulating around the world, providing insight into relations between different groups and helping people understand both themselves and each other just a little bit more. Severus spent a lot of time investigating new potions-making methods and submitting research articles to the wizarding world.

It had turned out, oddly enough, despite his seventeen-year struggle to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts which had eventually paid off, he really was a Potions Master at heart. His intelligence was more suited for that sort of research than it was for fighting and defense, especially now that they were both older.

It was nice to be able to do what interested you, but on your own time and with plenty of relaxation thrown in.

Mornings were especially nice, Dinah thought, as she read her book and sipped her coffee. She looked up and smiled at Severus sitting opposite her with the _Daily Prophet _and his own coffee. He returned the smile, and they both went silently back to their reading.

Yes, this was a comfortable existence. But it was wonderful.

"You two won't _believe_ what just happened!"

Dinah and Severus both looked over at the doorway, the silence broken by a new voice that neither of them had expected to hear.

Their daughter had stormed into the room, her long black hair and Ravenclaw school robes bouncing behind her as she strode toward them, looking like she had every right to be here and didn't care who knew it.

"May!" Dinah exclaimed. "What are you _doing _here?"

"It was Hogsmeade day, so I apparated over from the Three Broomsticks," Maylene said, still appearing unconcerned.

Dinah sighed, "Just because you're a seventh year and have your apparating license doesn't make it okay to apparate away from Hogsmeade when you're still a Hogwarts student. That's completely against the rules."

She shrugged. "I invented a spell so they can't track my apparition. You know that. The Ministry and the school staff won't even know I did it."

"That doesn't make it okay either!" Dinah exclaimed, and then sighed. "I suppose that's what I get for marrying a genius. Children who are too smart and talented for their own good."

"Personally, I'm rather impressed," Severus said casually, smiling at May and sipping his coffee.

"Thanks, Dad," Maylene grinned. "And here I thought you were against rule-breaking."

"But you break them so intelligently," was apparently his excuse, causing May to beam with her usual smug pride. No, there daughter most definitely did not understand the meaning of the word 'modest'.

"Maylene, I really don't think this was a good idea," their quieter, more subdued son came in through the door behind his sister and met his parents' gaze with a somewhat guilty look. And, Dinah thought when her son's gaze met hers, an odd sort of… apprehension?

"You brought your _brother _with you?" Dinah demanded. "Side-along apparition with a completely underage student, Maylene. Do you have any idea what is going to happen to you if you get caught?"

"I'm not going to get caught."

Severus smiled again at that statement.

"Don't you look pleased!" Dinah pointed an accusing finger at her husband.

"Sorry," he made his face fall, cleared his throat, and went back to his newspaper.

"Don't get comfortable just yet, you _have _to hear this news," May said, pulling out the chair between her parents and plopping down at the table with them. Tommy walked up and stood behind her. "Once you hear it you'll know why I had to come here!"  
"All right," Dinah sighed. After all, they were here now; there wasn't much she could do about the issue. "What is it?"

"Well, there are two pieces of news, really. First, Albus Severus has finally come to Hogwarts!"

That got Severus's attention. He lowered the newspaper and fixed his daughter with a confused gaze. "And your point is?"

"Yeah, it's not as if they didn't already know that," Tommy said, in a slightly defensive tone, looking like he still didn't know why they had to come here as he took out his vine and unicorn tail hair wand and levitated the other chair from across the way so that he could sit down between his sister and Dinah. Obviously, their brilliant daughter was using her spell to block the trace on her brother, as she had often done with herself before she came of age.

How her two children had turned out like this, as different as night and day and yet both taking an equal number of traits from herself and Severus, Dinah had no idea. Maylene was the rebel genius like her father, but her social skills and gossipy nature more mirrored Dinah's own personality. Tommy was more brooding and socially isolated like Severus had been, but he had more of an interest in the Muggle world and liked to understand things on a broader scale than his focused, intellectual sister. As Severus always said, he shared Dinah's idealism.

Severus's gaze shifted into a frown, "Wait a moment. You are telling us this because one of you must have _interacted _with this boy, aren't you?"

"I haven't really, very much. Tommy has, though," Maylene gestured to her brother.

Their son nodded, "He managed to find me right away after he was sorted into Gryffindor. Was very anxious to meet us. Wants to meet you, actually."

Severus sighed, "Eventually, I am certain that will be forced to happen, but you can tell him that there need be no rush. I am not particularly fascinating anyway. Now what is this other bit of news?"

Tommy had to laugh, "I somehow knew you would react that way, Dad. But Al talks about you _all _the time. Apparently, Harry keeps giving him the 'bravest man I ever knew' bit."

"The other news?" Severus pressed, glaring at Dinah a little when she laughed at him.

Tommy opened his mouth to continue but Maylene covered it and he glared at her with a very Severus-like expression. Dinah suddenly had the idea that their son was trying to prevent this other bit of news from being revealed, if that expression and his sister's mischievious, anxious one meant anything.

"All right, all right," May said, her hand still keeping her brother quiet. "Are you ready for this, Mum?" Tommy shook his head, flushing with apprehension. Now Dinah _had _to know what was up. Even Severus was raising a curious eyebrow at their children's behavior.

"What is it?" Dinah asked, noting that Tommy looked even more apprehensive at her words.

"Tommy's got his Animagus!" Maylene exclaimed, her expression triumphant as she finally allowed her brother to breathe.

"Oh!" Dinah exclaimed and clapped her hands together, a thrill rushing through her at this amazing announcement, "Already? But that's so fast!" For the past two years Sirius had taken on a new project as Transfiguration professor. Each year, he tutored a select group of fifth year students on how to become Animagi. The sorting hat helped to choose the students with the most potential, but there was a bit of unfortunate nepotism involved in that the Black, Snape, Lupin, and Weasley children always ended up in that small group. Not that Dinah was complaining, since her children, 'nieces', and 'nephews' all got to transform into adorable animals for her to squeal over.

Maylene giggled, "Well, either Uncle Sirius is getting better at teaching or, more likely, Tommy is just so utterly _synonymous _with this particular creature that it was easier for him than most people to get the transformation learned."

"Shut _up_, May!" Tommy hissed, his face now red as a beet.

"Oh no…" Dinah grinned, biting down on her thumbnail as she felt a squeal start to bubble up inside of her and she now knew exactly why Tommy was so apprehensive. She felt a little guilty, but… "It's a good one, isn't it?"

"Oh, Mum, you have _no idea_…" May grinned back, so much wicked Slytherin mischief in the expression that Tommy actually shuddered.

"I'm not transforming," he declared, folding his arms in front of him and glaring at the collective room.

Severus snorted, "I'm sure your resistance is noble, but I highly doubt your mother and sister are going to let you get out of this one, now that you're here."

"You are _not helping_!" Tommy glared at Severus.

"Oh, but you have to _now_," Dinah almost whined. Normally, she was a pretty easygoing mother but when 'cute' came into the picture, she was afraid she tortured her children a bit. Still, she couldn't help it, "Please transform. I want to see."

"But you're going to maul me!" Tommy whined right back.

"I… I promise I'll maintain perfect control," Dinah said, trying to look solemn, but afraid that her expression indicated that she had no faith whatsoever in her ability to maintain control.

"Yeah, right," he snorted, "I remember how much you mauled May when _she _transformed in front of you for the first time. And my form is… it's much more, um…"

"Don't you dare say that you're cuter than me," Maylene ordered, but then laughed, "Oh, hell, _I'll _say it. Mum, he's _much_ cuter than me."

Severus chuckled, "This is going to be… an interesting scenario, isn't it, Dinah?"

"Uh… I really will _try _to maintain control," she flushed. Maylene's form of a sleek black cat was highly adorable. If Tommy was _much _cuter… "What exactly _are _you, anyway?"

He opened his mouth but Maylene covered it again, "Trust me, it's better if you just see for yourself," she said.

"Would you let go of me?" Tommy snarled, shoving his sister's hand away from him. He was sort of like Uncle Winston with Aunt Mildred, really. He mostly tolerated his sister's domination but when it came down to it he could quite easily hold his own against her, and even subdue her. Somewhat. And, of course, due to having Severus as a father, he often got quite a bit more volatile than Uncle Winston ever did. "Fine. I'll transform. Mum…" he shot Dinah a determined glare, "Do _not _overreact, do you understand me?"

Dinah forced herself to nod, ignoring Maylene's grin and Severus's doubtful, amused raised eyebrow.

Tommy heaved a dramatic sigh, and then his form shifted as he began the animagus transformation. His body shrunk and began to round, the color of his clothing changed from black and red Gryffindor Hogwarts robes to a sort of beige before it seemed to melt into his body, and then there the creature was in all its glory, sitting in the middle of the chair. In just an instant, Dinah's almost sixteen-year-old son had transformed into a tiny, round, black-nosed, cute-whiskered… hedgehog.

Somewhere deep inside her subconscious Dinah knew she had promised to try not to do this, but that part faded into the background as she let out a squeal of excitement at the little ball of cuteness sitting on the chair in front of her. She barely registered Severus's wide-eyed look at their son before it transformed into amusement at her reaction, his hands going up to cover his ears at her shriek. Maylene was snickering, obviously having hoped for this reaction, but Dinah didn't really care either way.

Dinah dove at the creature, gathering him into her arms, not caring one iota about the fact that her transformed son was sort of prickly. Her robes were thick enough to protect her and she just had to hug this tiny animal, "Tommy! You're a hedgehog! Oh, Merlin this is the most amazing… cutest… best…" she squeezed tighter, vaguely aware that the small animal in her arms was struggling in vain to escape. But she just could _not _let him go, "My baby is a baby hedgehog!" she squealed.

"Uh… actually, I think he's a nearly full-grown hedgehog, Mum," Maylene explained through her laughter.

Severus was laughing at her reaction, too. In fact, Dinah's husband actually seemed _incapable _of stopping his laughter, especially when Tommy managed to pop out of Dinah's arms and ran underneath the nearest coffee table in the living room. Dinah was out of her chair in an instant, ignoring the laughter of her two remaining family members as she ran after her son, "Oh, Tommy, stop that! Come here! Don't hide from me! Come out! Please!" she begged, kneeling on the ground even though her body was getting much too old for this and snapping her fingers at him, trying to get him to come.

The hedgehog shook his head in a vehement 'no'.

"I'm not going to squish you anymore, I promise!"

Still no.

"Pleaaaaaase!" she demanded, aware that she sounded like a schoolgirl or the sixteen-year-old Dinah returned, but still not caring. She reached her arms under the table to try and grab him and he darted out behind the green sofa. She followed, climbing onto the back and trying to get him out, "You'll never be able to transform back into a boy if you stay behind the sofa!" she tried, and that convinced him to leave, running into the middle of the room as she chased him around, finally pouncing and snagging him again before taking him onto the couch and cuddling him some more, unable to stop gushing about how cute he was as he went back to struggling vainly.

"Oh, stop laughing!" she said to Severus, giggling a little herself as she knew how silly she must look.

"I'm sorry!" Severus struggled to say, "You are simply… too irresistibly, ridiculously amusing," his laughter finally slowed and he turned to their daughter, "You know, Maylene, you really shouldn't torture your brother like this."

"I know," she grinned, "But I just couldn't resist."

"Understandably," he laughed, "Dinah, let the poor boy go. You've had your moment."

"Oh…" she didn't want to let go of this creature. Hedgehogs were just about the most adorable animals in the world and here she was cuddling one in her lap and her husband was trying to get her to let him _go_? But the frustrated look her son gave her, tinged with a little bit of desperation, finally convinced her to loosen her grip and let him crawl out.

She squealed a little more, under her breath, at the adorable way he waddled over to the adjacent couch cushion before turning back into the brown-haired, dark-eyed boy with Severus's nose. "Honestly!" Tommy exclaimed, brushing himself off, "I knew this was going to happen."

"Uh.. sorry…" Dinah tried to at least have the decency to look sheepish, "But I never even imagined… it's perfect for you, you know? You're such a sweet boy, and yet you have your father's, um… prickliness."

"I'm not sure how I should interpret that," Severus said, as he and Maylene made their way into the living room to sit with them in a couple of chairs across the way.

"Neither do I, really," Tommy said, still looking exhausted as he recovered from Dinah's attack. "Though everybody is giving me the same general interpretation. Adara loves it though," he smiled. Lucy and Sirius's daughter Adara was a third year now, but she and Tommy were getting only closer and closer every day. In another year, Dinah thought, they would probably start entertaining the idea of dating. They _already _acted like a married couple, anyway.

Maylene smiled, "She was begging to come with us, you know. But I figured… one was probably enough…"

"_Probably_?" Dinah had to raise an eyebrow at her daughter, "Yes, May, I think apparating _two _underage students illegally, one of whom is not even your own sibling and your father and I cannot be responsible for, would have been a bad idea."

"Yeah, well, that's why I didn't do it," she laughed, "You can't yell at me for _thinking _about it, though. Ultimately I made the right decision. But I adore my apparition license. That in combination with my anti-tracking spell makes me nearly unstoppable!" She grinned, "Next Hogsmeade weekend maybe I'll apparate on over to Seth's place and-"

"Absolutely not!" Severus exclaimed, slamming his hand onto the arm of his chair to make his point as Dinah stifled a giggle, "You are not using illegal apparition to go and spend a weekend with Seth Templeton."

Severus was actually pretty easygoing when it came to Maylene's recently-graduated boyfriend. He even liked him, as both he and Dinah considered the Muggle-born Slytherin boy a good match for their daughter. But any parent would draw the line at Maylene's ludicrous suggestion. It was also rather amusing to Dinah that Severus, for some reason, only called the boy 'Seth' to his face, but always referred to him using his full name when he referenced him in the third person.

May laughed, "Just an idea."

"You can wait a year," Dinah said, rolling her eyes. "I assure you Seth isn't going anywhere and you'll see him plenty over the Christmas holiday. Besides, you had to have known we'd say no when you said that."

"I know. I wasn't really going to do it; I was just messing with you both."

"As everyone does," Severus sighed, exasperated. "Clearly you have been spending too much time with your Aunt Lucy. By the way, how is Mira adapting to her first year at Hogwarts?"

Dinah laughed, "Oh, yes. Lucy's told us some things but her letters are so hard to interpret. She worries so much about every little thing."

"She's doing well," Maylene smiled of her young 'cousin' who had recently been sorted into Ravenclaw. "You know how like Aunt Lucy she is, so she's been a little homesick, but with Altair and me in her house and her family nearby she's adjusting well. She's made a couple of close friends, too. And she has Rose Weasley too, of course."

Severus groaned, "The new Granger girl. She's a Ravenclaw, then?"

"Yes," May laughed a little at her father's expression, "She is. It seems even though both her parents are Gryffindors she inherited a great deal of her mother's intelligence."

"And I assume you are associating with her. Then please discourage her from following in the by-the-book-answers footsteps of her insufferable mother."

"I'll do my best," their daughter laughed again, "Actually, Mira helps a lot on that front, too."

"Indeed. She and Lucy are not so by-the-book, thankfully," Severus seemed satisfied.

"Would you believe Rose and Scorpius seem to be hitting it off?"

"Not Scorpius Malfoy?" Severus seemed a little incensed at the idea.

It was Tommy's turn to laugh, "What other Scorpius do we know?"

Severus's raised eyebrow told their son that he was not amused, "What could he possibly want to have to do with the Granger girl?"

"She's a _Weasley _girl, Severus," Dinah chuckled, "At least that's her surname. And I imagine they met at a game night or some such thing, since he's in Slytherin. Maybe through Mira and May's friendship."

"Yes. Whether you like it or not, Dad, the two 'sides' of the Black family are merging the more Weasley and Potter children show up at the school. Pretty soon Tommy and I are going to be friends, or at least acquaintances, with _all _of them. And then one of these days…" Maylene's grin was sinister.

"One of these days I am going to be forced to interact with them all at once," Severus said with a slight scowl. "Fine. Don't make it today."

"Yes, I was going to go right back to Hogsmeade and apparate them all over here for a party," she teased, getting glared at in return.

"Oh, now, you two," Dinah, always the idealist peacemaker in her little family of Severus clones, said with a laugh, "The _main _point is that everyone seems to be doing well in school and Mira is settling in nicely."

"Mm," May nodded, "I think she'll do very well."

"That's good," Dinah smiled as Severus gave a satisfied nod. "I bet young Rhys and Ayla are getting _so _anxious for their own sortings to come up in a few years."

"Rhys," Severus rolled his eyes at the little Marauder Incarnate, but nodded, "Yes, I'm sure they will do well enough when the time comes. Undoubtedly the boy will be a Gryffindor."

"Hey!" Tommy protested, smiling, seemingly recovered now.

"Well, you know what I mean," Severus smiled slightly at their son, and for a moments they all just sat there, a comfortable family, enjoying each others' company as they always did. Even though it was not the smartest move, Dinah was glad her two children had decided to come home for a brief visit today.

"Well, any other exciting news to share?" Maylene grinned, breaking the silence, "After all, we probably _should _go back to Hogsmeade eventually before Headmistress Sprout figures out that we're gone. Oh! Speaking of faculty," she turned her smile to Severus, "Professor Wilkins says to say hello, as always."

Dinah bit her lip to stave off a tiny bit of attraction as a classic sneering scowl appeared on her husband's face at the mention of the man he _still _considered to be his arch-nemesis. Yes, even after so many years her fetish was still in place.

"Eugene," Severus growled, "Does he now?"

Tommy laughed, "He's always showing us that scar on his leg that you gave him from _Sectumsempra_ back in the day."

"I'm so glad he finds it amusing," Severus bit out, "Infernal Potions Master… if he can even call himself that."

"Oh, now," Dinah chuckled, "He helped Gellert and Albus. You know you're grateful for _that _much at least."

"I still can't stomach the man," Severus grumbled, sighing and changing the subject as he addressed the children, "Your Aunt Mae and Uncle Andrew contacted us recently. The children are adapting well to New Guinea, it seems."

"Yes," Dinah nodded, relaying the information in the letter her and Severus's longtime friends had sent them a week prior, "And Aunt Mae's research into her ancestor's work has already been extremely fruitful. Two more 'missing goods' have been identified, one saved, and they are getting to the bottom of exactly how the whole thing works. Uncle Andrew hopes to have a write-up published within the next year."

Mae and Andrew Speasy were now married, successful researchers of Ancient Magic with three beautiful young children, Raymond Kenji, Annette Melinda, and Jonathan Snape, honoring both Dinah and Severus at once in return for Maylene's naming. Ultimately, they had decided to continue researching Raymond Scrump's fairy tales and the phenomenon of the missing good, which had finally led them to the tribe in Papua New Guinea that Mae's ancestor had learned so much from, so long ago. They would be living there for at least a year, but were determined to come back by the time Raymond turned eleven and went away to Hogwarts.

"So _that's _why Professor Binns has been so… enthusiastic lately," Maylene mused, laughing, "I only fell asleep once in his class this week which is, I think, a record for me. Still, it would have been nice if he'd have informed us."

"He would have gotten around to it, I suppose," Severus smirked, "Though generally he still expects us to tell you these things. Still, I never imagined that ghost could be so happy about validating his brother's old musings."

"I agree," Dinah smiled, "But it's nice."

"Is it?" Severus smirked at her, his raised brow silently letting her know that she sounded idealistic. But she could only smile in return, and he smiled back at her. It _was _nice for Professor Binns.

"Oh!" Maylene announced gain, causing Tommy to jump in his seat next to Dinah on the green couch and shoot his sister a glare. She ignored it and continued, "Uncle Sirius recently identified a new type of magic related to Animagi."

"Since when does Sirius identify new types of magic?" Severus muttered.

"You don't have a monopoly on it, you know? I've invented a thing or two in my time. And Mum invented the 'use Muggle electronics at Hogwarts' spell."

"It's the only thing I invented," Dinah admitted sheepishly, "And I worked a long time on perfecting it. But it was that important to me."

"Clearly," Severus raised an amused eyebrow, "But you could do more if you tried."

"I'm good with letting you do that," she grinned, "And Sirius, apparently. What did he invent or discover then?" she asked May.

Tommy sighed and spoke before his sister could open her mouth, "Well, it's a way to discover what your Animagus would be _before _you actually transform into one. Even if you never choose to become one you can find out what your animal would be if you did. We all tested it this year before we transformed. I saw a hedgehog and that's what I became. It's rather fascinating, really."

"Can we try it?" Dinah shrieked, clapping her hands together again. Animagus spells were so fascinating, "I always wondered what I might become."

"It's quite simple, really," May said, as everyone laughed a bit at Dinah's usual enthusiasm over anything cute or animal-related, "The incantation is '_Animagus Homenum Revelio'_, but you have to close your eyes and focus your magic."

"Yes," Tommy agreed, "If you do it right it should work. Close your eyes, look 'deep inside yourself', which shouldn't be a problem for you, Mum, and say the incantation. You should see an image of the animal you'll become in your mind's eye. It's pretty obvious if you do it right. It's not like you're just envisioning an animal, it's like it's revealing itself to you. It's more like a picture you see in front of you, of your inner animal or whatever."

"Revealing your inner animal," Dinah murmured, "It's sort of ancient and tribal or… something."

"If you're going to do it, just do it!" Severus ordered.

She laughed, "Fine." She took a deep breath and stood up from the couch.

"You don't have to stand," Tommy said.

"It feels better if I stand. All right. So…" she took another deep breath and closed her eyes, casting the room into darkness as she tried to do what her son said and focus on looking deep inside herself. It was sort of like a meditation practice, she thought, and so she concentrated on her breathing, trying to focus her magic to the best of her abilities. When she felt ready, on an exhale she murmured, "_Animagus Homenum Revelio."_

Surprisingly quickly, the image of a slender green snake filled her vision, and she somehow knew that it wasn't just her imagination.

"Ah!" she squealed, opening her eyes, "I just _knew _it!"

May glared, "Don't tell me you've got _my _snake?"

"Your Animagus is a cat," Dinah told her daughter with authority, "_Mine _is a snake."

"How appropriate," Severus said with a slight smile.

"I _so _hoped for a snake before I found out what I was going to be," Maylene sighed, "But I guess I like my cat well enough, and the snake is good for you, Mum."

"Thanks," Dinah was still feeling ridiculously pleased about this new development. She wondered how much time and effort it would take to actually learn the transformation at her age. Though magic was different from a lot of things as it improved with age rather than fading, for the most part. "Your cat is a good transformation, too."

"Oh, I know it's the right thing for me. And at least I didn't get mauled as bad as Tommy. Though I'm sure part of it had to do with the fact that I took on the transformation at such an awkward time…" she trailed off, and both her and Tommy's expressions became a little subdued.

Dinah turned a sad expression to Severus. Maylene's cat transformation had come just a few months after Godric had passed away. Needless to say, the moment had been a bittersweet one. Her husband sighed and nodded before averting his gaze a little. They both _still_ really missed their kitty…

"At least we still have Gel with us," Severus finally said. It was true. Though aging now, Godric and Dora's son Gelbus was still very much alive and well. So was Dora, although the old grey cat really seemed to miss Godric whenever they went to visit the Blacks.

"Sev!" Dinah suddenly exclaimed, breaking through the subdued moment as something occurred to her, "Why don't _you _try the '_Animagus Homenum Revelio'_?"

He smirked, "I don't see why it's necessary. I have no need nor desire to become an Animagus."

"But I looked at mine! Come on, it'll be fun. I wonder what you'd be…" her mind began to overflow at all of the amazing, adorable, majestic, and mysterious possibilities for her wonderful husband.

She must have been blushing a little because Severus rolled his eyes, "If it's that important to you I can try." He sighed and closed his eyes.

"No! Stand up to do it!" she ordered.

He cracked one eye open with another frustrated sigh, "Honestly, Dinah, as Tommy said there is no need for me to-"

"Please?" she interrupted, pointing to a spot next to her in front of the green couch, "Stand right here. I want to look at you while you do it."

"You cannot see from this distance?" he asked sarcastically, but obeyed her order and went over to stand in the indicated spot. "Is this satisfactory?"

"Very," she murmured, smiling at him. "Go ahead. I'll watch." The children, too, seemed anxious to figure out what Severus's animagus would be, as they leaned forward in their seats and watched with interest.

Another sigh had Dinah's husband closing his eyes, the dark-lashed lids fluttering shut, his expression rather beautiful in its calm resignation, his face framed with the jet-black greasy hair, now beginning to grey in some spots with age. Maylene, also, upon hitting adolescence had been afflicted with the greasy hair issue. But, surprisingly, she had solved the problem by inventing the 'corn starch spell', _Zeasolanum_, which acted like the substance by absorbing and eliminating any oils from the hair follicles.

And so, they had no reason to ever worry about their resourceful daughter being mocked for her hair issue. Severus, on the other hand, refused to use it, as he accepted himself and his hair now that Dinah had. And, really, Dinah was glad. She loved his look just as is. Besides, she got her temporary 'fluffy-fix' after they washed each other's hair each night, a tradition that had never been broken and never would be.

"_Animagus Homenum Revelio_," Severus muttered with his normal enthusiasm, and then his brow creased a little as he tried to see what his 'inner animal' would be. Dinah watched his reaction with bated breath. A small smirk formed on his face, and then when he opened his eyes he looked agitated, "Exactly what about me has anything in common with a fruit bat?"

Everything that happened after that was sort of a blur. Dinah felt her heart leap in her chest and heard herself shriek, "Severus!" and the next thing she knew she had grabbed her husband and tackled him down to the couch, startling Tommy so much that he jumped up and away to make room for them, but she wasn't paying attention to that. "You're a fruit bat!" she exclaimed, unable to stop smiling as she hugged him tight, squirming a little as the utter thrill of what his Animagus apparently was flowed through her. Her Severus. An adorable, sweet little fruit bat. It was too much to handle without squealing. It was just too irresistible and perfect.

"Dinah!" he struggled to escape, looking a little stunned at her reaction, but she would not let him go.

"Severus!" she gushed, adjusting them so that they were a little more comfortably situated, him on the couch with her on his lap. She grasped his shoulders and met his slightly freaked-out gaze, "It's perfect!"

"How is that per-" he broke off when she decidedly kissed him. He responded, but it was more of a shocked, hesitant response than anything else. But she didn't care right now.

"Because!" she tried to explain, locking her arms around his shoulders, "Don't you see? It's just… you! You're a fruit bat! A fruit bat!" She declared, unable to form a coherent explanation when she'd rather sit here hugging him and smothering his adorable face with kisses.

"But _why_? And would you stop this?" he tried to force her back but she just held him tighter and would not let go.

"She's mauling him worse than she did me and he hasn't even transformed yet," Tommy muttered as Maylene giggled her agreement.

"Yet!" Dinah shrieked as her son's words registered to her. She stared determinedly into her husband's dark eyes, "Severus Snape, you _have _to transform into the fruit bat," she almost growled her insistence, "You _must_! You just have to!"

"I can't do _anything _with you strangling me."

"But it's just _perfect_," Dinah ignored his protests and instead tightened her arms' grip around his neck, trying again with the explanation, "I mean, anyone might think you'd be a bat, right? Due to your 'dungeon bat' image and all. Right?"

"I… suppose so…" he hesitated, looking almost afraid of her. But he'd get over it.

"Yes, but fruit bats are special. They've got the big, scary, dark, batlike wings for all your sinister, 'Professor Snape', dungeon bat, snarky, typical image that everyone sees. But they are _also_ the ones with those adorably sweet, cute, furry doggy faces!"

"Please, Dinah," his tone was now a little disgusted, "Do you think you could refrain from comparing me to a dog?"

She giggled, snuggling close again, "Oh, all right darling. Their other name is flying foxes, so how about a 'fox-like' face?"

"Why must I be compared to the Blacks at all?" he demanded, as Dinah recalled that the fox was Lucy's animagus and laughed again.

"The _point _is," she murmured, smiling warmly as she pressed her forehead to his, "That you get the two perfect parts of you. The sinister, snarky, darkly powerful part, and also the part of your true nature that only those of us closest to you know. That you are really such a sweet, gentle, and kind person deep down. My Severus."

Her words caused a slight flush to creep into his pale face, and a tiny smile broke thorugh his frustration, "Dinah…"

"So now do you see? It's just perfect," she said, sharing an affectionate smile with her husband, "Oh, please, Sev, you just _have _to transform into the fruit bat. Promise me you'll do it!"

"Why do I _need _to do it?" he was still fighting her on that point despite being flattered.

"I'll transform into the snake if you transform into the fruit bat," she offered a trade.

"I don't see how one affects the other," he muttered, "As you would say, the two are statistically independent." When her face fell he sighed, "We'll have to see. Maybe someday. But not now."

"I'll nag you until you do it."

"Oh, I don't doubt that," he laughed, kissing her before gently prying her hands from around his neck and placing them in a more comfortable position around his waist as he adjusted them so they were sitting more upright on the couch. He glanced at the children, who were still frozen in the same spots they had been in when Dinah threw herself at Severus, though they were both smiling,"I apologize that you both had to witness your mother's… unique enthusiasm."

Tommy chuckled, "Oh, that's all right. Now you know how I felt a few moments ago."

"I pity you," he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head, "Though at least you had an avenue of escape."

"Oh, stop!" Dinah teased, giving him a playful swat before turning her gaze up to the children, "You two really should get back."

"Yes, we should. This was a fun visit, though. We'll have to do it again sometime," Maylene grinned, as both children leaned over and hugged them good-bye. They didn't ask them to get up, which was just as well. At fifty-seven years old they weren't exactly quick at getting up and down from furniture anymore, especially as Dinah had thoroughly exhausted herself mauling her son and husband for their cuteness.

Soon Maylene was grabbing ahold of her annoyed brother as they all four waved good-bye to each other, and the two children disappeared from the room, apparating back to Hogsmeade.

Dinah smiled and laid her head on Severus's shoulder, "I'm glad they came to visit."

"As am I," he agreed, and they just sat there for a few moments, relaxing back into quiet retirement mode after all the excitement of the day.

Or maybe.

"Fruit bat," Dinah teased, nipping a little at her husband's ear.

"Snake!" he snarled in return, pinning her back to the couch with a teasingly seductive smile, his curtains of perfectly greasy black hair falling forward to cover their faces. She smiled and leaned up to meet his kiss, wrapping her arms around him as they mutually decided to have just a little more excitement today.

And, Dinah was sure, she would eventually get him to transform into that adorable fruit bat.

Without a doubt.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed! I really appreciate it!**

**Hope everyone liked this chapter. CommanderValeria and I were pondering one day what kind of Animagi all the characters might become, and this bit was inspired :D**

**I also, after the previous two chapters with all of the Black and Snape children and all the character interaction and everything being so "busy", wanted to take a look at just Dinah and Severus's own little immediate family and how the four of them might interact in the later years once Maylene and Tommy are older :)**

**The next and final epilogue will be just Dinah and Severus and should be up on Saturday! Thank you everyone so much for this amazing journey! :D**


	193. Epilogue XV: Together

EPILOGUE FIFTEEN

Together

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Eight years later... July 15, 2025...

* * *

"Hogwarts," Dinah smiled, tightening her grip on her husband's hand as they stood in the middle of the spacious grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on a bright, sunny day in mid-July. The grounds were quiet in the middle of the summer and the air was warm as a light breeze blew past them, ruffling their now-grey hair and sending rippling waves through the green grass, which flashed rows of silver as the blades bent and revealed their lighter-colored backs in the wind.

"Indeed," Severus agreed, turning to smile at her for a moment before his gaze drifted back out over the vast grounds, "How long has it been?"

"Quite a while," she admitted. "I'm glad we came now, when it's nice and quiet and we can just sort of… take everything in. Where should we go first?" she asked with a smile.

"Just wandering about is fine, in my opinion," he agreed, smiling back. "After all, it's what we used to do so often…"

"Indeed," she murmured, tugging on his hand a little as they began walking forward. It did not take long for their steps to guide them slowly in the direction of a little spot surrounded by trees, down from a gently sloping hill. They stopped and just stared down at the spot for awhile, and Dinah did not have to look at Severus to know he was still smiling.

She took a deep breath and stepped forward a little, inhaling the fresh summer air and taking in their surroundings. Smiling down at the little spot, she reaced out and ran her fingers over a shiny green leaf on a nearby tree as reminiscent memories flooded back to her, "It never changes, does it?" she asked softly. "No matter how many years go by."

"It does not," he agreed, "Which is probably much of the reason why Hogwarts is so precious to so many people."

"It is to us," Dinah smiled, plucking the single leaf and letting the breeze carry it from her hand, watching it's jewel-like green form as it tumbled in the wind, flying out across that little spot where she and Severus had gotten married so long ago, until she could no longer see where it went.

"Yes," her husband was saying beside her, "It is to us."

With a sigh of contentment, Dinah sat down on the hill overlooking the spot, folding her arms around her knees as Severus sat beside her, and for a while they just rested together, enjoying each other's company even without words, as the breeze caressed them and they just experienced being at Hogwarts again for the first time in so long. She nodded off into the distance after a while, looking out at the place beyond their old wedding site, "The other hill beyond… where Tommy finally came back to himself and everything came together so neatly… and you proposed."

He chuckled, "Did I 'propose' or did I make a vague comment about it being time to get married?"

"Both," she whispered, hugging her knees and smiling. "It was both."

"We've come a long way since then," Severus said, leaning back a little and resting his hands in the grass on either side of him, looking up into the blue sky for a moment before turning to her, "So much has happened, but I don't think either of us has a single regret."

"No. Never," she agreed, smiling, "But we _have _come such a long journey, haven't we? Look where we are now. Two beautiful children starting their own lives, family and friends…" she grinned, "You even finally came around and conceded to associate with Harry Potter and his group again. That's a _tremendous _achievement."

Severus smirked, "Yes, well, when the children began to marry it was inevitable. And now that we've had a chance to build our own life so perfectly, I have no problem including them in it again. And with Rose and Scorpius apparently poised to get married as well…"

Dinah had to laugh, "Yes, that relationship was a surprise. I still don't think Ron knows _what _to think about the whole thing. Though apparently he predicted it right from the beginning, though not on purpose. Hermione always finds that so amusing."

"Mm," Severus was still smirking. Even though he had started to associate with the group from time to time, he still wasn't quite as social with them as Dinah was, as per his normal nature. He actually still called them Granger and Weasley even though Hermione consistently pointed out that she should now be 'Weasley' too. But Severus was Severus.

"Tommy and Adara's wedding last year… now _that _was a phenomenon. The Blacks, the Lupins, the Potters, and the Weasleys, and the Smyths and Lympshams on Adara's side, and us and the Malfoys and the Speasys and our Muggle family and friends on his…" she shook her head, "Who would have imagined it would go as smoothly as it did? It was just wonderful, really."

"And such fuel for your idealistic mind," Severus teased, "But yes. It went surprisingly well. And the fact that Al and Lily and Scorpius were all in the wedding party," he shook his head, "Fascinating really. Though thankfully that Marauder kept well out of it."

Dinah giggled, "Well, Tom and James don't really mesh well, personality-wise."

"Again, thankfully."

"It's because our son takes after you so much," she said softly, inching over so that their bodies were pressed up against each other and leaning against her husband of twenty-six long, wonderful years. She smiled as his arms wrapped around her.

"And you as well, my idealist," he murmured, "Both of our children have taken our traits in the most interesting combinations, and have done such unique and extraordinary things with them."

"They have, haven't they?" she smiled. "It's nice to not have to worry about them… they're both so happy and so capable. And occasional association with larger groups of people has done nothing to upset our beautiful, quiet life in the least."

"I didn't really believe it would," Severus smiled. "Not after years with those infernal, ridiculous Blacks never managed to."

"You love Lucy and Sirius," Dinah laughed at her husband. "And Aunt Mildred too, of course."

He snorted, "Our Aunt Mildred never loses her energy, does she, no matter how old she gets? I believe she must have a wizard's lifespan."

She giggled, "Is that possible?"

"Oh, highly. Let us presume, for instance, that you do have wizards or squibs in your history. They are definitely from her side of the family. Somehow, the lifespan and energy gene has been isolated from the magical one and showed up in her. I'm sure you can figure out a way to investigate it."

His serious approach to the matter was too hilarious for Dinah to stop laughing, "Oh, Severus, stop that. I am _certain _it doesn't work that way. Besides, what would our family be like without her? And we've still got Mum and Dad and Uncle Winston and Larry and Ava to keep her in check. I believe the latter two have no children just for that reason."

"She is their child?" Severus suggested.

More laughter. He was on a roll today, apparently, "Well, maybe in a way. I'm just glad our family is still so happy and healthy."

"It is a good thing," he smiled, "I'll admit."

Smiling back, she nodded, "It's just amazing how much has happened these past twenty-seven years, really… and yet here Hogwarts is… practically unchanged."

"As always," he agreed. "No matter how many years go by, it is always just like this. But we add new memories to it. Good ones, bad ones… 'unique' ones," he rolled his eyes and Dinah just laughed. They had had all sorts of experiences on these Hogwarts grounds, that was certain.

"So many loose ends have been tied up from that first year, it's true," she murmured, "The Speasys' and Professor Binns's research into most of those unique phenomena, our textooks, my surveys… running into Petunia Dursley of all people. We even managed to run into Dylan in the supermarket once," she grinned.

Severus rolled his eyes, "And you behaved like you had been so anxious to run into him all that time."

"I was just so proud to show you off as my husband… I still am, you know. Proud of being your wife."

He smiled at her, "As I am proud to have you as my wife. To be your husband…" they took a moment to quietly indulge in each other's company again before he continued, "It's true. Everything is so… settled, right now. And yet," a slight smile tugged at his lips, "that doesn't mean we don't still have a world of things to look forward to."

"Yes. We _always _have things to look forward to," she agreed with a happy sigh. "We'll likely be grandparents soon. May and Seth waited a while, which is perfectly legitimate as young as they are, but now that they say they're ready to start trying I envision more little ones within the year," she smiled, "It will be so nice to have little ones around again."

"Yes," Severus agreed, looking quite pleased at the prospect, "It will. And meanwhile, there is Oliver. And Jacob and Eliza's approaching arrival."

"Yes," she repeated, smiling. Lucy and Sirius's eldest son Owen and his wife, Remus and Tonks's daughter Anne, had a young son named Oliver that they always loved to visit with. Another sweet child running around calling them 'Auntie Didi' and 'Uncle Sev'. It was…_ so_ nice. And Rosa and Luke's son Jacob and his wife Eliza were also expecting a child very soon. Another little 'niece' or 'nephew' to do the same. "I also have a feeling it won't be long before Tom and Adara start having children. I can't see them waiting as long as Seth and Maylene wanted to… especially as Adara probably wishes to have a litter like Lucy."

Severus chuckled, "Well, her animagus _is _a rabbit, if that means anything. I don't see May and Seth having more than two, but Tom and Adara… you're right. I can envision a great deal of children there. It shall be… interesting to see how our son copes with that."

"Yes. And!" she teased, staring him down with a determined grin, "Speaking of Animagi, I am _still _going to get you to transform into that fruit bat one of these days."

"Oh, are you now?" he raised a teasing eyebrow, defiant as usual whenever this subject came up.

"Oh, come now, Severus! Isn't it high time you gave in to me? I'm just going to keep nagging. You've held me off for eight years but I'm sure you're getting tired of it. Besides, I finally mastered my snake transformation. It's your turn."

"Oh, I'm sure I'll take the form eventually," he said casually, looking out over the grounds instead of meeting her gaze, "_When _I choose to do it is a different matter entirely, though. You'll just have to be patient. Even if it takes another eight years. Or maybe sixteen."

"Oh, please, you are most definitely weakening, I can see it every time we have this discussion."

"Really now?" he smiled slightly, but still didn't meet her gaze.

Watching her husband, Dinah couldn't help but feel warm. She had a feeling he already had an idea of when he was going to transform, but was just not telling her about it. "You're going to surprise me, aren't you?"

"Perhaps."

"'Perhaps'," she repeated, laughing. "All right, I'll be a little bit more patient. But I'm just desperate to see it, you know."

"Yes, you've told me. You do realize that there is a self-preservation factor involved here, though, correct? I assume that bat wings are quite delicate. I have a feeling that when I _do _finally make the transformation you might crush my small form in your enthusiasm."

"It is a risk, I'll admit," she said with a laugh, "But since you love me, you'll take that risk."

"I don't see what those two things have to do with each other."

"And you know I'm not going to crush you."

"It is a legitimate fear."

"Is that so?" she laughed again.

He laughed as well, softly, that warm gentle rumbling unchanged even after so many years, and finally he turned back to look at her again. As their gazes met his smile softened and she considered how much had changed in his appearance now that they were both sixty-five years old. His greasy hair had transformed from black to grey, like her own had changed from dark blonde to grey, but the length and texure were unchanged. The smooth grey curtains still framed his face as they always had, and fell just onto his shoulders, soft and fluffy after being washed in the evenings but lank and greasy and… utterly beautiful no more than two hours later. The lines on his face had become more prominent and his face and frame had thickened somewhat but… he was still, unequivocally, her precious, handsome Severus Snape.

"Severus," she murmured as his warm fingers reached out to gently touch her cheek. She placed her hand over his, closing her eyes for a brief moment to indulge in their contact.

"I'm glad we came here," he said, standing and pulling her with him, "We should continue. There is another place I'd like to visit."

"Mm," she agreed, squeezing his hand and following him as he pulled her back towards the castle a bit. As they walked she tried to imagine that they were back in the old days, wandering around at lunch, debating about this or that as they got to know each other. Or even that they were the child Dinah and Severus, sixteen years old again and learning how to love and care for each other as they tried to solve a mystery at Hogwarts and ultimately learn to embrace a new life together. And then, the next thing she knew that's where they were. In a single, unimpressive spot in the middle of the grounds somewhat close to one of the castle walls, not far from the hill where they got married.

They stopped walking and Dinah closed her eyes, remembering. "The flayed baby was everywhere, throwing spells out haphazardly and we didn't even realize that that behavior was an indication of its true nature." She opened her eyes and smiled at her husband.

He smiled back, "Well, we did not have Mae and Andrew's expertise on the matter in those days. We were starting from scratch."

"The world stopped, you know," Dinah whispered, unable to stop smiling as she remembered that day, in this place, "It was like… it was like everything else was gone and it was just you and I standing here. When you told me that. When you said those three words. We were the only people in the universe."

"I know," he agreed, his voice and smile filled with love, "I felt it too. It was only us. It was a perfect feeling."

"Severus…"

"Dinah," his smile was still that smile that he reserved only for her. The one with the pure, overwhelming love that filled her soul with nothing less than the deepest joy. A joy that was utterly indescribable in words, "I love you."

"I love you," she responded, smiling gently as she tilted her head up to receive his equally gentle kiss, a feeling that never changed no matter how old they grew. Her arms wound around his waist and when they finished she rested her head on his shoulder, enveloped in her beloved husband as he leaned his head against hers and they held each other in their precious, special place from so long ago. Indulging in the purest form of contentment that was reserved for when they were in each other's arms like this.

He leaned back, his hair brushing against her cheek, and softly kissed her lips once more, "There is much more to see," he said, his eyes shining with love for her and looking forward to the rest of their time visiting Hogwarts.

"Indeed," she agreed, and knew that her gaze was shining with just as much love and happiness as his, "And we have all the time in the world."

"The grounds are empty for the summer," he nodded, smiling, "It is… only our universe again."

Flushed with happiness, she smiled and reached up to gently tuck a strand of that precious hair behind his ear as he briefly closed his eyes to indulge in the contact. Even now, he still adored it when she touched his hair and accepted it and his nose. And her stoic-snarky fetish was still firmly in place and she still adored it when he teased her about her idealism and incessant appetite. And he still called her his miracle. And she called him hers. Yes, things had changed, certainly, but so many things had stayed the same.

"Shall we visit the lake? The castle? The Quidditch Pitch? The Forbidden Forest?" Dinah asked, looking so forward to every bit of their journey today.

"All that and more, my love. But I don't think we need to rush."

She grinned, "When we're finished here we can always burst in on Lucy and Sirius in Hogsmeade."

"Please. Let's knock first. Those two _still _do not know the meaning of discretion."

Dinah laughed, "With Ayla and Rhys still there for the summers I certainly hope they're being somewhat discreet."

"The children can easily be sent off somewhere."

"True," she smiled, looping her arm into his, "Rosa and Luke will want to know all about our trip when we get back. We'll have to have them over for dragon steak soon."

Severus rolled his eyes, "Luke and his dragon steak. And they keep nagging us to bring them back to Hogwarts. Do they even comprehend the complexity of doing that, especially with Minerva no longer headmistress?"

"Oh, probably not. It doesn't help that Jacob and Eliza haven't gotten to visit yet and Maylene keeps telling them things about the place. I'm starting to think they want to have the baby here."

"I think your Muggle friends are incorrigible."

"And I think you love them, too," she teased, making him smile and shake his head. Her Severus of sixty-five years had embraced the Muggle world much more than she could ever have imagined when they were both only thirty-eight and first getting to know one another. He still liked to complain about it, but ultimately they had both made both worlds their home.

"Our life together has been full of surprises, hasn't it?" he asked, reading her thoughts.

"Indeed it has," she agreed, "And they are _far _from over. I want to have more surprises and exciting experiences with you. As many as possible."

"And we will," he agreed, "As always, we have _so much _to look forward to."

"And we could always eat lots of Aero Mint chocolate and you could make snarky comments at me," she laughed, reciting the old line that had made them realize that they were a perfect match for each other. A realization that only hit them again and again as they continued on their long, wonderful life's journey.

"Yes," he laughed along with her, "Indeed we could."

And they smiled at each other under the clear blue sky. Sixty-five years old, married twenty-six years, and still with so much to look forward to at every moment. And it would always be like this. Talking together, laughing together, and loving each other for the rest of their days and into eternity.

* * *

**A/N: And that's it! At least, that's the extent of my involvement, but Dinah and Severus will live on happily forever! :D**

**Thank you SO MUCH to every single person who has read, favorited, alerted, or reviewed this story! It has been a truly amazing journey and I am so grateful to everyone for your interest and your comments and for just everything! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! :) I would try to name every reviewer individually but I don't want to leave anybody out by mistake so I'll just say thank you so much everyone who has reviewed, once or many times, anonymous or signed. I appreciate your interest and am so glad that you all enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! I can't believe it hasn't even been a year since the first post!**

**Please stay tuned as there will be supplementary materials published in the future on both mine and CommanderValeria's profiles, including a "sequel", set between epilogues 8 and 9 which I will begin posting probably around Monday and which I will try to update weekly :) and it will also have a very strong presence of Lucy and Sirius, and I think that Mae Yates and Andrew Speasy are going to pretty much be co-main characters, since I have grown very attached to them and would like to tell a bit of their tale as well. But no worries! Chronologically, the above epilogue is going to be the last time that I visit Dinah and Severus's POV, although it is possible that an "older" Dinah and Severus might still appear in some of CommanderValeria's work. But Dinah and Severus most definitely live happily ever after! :)**

**I will also, of course, continue to work on "His View of Things", and right now CommanderValeria and I are posting, on her profile, "Carry On", her sequel to "Don't Leave Me" which chronicles Lucy and Sirius and Dinah and Severus's first year of marriage, and Lucy and Dinah's first pregnancies, and the Triwizard Tournament, so please check it out and leave a review or two! :) I write the Dinah and Severus parts. Please also keep us both on your author alerts, if you like, for any other little shorts or one-shots we may choose to publish at some point :) There are a lot of adventures in-between the epilogues that could potentially be written :D**

**Sorry for the long A/N, LOL, but it has been a very long journey and there are so many things to say!**

**Incidentally, Severus in this scene is the same age as Alan Rickman is in real life so I imagine that he looks exactly as he does in the movies here, except with grey hair XD – and no, that wasn't really intentional, I just envisioned my last visit with them to take place about a year after Tommy got married and that's where it ended up :D**

**Also, I do envision that Severus relents and transforms into the fruit bat eventually, and so snake Dinah and fruit bat Severus can play and cuddle together. I fully intend to draw a picture of that and post it on my deviantART… eventually :) If you would like to see my other Dinah and Severus artwork my screen name on the site is "sakuralum52", and anyone else is welcome to draw them as well, just please credit me and let me know so I can see :D**

**Once again, thank you so much everyone! It has truly been an exciting and wonderful experience! :)**


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